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Fontan patients undergo multiple cardiothoracic surgeries in childhood. Following these procedures, ventricular function is temporarily decreased, and recovers over months. This is presumably related to cardiopulmonary bypass, but this is incompletely understood. Throughout the Fontan palliation, cardiac function is also affected by volume unloading. We aimed to gain insight into the biological processes related to impaired ventricular function and recovery following Fontan palliations using a panel of biomarkers. Furthermore, we described changes in ventricular function across the Fontan palliation due to volume unloading. We performed a prospective multicenter observational study in patients undergoing partial (PCPC) or total cavo-pulmonary connection (TCPC). Patients underwent assessment—including echocardiography and blood sampling—before surgery (T1), at first follow-up (T2), and 1 year after their procedures (T3). Blood samples were analyzed using a biomarker panel (OLINK CVD-III). Ninety-two biomarkers were expressed as principal components (PC) to limit multiple statistical testing. We included 32 PCPC patients aged 7.2 [5.3–10.3] months, and 28 TCPC patients aged 2.7 [2.2–3.8] years. The single ventricular longitudinal strain (SV GLS) temporarily decreased for PCPC patients at T2 (−15.1 ± 5.6 (T1) to −13.5 ± 5.2 (T2) to −17.3 ± 4.5 (T3), p < 0.047 for all differences), but not following TCPC. The serum biomarkers were expressed as 4 PCs. PC1, including biomarkers of cell–cell adhesion, was not related to any patient characteristic. PC2, including biomarkers of superoxide anion regulation, increased at T2. PC3, including biomarkers of cardiovascular development, related to the stage of Fontan palliation. PC4 was of uncertain biological or clinical significance. No PC was found that related to ventricular performance. The SV GLS was temporarily diminished following PCPC, but not following TCPC. Several biomarkers were related to post-operative stress and adaptation to the PCPC or TCPC circulation, but none were related to the outcome.

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Dutch Heart Foundation Background Ventricular performance is temporarily reduced following surgical atrial septal defect (ASD) closure. Cardiopulmonary bypass and changes in loading conditions are considered important factors, but this phenomenon is incompletely understood. We aim to characterize biventricular performance following surgical and percutaneous ASD closure and to relate biomarkers to ventricular performance following intervention. Methods In this multicenter prospective study, children scheduled for surgical or percutaneous ASD closure were included. Subjects were assessed pre-operatively (T1); in the 2nd week post-intervention (T2) and 1 year post-intervention (T3). At each time point an echocardiographic study and a panel of biomarkers was obtained. Results Sixty-three patients (age 4.1 [3.1–6.1] years) were included. Forty-three patients underwent surgery. At T2 right ventricular (RV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) was decreased for the surgical, but not the percutaneous, group (-17.6 ± 4.1 versus -27.1 ± 3.4, p Conclusions Right, and to a lesser degree left, ventricular performance was reduced early after surgical ASD closure, possibly related to cardiopulmonary bypass. RV performance at T3 remained below baseline levels, probably related to changed loading conditions. Several biomarkers showed a pattern over time similar to ventricular performance and related to cardiac function at early follow-up. These markers may provide insight into the processes that affect ventricular function.

