Human capital and innovation: the importance of the optimal organizational task structure

Management literature has identified high-skilled human capital as a crucial dimension of innovation processes at the firm level. In this study, we introduce an alternative view of human capital based on the tasks that firms’ workers perform. We propose a measure of cognitive analytical and interpersonal tasks: the degree of abstractism. We argue that the level of abstractism of a firm has an effect on a firm's propensity to innovate and on its product innovation performance. We hypothesize that while the degree of abstractism has a linear positive relationship with the propensity to innovate, the relationship between abstractism and product innovation performance follows an inverted u-shaped relationship. We find partial support to our hypotheses using data from more than six thousand Portuguese firms. We discuss how these results change our understanding of the relationship between human capital and innovation at the firm level.     

More is not always better: Effects of collaboration breadth and depth on radical and incremental innovation performance at the project level

This study investigates the effect of project-level collaboration breadth (i.e., the number of collaboration partner types) and collaboration depth (i.e., the intensity of the interactions with these partners) on the incremental and radical innovation performance of innovation projects. The econometric analyses, based on a Community Innovation Study sample of 218 innovation projects conducted in German manufacturing companies, reveal inverted U-shaped relationships between collaboration breadth and radical innovation performance and between collaboration depth and incremental innovation performance. These curvilinear effects speak to the high sensitivity of innovation projects to the extent of collaborative activity, which implies that practitioners should exert caution in managing collaborative innovation projects. This study contributes to the understanding of project-level open innovation and to the overall understanding of the performance effects of innovation collaboration, which, following recent assertions in the literature, could be flawed by analyses conducted at the organizational level.     

Exploring the influence of excessive social media use at work: A three-dimension usage perspective

Pervasive social media has resulted in technology dependency and excessive usage, which can lead to negative outcomes in organizations. This paper aims to investigate the effects of social media’s different excessive usage patterns on employee job performance and the corresponding underlying mechanism. Specifically, we propose three dimensions of excessive social media use at work (i.e., excessive social, hedonic, and cognitive). These dimensions are related to technology-work conflict and strain, which in turn decrease employee job performance. An empirical study of 305 social media users in organizations reveals that excessive social media use for socialization and entertainment can generate conflict between technology use and work demand, whereas excessive social media use for information-sharing reduces employees’ psychological strain. In addition, technology-work conflict and strain negatively influence job performance. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.     

商学教育国际化绩效评价

高等教育国际化绩效与教育质量和人才水平紧密相关,其中商科教育始终位列各类国际化专业之首,因此从此学科切入研究教育国际化问题具有一定的代表性。本文沿用以国际间的双向沟通与交流为核心的商学教育国际化定义,结合商学的学科特点,通过完善和调整已有的高等教育国际化指标体系,构建了包含7项定性指标和15项定量指标的商学教育国际化绩效评价指标体系。本文以32家国内商学院和16家国外商学院为研究样本,通过问卷调查和实地调研收集数据,并采用投入归一化的DEA模型分别从战略、教学、科研、管理和人员5个维度对国内外商学院的教育国际化绩效进行评价和比较。由于教学维度的两项指标存在统计困难,实际收集到的是区间数据,因此在此维度的绩效测度中采用了分别计算绩效得分下界和上界的两组DEA模型。基于绩效测度结果,本文发现：国内商学院和国外商学院在管理和人员两个方面的国际化绩效差别不大,相比于国外商学院,国内商学院在科研方面的国际化绩效较好,但在战略和教学两个方面的国际化绩效较弱,并且在教学国际化程度上具有明显的劣势。鉴于国内商学院在各维度下表现出的绩效损失,本文对其提出如下改进国际化绩效的建议：战略方面,依托地区教育资源及发展优势,积极与境外商学院展开合作;教学方面,深入推进课程的国际化,鼓励外文授课和使用原版教材,大力拓展中外合作办学项目;管理方面,将国际化纳入提拔干部和评聘职称的考量因素,扩大学院自身的书刊资源库,营造良好的国际化氛围;人员方面,引入国际化师资力量,适当提高外教在教师队伍中的占比。     

产学研合作创新网络开放度对企业创新绩效的影响

利用中国国家知识产权局1999-2010年间ICT产业的专利数据,构建产学研合作创新网络,并提取2603家企业的大样本面板数据,探讨产学研合作创新网络中企业合作开放度对创新绩效的影响。研究结果表明：研发合作开放度与创新绩效间的关系存在一个边际合作效应递减的学习效应曲线的U型区域。从动态能力的角度看,开放度对创新绩效的作用可能会出现动态循环的态势,表现出类似波浪形的学习效应曲线。     

