Professional service firms apply specialist knowledge to create customised solutions to client problems. In their work, teams of professionals undertake projects in which clients may be closely ...involved in co-creating solutions. However, we know little about the conditions under which client involvement contributes to better performance. We examine the direct and conditional contribution client involvement can make to project success and propose team bonding capital as a moderator. We conduct multi-level analysis of data from 58 project managers and 171 consultants nested in project teams. We find a positive impact of client involvement on both team performance and team member idea creativity. Team bonding capital moderates the relationships client involvement has with both team performance and individual member idea creativity, where the impact of client involvement is greater when team bonding capital is high. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Human resource management (HRM) research has broadened its focus beyond the intended HRM designed by executives to include the actual HRM line managers implement. In this study of a global ...professional services firm, we investigate the content and process of HRM implementation. HRM content refers to the degree or extent to which line managers implement HRM practices. The process of HRM implementation entails two seemingly contradictory dimensions of those practices: consistency (treating team members uniformly) and individual responsiveness (considering individual differences in contributions). Studying 171 employees and their line managers in 60 consulting project teams, we jointly address the effects of consistency and individual responsiveness in line manager HRM implementation. Results indicate that the degree and consistency of HRM implementation by line managers is positively related to individual job performance. In addition, consistency is found to moderate the link between the individual responsiveness of line manager HRM implementation and individual job performance such that the link is stronger when consistency is high. However, no impact is found for team viability. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and depletion of dopamine in the striatum, ...which lead to pathological and clinical abnormalities. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that inflammation is the fundamental process contributing to neuron death in PD. Neuroinflammation, which is characterized by activated microglia and infiltrating T cells at sites of neuronal injury, is a prominent contributor to the pathogenesis of progressive PD. Microglia play a critical role in forming a self-propelling cycle leading to sustained chronic neuroinflammation and driving the progressive neurodegeneration in PD. This activation depends heavily on the respiratory burst within the microglia, which in turn regulates a number of downstream pro-inflammatory activities. On the other hand, the adaptive immune responses, most notably T cells, are now emerging as important components of the inflammatory response that contribute to the pathogenesis of PD. This review paper focus on the understanding of the inflammatory etiology of PD, as well as the molecular signaling involved in this inflammatory response, with the aim to provide more effective treatments to slow down or halt the progression of chronic inflammation-induced CNS disorders, such as PD.
Employees who are good organizational citizens help others to be more effective at work. However, the positive impact of helping is at odds with findings across studies suggesting those who help ...often experience worse performance. This study builds theory and helps to resolve the helping and performance dilemma by exploring the conditions under which individual job performance is enhanced for team members who frequently help others. A cross-level and time-lagged design was used to collect data from 227 consultants nested in 60 project teams. An objective job performance indicator was used. We find that team reflexivity, which refers to team members’ collective reflection and communication regarding team objectives and tasks, is a key moderator in the helping and job performance relationship. Our findings indicate that the helping-performance relationship is positive when team reflexivity is high and negative with low reflexivity. This study offers several implications for future theory and practice.
Microglial activation contributes to chronic inflammation and neuronal loss in progressive neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Thus, treatments suppressing microglial ...activation may have therapeutic benefits to prevent neuronal loss in neurodegenerative diseases. Our previous findings show that Salmeterol, a long-acting β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) agonist, is neuroprotective in two distinct animal models of PD, including where lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli was used to initiate chronic neurodegeneration. Salmeterol was found to be a potent inhibitor of dopaminergic neurodegeneration by regulating the production of pro-inflammatory mediators from activated microglial cells. In the present study, we investigated the molecular basis of the anti-inflammatory effects of Salmeterol on LPS-activated murine microglial BV2 cells. BV2 cells were pretreated with Salmeterol and followed by stimulation with LPS. Salmeterol inhibited LPS-induced release of the pro-inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and nitric oxide from BV2 cells. Additionally, Salmeterol suppressed nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) p65 by inhibiting the IκB-α degradation and TAK1 (transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase1) phosphorylation. We have also found that Salmeterol increases the expression of β-arrestin2 and enhances the interaction between β-arrestin2 and TAB1 (TAK1-binding protein), reduced TAK1/TAB1 mediated activation of NFκB and expression of pro-inflammatory genes. Furthermore, silencing of β-arrestin2 abrogates the anti-inflammatory effects of Salmeterol in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells. Our findings suggest that the anti-inflammatory properties of Salmeterol is β-arrestin2 dependent and also offers novel therapeutics targeting inflammatory pathways to prevent microglial cell activation and neuronal loss in neuroinflammatory diseases like PD.
