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Often, it is assumed that teams are better at solving problems than individuals working independently. However, recent work in engineering, design and psychology contradicts this assumption. This study aims to examine the behavior of teams engaged in data science competitions. Crowdsourced competitions have seen increased use for software development and data science, and platforms often encourage teamwork between participants.

We specifically examine the teams participating in data science competitions hosted by Kaggle. We analyze the data provided by Kaggle to compare the effect of team size and interaction frequency on team performance. We also contextualize these results through a semantic analysis.

This work demonstrates that groups of individuals working independently may outperform interacting teams on average, but that small, interacting teams are more likely to win competitions. The semantic analysis revealed differences in forum participation, verb usage and pronoun usage when comparing top- and bottom-performing teams.

These results reveal a perplexing tension that must be explored further: true teams may experience better performance with higher cohesion, but nominal teams may perform even better on average with essentially no cohesion. Limitations of this research include not factoring in team member experience level and reliance on extant data.

These results are potentially of use to designers of crowdsourced data science competitions as well as managers and contributors to distributed software development projects.

Although music education has been proven to benefit students, music programs are often cut when public school funding is reduced. The cost of instruments is a significant financial burden on music programs, which restricts student access to high-quality instruments that would benefit their learning. Therefore, this paper aims to develop additively manufactured, polylactic acid (PLA) claves that could reproduce the sound of wooden claves and be printed by students in schools at a reduced cost to promote equal access to music education regardless of a school’s financial status.

This study developed a dual approach for analyzing clave vibration using mathematical analysis in MATLAB and SolidWorks finite element frequency simulation to predict the natural frequencies of 15 claves with varying geometries. To evaluate the performance of both models, the authors obtained natural frequencies experimentally by recording the claves and analyzing the resulting frequency spectra. The authors considered the possible effects of damping and determined the effective damping required in both models through comparison with experimental results.

Results indicate that PLA claves cannot easily be made to replicate the high pitch of rosewood claves while maintaining typical clave dimensions. However, PLA claves could still be suitable in instances where matching pitch is not a primary concern or improved durability is desired. The SolidWorks simulation approach could accurately predict clave pitch for all varieties of clave, whereas the mathematical approach was only accurate in predicting pitch for the filled claves.

In this work, the authors attempted to create an analytical process for simple percussion instrument design, which is typically done with trial-and-error methods. Instead, the authors developed a two-pronged approach in which experimental results were compared to results obtained both mathematically and from a finite element simulation. Additionally, we limited the materials and equipment used to those that would be available in a school setting so that the clave prototypes could be reproduced by public school students, the population this research is intended to serve.

The purpose of this paper is to research how corporate communication regarding a specific corporate event (i.e. Tesla’s tweets about a new product) as well as the framing of both the event itself and the market reactions therewith in the news media influence the formation of the share price of the respective company over time. In so doing, the study provides insights into the nature of market-moving information and the role of financial news flows in shaping market reactions in today’s high-frequency news and information environment.

Using a multi-method case study approach, combining quantitative intraday event studies with a qualitative text analysis of financial online news and tweets by Elon Musk and Twitter, the authors shed light on the complex interaction between market events, financial information and stock market reactions. The analysis covers a period of four days, encompassing the announcement and introduction of the new battery pack for Model S and X by Tesla as well as the accompanying and follow-up reporting by the financial news media.

Findings show that market reactions are driven by business events and expectations among the market rather than the follow-up reporting by financial news media. Financial online news instead seems to heavily rely on Elon Musk’s attention-triggering news to sustain its 24-h airtime with a variety of reporting tools, keeping the highly demanded audience engaged. Eventually, Twitter accounts of media visible companies and personalities, such as Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk, have been found to be useful market information sources for day traders and shareholders to trade at a profit.

The study is a response to recent discussions about the legitimacy of Twitter communication by CEOs or representatives of listed companies. The findings show that Twitter communication needs to be well considered in light of strict market regulations (e.g. SEC in the USA) regarding insider-trading and the publication of market-relevant information. In addition, corporate financial communication should avoid impetuous communication via social media channels as this could have deterrent effects on the market valuation of a listed company.