© 2021, The Author(s).Methane’s short atmospheric life has important implications for the design of global climate change mitigation policies in agriculture. Three different agricultural economic models are used to explore how short- and long-term warming effects of methane can affect the cost-effectiveness of mitigation policies and dietary transitions. Results show that the choice of a particular metric for methane’s warming potential is key to determine optimal mitigation options, with metrics based on shorter-term impacts leading to greater overall emission reduction. Also, the promotion of low-meat diets is more effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to carbon pricing when mitigation policies are based on metrics that reflect methane’s long-term behaviour. A combination of stringent mitigation measures and dietary changes could achieve substantial emission reduction levels, helping reverse the contribution of agriculture to global warming. The authors thank the Global Economics Team of the Agricultural Model Inter-comparison and Improvement Program for its support during the conceptualization phase of this paper. A.T., H.v.M. and J.F.L.K. received funding from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Security through the Wageningen University Knowledge Base programme (Circular and Climate Neutral Society, KB34 1-1C-1 Integrated toolbox for cross-sectoral forward looking assessments and scenarios). A.d.P., G.P. and M.J.S.-S. received support from the Spanish government (María de Maeztu excellence accreditation 2018-2022) and the Basque government (BERC 2018-2021 programme). A.d.P. was financed by the Ramón y Cajal programme from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (RYC-2017-22143). K.M. received funding from the Norwegian Research Council under grant number 295789. J.L. acknowledges funding from the Wellcome Trust, Our Planet Our Health (Livestock, Environment and People—LEAP), award number 205212/Z/16/Z. The views expressed are purely those of the authors and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of their respective institutions.

One of the climate change scenarios that have been developed for the Netherlands predicts hotter and drier summers and a substantial drop in river discharge. This might lead to water scarcity with detrimental economic and environmental effects. Among the possible adaptation responses to climate change-induced water scarcity, the re-allocation of water resources among competing uses should also be considered. In this paper, we extend and apply a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to assess the potential of water markets (water allocation according to its shadow price) to guide the allocation of scarce water across agriculture, manufacturing, and public water supply. We develop four scenarios in which the scope of water markets is increased from industry-specific to economy-wide. The results show that the agricultural sector bears nearly all of the losses from a new water-scarce climate, while the manufacturing sectors are able to mitigate their losses to a large extent by technical measures. Extending the scope of water markets unambiguously increases economic output and results in a re-allocation of water to the manufacturing sector from the agricultural sector and from public water services. If, perhaps for political reasons, public water services are excluded from water trading, water is re-allocated from agriculture to manufacturing. Depending on which sectors are included, the construction of a water market can have negative or positive effects on a sector’s output, and although the implementation of water markets may be positive for overall economic output and can hence assist adaptation, the effect on vulnerable or societally sensitive economic sectors, such as public water, should be taken into account when implementing such a market.

Systematic model inter-comparison helps to narrow discrepancies in the analysis of the future impact of climate change on agricultural production. This paper presents a set of alternative scenarios by five global climate and agro-economic models. Covering integrated assessment (IMAGE), partial equilibrium (CAPRI, GLOBIOM, MAgPIE) and computable general equilibrium (MAGNET) models ensures a good coverage of biophysical and economic agricultural features. These models are harmonized with respect to basic model drivers, to assess the range of potential impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector by 2050. Moreover, they quantify the economic consequences of stringent global emission mitigation efforts, such as non-CO 2 emission taxes and land-based mitigation options, to stabilize global warming at 2 • C by the end of the century under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. A key contribution of the paper is a vis-` a-vis comparison of climate change impacts relative to the impact of mitigation measures. In addition, our scenario design allows assessing the impact of the residual climate change on the mitigation challenge. From a global perspective, the impact of climate change on agricultural production by mid-century is negative but small. A larger negative effect on agricultural production, most pronounced for ruminant meat production, is observed when emission mitigation measures compliant with a 2 • C target are put in place. Our results indicate that a mitigation strategy that embeds residual climate change effects (RCP2.6) has a negative impact on global agricultural production relative to a no-mitigation strategy with stronger climate impacts (RCP6.0). However, this is partially due to the limited impact of the climate change scenarios by 2050. The magnitude of price changes is different amongst models due to methodological differences. Further research to achieve a better harmonization is needed, especially regarding endogenous food and feed demand, including substitution across individual commodities, and endogenous technological change.

An analysis of virtual crop water export through international trade is conducted for Greece, downscaled to the River Basin District (RBD) level, in order to identify critical “hotspots” of localized water shortage in the country. A computable general equilibrium model (MAGNET) was used to obtain the export shares of crops and associated irrigation water was calculated for all major crops in Greece. A distinction between virtual crop water locally consumed and traded internationally was made for all Greek RBDs. Cotton was identified as a large water consumer and virtual water exporter, while GR08 and GR10 were identified as the RBDs mostly impacted. The value of virtual water exported was calculated for all crop types and fruits and vegetables were identified as the crop most beneficial, since they consume the least water for the obtained value.

