Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine how, within a team, the value of their best member depends critically on the performance of the rest. Analysis of the interdependent team members complements the traditional focus of resource‐based‐view analyses of isolated resources.

The authors used data from 584 National Basketball Association teams (30 teams collected over 21 seasons).

The authors find a positive relationship between best member performance and team performance that increases as the rest of the team members’ performance improves.

Having team members with a high individual performance does not imply that the team will have a competitive advantage over the rest. To gain this advantage, it is also necessary that the rest of the team members also show a high individual performance.

These results contribute to the team literature increasing our knowledge about the effect of complementary resources on gaining competitive advantage. Additionally, sports teams offer the possibility of using objective data to assess team members’ individual value within a team.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of delayed water curing on the mechanical and microstructural properties of fly ash-based geopolymer paste-blended with Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) with different rest periods.

The blended geopolymer paste was composed of GGBS (15 per cent of the total weight) and the base material, Fly Ash (FA). The blended mix was activated by activator solution (Sodium hydroxide and Sodium silicate) containing 6 per cent Na₂O of total base material. The effect of delayed water curing has been studied by gradually increasing the aging period (Rest Period) from 2 hours to 24 hours in the formation of activated outcome along with Calcium Silicate Hydrate (CSH). To analyze the mechanical and microstructural properties of the resultant blended geopolymer paste, compressive strength test, FESEM and XRD have been carried out. Moreover, a long-term durability test subjected to sulphate exposure has been performed to evaluate the durability of the designed sustainable geopolymer paste.

The present paper shows that the delayed water curing incorporates secondary heat input enhancing the partial polymer formation along with CSH. Slag-blended AAFA-based geopolymer paste is seen to exhibit quick setting property. Also, AAFA-based geopolymer paste samples subjected to longer rest period show early strength gain at a high rate under water curing as compared to those subjected to the shorter rest period.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, the effect of delayed water curing on the mechanical and microstructural properties of slag-blended AAFA-based geopolymer paste has not been studied before.

The article aims to describe the reasons that rest is an important part of leadership.

The benefits of rest to the organization and to the individual are explained. The article advances practical strategies that leaders can implement in their teams to replenish the energy levels within them.

The article details the importance of creating mandatory “no smart‐phone” times with teams; ensuring and enforcing a mandatory “no contact” practice between employees and the office while they are on vacation; finding ways to creatively praise employees who ask for time off for special family events, rather than praising those who sacrifice family events for the sake of work projects; and finding reasons, when possible, to send employees home early at random times with the mandate to relax at home.

It is explained that rest is essential to success as leaders. Leaders cannot perform at maximum efficiency 100 percent of the time.

It is argued that society reveres leaders for their work ethic, but rarely for their “rest ethic”, and that a better balance between the two is needed.

The article focuses on how leaders regenerate energy after expending it.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the benefits of reintroducing traditional grazing systems practices for improving arid rangelands. Grazing is the most extensive land use in southern Tunisia, but the rangelands have suffered many decades of severe degradation due to profound socioeconomic changes and the emergence of an agro-pastoral society in place of the former pastoral one. Traditional grazing systems (gdel and herd mobility), which had historically allowed for grazing deferment and control of grazing livestock were abandoned. Yet grazing management strategies are important tools to sustain integrated livestock rangeland production systems in dry areas in the face of ongoing climate change and human pressure.

This study assesses the revival of traditional best practices of rangeland resting in a representative community. Total plant cover, species composition, flora richness and range production were determined in six rangeland sites subjected respectively to one, two and three years of rest; one and two years of light grazing after rest; and free grazing (control).

Results showed that dry rangelands keep their resilience to the negative effects of climate change once human pressure is controlled. A maximum of two years of rest is enough to sustainably manage the rangelands in southern Tunisia, as this protection showed considerable and positive effects on the parameters scored.

The revival of the traditional best practices under new arrangements adapted to current biophysical and socioeconomic conditions would be an excellent tool to mitigate the negative effects of frequent droughts and reduce the animal feed costs that poor farmers face.