This chapter examines the framing of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement in mainstream media. An analytic sample of 4,303 articles collected from the Dow Jones Factiva database reveals variation in depth, breadth, and intensity of BLM coverage in the following newspapers between 2012 and 2016: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Al Jazeera English. We review contemporary literature on racial inequality and employ Media Framing and Critical Race Theory to discuss the implications of our findings on public perceptions, future policy formation, and contemporary social protest worldwide.

The growth in popularity of new media has led some television networks in the United States to experiment with alternative forms of political debate by encouraging viewers of all ages to submit video questions to political candidates. Surprisingly, however, experimentation with this new type of debate format in the 2008 U.S. presidential election cycle did not lead to the adoption of new debate formats in the subsequent 2012 election cycle, despite its success with viewing audiences. This study examines various debate formats to understand the value of participatory, user-generated debate question formats versus more traditional debate question formats whereby moderators or live audience members ask presidential candidates scripted questions.

Using a between-subjects experiment, this study examines four types of televised debate formats to assess young adult viewers’ impressions of each format as well as image perceptions of a political candidate and the individual posing the debate question.

The findings suggest debate formats impact perceptions of a political candidate’s image differently for young men and young women. In addition, varying the debate format impacts young voters’ perceptions of debate questioners as well as their overall perceptions of the debate. Implications for viewing audiences are discussed.

U.S. presidential candidates should embrace presidential debate formats that encourage citizens to participate in the political process via new media technologies.

This study shows implementing more engaging and interactive presidential debate formats can positively impact young voters’ perceptions.

This paper explores the effects of the adaptation of the learning organisation (LO) concept to teaching in a university setting. The literature in accounting education calls for a change in traditional teaching methods in order to produce accounting graduates whose skills are more appropriate for the contemporary business and professional environment. To address this deficiency accounting educators have started to explore and use teaching innovations. In this study, the LO concept has been adapted to a teaching environment, in contrast to most research which has focused on LO in business settings. The paper, through the examination of empirical evidence arising from a natural experiment, was able to determine some of the impacts arising from the adaptation of the LO concept to teaching in a university setting. The results of the paper suggest that the adaptation of the LO concept not only resulted in improved student learning outcomes, but also influenced life‐long learning. Further research could widen the scope of the operationalisation of the LO concept and explore its use in other undergraduate and postgraduate units.

This paper posits that legal avoidance – employers’ search for forms of employment to which labor and employment laws do not apply – is an important driver of the restructuring of work. It examines three examples of restructuring that enable employers to avoid legal liability and compliance costs: the classification of workers as independent contractors; the use of part-time and variable-schedule work; and employers’ deskilling of jobs and reliance on vulnerable workers. None of these strategies is itself unlawful, but their impact is to limit workers’ legal protections and weaken the law itself. Employers may also experience unintended consequences of restructuring.

High team performance helps achieve several organizational benefits, such as strengthened competitive advantages, enhanced productivity, and higher profits and market share. For these reasons, the purpose of this paper is to propose a model based on the framework of proactive motivation and the theory of collectivism to analyze the formation of service flexibility and team performance.

To test the hypotheses, this study conducts a survey of service staff in teams from high-tech firms in a well-known industrial zone in Northern Taiwan. These teams provide service for their industrial customers. From the survey, this study confirms the full mediating mechanism of service flexibility among the teams.

The test results reveal that service flexibility fully mediates the relationship between team performance and its exogenous factors. Whereas collectivism negatively moderates the relationship between team efficacy and service flexibility, it does not moderate the relationship between service recovery and service flexibility. Furthermore, collectivism positively moderates the relationship between service flexibility and team performance.

This study provides important findings that complement previous literature by examining three fresh antecedents for explaining how team performance is motivated by the mediating role of service flexibility and how some of the study’s model paths are moderated by collectivism. The mediating role of service flexibility indicates that managers can apply service flexibility as a firewall that calibrates a team’s input and output. Managers should encourage the application of agile solutions and advanced technology for facilitating team flexibility, consequently improving team performance.