Contains fulltext : 190717.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Geriatrics continues to draw insufficient numbers of medical students today. Currently, little is known regarding how education can motivate students to choose geriatrics. The authors' aim was to examine geriatrics from the students' perspective to identify elements that can be useful in education and improving attitudes toward, interest in, and knowledge about geriatrics. The authors analyzed narrative reflection essays of 36 students and clarified the themes from the essays during focus group sessions. Four overarching themes that influenced students' perspective on geriatrics were identified: professional identity, perception of geriatrics, geriatric-specific problems, and learning environment. Students have an inaccurate image of clinical practice and the medical professional identity, which has a negative impact on their attitude toward, interest in, and knowledge of geriatrics. Furthermore, this study yielded the important role of the hidden curriculum on professional identity, the novelty of geriatric-specific problems to students, and the importance of educational approach and good role models.

We show for high-symmetry disk, square, or equilateral triangular thin microstrip antennas of any composition respectively obeying C-infinity v, C-4v, and C-3v point group symmetries, that the transverse magnetic electromagnetic cavity mode wave functions are restricted in form to those that are one-dimensional representations of those point groups. Plots of the common nodal points of the ten lowest-energy non-radiating two-dimensional representations of each of these three symmetries are presented. For comparison with symmetry-broken disk intrinsic Josephson junction microstrip antennas constructed from the highly anisotropic layered superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta (BSCCO), we present plots of the ten lowest frequency orthonormal wave functions and of their emission power angular distributions. These results are compared with previous results for square and equilateral triangular thin microstrip antennas.

Coating sand and granular activated carbon with iron aluminum hydroxides changed the zeta potential of these filtration media from negative to positive at pH 6–9, while also significantly improving removal of viruses (MS2, PRD1, Polio1). A quaternary ammonium based coating on sand also increased zeta potential, but led to limited improvement in virus removal. The coated activated carbon was effective in both columns and faucet filters. Performance of faucet filters decreased slightly (e.g., 98% removal initially vs. 89% removal after 1 month) with time. The chemical costs of coating would add approximately 10% to the cost of water delivered by large-scale municipal systems, whereas coating chemical costs would add less than 1% to the cost of water treated by point-of-use faucet filters. The improvement in virus removal performance gained by use of coated filter media provides a significant benefit to the consumer in terms of increased microbiological quality at a modest-to-negligible increase in cost.

Background Patients diagnosed with androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) need bilateral gonadectomy (orchiectomy) for malignancy risk reduction. Imaging of the gonads (testicles) prior to surgery is recommended. Ultrasonography has typically been used. However, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides better localization of the gonads and pre-surgical planning. Cases In this case series, we describe how MRI was utilized in planning surgical gonadectomy in 3 patients with complete AIS and to review the literature regarding MRI and AIS. Summary and Conclusions MRI prior to surgery was helpful in localizing and planning for removal of the gonads while preventing injury to other structures. Surgical specialists with experience with inguinal dissection were appropriately consulted when an inguinal dissection was likely to be needed to complete the gonadectomy.

