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Most Western nations ascribe to the belief that equal opportunity of the sexes is a worthy objective even if it has rarely been realised in practice. The overriding cause of sex discrimination is the persistence of customs that harken back to an age when work roles were justified by physical differences. This same division of labour can be found in the most economically advanced nations even though technology has supplanted all but a few vestiges of this pre‐industrial argument. The intellectual justification for opening up opportunities for women are remarkably ineffective in the face of sheer habit.

I much has been written about the necessary dissemination of knowledge and the part ‘abstracts’ have to play in the field of science. Yet one particular application has always been treated rather casually, the abstracting of patent specifications, although much up‐to‐date information found nowhere else can be obtained from these publications.

The papers in this issue of Aslib Proceedings were, for the most part, given at 1954 meetings but two 1953 papers, held over from the preceding issue, are included here. The first is a summary of Miss Littlejohn's talk on information services organized in connection with the Citizens' Advice Bureaux and other activities of the National Council of Social Service, which she gave to the Aslib Winter Meeting on 9th December, 1953. The second is Mr. Barker's ‘Sources of Russian economic information’, which was given at the Midlands Branch meeting at Birmingham on 4th December, 1953, and which is a companion‐piece to Dr. A. L. Mackay's paper printed in the May issue.

The purpose of this paper is to study the friction and wear behavior of germanium (Ge) thin films deposited by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition method on a chromium (Cr)-nickel (Ni) stainless steel substrate after being exposed to relatively mild sliding conditions (low loads and sliding distances).

Wear and friction experiments were conducted with a 100Cr6 steel ball sliding against flat Ge thin-film-coated stainless steel sheets (ball-on-flat microtribometer, no lubricant, normal loads of 50-100 mN, initial Hertzian contact pressures of 385-485 MPa, total sliding distance up to 200 mm and room temperature).

Scanning electron microscopy results revealed that prepared Ge thin films consisted of two different morphologies: curved nanowires and cone-shaped nano-/microdroplets. Regarding friction and wear characteristics of the investigated samples, the substrates coated with Ge thin films did not affect the coefficient of friction significantly by load. The wear of the base material (Cr-Ni stainless steel) was not observed under the mentioned experimental conditions (see the “Design/methodology/approach” section); however, with increased sliding distance and/or applied load, a rupture of the Ge film and an exposure of the stainless steel substrate to the 100Cr6 ball can be expected. Furthermore, the observations suggest that the smearing of Ge nano- and microstructures, plastically deformed during tribotesting, over the surface exposed to the sliding contact is the dominant tribological process.

For the first time, the tribological interaction between Ge thin film and steel surface was investigated under dry sliding conditions using a ball-on-flat microtribometer, and the obtained results provide a useful base for the further research on tribology of Ge-based thin films.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that individuals consider necessary to be happy in their job. Based on these factors, a measure of job design happiness (JDH) is proposed.

Two methods were applied: a qualitative study with content analyses (n=969) to develop an exploratory questionnaire; and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis by applying structural equations models. In this second study the questionnaire was sent to a second sample (n=1,079).

Five first-order factors were identified: self-fulfillment; group working, attaining goals; leadership; and sustainability and job/family balance. These factors are explained by a second order factor: JDH.

Further research is needed to determine how the identified “job design happiness” components may interact with one another. Testing the measure of different industries and national cultures is also suggested.

Managers and human resources practitioners can improve job and organizational performance by applying the scale in several moments in time measuring the job happiness “pulse,” monitoring their decisions.

The adoption of this measure for decision making in organizational and job design can contribute to the improvement of living standards and firm sustainability.

Research on organizational happiness has been increasing but instruments to measure JDH, considering organizational factors, are limited.

Recent events demonstrate that problems in the banking system pose a significant threat to the health of the global economy. Despite several shortcomings the Basel Accord thus emerges as an attempt to protect banking systems. The purpose of this study is to shed light on potential barriers to implementation of the Basel Accord in emerging countries. Several issues of wider interest to risk management and financial regulation also emerge.

The paper maps implementation of the Basel Accord against the wider regulatory context. Against this backdrop, the Basel Accord appears well‐motivated but is limited by several practical considerations. These factors, amidst other practical implications, are identified as the paper applies rigorous statistical methods to novel primary survey data from risk managers.

The Basel Accord is generally well‐received due its dual aims of improved capital administration and scientific risk management. Operational risk is a significant barrier to implementation, with a number of further issues only partially addressed (see below). Equally supported by both public and private sector banks the reasons for delay appear due to lack of technical expertise and the level of preparation. Results highlight credit risk, practical implementation issues (IT and HR), minimal capital requirements, data security and operational risk as issues of critical importance.

The originality of the contribution lies in the scientific treatment of novel primary data from risk managers tasked with implementation of the Basel Accord. Findings suggest several important practical implications discussed above.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients can suffer from long-term transplant-related complications that affect their quality of life and daily activities. This study, a narrative review, aims to report the impact of HCT complications, the benefits of rehabilitation intervention, the need for long-term care and highlights the research gap in clinical trials involving rehabilitation.

