Examining the Role of Relative Age on Leadership Behaviours among Female Ice Hockey Players: An Exploratory Investigation

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of relative age on self-reported leadership behaviors among competitive female ice hockey players. Secondary purposes included examining whether a relative age effect (RAE) was present within the sample and if leadership behaviors differed according to leader status (i.e., formal versus informal leaders). Canadian female ice hockey players (ages 15-18 years) completed an online survey that contained the Leadership Scale for Sport along with additional demographic questions. Players were segmented into birth quartiles based upon Hockey Canada’s selection date and classified by leadership status. The MANOVA suggested that the frequency of leadership behaviors displayed by these athletes did not differ across birth quartiles. Furthermore, although there was a RAE trend within this sample of competitive female ice hockey players, the differences relative to population distributions were not statistically significant. Finally, formal leaders (i.e., captains/alternate captains) reported higher levels of social support, positive feedback, democratic behavior, and training and instruction than informal leaders. It appears that relative age is not a discriminating factor with respect to leadership behaviors. Competitive female ice hockey may be an avenue for all players, regardless of their date of birth, to develop and demonstrate leadership

Rebranding: The Effect of Team Name Changes on Club Revenue

Research question: The purpose of this study is to explore the financial effect of four types of team name changes, three of which have not been previously studied. We do so in the context of development leagues where rebranding occurs with considerable frequency, thus affecting a great number of sport managers. Research methods: The effect of rebranding on club revenue was derived by combining the results of two analyses. The first used an economic demand equation to examine the attendance variations of 475 Minor League Baseball teams in 244 cities in the United States and Canada between 1980 and 2011 that engaged in one (or more) of four different types of name changes. The second examined changes in merchandise sales after a rebranding effort. Results and Findings: The results indicate that development teams fail to derive financial gains from adopting the names of their major league parent clubs. Instead, teams that abandon unique local names see large attendance decreases suggesting that local names generate greater brand awareness and brand image than their major league counterparts. The largest merchandise gains are generated by teams that adopt new, local names. Implications: These findings further our understanding of the outcomes of brand management and rebranding efforts by acknowledging that former and future names have varying levels of brand equity that have real effects on consumer purchasing behaviors and subsequent financial gains and losses

An Examination of the Impact of Relative Age Effects and Academic Timing on Intercollegiate Athletics Participation in Women’s Softball

This investigation makes three noteworthy contributions to literature on the Relative Age Effect (RAE); 1) it adds to the small number of studies in women’s sports, 2) it is one of very few papers to examine the RAE in intercollegiate athletics, and 3) it (re-)introduces “academic timing” to the discussion of RAEs in this context. The 50 top-ranked NCAA Division I women’s softball teams at the conclusion of the 2011 season served as the focus for this investigation. Student-athletes were grouped into quartiles according to their birth date and identified as “on-time” or “academically delayed” based on their birth year and eligibility status. On-time student-athletes were over four times more likely to be born in quartile one than in quartile four, demonstrating a traditional RAE. This pattern was reversed for those who were academically delayed, with quartile four birth dates constituting more than half of the entire sample

Rebranding : the effect of team name changes on club revenue

RESEARCH QUESTION : The purpose of this study is to explore the financial effect of four types of team name changes, three of which have not been previously studied. We do so in the context of development leagues where rebranding occurs with considerable frequency, thus affecting a great number of sport managers. RESEARCH METHODS : The effect of rebranding on club revenue was derived by combining the results of two analyses. The first used an economic demand equation to examine the attendance variations of 475 Minor League Baseball teams in 244 cities in the United States and Canada between 1980 and 2011 that engaged in one (or more) of four different types of name changes. The second examined changes in merchandise sales after a rebranding effort. RESULTS AND FINDINGS : The results indicate that development teams fail to derive financial gains from adopting the names of their major league parent clubs. Instead, teams that abandon unique local names see large attendance decreases suggesting that local names generate greater brand awareness and brand image than their major league counterparts. The largest merchandise gains are generated by teams that adopt new, local names. IMPLICATIONS : These findings further our understanding of the outcomes of brand management and rebranding efforts by acknowledging that former and future names have varying levels of brand equity that have real effects on consumer purchasing behaviors and subsequent financial gains and losses.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/resm202018-02-28hb2016Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS

