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We examine whether individual differences exist in reactions to toxic situations, reviewing historical examples of massacres. The social psychological research on the question consists of the famous Milgram experiment on obedience and the Stanford Prison Experiment. Although these studies show the power of situations in eliciting aggression towards targets, they overlook an essential aspect of real world behaviours ‐ the innovation of imaginative sadistic sequences that go beyond the orders given. We argue that analogue studies are too limited to capture these situations and that social psychological research has been too limited in its assessment of key relevant individual traits, one of which is a potential for sadism. Furthermore, we raise concerns about whether ‘snapshot’ analogue research can capture the transitional processes central to an understanding of real world reactions to toxicity.

This study explores the strategies adopted by companies during the economic crisis of 2008-2009. It investigates whether it is reasonable for companies to intensify their investment in intangibles during recession periods. The purpose of this paper is to find empirical evidence that companies with clear intangible-intensive profiles are likely to outperform those without a clear strategy.

This paper explores the intangible-intensive strategies of companies in terms of their dynamics during the pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods. Through dummy regression applied to data from more than 1,600 European companies involved in the empirical analysis, the paper aims to show moderating effects from intangible-intensive strategies on company performance, expressed in terms of economic value added and market value added.

The results established in this study shed some light on the global economic crisis in 2008-2009. The findings of this study demonstrate that companies with a conservative profile towards intangibles outperform both those without a defined profile and those with an innovative one. However, an innovative profile enables faster recovery after a crisis.

This paper contributes to the literature on the strategic management of companies, and highlights the particular importance of intangible-intensiveness when markets experience systematic distresses. It is emphasized that lessons learned during the recent global economic crisis must be taken into account in the strategic vision of any company.

This paper aims to address the role of behavior profiling in personnel recruitment and selection and how managers would benefit by using behavior assessment. Psychometric tests that measure cognitive ability and behavioral traits are regularly used to support management decisions in recruitment, team building and leadership development. But are they effective as a determinant of hiring and can their use be justified?

The relationship between personality and job performance has been studied frequently in business psychology, particularly so in the past 20 years. This paper sets out by discussing the advent of personality profiling and exploring the advances made to where we are today with behavior assessment tests. It addresses the views of academics and the use of behavior assessment in the corporate setting.

There are many studies that document the validity of cognitive ability tests and personality/behavior profiling as predictors of work performance. Of the numerous procedures used for recruitment and selection, two combinations – general mental ability (cognitive ability or GMA) plus an integrity test (personality profiling) and GMA plus a structured interview – have the highest multivariate validity and utility for job performance. Behavior profiling is an effective determinant of hiring.

Adopting personnel selection methods with high predictive validity ensures that managers can make decisions with a stronger degree of certainty and confidence. Using behavior profiling in conjunction with cognitive ability measures and sound interview techniques maximizes the predictive power of the selection process.

Behavior assessment tests should also benefit those taking the test by providing a facility that conveys important issues about their personality and behavior. This will allow them to discover areas that need to be addressed to make positive changes within themselves to achieve their ultimate goals in life, both personal and career.

This paper addresses, among other things, the research of several people into the use of personality measures in personnel selection. The paper will benefit all those involved with recruitment, team building and leadership development by improving their understanding of the use of behavior assessment tests.

World military expenditures fell by over 20 percent in proportion to GDP from 1985 to 1990. This study examines the determinants of military expenditures in 125 countries during 1972-90 to ascertain what factors may be behind the decreases. Economic decline among developing countries in the 1980s and among industrial countries in the latter part of the decade emerges as one possible factor. A second is the move towards more democratic regimes, which could have diminished support for the military. A third factor is the improved world security situation and the concomitant decrease in military aid by the former major cold war combatants.