A comprehensive search strategy was performed on several databases to look for relevant articles published from 1998 to 2018. Articles published in English with the following terms were used: hematopoietic stem cell transplant, chronic graft-versus-host disease, rehabilitation, exercise, physical therapy, occupational therapy. A patient/population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) framework was employed to ensure that the search strategies were structured and precise. Study year, design, outcome, intervention, sample demographics, setting and study results were extracted.

Of the 1,411 records identified, 51 studies underwent title/abstract screening for appropriateness, 30 were reviewed in full, and 19 studies were included in the review. The review found that, for the majority of patients who underwent HSCT and developed treatment-related complications, rehabilitation exercises had a positive impact on their overall quality of life. However, exercise prescription in this patient group has not always reflected the scientific approach; there is a lack of high-quality clinical trials in general. The review also highlights the need to educate healthcare policymakers and insurance companies responsible for rationing services to recognise the importance of offering long-term follow-up care for this patient group, including rehabilitation services.

A large number of HSCT patients require long-term follow-up from a multidisciplinary team, including rehabilitation specialists. It is important for healthcare policymakers and insurance companies to recognise this need and take the necessary steps to ensure that HSCT patients receive adequate long-term care. This paper also highlights the urgent need for high-quality rehabilitation trials to demonstrate the feasibility and importance of rehabilitation teams.

Healthcare policymakers and insurance companies need to recognise that transplant patients need ongoing physiotherapy for early identification of any functional impairments and appropriate timely intervention.

This paper aims to understand the relationships of complementary specialization, cognitive trust, affective trust, tie strength and similarity with group formation intention.

The data have been collected from 30 management students from a batch of 110 students of a premiere Indian business school. To assess the proposed relationship, multiple hierarchical regression was performed on collected data by using SPSS© 20.

The obtained results exhibited cognitive trust, affective trust and tie strength as significant predictors of dyadic group formation intention, whereas similarity and complementary specialization were not found.

The research on group formation is limited, and more particularly the functions of the above-mentioned factors on the group formation intentions of management graduates are yet to generalize. Therefore, present research is an early approach which tries to address the mentioned gap from a social network perspective and considers the group formation and social network literature.

The knowledge transfer plays a key role in the firm’s capability to develop and to maintain a strategic competitive advantage over time. The capability of the firm to develop an efficient and effective process of knowledge transfer increases the internal skills and then the capability to compete in the business with positive effects on the performance. In order to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the knowledge transfer process it must be consider two main variables: the amount of knowledge to be transferred and the speed of the process. In this contest, the purpose of this paper is to developed a theoretical model, defined the knowledge transfer curve, able to evaluate the knowledge transfer process on the basis of its speed.

The curve of the knowledge transfer is based on the methodology of the learning curve. The curve of the knowledge transfer process can be evaluated on the basis of two main variables: the first is the content of knowledge to be transferred. It refers to the quality and quantity of the information to be transferred within the firm; and the second is the speed of the knowledge transfer process. It refers to the time in which the knowledge transfer can be realized. The function of the knowledge transfer is defined using ordinary differential equation.

There is an inverse relationship between time t and the variation rate r. The higher the variable r, the faster the knowledge transfer toward the level K. Therefore, the variable r measures the efficiency and effectiveness of the knowledge transfer process. On the basis of these considerations, manager must evaluate their policies about the knowledge transfer on the basis of their effects on the variable r: only the policy that increases its value can be considered effective for the knowledge transfer process.

The originality resides in the development of a theoretical model that is able to capture and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the knowledge transfer. It is possible to define a curve of knowledge transfer on the basis of these two variables: content of the knowledge to be transferred and the time of the transfer process, by using an ordinary differential equation.

This paper aims to extend understanding of how team creative potential translates into team creativity. Drawing on social exchange theories, the authors propose that reward interdependence produce cooperative intra-team interactions, which in turn enables aggregate levels of individual member creativity to translate into team creativity. Further, the authors propose that reward interdependence enhances this link indirectly by motivating collective norms around knowledge sharing.

Multi-source and multi-wave data was collected from 94 R&D teams in two large medical firms. At Time 1, team members assessed the degree of reward interdependence and knowledge sharing characterizing their team; team leaders rated each member’s individual creativity. Unit leaders reported on the team’s overall creativity at Time 2 (three months after Time 1).

The results indicate that the effect of aggregate member creativity (AMC) on team creativity is moderated by reward interdependence in such a way that when reward interdependence is high, AMC has stronger positive effects on team creativity. Furthermore, knowledge sharing, as motivated by reward interdependence, mediates this moderating effect.

By integrating the team design and team creativity literatures, this paper advances an interactive model in which team creative composition combines with reward interdependence and knowledge sharing to help team creativity.