Collectivism, Machiavellianism, Perceived Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: An Empirical Study of Chinese Employees

This study examined the relationship between perceived organizational justice and two individual differences, namely, (i) within-culture collectivism and (ii) Machiavellianism. In addition, this study also examined the influence of perceived organizational justice on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Previous research suggests that individual differences influence perceived organizational justice, which in turn have an effect on subsequent behaviors. However, much of the research was done in the western context. The present research seeks to examine the generalizability of findings based on the western context by investigating the relationships among within-culture collectivism, Machiavellianism, perceived organizational justice and OCB in a non-western context, specifically, among a group of employees from People’s Republic of China. Results suggested that within-culture collectivism and Machiavellianism were significantly associated with perceived organizational justice. Consistent with previous research, perceived organizational justice was positively related to OCB. Implications of the study were discusse

Assessing the Impact of Internet Adoption Levels on Competitive Advantage

This paper introduces a model for Internet adoption, namely: level 0 – e-mail adoption; level 1 – Web presence; level 2 – prospecting; level 3 – business integration; and level 4 – business transformation. Two broad Web site categories can be identified: informational Web site and transactional Web site. The competitive advantages in terms of differentiation, cost reduction, innovation, growth, and alliance that are affected by Internet adoption are examined. A questionnaire survey of 553 firms was conducted, of which 159 usable responses were received, resulting in an effective response rate of 28.8%. The results show that proactive business strategy, firm size and competitive advantage are found to be positively related to Web adoption level. Implications of the results for researchers and practitioners are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed

Understanding the Effectiveness of Carbon Management System (CMS): An Empirical Study

Despite increasing emphasis on corporate sustainability and green IS, empirical research on the relationships between specific green IS artifacts and intended outcomes (such as various resource consumption) are relatively scant. In addition, research is silent on the firm-specific factors that could influence the benefits from such artifacts. This paper seeks to fill this research gap by examining the relationship between carbon management system (CMS) and energy consumption. The paper also explores the role of the environmental management system (EMS) and human capital development (HCD) in influencing the relationship between CMS and energy consumption. The study utilizes data from secondary sources and proprietary databases. Findings from this study empirically demonstrate the environmental value of specific green IS artifacts and the role of facilitating factors

E-Government Maturity, Corruption, And Eco-Efficiency

There is growing interest in the role and contribution of e-government to the level of corruption and the eco-efficiency in terms of economic prosperity and environmental degradation of nation states. In this paper, we use publicly available archival data to explore the relationships among e-government maturity, corruption, and eco-efficiency (defined in terms of economic prosperity and environmental degradation). Results substantiate a significant relationship between e-government maturity and corruption, and e-government maturity and eco-efficiency through the mediating effects of corruption. The findings suggest that while e-government maturity did not contribute to eco-efficiency, its value could be realized indirectly via its impacts on corruption, which in turn influences eco-efficiency. Our findings contribute to the theoretical discourse on e-government impact by identifying the role of e-government in a country and provide indications to practice on enhancing its eco-efficiency by managing the level of corruption

The Love of Money and Pay Level Satisfaction: Measurement and Functional Equivalence in 29 Geopolitical Entities around the World

Demonstrating the equivalence of constructs is a key requirement for cross-cultural empirical research. The major purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how to assess measurement and functional equivalence or invariance using the 9-item, 3-factor Love of Money Scale (LOMS, a second-order factor model) and the 4-item, 1-factor Pay Level Satisfaction Scale (PLSS, a first-order factor model) across 29 samples in six continents (N = 5973). In step 1, we tested the configural, metric and scalar invariance of the LOMS and 17 samples achieved measurement invariance. In step 2, we applied the same procedures to the PLSS and nine samples achieved measurement invariance. Five samples (Brazil, China, South Africa, Spain and the USA) passed the measurement invariance criteria for both measures. In step 3, we found that for these two measures, common method variance was non-significant. In step 4, we tested the functional equivalence between the Love of Money Scale and Pay Level Satisfaction Scale. We achieved functional equivalence for these two scales in all five samples. The results of this study suggest the critical importance of evaluating and establishing measurement equivalence in cross-cultural studies. Suggestions for remedying measurement non-equivalence are offered

Vampires in the village Žrnovo on the island of Korčula: following an archival document from the 18th century

Središnja tema rada usmjerena je na raščlambu spisa pohranjenog u Državnom arhivu u Mlecima (fond: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) koji se odnosi na događaj iz 1748. godine u korčulanskom selu Žrnovo, kada su mještani – vjerujući da su se pojavili vampiri – oskvrnuli nekoliko mjesnih grobova. U radu se podrobno iznose osnovni podaci iz spisa te rečeni događaj analizira u širem društvenom kontekstu i prate se lokalna vjerovanja.The main interest of this essay is the analysis of the document from the State Archive in Venice (file: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) which is connected with the episode from 1748 when the inhabitants of the village Žrnove on the island of Korčula in Croatia opened tombs on the local cemetery in the fear of the vampires treating. This essay try to show some social circumstances connected with this event as well as a local vernacular tradition concerning superstitions

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children