‘Age-hardened alloy’ based on bulk polycrystalline oxide ceramic

We report here for the first time the development of ‘age-hardened/toughened’ ceramic alloy based on MgO in the bulk polycrystalline form. This route allows for the facile development of a ‘near-ideal’ microstructure characterized by the presence of nanosized and uniformly dispersed second-phase particles (MgFe₂O₄) within the matrix grains, as well as along the matrix grain boundaries, in a controlled manner. Furthermore, the intragranular second-phase particles are rendered coherent with the matrix (MgO). Development of such microstructural features for two-phase bulk polycrystalline ceramics is extremely challenging following the powder metallurgical route usually adopted for the development of bulk ceramic nanocomposites. Furthermore, unlike for the case of ceramic nanocomposites, the route adopted here does not necessitate the usage of nano-powder, pressure/electric field-assisted sintering techniques and inert/reducing atmosphere. The as-developed bulk polycrystalline MgO–MgFe₂O₄ alloys possess considerably improved hardness (by ~52%) and indentation toughness (by ~35%), as compared to phase pure MgO.     

How formulating implementation plans and remembering past actions facilitate the enactment of effortful decisions

Building on prior research studying effortful decision making and enactment processes (Bagozzi, Dholakia, & Basuroy, 2003; BDB), we identify and provide an in‐depth understanding of two specific self‐regulatory strategies: (1) formulating an implementation plan, and (2) remembering past actions, that decision makers can use in facilitating enactment of effortful decisions. The results of three experiments, in which the decision maker's goal and self‐regulatory strategy were manipulated, showed that for goals that decision makers chose volitionally, the motivational effects of both these strategies lay in increasing levels of proximal implementation‐related variables (implementation intentions, plan completeness, plan enactment, and goal realization) significantly. In contrast, for goals that were assigned to participants, these strategies' motivational effects additionally extended to significantly increasing distal goal‐related variables (goal desire, goal intentions, perceived self‐efficacy, and implementation desires). The theoretical implications of our findings are discussed, and future research opportunities are explored. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Judging a book by its cover and its contents: the representation of polysemous and homophonous meanings in four-year-old children

Unlike homophonous meanings, which are semantically unrelated (e.g., the use of bat to refer to a baseball bat and a flying rodent), polysemous meanings are systematically related to one another (e.g., the use of book, CD, and video to refer to physical objects, as in ‘the leather book’, or to the intellectual content they contain, as in ‘the profound book’). But do perceived relations among polysemous meanings reflect the presence of generative lexical or conceptual structures that permit the meanings of these words to shift? If so, these structures may also support children’s early representations of polysemous meanings. In four studies, we demonstrate (1) that four-year-old children can understand both the concrete and abstract meanings of words like book, (2) that when taught a novel label for one of these meanings, children can readily understand an extension of that label to the other meaning, and (3) that extension does not occur between two homophonous meanings, which share a common phonological form but are otherwise unrelated. We conclude that the polysemous meanings of words like book rely on a common representational base early in development, and suggest that this may be the result of foundational, generative properties of the lexicon or conceptual system.     

The long and the short of it: On the nature and origin of functional overlap between representations of space and time

When we describe time, we often use the language of space (The movie was long; The deadline is approaching). Experiments 1–3 asked whether—as patterns in language suggest—a structural similarity between representations of spatial length and temporal duration is easier to access than one between length and other dimensions of experience, such as loudness. Adult participants were shown pairings of lines of different length with tones of different duration (Experiment 1) or tones of different loudness (Experiment 2). The length of the lines and duration or loudness of the tones was either positively or negatively correlated. Participants were better able to bind particular lengths and durations when they were positively correlated than when they were not, a pattern not observed for pairings of lengths and tone amplitudes, even after controlling for the presence of visual cues to duration in Experiment 1 (Experiment 3). This suggests that representations of length and duration may functionally overlap to a greater extent than representations of length and loudness. Experiments 4 and 5 asked whether experience with and mastery of words like long and short—which can flexibly refer to both space and time—itself creates this privileged relationship. Nine-month-old infants, like adults, were better able to bind representations of particular lengths and durations when these were positively correlated (Experiment 4), and failed to show this pattern for pairings of lengths and tone amplitudes (Experiment 5). We conclude that the functional overlap between representations of length and duration does not result from a metaphoric construction processes mediated by learning to flexibly use words such as long and short. We suggest instead that it may reflect an evolutionary recycling of spatial representations for more general purposes.     