This study investigates the influence of error incident characteristics on organizational learning among operators in the chemical process industry. The study asks operators to describe recently occurred error incidents at time 0 (n = 87), followed up by measurements for learning 6 weeks later (n = 48). Organizations learn more from error incidents with more severe consequences. Severity of consequences relates positively to learning. When consequences are more severe, communication about an error is higher. Communication is subsequently related to learning. Error incidents without imminent negative consequences, however, can also be a platform for learning. This research recommends attention towards the promotion of learning from conditions that do not necessarily encourage employees to learn. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Team reflexivity, of the extent to which teams reflect upon and modify their functioning, has been identified as a key factor in the effectiveness of work teams. As yet, however, little is known about the factors that play a role in enhancing team reflexivity, and it is thus important to develop theorizing around the determinants of reflexivity. From an applied perspective, leadership is a very relevant factor. The current study is a first step in the development of such a model, and addresses this important gap in our understanding of team reflexivity by focusing on the role of leader behavior. We examined the extent to which transformational leadership influences team reflexivity, and in turn, team performance, in a field study conducted among 32 intact work teams form nine organizations. Team members rated reflexivity and leadership, while external managers rated team performance. We hypothesized and tested a mediational model proposing that transformational leadership is related to the adoption of a shared vision by the team. This in turn relates to team reflexivity, which leads to higher team performance. Results support this model. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Much social science research proceeds as though ethnic self-identification (the ethnic category to which persons assign themselves) is a stable characteristic, as true at one time of measurement as another. The purpose of this study was to test this assumption using longitudinal data acquired from the provincial Ministry of Education for every student in British Columbia who started Grade 7 in 1995 and who ever self-identified as Aboriginal. Contrary to expectation, nearly half of this sample did not consistently identify themselves as Aboriginal between 1993 and 2002. For students who changed their declarations over time, five distinct patterns of change in ethnic self-identification were observed. These different patterns were found to be related to the likelihood of dropping out of school. Students who consistently declared their Aboriginality each and every year had the highest school drop-out rate. In comparison, students who at first did not report themselves to be Aboriginal, but later began to consistently declare Aboriginal status had the lowest school drop-out rate. Potential accounts of these differences are offered, and suggestions for future research are advanced.

We extend the knowledge about the causal attribution mechanism by investigating the roles of causal ascription (stability and locus of causality) and causal interpretation (personal control and responsibility) after error occurrence. One hundred twenty-five participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions (internal vs. external by unstable vs. stable attribution instructions). Internal unstable ascriptions lead to higher perceived control after error occurrence. Both control and responsibility, in turn, predict task behavior. While causal interpretation predicts outcome measures, causal ascriptions are related to the same measures only indirectly. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © Springer Science+Business, LCC 2007.

Reflexivity—the extent to which teams reflect upon and modify their functioning—has been identified as a possible key factor in the effectiveness of work teams. The aim of the present study was to develop a questionnaire to measure (aspects of) reflexivity, with a focus on team reflection. The questionnaire was tested in two different samples, namely a first sample of 59 teams from 14 different organisations (Study 1) and a confirmation sample of 59 school management teams (Study 2). In both samples, two factors of reflection were identified. These were labeled evaluation/learning and discussing processes. Scale statistics showed good psychometric properties for the scales in both studies. We conclude that the scales form a parsimonious and valid instrument to assess reflexivity in teams. La reflexivite (dans quelle mesure les equipes remettent-elles en cause leur fonctionnement et le modifient-elles?) est apparue comme etant l’un des eventuels facteurs cles de l’efficience des groupes de travail. Cette recherche s’est donne pour tâche de developper un questionnaire pour evaluer certaines dimensions de la reflexivite en mettant l’accent sur la reflexion de groupe. Le questionnaire a ete mis a l’epreuve aupres de deux echantillons, a savoir un premier echantillon compose de 59 equipes relevant de quatorze organisations differentes (Etude n ° 1) et un second echantillon de confirmation reunissant 59 equipes d’ecoles de management (Etude n ° 2). Deux facteurs relatifs a la reflexion sont apparus dans chacune des deux etudes. Ils ont ete denommes evaluation/ apprentissage et processus de discussion/principes. Dans les deux echantillons, les echelles ont obtenu des resultats statistiques satisfaisants sur le plan psychometrique. On arrive a la conclusion que ces echelles constituent un outil valide et economique pour evaluer la reflexivite dans les equipes.

