Developing ideas and concepts in teamwork research:Where do we go from here?

PurposeThis editorial seeks to explore changes in both teamwork and developments in teamwork research over the last decade.Design/methodology/approachThe editorial review importantly focuses on the key debates that emerge from the papers covered in this special issue.FindingsA review of the papers in this special issue, as well as historical analysis of teamwork research, indicate that while traditionally, analysis of teamwork was embedded in a manufacturing archetype, much of the contemporary research on teamwork is centred on service sector work where issues of cultural diversity, customer service, and lack of normative integration or task interdependence are increasingly apparent. This editorial suggests that we need to take account of the expansion of the service sector when attempting to conceptualise teamwork and the challenges that collective forms of working in such an environment bring.Originality/valueThis editorial and the special issue more generally provide an important contribution to the development of understanding of how changes in the workplace have had an impact on organisational and academic interest in teamwork.</jats:sec

The Trial of Grace Marks

In 1843, domestic servant Grace Marks and stable boy James McDermott murdered their employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Hannah Nancy Montgomery. The murder took place on Kinnear’s farm near Richmond Hill, Ontario and their bodies were discovered by neighbours the next day. Marks and McDermott were captured shortly afterwards. During their trial for the murder of Kinnear, each blamed the other for instigating the murders. They were both sentenced to death, but only McDermott was hanged. The jury submitted a plea for mercy in the verdict of Grace Marks and her life was spared. She was incarcerated in the Kingston penitentiary for thirty years before being granted a pardon and released. Mystery still surrounds the trial of Grace Marks and James McDermott. Why was Grace Marks spared

“Every man for himself”:Teamwork and customer service in the hospitality industry

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the practice of teamwork in an under‐researched, yet growing industrial setting.Design/methodology/approachLongitudinal ethnographic‐styled methods of data collection were used and data was examined using the Team Dimensions Model.FindingsThe findings suggest the Team Dimensions Model, with the addition of a customer service perspective, is of use for identifying managerial objectives and organisational outcomes of teamwork. However, this does not suggest that teamworking is easy to implement in the hospitality setting.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings were obtained using unobtrusive participatory and observational methods and based on a single company.Practical implicationsThe paper allows management practitioners to reflect on realities of implementing teamworking under a corporate customer service initiative.Originality/valueThe paper takes an existing theory on teamworking and develops the theory in an under‐researched and growing industrial sector.</jats:sec

Therapeutic antibodies: current state and future trends--is a paradigm change coming soon?

Antibody-based therapeutics currently enjoy unprecedented success, growth in research and revenues, and recognition of their potential. It appears that the promise of the "magic bullet" has largely been realized. There are currently 22 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical use and hundreds are in clinical trials for treatment of various diseases including cancers, immune disorders, and infections. The revenues from the top five therapeutic antibodies (Rituxan, Remicade, Herceptin, Humira, and Avastin) nearly doubled from $6.4 billion in 2004 to$11.7 billion in 2006. During the last several years major pharmaceutical companies raced to acquire antibody companies, with a recent example of MedImmune being purchased for $15.6 billion by AstraZeneca. These therapeutic and business successes reflect the major advances in antibody engineering which have resulted in the generation of safe, specific, high-affinity, and non-immunogenic antibodies during the last three decades. Currently, second and third generations of antibodies are under development, mostly to improve already existing antibody specificities. However, although the refinement of already known methodologies is certainly of great importance for potential clinical use, there are no conceptually new developments in the last decade comparable, for example, to the development of antibody libraries, phage display, domain antibodies (dAbs), and antibody humanization to name a few. A fundamental question is then whether there will be another change in the paradigm of research as happened 1-2 decades ago or the current trend of gradual improvement of already developed methodologies and therapeutic antibodies will continue. Although any prediction could prove incorrect, it appears that conceptually new methodologies are needed to overcome the fundamental problems of drug (antibody) resistance due to genetic or/and epigenetic alterations in cancer and chronic infections, as well as problems related to access to targets and complexity of biological systems. If new methodologies are not developed, it is likely that gradual saturation will occur in the pipeline of conceptually new antibody therapeutics. In this scenario we will witness an increase in combination of targets and antibodies, and further attempts to personalize targeted treatments by using appropriate biomarkers as well as to develop novel scaffolds with properties that are superior to those of the antibodies now in clinical use

The problem of god in the book of Job

The paper seeks to delve into an existential question at the confluence of Scripture studies, metaphysics and systematic theology. According to Samuel Terrien, Job, “the hero of the folk tale is a semi-nomadic sheikh, pious, virtuous, and prosperous, suddenly stricken with the loss of his children, his health and his wealth,” James Crenshaw affirms that together with Qoheleth, the book of Job marks "the apex of dissent in the Old Testament,'" The text of the Book of Job raises many questions, both to the inexperienced reader, as well as to the well-versed scholar.peer-reviewe

A study of the river origin of American shad captured in the Atlantic Ocean intercept fishery in Virginia : Final report, 2001

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) has been releasing larval American shad into the James and York river systems since 1993 and these fish are given river-specific marks before release. Our in-river monitoring program had established that we could estimate the proportion of fish returning to spawn in the rivers that have hatchery marks. Furthermore, we were able to obtain a sample of 200 fish from the intercept fishery off Chincoteague Island, Virginia, in 2000 and screening of the otoliths by VDGIF personnel revealed the presence of one fish with a James River hatchery mark and one with a York River mark. No marks from any other river were found. Thus, it appeared that hatchery markings would allow the opportunity to estimate the proportion of Virginia stocks that were harvested in the offshore fishery. On the basis of these preliminary findings, we proposed the present study

Book Reviews

The Sacred River: Coleridge\u27s Theory of the Imagination (James V. Baker) (Reviewed by James Benziger, Southern Illinois University) The Rational and Social Foundations of Music (Max Weber, trans. and ed. Don Martindale, Johannes Riedel, and Gertrude Neuwirth) (Reviewed by Richard A. Waterman, Wayne State University) Literature and Belief: English Institute Essays 1957 (M. H. Abrams, ed.) (Reviewed by Emerson R. Marks, Wayne State University) Literary Reviews and Essays (Henry James, ed. Albert Mordell) (Reviewed by Henry Popkin, Brandeis University