Employee customer orientation in manufacturing organizations: joint influences of customer proximity and the senior leadership team

Pursuing a customer-focused strategy in manufacturing organizations requires employees across functions to embrace the importance of understanding customer needs and to align their everyday efforts with the goal of satisfying and retaining customers. Little prior research has examined what factors influence employee customer orientation in manufacturing settings. Drawing on the attraction-selection-attrition model, upper-echelons theory, and contingency theories of leadership, this study investigated the joint influences of functional roles' proximity to external customers and the senior leadership team's customer orientation on employee customer orientation. Hierarchical linear modeling results based on data obtained from 4,299 employees and 403 senior leaders from 42 facilities of a global manufacturer operating in 16 countries revealed that employees occupying customer-contact roles had the highest level of customer orientation, followed by employees occupying production roles, and then by those in support roles. In addition, there was a positive relationship between the senior leadership team's customer orientation and employee customer orientation for all 3 functional roles. The positive relationship between the senior leadership team and employee customer orientation was the strongest for employees in support roles, suggesting that lower levels of proximity to external customers may create a greater need for leadership in developing employees' customer-oriented attitudes.     

Employee and Customer Perceptions of Service Quality in an Indian Firm

Nous présentons un modèle complétant les conceptions existantes de la relation entre employés et clients dans la domaine des services qui propose que la perception de l’efficacité du service par l’agent comme prédictive de l’efficacité du service perçue par le client. L’efficacité du service se réfère à la perception qu’ont les agents de répondre ou même d’aller au‐delà des attentes relatives au service de la part de l’organisation et des clients exteriors. Nous avons enquêté la relation entre l’efficacité du service, la maturité de l’équipe, et la qualité du service dans la filiale indienne d’une organisation internationale de produits de bureaux. Les agents de service appartenant à 18 équipes autonomes ont classé leur propre efficacitéà répondre aux attentes de la direction et des clients extérieurs. Les donées préexistantes sur la maturité de ces équipes étaient recueillies auprès l’organisation. 114 clients de la même société, choisi au hazard, évaluaient la qualité du service fourni, leur satisfaction de ce service et les effets attendus par le client. Nous avons trouvé des liaisons positives entre l’efficacité du service, la maturité du groupe et la qualité de service. Ces resultants servent à enrichir la littérature reliant les comportements des employés aux effets sur les clients pour les sociétés operant dans les economies émergeantes. We proposed a model complementing existing conceptions of the relationship between service employees and their customers, that proposes service effectiveness as an employee‐level predictor of customer‐perceived service quality. Service effectiveness refers to employees’ perceptions of meeting or even exceeding the service‐related expectations of the organisation and external customers. We investigated the relationship between service effectiveness, team maturity, and service quality in an Indian branch of an international office products organisation. Service employees belonging to 18 self‐managed teams rated their own effectiveness in meeting the expectations of management and external customers. Pre‐existing team maturity data for these teams were obtained from the organisation. Simultaneously, 114 randomly selected customers of the same company evaluated the quality of service provided, their satisfaction with the service, and intended customer outcomes. We found positive links between service effectiveness, group maturity, and service quality. These results also help extend the literature linking employee behaviors with customer outcomes to companies operating in emerging economies.     

Religion insulates ingroup evaluations: the development of intergroup attitudes in India

Research on the development of implicit intergroup attitudes has placed heavy emphasis on race, leaving open how social categories that are prominent in other cultures might operate. We investigate two of India's primary means of social distinction, caste and religion, and explore the development of implicit and explicit attitudes towards these groups in minority‐status Muslim children and majority‐status Hindu children, the latter drawn from various positions in the Hindu caste system. Results from two tests of implicit attitudes find that caste attitudes parallel previous findings for race: higher‐caste children as well as lower‐caste children have robust high‐caste preferences. However, results for religion were strikingly different: both lower‐status Muslim children and higher‐status Hindu children show strong implicit ingroup preferences. We suggest that religion may play a protective role in insulating children from the internalization of stigma.     

Music Training and Second-Language English Comprehension and Vocabulary Skills in Indian Children

This study examined the second-language (L2) English abilities of musically trained and untrained primary school children. Participants were tested on the verbal subscales of the Malin’s Intelligence Scale for Indian Children (MISIC) and an English word-reading test. The musically trained participants performed significantly better on the tests of comprehension and vocabulary. This result is in line with the view that music and language share processing resources, as a result of which transfer of learning takes place. When the scores of participants with Indian Classical music training were compared with the scores of the untrained group, the comprehension and vocabulary advantage persisted, indicating that the L2 advantage was not simply an artefact of increased language familiarity that is likely to arise from Western music training.     

The relationship between human resource investments and organizational performance: a firm-level examination of equilibrium theory

It is commonly believed that human resource investments can yield positive performance-related outcomes for organizations. Utilizing the theory of organizational equilibrium (H. A. Simon, D. W. Smithburg, & V. A. Thompson, 1950; J. G. March & H. A. Simon, 1958), the authors proposed that organizational inducements in the form of competitive pay will lead to 2 firm-level performance outcomes--labor productivity and customer satisfaction--and that financially successful organizations would be more likely to provide these inducements to their employees. To test their hypotheses, the authors gathered employee-survey and objective performance data from a sample of 126 large publicly traded U.S. organizations over a period of 3 years. Results indicated that (a) firm-level financial performance (net income) predicted employees' shared perceptions of competitive pay, (b) shared pay perceptions predicted future labor productivity, and (c) the relationship between shared pay perceptions and customer satisfaction was fully mediated by employee morale.