We simulate and analyze the direct and indirect economic impacts of climate change on water availability for irrigation on the economy of the Netherlands and the other EU countries which share the Rhine and Meuse river basin (France, Germany and Belgium), employing a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. We make use of the GTAP-W model, distinguishing between rainfed and irrigated land and irrigation water as input factors in agricultural production. We assess the scope of market adaptation to climate change by comparing the CGE results with the direct agricultural damage costs estimated using hydrological and crop growth models. We find considerable scope for market adaptation in that total economic impacts on agriculture are much lower when accounting for substitution effects and cross-sectoral and cross-country interlinkages, while the impact on the nonagricultural sectors becomes larger when these substitution effects and interlinkages are accounted for.

TiO 2 photocatalysis is currently being investigated as a viable technology to combat biological warfare agents such as anthrax spores. The current challenge in the use of photocatalysis for degradation of bacterial endospores is the time (in hours, as compared to minutes for bacteria) required for disinfection. The rate of disinfection can be increased by changing the rate of recombination of photon-generated electron-hole pairs and the rate of generation of reactive species. Modified photocatalysts has been synthesized by coating titanium dioxide, in anatase polymorph, on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (around 20 nm in diameter and 2–4 microns in length), for increasing the disinfection rate of bacterial endospores. Anatase coated multi-wall carbon nanotubes were tested for disinfection of Bacillus cereus spores (used as surrogate for anthrax spores) and the disinfection rate was shown to be twice as compared to the commercial titanium dioxide nanopowders, Degussa P25 (primary particle size of around 25 nm). These modified photocatalysts can also be used for selective disinfection of microorganisms depending on the surface morphology of the bacterial cell wall and the shape of the photocatalysts.

Data provided by 7380 middle managers from 60 nations are used to determine whether demographic variables are correlated with managers’ reliance on vertical sources of guidance in different nations and whether these correlations differ depending on national culture characteristics. Significant effects of Hofstede’s national culture scores, age, gender, organization ownership and department function are found. After these main effects have been discounted, significant although weak interactions are found, indicating that demographic effects are stronger in individualist, low power distance nations than elsewhere. Significant non-predicted interaction effects of uncertainty avoidance and masculinity-femininity are also obtained. The implications for theory and practice of the use of demographic attributes in understanding effective management procedures in various parts of the world are discussed.

This contribution is based on a longitudinal research project in six Hungarian companies. The field-work lasted two years and included four years of retrospective tracing of events, giving data covering six years during the transition from centralized state control to attempts at introducing a market economy. The project adopted a micro-economic decision-making perspective to discover critical intra-organizational factors that could account for successful or unsuccessful adaptation during the transition between two different external politico-economic systems. We reach four main conclusions: (1) privatization is multidimensional, being decisively influenced by the recent or even long-term history of identifiable organizational circumstances; (2) it is not evident, at least in the short run, that new organizational structures or leadership behaviour result from external pressures as theory tends to assume; (3) to understand managerial behaviour, one has to consider distinct phases of development from pre-privatization onward; (4) more generally, organizational adaptation tends to be slow rather than rapid; learning is influenced by an identifiable number of individual, group and sectorial circumstances that impede rapid adaptation.

Different cultural groups may have different conceptions of what leadership should entail, i.e. different leadership prototypes. Several earlier studies revealed that within Europe various cultural clusters can be distinguished (Hofstede, 1991; Ronen & Shenkar, 1985). Using recent data from the GLOBE project, this article discusses similarities and differences on culture and leadership dimensions among 21 European countries. The results show that two broad clusters or patterns of cultural values can be distinguished, contrasting the North-Western and South-Eastern part of Europe. Within these clusters, differences in leadership prototypes to a certain extent mirror differences in culture. On the basis of these results it is hardly possible to speak of a single typically European culture or one distinct European management style. However, on some dimensions European scores are different from at least some other regions in the world.

