Shared reading of children's interactive picture books

We report on a study of children and parents shared reading of interactive printed books. We investigated the differences between books with interactive features and books with expressive typography in order to evaluate which features within a book encouraged interaction between the reading participants and the book. 11 parent and child groups took part in the study that involved three observed reading sessions. From our observations we offer suggestions for the development of books and eBooks to encourage shared reading practices

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Management of Human and Environmental Resources: Andalucian Perspectives

There are a number of objectives that guide this work. First, we aimed to identify the general characteristics of Andalusian companies in terms their approach to social responsibility, particularly in the area of human resources and environmental impact. Second, we aimed to identify the particularities of social responsibility within the productive sector. For this, a questionnaire was designed, which was administered to 365 executives belonging to different sectors. The results show that the greatest concern of Andalusian companies is the satisfaction of their employees, followed by energy saving measures, and environmental impact. We also found differences according to the productive sector studied. In particular, while in the agricultural and livestock sectors the human elements appear to be of importance, the industrial and commercial sectors pay more attention to environmental elements. However, the data highlight the need to continue working within this area of research, adopting a preventive or proactive approach

Rocaglates induce gain-of-function alterations to eIF4A and eIF4F

Rocaglates are a diverse family of biologically active molecules that have gained tremendous interest in recent years due to their promising activities in pre-clinical cancer studies. As a result, this family of compounds has been significantly expanded through the development of efficient synthetic schemes. However, it is unknown whether all of the members of the rocaglate family act through similar mechanisms of action. Here, we present a comprehensive study comparing the biological activities of >200 rocaglates to better understand how the presence of different chemical entities influences their biological activities. Through this, we find that most rocaglates preferentially repress the translation of mRNAs containing purine-rich 5' leaders, but certain rocaglates lack this bias in translation repression. We also uncover an aspect of rocaglate mechanism of action in which the pool of translationally active eIF4F is diminished due to the sequestration of the complex onto RNA.P50 GM067041 - NIGMS NIH HHS; R24 GM111625 - NIGMS NIH HHS; R35 GM118173 - NIGMS NIH HHSPublished versio

(WP 2011-01) It Takes Two: The Incidence and Effectiveness of co-CEOs

This study examines the phenomenon of co-CEOs within publicly traded firms. Although shared executive leadership is not widespread, it occurs within some very prominent firms. We find that co-CEOs generally complement each other in terms of educational background or executive responsibilities. Our results show that firms most likely to appoint co-CEOs have lower leverage, a more limited firm focus, less independent board structure, fewer advising directors, lower institutional ownership and greater levels of merger activity. The governance structure of co-CEO firms suggest that co-CEOships can serve as an alternative governance mechanism, with co-CEO mutual monitoring substituting for board or external monitoring and co-CEO complementary skills substituting for board advising. An event study indicates that the market reacts positively to appointments of co-CEOs while a propensity score analysis shows that the presence of co-CEOs increases firm valuation

How Emerging Organizations Take Form: The Role of Imprinting and Values in Organizational Bricolage

We examine how emerging organizations acquire shape by drawing on multiple organizational forms, a process we call organizational bricolage. Studying Indymedia London, a grassroots media collective, we propose a grounded theory of organizational bricolage that identifies how various types of organizational forms are selected and how they are instantiated into the organization. Whereas extant research has emphasized imprinting as a primary mechanism shaping newly founded organizations, we point to the additional role of organizational values. Emerging organizations augment their imprinted forms by using ancillary forms aligned with their organizational values and reinforce their core features by differentiating themselves from antagonistic forms that conflict with their values. We contribute to the literature on organizational formation by developing a process model that details how imprinted forms are subsequently modified. Moreover, we extend theories of bricolage by specifying the limits to the relative arbitrariness of bricolage as an activity, and we contribute to the study of organizational values by suggesting that they act as a focusing device shaping organizational structure

Meta-regulation meets deliberation: situating the governor within NHS foundation trust hospitals

NHS Foundation Trust (FT) Hospitals in England have complex internal governance arrangements. They may be considered to exhibit meta-regulatory characteristics to the extent that Governors are able to promote deliberative values and steer internal governance processes towards wider regulatory goals. Yet, while recent studies of NHS FT Hospital governance have explored the role and experience of FT Governors and examined FT hospital Boards to consider executive oversight, there is currently no detailed investigation of interactions between Governors and members of hospital Boards. Drawing on observational and interview data from four case-study sites, we trace interactions between the actors involved; explore their understandings of events; and consider the extent to which the benefits of meta-regulation were realised in practice. Findings show that while Governors provided both a conscience and contribution to internal and external governance arrangements, the meta regulatory role was largely symbolic and limited to compliance and legitimation of executive actions. Thus while the meta-regulatory ‘architecture’ for Governor involvement may be considered effective, the soft intelligence gleaned and operationalised may be obscured by ‘hard’ performance metrics which dominate processes and priority setting. Governors were involved in practices that symbolised deliberative involvement but resulted in further opportunities for legitimising executive decisions.

Standardization as Institutional Work: The Regulatory Power of a Responsible Investment Standard

This paper conceptualizes standardization as institutional work to study the emergence of a standard and the deployment of its regulatory power. We rely on unique access to longitudinal archival data for exploring how the FTSE4Good index, a responsible investment index, emerged as a standard for socially responsible corporate behavior. Our results show how three types of standardization work - calculative framing, engaging and valorizing - support the design, legitimation and monitoring processes whereby a standard acquires its regulatory power. Our findings reveal new facets in the dynamics of standardization by approaching standardization as a product of institutional work and in showing how unintended consequences of that work can be recaptured to strengthen the regulatory power of the standard