Employee responses to employment‐relationship practices: The role of psychological empowerment and traditionality

In studying the effect of employment‐relationship practices on employees, research has largely ignored individual differences, both cross‐culturally and within cultures. In this study, the authors examine the moderating effect of middle managers' traditionality, a within‐culture value orientation regarding submission to authority and endorsement of hierarchical role relationships, on their responses to an organization's employee–organization relationship practices. Based on social learning and social exchange theories, the authors expect the more traditional middle managers to respond less positively in terms of their performance and commitment to high levels of expected contributions and the associated psychological empowerment but respond more positively to high levels of offered inducements. Using a sample of 535 middle managers from 40 companies in China, the authors find support for all hypotheses except the moderating effect of traditionality on the relationship between offered inducements and performance. Additional analysis reveals that less‐traditional managers responded to economic rewards (but not developmental rewards) with higher job performance. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for research and the practice of employment relationships. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental evidence for the effects of task repetitiveness on mental strain and objective work performance

People frequently have to work in high repetitive jobs. Previous research has focused exclusively on the effects of task repetitiveness on well‐being, while neglecting effects on work performance. In the present study, we aimed to fill this void by conducting two workplace simulations with experimental manipulations of task repetitiveness. Participants worked for about 5 hours at either a computer workstation, compiling computer hardware packages according to customer requests (Experiment 1, N = 160), or at an assembly line, piecing together equipment sets for furniture (Experiment 2, N = 213). Both experiments provide consistent evidence that high repetitiveness has a detrimental effect on well‐being, whereas work performance increases under conditions of high repetitiveness. On a practical level, our study hence shows that high task repetitiveness is a double‐edged sword for both employees and organizations. On a conceptual level, our findings emphasize the necessity to account for both mental strain and work performance when examining the effects of task repetitiveness. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parsing organizational culture: How the norm for adaptability influences the relationship between culture consensus and financial performance in high‐technology firms

The relationship between organizational culture and financial performance remains elusive even though researchers have studied it for some time. Early research suggested that a strong culture that aligns members' behavior with organizational objectives boosts financial performance. A more recent view is that, because strong cultures promote adherence to routines and behavioral uniformity, they are less effective in dynamic environments. We suggest that the relationship between culture and performance can be reconciled by recognizing that culture encompasses three components: (1) the content of norms (norm content); (2) how widely members agree about norms (culture consensus); and (3) how intensely organizational members hold particular norms (norm intensity). We hypothesize that “strong cultures”—where a high consensus exists among members across a broad set of culture norms—can contribute to better financial performance even in dynamic environments if norm content intensely emphasizes adaptability. We test this hypothesis in a sample of large firms in the high‐technology industry. Firms characterized by higher culture consensus and intensity about adaptability performed better three years later than did those characterized by lower consensus, lower intensity about adaptability, or both. We discuss how parsing culture into content, consensus, and intensity advances theoretical and empirical understanding of the culture–performance relationship. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collective fit perceptions: A multilevel investigation of person–group fit with individual‐level and team‐level outcomes

This study describes a multilevel examination of person–group (PG) fit perceptions in a sample of 1023 individuals working in 92 teams at a private sector R&D firm. Using confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel random coefficient modeling, we provide evidence that perceptions of team‐level collective fit are unique from aggregated individual‐level PG fit perceptions at the individual and team levels. We demonstrate that collective values‐based and abilities‐based fit perceptions showed unique and positive relationships with team cohesion, team efficacy, and team performance, after accounting for aggregated individual perceptions of PG fit. Results also demonstrate that cohesion partially mediates the relationship between collective fit and team performance. Cross‐level effects were also supported, indicating that collective fit explains additional variance in individual‐level outcomes, beyond individual‐level PG fit perceptions. The usefulness of employing a multilevel approach to studying PG fit is discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Family–work conflict and job performance: A diary study of boundary conditions and mechanisms

In this study, we used a within‐person daily research paradigm to examine the relationship between daily family–work conflict (FWC) and daily job performance. On the basis of theory on dynamic behavior, we hypothesized that concentration serves as a mechanism through which daily FWC impairs daily job performance. We further predicted that psychological detachment from work during time‐off (i.e., mentally switching off) buffers the negative relationship between daily FWC and daily job performance. Ninety‐five employees completed daily surveys over one workweek. Multilevel modeling results showed that daily FWC was negatively associated with daily job performance and that concentration mediated this relationship. Furthermore, general psychological detachment, but not daily psychological detachment, buffered the negative relationship between daily FWC and daily job performance. The current findings suggest that daily FWC has negative performance implications and that the general level rather than the daily level of psychological detachment from work helps alleviate the negative implications. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid liquid chromatographic analysis of Metoclopramide in pharmaceutical preparations

A sensitive, accurate and reproducible method for the analysis of metoclopramide, a gastrointestinal drug, has been described. An isocratic HPLC elution method was employed which requires about 10 minutes to be performed. The concentration of metoclopramide hydrochloride preparations was found to be 95.1 ±0.3% and 94.21 ±0.25% in tablet and injection formulations, respectively.     