This study focuses on culturally endorsed implicit theories of leadership (CLTs). Although cross-cultural research emphasizes that different cultural groups likely have different conceptions of what leadership should entail, a controversial position is argued here: namely that attributes associated with charismatic/transformational leadership will be universally endorsed as contributing to outstanding leadership. This hypothesis was tested in 62 cultures as part of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program. Universally endorsed leader attributes, as well as attributes that are universally seen as impediments to outstanding leadership and culturally contingent attributes are presented here. The results support the hypothesis that specific aspects of charismatic/transformational leadership are strongly and universally endorsed across cultures.

In this paper the objectives of a new international research project that focuses on the perception of leadership across cultures will be presented. The definition of leadership will be discussed in relation to cross-cultural leadership research. The ideas and theory on which the project is based will be introduced along with several of the hypotheses the project is designed to test. Besides testing the general hypotheses, results obtained in the GLOBE study can also be used for a more focused comparison between two countries. In this paper, differences in preferred leadership attributes and national culture dimensions in The Netherlands and Poland are presented. A total of 287 Dutch managers from six organizations and 277 Polish managers from six organizations filled out questionnaires. The results indicate that Dutch and Polish cultures differ strongly on power distance, uncertainty avoidance and future orientation. Regarding preferred attributes for outstanding leadership, Polish respondents score especially high on administrative skills, vision, and diplomacy, whereas Dutch managers emphasize integrity, inspirational behavior and vision. Polish respondents are also less negative about autocratic leadership.

A questionnaire used often to measure transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership is che Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire developed by Bass (Bass & Avolio, 1989). This study aims to test the factor structure of the MLQ as developed by Bass & Avolio. The MLQ-8Y was analysed using data collected in Dutch organizations. Seven hundred employees from eight organizations rated their leader's behaviour with the MLQ. First, an indication of the internal consistency of the scales developed by Bass is reported. The results of subsequent factor analyses show that the three types of leadership can be found in the data; however, the scales found here are slightly different from Bass' scales. Especially, the transactional and laissez-faire scales have been altered on theoretical and empirical grounds. The adapted version of the MLQ covers the domain with fewer items.

In the last decade there has been a substantial increase in the attention given to charismatic leadership both in science and practice. This trend is often called 'the New Leadership'. Central to the New Leadership is the notion that leaders need vision. The New leaders, charismatic leaders, are also referred to as transformational, inspirational or visionary leaders. In this paper several views of charismatic leadership in business organizations rather than charismatic leadership in political arenas or religious movements are the focus. Charismatic leadership is a controversial topic. Many questions are encountered when discussing charisma. Examples are: Is charisma an exceptional phenomenon or is there such a thing as 'everyday charisma'? Is charisma only to be found in the eye of the beholder, in other words merely an idea in the heads of followers? How does the process of motivating followers work? What is the role of the leader's vision? Can charisma be learned? Are there situations that help or hinder the occurrence of charisma? What about the dark side of charisma; is charisma always beneficial? The various theories give different answers to these questions. Aside from these questions there are also some research problems relating to the measurement of charismatic leadership and its effects, it is not inconceivable that other types of leadership or other circumstances could have the same effects. In this paper similarities and differences in the numerous available views of charismatic leadership in business organizations will be explored and several controversial issues and measurement problems will be addressed.

The extent of role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload reported by middle managers from 21 nations was related to national scores on power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, an...

Organizational culture of industrial organizations was studied in 10 European countries using the FOCUS-instrument, based on the Quinn model (Quinn, 1988) to measure organizational culture. We classified most countries on the basis of the power distance index and the uncertainty avoidance index (Hofstede, 1991). We expected a value preference for the rules orientation (the so-called “pyramid” model) in some countries and a value preference for the innovation orientation (the “village-market” model) in others. Some of the results were in line with these expectations. One possible explanation for our findings is that not only the national preference influences the values within an organization, but the values of its founders and important leaders of its sector are also influential.