Multiwavelength Observations of A0620-00 in Quiescence

[Abridged.] We present multiwavelength observations of the black hole binary system, A0620-00. Using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, we have obtained the first FUV spectrum of A0620-00. The observed spectrum is flat in the FUV and very faint (with continuum fluxes \simeq 1e - 17 ergs/cm^2/s/A). We compiled the dereddened, broadband spectral energy distribution of A0620-00 and compared it to previous SEDs as well as theoretical models. The SEDs show that the source varies at all wavelengths for which we have multiple samples. Contrary to previous observations, the optical-UV spectrum does not continue to drop to shorter wavelengths, but instead shows a recovery and an increasingly blue spectrum in the FUV. We created an optical-UV spectrum of A0620-00 with the donor star contribution removed. The non-stellar spectrum peaks at \simeq3000 {\deg}A. The peak can be fit with a T=10,000 K blackbody with a small emitting area, probably originating in the hot spot where the accretion stream impacts the outer disk. However, one or more components in addition to the blackbody are needed to fit the FUV upturn and the red optical fluxes in the optical-UV spectrum. By comparing the mass accretion rate determined from the hot spot luminosity to the mean accretion rate inferred from the outburst history, we find that the latter is an order of magnitude smaller than the former, indicating that \sim90% of the accreted mass must be lost from the system if the predictions of the disk instability model and the estimated interoutburst interval are correct. The mass accretion rate at the hot spot is 10^5 the accretion rate at the black hole inferred from the X-ray luminosity. To reconcile these requires that outflows carry away virtually all of the accreted mass, a very low rate of mass transfer from the outer cold disk into the inner hot region, and/or radiatively inefficient accretion.Comment: ApJ, accepte

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Exploring the impact of top management team composition on player selection in Major League Baseball

Originally conceptualized by Hambrick and Mason (1984), the upper echelons perspective (UEP) has become a dominant theme in the study of strategic decision making across a great number of disciplines. Over the past two decades, the work of these authors has been cited in over 500 refereed journal publications, lending credence to the applicability of the UEP when studying top management teams (TMTs) (Carpenter, 2005; Carpenter, Geletkanycz, & Sanders, 2004). To compensate for shortcomings in accessibility and instrumentation, the UEP uses demographic variables as proxies for the underlying psychological constructs that shape TMTs\u27 interpretations of business situations in formulating and implementing appropriate strategic alternatives (Cannella & Holcomb, 2005a; Carpenter et al., 2004). In the context of Major League Baseball (MLB), the selection and development of player resources are critical to organizational performance (Olson & Schwab, 2000). Perhaps more than any other professional sport, the selection of MLB player talent is amenable to influence by the decision making of clubs\u27 front office executives. Policies and decisions regarding whom to scout, whom to draft, whom to promote, whom to demote, whom to acquire, whom to trade away, whom to play in which positions, and whom to hit in which slot in the batting line-up are all elements that are managed to some degree by the club\u27s TMT (Gamson & Scotch, 1964). Consistent with the UEP, it was believed that the cognitions, values and perceptions of MLB TMT members, along with their undeniable influence on the process of strategic choice, would be associated with significant player selection outcomes. Drawing upon theory and literature related to the UEP, the researcher employed fixed-effects regression models to explore the effects of TMT composition on the quality of player selection in MLB between 1990 and 2002. Using a linear run estimation model of offensive performance called Extrapolated Runs Basic (Furtado, 1999) as the basis for measuring player selection quality, the findings from this study suggested that basic TMT characteristics had a limited capacity to affect the overall quality of player selection decisions in MLB between 1990 and 2002. Specifically, the overall regression results suggested that these variables cumulatively accounted for between 2.5% and 3% of the variance in the offensive run productivity of players that were promoted to major league rosters during this time period. Furthermore, the results suggested that the longer TMT members worked together, and the more highly-educated they were, the better they were at making player selection decisions. Taken together, these findings have considerable implications for both theory and practice

Examining the Role of Friendship in Mentoring Relationships between Graduate Students and Faculty Advisors

Although previous studies have offered empirical and anecdotal support for academic mentoring, there are still considerable gaps in understanding the specific actions or components that are present in these relationships. Research has shown that academic faculty mentors provide all of Kram’s (1988) mentoring functions to their graduate student protégés. Despite numerous claims to the presence of “friendship” in graduate student-faculty advisor mentoring relationships, others question if friendship is even possible within this context. Thus, there is ambiguity about the role of this particular function in academic mentoring. In our attempt to reconcile results from a previous study on graduate student-faculty advisor mentoring and better understand the potential role and temporal development of friendship within this domain, we sought clarification in the existing literature. To our surprise, the literature lacks consensus on the topic and requires additional scholarly attention. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to share insights from our previous study examining mentoring in academia, summarize empirical findings and conceptual advancements on the topic of friendship in graduate student-faculty advisor mentoring relationships, and propose directions for further inquiry in this area, in the hope of strengthening academic mentoring relationships

Examining the Role of Friendship in Mentoring Relationships between Graduate Students and Faculty Advisors

Although previous studies have offered empirical and anecdotal support for academic mentoring, there are still considerable gaps in understanding the specific actions or components that are present in these relationships. Research has shown that academic faculty mentors provide all of Kram’s (1988) mentoring functions to their graduate student protégés. Despite numerous claims to the presence of “friendship” in graduate student-faculty advisor mentoring relationships, others question if friendship is even possible within this context. Thus, there is ambiguity about the role of this particular function in academic mentoring. In our attempt to reconcile results from a previous study on graduate student-faculty advisor mentoring and better understand the potential role and temporal development of friendship within this domain, we sought clarification in the existing literature. To our surprise, the literature lacks consensus on the topic and requires additional scholarly attention. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to share insights from our previous study examining mentoring in academia, summarize empirical findings and conceptual advancements on the topic of friendship in graduate student-faculty advisor mentoring relationships, and propose directions for further inquiry in this area, in the hope of strengthening academic mentoring relationships