Does the stock market value the inclusion in a sustainability stock index? An event study analysis for German firms

This paper empirically analyzes the effect of the inclusion of German corporations in the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index (DJSI STOXX) and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) on stock performance. In order to receive robust estimation results, we apply an (short-term) event study approach that is based on both a modern asset pricing model, namely the three-factor model according to Fama and French [24], and additionally a t-GARCH(1,1) model. Our empirical results suggest that stock markets may penalize the inclusion of a firm in sustainability stock indexes. This finding is mainly driven by a strongly negative effect of the inclusion in the DJSI World. In contrast, we do not find significant average cumulative abnormal returns for the inclusion in the DJSI STOXX. This suggests that the inclusion in a more visible sustainability stock index may have larger negative impacts.     

影响中国碳排放绩效的区域特征研究——基于熵值法的聚类分析

论文选择影响碳排放绩效的主要指标,基于熵值法确定各指标权重,采用系统聚类分析的方法,以中国省域为研究对象,将全国分为7类区域。分析结果显示:区域分工特征是造成目前中国省级碳排放绩效区域差异的主要影响因素,其次是高碳产业工艺特征和能源结构特征,而经济结构对解释省级碳排放绩效区域差异的贡献有限。北方地区高碳产品生产份额高且工艺水平相对低,能源消费中极高的煤炭比例加重了负面影响,造成其二氧化碳排放绩效水平低,特别是华北地区;近年来东南沿海地区高碳产业也逐步增加,但由于其工艺先进,在一定程度上抵消了高碳产品份额高的负面影响;中西部地区目前高碳产品份额虽然低于东部地区,但工艺水平也低,造成了其低水平的二氧化碳排放绩效。由于各省历史发展、自然资源禀赋、区域分工角色等因素不同,且遵从经济宏观发展客观规律和经济区位理论,除了少数发达地区之外,中国其他区域短时间内很难改变其经济和能源结构,低碳政策制定的重点应放在提高高碳产业工艺水平方面。     

Book reviews and notices

The aim of sustainable development is to balance social, economic, and environmental needs. In order to justify the decisions they make, stakeholders must quantify the different impacts found in the operations and developments of companies and/or projects throughout their life cycle. However, as some areas are subjective in nature, the quantification process of the different impacts and the assessment of sustainable development performance become arduous tasks of development, validation, and application of scientific and empirical methods with the intrinsic objective of finding an agreement among the involved parties (i.e., stakeholders). Several environmental and sustainability assessment tools, instruments, processes, and methodologies have been developed; rating systems stand out and have gained attention and credibility, as demonstrated by the vast number of certified projects around the world and the widely-known usefulness and advantages of their application. The Wa-Pa-Su project sustainability rating system presents an integrated approach to sustainability assessment by integrating three distinctive areas of knowledge: (1) sustainable development theory and fundamentals supports the ultimate goal of the rating system, which is to contribute to sustainability, with the aim of finding a path to balance social, economic, and environmental needs; (2) continual performance improvement becomes essential due to the duration of the projects, as it is critical to allow organizations or projects to improve performance over time; and (3) multi-criteria decision analysis assists with the assessment process through stakeholder engagement and participation, and the design and implementation of a criteria weighting system.     

超高效液相色谱串联质谱法检测鱼体中的全氟化合物

采用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱联用法(UPLC-ESI-MS/MS),建立了检测1种贝类和2种鱼类的肌肉组织中11种全氟化合物(PFCs)的分析方法.采用碱液消解做为样品前处理法,选Carbon/NH2双层SPE小柱做为净化小柱,并以ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18为分析柱,甲醇和2 mmol.L-15%甲醇乙酸铵溶液为梯度淋洗液.所选定的11种全氟化合物在6 min内就可以达到良好分离,外标法定量.平均回收率在72.1%—93.6%之间,相对标准偏差在0.6%—9.5%之间,实际检出限在3.4—26.7 pg.g-1.