From Europe moving forward into Asia, the Silk Road has the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) on the way. These countries alphabetically include: “Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.” While these countries have long been dependent on oil for development, they are currently planning to reduce this dependence and consider innovation as an important mean for future development. This chapter explores the past progress of innovation in the GCC countries; and highlights future directions ahead. In this respect two end countries of the Silk Road, Italy and China, are also considered. The chapter views innovation from the wide angle of the Global Innovation Index, which has 7 main dimensions, consisting of 21 sub-dimensions, which are refined into 81 international indicators. An approach for looking into the current state, the past progress, and the future directions of innovation in the countries concerned is developed and followed using available data. Although the outcome is based on the currently available data, the approach can be re-used for newer data providing continuous benefits to directing future development.

Moral intensity is the degree of feeling we have about the consequences of moral choices, similar, for example, to those perceived for crimes, from petty larceny to murder. Moral intensity is thought to increase moral sensitivity and judgment. Because the accounting professions require members to respond to accounting fraud with more sensitivity and intensity, we examine this response in 220 professional accountants (mostly Certified Public Accountants) under a controlled experiment using two different cases. We examine the first three parts of the Rest (1986) model including ethical evaluation, judgment, and intention to act. We measure moral intensity in the accountant’s perception of overall harm and societal pressure. As in prior research, we find that the degree of moral intensity may be contextual. We find that the ethical evaluations may become affected by perceived overall harm, and whistleblowing intentions by perceived societal pressure. However, in both cases, the professional’s judgments are most affected by moral intensity. Consistent with prior research, whistleblowing intentions may involve many other mitigating variables, such as audit reporting or non-audit reporting limited by codes of conduct. These findings relate to the increasing attention paid by the SEC to finding accounting fraud.

This manuscript makes three important contributions to the existing literature. First, there are few studies in this area and Jones (1991) identifies that moral intensity is issue contingent; therefore, replication studies using different scenarios are needed. Second, Bailey, Scott, and Thoma (2010) have suggested that accounting ethics research has focused too narrowly on Component II of Rest’s Four-Component Model. None of the previous studies looked at all three steps in Rest’s Model; therefore, our manuscript provides an important contribution over the other previous studies. Third, our sample uses professionals and not students as surrogates for professionals.

Higher degree by research (HDR) graduates are often perceived to be overly specialised and are unable to adapt to non-academic settings (Jaeger and Rudra, 2013). Universities are under increasing pressure to embed research and transferrable skills into the candidature in a flexible and meaningful way to equip graduates with the skills to succeed in a range of careers. The paper aims to study how Flinders University has embedded the Research and Employability Skills Training (REST) Program into the HDR.

REST was established to replace the workshop-based professional development program, with a structured, compulsory, comprehensive program for HDR students, based on the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF). The Program aims to provide students with the research skills they need to complete their studies and the transferrable skills employers seek, through an online, supported program that helps them identify their needs, plan and control their skills development. Such a comprehensive online candidature management system has enabled Flinders to implement the RDF and successfully and comprehensively embed REST into the HDR candidature, assisting students to articulate and demonstrate their skills with documented evidence.

The Program has been running for one year, and so far, has been successful. Students are increasingly completing the initial online Skills Needs Analysis assessment component, which helps to identify their skills gaps and recommend workshops to meet their needs. Supervisors and students are engaging with the Program through structured discussion and refection of skills at each annual milestone, thanks to the help of the Inspire online candidature management system.

REST is a valuable resource for HDR students, providing them with a range of skills to progress with their research, writing and professional development training that complements, but is separate from, their degree. Providing a structured training program which follows and supports students’ candidature, and is based around the training needs and career trajectories of the student assists the students be more equipped and supported to complete on time and are well prepared for a range of career outcomes.

THE centripetal forces at work in the world seem to draw all human associations into larger groups. Work Study has been no exception to this, as the formation of a European Federation six months ago indicates. Another manifestation of the same tendency is the letter we print from a correspondent suggesting that there is only room for one professional organisation for Work Study in this country.