Code-switching 101: Black women counselor educators’ personal and professional identity development

The perceptions of personal and professional identity development from four Black women counselor educators were examined through a collaborative autoethnography methodology. Themes identified include (a) intentionality of code-switching, (b) inextricable identities, (c) fight for and with authenticity, and (d) mutual development of personal and professional identities.     

Green intellectual capital and environmental product innovation: the mediating role of green social capital

Although the importance of intellectual capital has already been highlighted in the management literature, few articles have focused on the importance of its green counterpart, green intellectual capital. Nowadays, when environmental concerns cannot be ignored by firms, it is therefore time to explore the role of green intellectual capital in environmental improvement. For that reason, our research aims to explore the relationships between green intellectual capital components and the environmental performance of the firms. In particular, we try to show the importance of green organizational and social capital in the development of environmental product innovations, which are vital to the development and implementation of environmental strategies since, as scholars have pointed out, they generate some of the greatest environmental impacts. The empirical results show that green organizational capital has an indirect impact on environmental product innovation through green social capital, meaning that the latter is a significant mediator of that relationship, and at the same time emphasizing that informal relationships play a key role in the improvement of the environmental performance of the firm and, more specifically, in the development of environmental product innovations.     

Social capital as a driver of local knowledge exchange: a social network analysis

The objective of this paper is to take an in-depth look, from a network perspective, at the role that social capital plays in improving knowledge exchange between organizations. To do this, we consider the three dimensions of social capital: the structural dimension, as measured by the position of firms bridging structural holes; the relational dimension, as gauged by the level of trust and friendship in each relationship; and the cognitive dimension, as estimated by the presence of a shared culture. We also evaluate the level of organizational and human capital present in terms of the firms in the network. Empirical evidence has been gathered from the Madrid Science Park in Spain by applying the social network analysis methodology. The results show that the three dimensions of social capital play a significant role in increasing knowledge exchange in this network, while human and organizational capital differences are only significant for a sub-sample.     

Critical elements for product innovation at Portuguese innovative SMEs: an intellectual capital perspective

Knowledge Management Research & Practice - The general purpose of this research is to study interaction effects between intangible assets and product innovation. More specifically, the authors...     

The relationships among consumers’ ethical ideology,risk aversion and ethically-based distrust of online retailers and the moderating role of consumers’ need for personal interaction

Consumer distrust is only recently beginning to be perceived as an important e-commerce issue and, unlike online trust, the nature and role of distrust is much less established. This study examines the influence of two important consumer characteristics (ethical ideology and risk aversion) on consumer’s ethically-based distrust of online retailers. Also, the moderating role of consumer’s need for personal contact with sales staff is tested. Results from 409 online consumers confirm that both relativist-based ethical ideology and risk aversion are strongly and positively related to consumers’ distrust. Interestingly, our findings show that positive effects of relativism and risk aversion on consumer’s distrust are moderated by consumers’ need for personal interaction, which is more pronounced for those consumers with a high need for personal interaction with retail salespeople.     

Skating mechanics of change-of-direction manoeuvres in ice hockey players

Ice hockey requires rapid transitions between skating trajectories to effectively navigate about the ice surface. Player performance relates in large part to effective change-of-direction manoeuvres, but little is known about how those skills are performed mechanically and the effect of equipment design on them. The purpose of this study was to observe the kinetics involved in those manoeuvres as well as to compare whether kinetic differences may result between two skate models of varying ankle mobility. Eight subjects with competitive ice hockey playing experience performed rapid lateral (90°) left and right change-of-direction manoeuvres. Kinetic data were collected using force strain gauge transducers on the blade holders of the skates. Significantly greater forces were applied by the outside skate (50–70% body weight, %BW) in comparison to the inside skate (12–24%BW, p < 0.05). Skate model and turn direction had no main effect, though significant mixed interactions between leg side (inside/outside) with skate model or turn direction (p < 0.05) were observed, with a trend for left-turn dominance. This study demonstrates the asymmetric dynamic behaviour inherent in skating change-of-direction tasks.     

Return to play management after concussion in football: recommendations for team physicians

Abstract

A concussion is a rare but potentially serious injury of football players. Thus, an immediate and valid diagnosis, estimate of severity and therapeutic management is required. To summarise the published information on management of concussion with respect to a safe return to play (RTP), a literature search was conducted. Current guidelines on concussion in sports and significant studies on concussion in football were analysed. After concussion, management and RTP decision should remain in the area of clinical judgement on an individualised basis according to the current international guidelines. If a concussion is suspected, the player should not be allowed to RTP the same day. The RTP programme should follow a gradual step-wise procedure. A concussed player should not RTP unless he/she is asymptomatic and the neurological and neuropsychological examinations are normal. Untimely RTP bears an increased risk of sustaining another more severe brain injury and repetitive brain injury of long-term sequelae. In football, the management of concussion should primarily follow the recommendations proposed by the Concussion in Sports Group. Information and education of players and their medical and coaching team help to protect the players’ health. Future studies on concussion should include validated and detailed information on RTP protocols.     

‘Tracksuit Traitors’: Eastern German Top Athletes on the Run

In the time between its founding and the fall of the wall in November 1989, more than three million people left the German Democratic Republic, many of them illegally and under dangerous circumstances. The party leadership perceived this mass exodus of its citizens as one of the major threats for the real socialist regime.1^?1. Bispinck Bispinck, Henrick. “Republikflucht. Flucht und Ausreise als Problem der DDR-Führung.” Vor dem Mauerbau. Politik und Gesellschaft der DDR in den Fünfziger Jahren, edited by MichaelSchwartz and Hermann Wentker, 285–309. München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2003. [Google Scholar], “Republikflucht.”‘Republikflucht’, as this move from East to West was called by the party leadership, was the reason for the two most important hiatuses in Eastern German history: the first result was that the SED leadership built the wall in August 1961. Many years later, in the fall of 1989, the situation culminated, when a flood of desperate refugees tried to escape to the Federal Republic of Germany via Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia, thus effectively hurrying along the regime's demise. The world of sports, too, was considerably affected by this phenomenon. The following essay shall offer a short historical summary of the different reasons and routes Eastern German top athletes chose for their escape. Examples from various decades show that in spite of individual circumstances certain similarities in pattern can be made out, especially in respect to the way the government dealt with these cases of ‘treason’.