Schematic diagram depicting anti-inflammatory effects of Salmeterol via β2-AR/βarrestin2 signaling in BV2 cells. Stimulation of BV2 with LPS triggers TLR4 signaling pathway through TRAF6 and TAK1, leading to the activation of NF-κB and expression of pro-inflammatory genes (upper panel). However, activation of microglial β2-AR with Salmeterol enhances the expression of β-arrestin2 and leads to its increased interaction with TAB1, preventing formation of the TAB1/TAK1 complex, and inhibiting the activation of NF-κB. The lower panel shows lack of β-arrestin2 (knockdown using siRNA against Arrb2) in BV2 cells abrogates the anti-inflammatory effects of the Sal/β2-AR/β-arrestin2 pathway and leads to normal activation of BV2 microglial cells in response to inflammatory stimuli. Display omitted
•Salmeterol inhibits NF-κB activation and pro-inflammatory mediator production induced by LPS in BV-2 microglial cells•Salmeterol functions to inhibit microglial inflammation through the activation of β-arrestin2.•Salmeterol treatment of microglia cells enhances expression of β-arrestin2 and its binding to TAB1•Salmeterol suppresses TAB1/TAK1 binding which is necessary for IκB phosphorylation and NF-κB p65-nuclear translocation
Significant evidence has now been accumulated that microglial cells play a central role in the degeneration of DA neurons in animal models of PD. The oxidative stress response by microglial cells, ...most notably the activity of the enzyme NADPH oxidase, appears to play a central role in the pathology of PD. This oxidative stress response occurs in microglia through the activation of the ERK signaling pathway by proinflammatory stimuli, leading to the phosphorylation and translocation of the p47phox and p67phox cytosolic subunits, the activation of membrane-bound PHOX, and the production of ROS. Therapeutic anti-inflammatories which prevent DA neurodegeneration in PD, including anti-inflammatory cytokines, morphinan compounds, NADPH oxidase inhibitors, NF-κB inhibitors, and β2-AR agonists, all function to inhibit the activation of the PHOX in microglial cells. These observations suggest a central role for the oxidative stress response in microglial cells as a mediator or regulator of DA neurodegeneration in PD.
Fundamentally, microglia have two activation states, a pro-inflammatory neurotoxic (M1) and an anti-inflammatory neuroprotective (M2) phenotype, and their conversion from M1-like to M2-like microglia ...may provide therapeutic benefits to prevent neuronal loss in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Previously, we showed that Salmeterol, a long-acting β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) agonist, has neuroprotective effects in PD models in vitro and in vivo through the β-arrestin2-dependent inhibition of pro-inflammatory M1-type mediator production. In the present study, we explored whether Salmeterol can mediate phenotypic conversion in LPS-activated murine microglial BV2 cells from the neurotoxic M1-like to a neuroprotective M2-like phenotype. Salmeterol inhibited the production of LPS-induced mediators of the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-(interleukin) 18, IL-6, chemokines (CCL2, CCL3, CCL4) and reactive oxygen species from BV2 cells. Conversely, treatment with Salmeterol and other β2-AR agonists robustly enhances the production of the M2 cytokine IL-10 from LPS-activated microglia. In addition, Salmeterol upregulates the expression of arginase-1 and CXCL14. Furthermore, using siRNA approach we found that silencing of the transcription factor Creb abrogates the Salmeterol-mediated production of IL-10 in LPS-activated BV2 cells, but silencing of β-arrestin2 with Arrb2 siRNA did not. In addition, our data shows conversion from an M1- to M2-like phenotype in LPS-activated microglia by β2-AR agonists involves activation of the classical cAMP/PKA/CREB as well as the PI3K and p38 MAPK signaling pathways, and provides a novel therapeutic approach targeting microglial cell activation and inducing their phenotypic conversion in the treatment of neuroinflammatory diseases such as PD.
•β2-AR agonists suppress pro-inflammatory cytokines induced by LPS in BV-2 microglial cells, and enhances the production IL-10•The β2-AR agonist Salmeterol enhances other M2 markers in microglial cells through the activation of transcription factor CREB.•Salmeterol enhancement of IL-10 production by microglia cells requires PKA, PI3K, and p38 MAPK signaling molecules.
This study examined the impact of perceived high‐involvement work practices on job demands (role conflict, role overload and role ambiguity) and burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation). ...The study was conducted in a Canadian general hospital. Findings from structural equation modelling (N = 545) revealed that perceived HIWPs were significantly and negatively related to job demands and burnout. Role conflict and role overload have a significant positive association with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Finally, role conflict and role overload partially mediate the relationship between perceived HIWPs and burnout. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for our understanding of how HIWPs influence the job demands and burnout of employees.
PDF