气候变化专项绩效评估指标设计与应用

针对气候变化专项,本文从绩效评估角度进行了项目分类依据的研究,设计了与绩效评估相匹配的气候变化专项投入产出表,筛选出定性与定量相结合的评估指标,依据气候变化专项研究类项目的项目特征,从项目执行的有效性、项目成本的经济性和项目产出的效益性三个维度,建立以科技投入产出比为核心指标的绩效评价指标体系,包括指标的量化、指标的赋权和评分计算方法。基于投入产出数据的关系和评估指标的权重,建立气候变化专项科研绩效评估计算模型。通过对2005-2013年153个气候变化专项的评估,测试了评估指标和评估的方法,结果证实指标体系合理有效,评估结果可靠。     

基于ANP的我国软件和信息服务业发展绩效研究——以xx省(市)专项资金支出绩效评估为例

本文构建了软件和信息服务业专项资金评估指标体系,基于xx省(市)的财政局、经济与信息化委员会、软件与信息企业136份调查表采集的4466个数据,运用德尔非法和网络层次分析模型,评价了软件与信息服务业发展专项资金支出绩效水平。结果表明：专项资金支出绩效水平总体较高,但管理部门和企业在项目过程管理、绩效评估方面需加强;项目制度、补助政策标准满意度、项目申报指导性以及专项资金对小微企业的扶持作用需加强。     

Executive functioning during prolonged exercise: a fatigue-based neurocognitive perspective

ABSTRACT

Despite emotional, technical and endurance implications for athletes’ performance, a consensus has yet to be reached to explain the impairment of executive functioning during exercise. In particular, recent research challenges the original assumption of a linear dose–response effect of exercise intensity on cerebral physiology and executive functioning. We propose a fatigue-based neurocognitive perspective of executive functioning during prolonged exercise, suggesting that top-down (cognitive and physical efforts) and bottom-up processes (body sensations) act in parallel of arousing mechanisms to determine cognitive outcomes. In this perspective, executive functioning during prolonged exercise would be dynamical rather than steady (i.e. positively then negatively impacted by exercise) and would be to analyse in regards of exercise termination rather than of exercise intensity.     

Emotion regulation and motor performance: an integrated review and proposal of the Temporal Influence Model of Emotion Regulation (TIMER)

ABSTRACT

Adaptive regulation of emotions is imperative for successful sport performance. However, the lion’s share of mainstream emotion regulation (ER) literature is founded on perspectives prioritising mental health, not performance. Consequently, ER strategies are predominantly classified as adaptive or maladaptive based on effectiveness in achieving targeted mental health outcomes. These conventional mental health classifications can catalyse misapplication of ER strategies within sport and other motor performance contexts when (1) ER motives are instrumentally directed towards performance enhancement and (2) Minimal consideration is given to the consequences of ER on the coordination and execution of motor actions. Herein, we review the current state of relevant ER research within and outside of sport contexts. We also present a novel conceptual framework, the Temporal Influence Model of Emotion Regulation (TIMER). TIMER proposes that ER strategies exert distinct, temporally dependent demands upon perceptual-cognitive and motoric resources. These unique regulatory profiles influence subsequent motor performance outcomes. Critically, the degree to which regulatory strategies are appropriate or ideal varies given environmental constraints along with performers’ affective and performance goals. The model includes testable hypotheses to guide theoretical and applied research in the domain of ER within sport and other motor performance contexts.     

Increased foot-stretcher height improves rowing performance: evidence from biomechanical perspectives on water

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes on foot-stretcher height were associated with characteristics of better rowing performance. Ten male rowers performed a 200 m rowing trial at their racing rate at each of three foot-stretcher heights. A single scull was equipped with an accelerometer to collect boat acceleration, an impeller with embedded magnets to collect boat speed, specially designed gate sensors to collect gate force and angle, and a compact string potentiometer to collect leg drive length. All sensor signals were sampled at 50 Hz. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA showed that raising foot-stretcher position had a significant reduction on total gate angle and leg drive length. However, a raised foot-stretcher position had a deeper negative peak of boat acceleration at the catch, a lower boat fluctuation, a faster leg drive speed, a larger gate force for the port and starboard side separately. This could be attributed to the optimisation of the magnitude and direction of the foot force with a raised foot-stretcher position. Although there was a significant negative influence of a raised foot-stretcher position on two kinematic variables, biomechanical evidence suggested that a raised foot-stretcher position could contribute to the improvement of rowing performance.