Top decision making processes are generally depicted as chaotic, unstructured, incremental or spasmodic, and protracted. In this article it is shown, based on data from 25 strategic decision processes from 12 organizations in three industry sectors, that, within certain limits, there certainly are control options in strategic decision-making processes. In addition, their use tums out to be profitable. The analyses of patterns in the use of control dimensions in the 25 cases leads to a typology of four types of decision models or strategies: the neo-rational model (n = 3), the bureaucratic model (n = 4), the arena model (n = 8) and the open-end model (n = 10). This empirical typology confirms earlier typologies based on literature. The use of control strategies is shown to vary across industry sectors and topics of decisions and have adifferential effect. It is concluded that context and content variables have either a selection effect (some strategies do not occur in some sectors) or a optimizati...

This article discusses morality policies, starting with its history and characteristics. The next section studies research that is related to specific public policies that fall within the morality politics classification. It then evaluates the relative fit of such policies within the morality politics rubric and addresses extra public policy issues that have religious dimensions.

This article is based on research in the Netherlands into the private as well as the public sector, describes ten dilemmas likely to be encountered in the management of reorganizations. They may be viewed as the primary choices to be made with respect to the decision-making topic, as tools or levers with which management can attempt to keep control of the process. Specific practical circumstances will usually rule out some of these choices. A good manager will take this into account in his approach, and will thus start with an analysis of the situation. This article aims to offer some assistance on this point: on the one hand, with a description of the most relevant situational factors, and on the other hand, with a flow chart that can be used in designing one's own approach.

Texas Governor George W. Bush’s top three campaign pledges during his 2000 presidential campaign were to cut federal taxes, to reform federal education policy, and to expand faith-based initiatives. Upon his election, the new president set out his strategies for legislative success in these three areas. Victories came fairly quickly on bills involving the first two ideas. Major tax reform became law in early June 2001, and the “No Child Left Behind” education act became law a few days before the forty-third president celebrated his first anniversary in office. No similar good fortune came to faith-based legislation. Indeed, no significant faith-based bills became law in George W. Bush’s entire first term—a failure on which most media attention has focused. The faith-based initiative did make progress, but such gains have come almost completely through behind-the-scenes executive branch action.

Competencies have become a leading construct in human resource practices. However, empirical research on competencies has lagged behind resulting in a gap between practice and science. In this study, the focus was on the nature of competencies by examining the relationships of three competency dimensions with cognitive ability, personality and performance during assessment center exercises. Data of 932 applicants participating in a 1-day selection procedure were used. Results showed that to assess the competency dimension Thinking psychologists focus on cognitive ability. To assess the competency dimension Feeling psychologists rely on performance during interview simulation exercises and on measures of personality. In assessing the dimension Power psychologists focus mainly on personality, although they also rely on cognitive ability and performance during interview simulation exercises. © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

This study investigated the relationships between commitment and control approaches and the use of competency management by adopting the theory of planned behavior. Questionnaires were filled out by 43 human resource experts working in different organizations. We expected components of the theory of planned behavior to mediate the relationship between commitment and control approaches and the use of competency management (behavior). Regression analysis showed that perceived behavioral control mediated the relation between commitment approach and behavior. Furthermore, the data revealed that attitude towards competency management was more positive and perceived behavioral control was higher when competency management was implemented with a commitment instead of a control approach. Subjective norm was strongly related to behavior. Based on the results, for competency management to be frequently used, we argue for increased behavioral control, and for an organizational climate in which competency management is widely accepted.

Leadership in organizations: final remarks Leadership in organizations: final remarks Claartje Vinkenburg, Paul L. Koopman & Deanne N. Den Hartog, Gedrag & Organisatie, Volume 18, August 2005, pp. 228-233 In the last two volumes of the journal Gedrag & Organisatie a series of seven articles on 'Leadership in organizations' has been published, presenting recent and ongoing research in the Netherlands. The contributions varied in terms of content and research methods applied. The focus of attention was on transformational or charismatic leadership and on participative leadership. In addition, other issues seem to emerge such as implicit leadership theories, perceptions of leadership, and the role of emotion in leadership. The guest editors plead for more diversity in research methods in future research in this field.