Call for Papers-2014 Advances in Business-Related Scientific Research Conference

Location: Venice, Italy

Submission Deadline: February 13, 2014
Submission Deadline for Presentations: February 20, 2014
Conference Registration Deadline: February 20, 2014

ABSRC is an important international gathering of business and business-related sciences scholars and educators. In addition to scientific papers, the focus is on various best practices and solutions, which are important for business activities.

Submissions have been received from researchers and practitioners from 35 different countries.
Web address: http://www.absrc.org

Conference: 2014 Strategic Recruitment Summit

24th to 26th February 24^th-26th 2014
Orlando, Florida, United States of America

Website

This year’s program is designed to be inclusive, and to be more interactive, so that leaders of recruiting initiatives, teams, and functions can talk with each other across industries, and includes a broader array of organizations.

1. Collaborate on Talent Pipelines and Engage Outstanding Candidate Experiences
2. Engage with Teams on Marketing & Talent Attraction & Social Recruiting
3. Partner with Mobile, Social Media, & the Cloud on Technology Innovation
4. Engage in Data Driven Decision-making with Hiring Managers and the Business
5. Adapt Talent Acquisition to Strategic Staffing Needs for Globalization

The Growth and Decline of Companies and Products

Products and businesses move through the very same cycles and growth and decline. To help businesses rejuvenate their market relevancy often requires the revamping of both their products and operations. A paper by Cao and Zhao (2010) describes how internal components like IT and technology products need to be revamped to maintain market profitability. The paper describes the stages of growth and decline that help organizations formulate the process of improvement. 

The concept of product life cycle was originally proposed by Raymond in 1966 and has since been expanded to include other areas of production as well as technology products. The researchers William Abernathy and James Utterback went on further to discuss the concept of “patterns of industrial innovation”. Each of the products, services, and companies have patterns when developing, growing and declining. 

The argument fits into Schumpeter’s explanation of the long tail that has been later dubbed the S curve. Breakthroughs are often followed up by rapid productivity and research the leads to increased profits and ends in a market decline. These phases can be seen prototype, emerging, maturing, established and outmoded stages (Baker 1989).  New technology is capitalized on and then starts moving toward decline where new technologies must take up the vanguard of growth. 

New technologies are not hiding from competitors for long. Other companies will adopt and adapt the technology to also receive financial benefits. This transference serves a purpose in the development in society as each company and person applies their own knowledge to the product create greater variability and market application. To stay competitive, companies must continually develop, adapt, and create to maintain market position.  One can think of how the technology from the electronic transistor eventually made its way into television, compact discs and notebooks through the adaptations of many companies. 

The author’s used the example of Motorola’s IP Management of the mobile (GSM) system. Eventually this system was adopted, adapted, and used in other places. New systems developed that were more effective. The process of development is continual and companies will constantly seek to learn from each other and put new developments into the market. Patents can slow and protect products for a short time but the process of information diffusion will continue regardless of a company’s best efforts. 

Comment: Companies that seek to maintain a high position in the market will need to continually develop new products and then capitalize on those new products to create financial revenue streams. Companies develop, grow, and decline in the same way as technology products hit the market but eventually loose steam. Those companies that desire to maintain their market relevance will need to continually rejuvenate themselves. Companies within a hub learn and copy from each other as information and employees interact among semi-permeable borders. 

Baker, H. (1989). The technology life cycle. Best’s Review, 90. 66-72

Cao, Y. & Zhao, L. (2010). Intellectual property management model in enterprises: a technology life cycle perspective. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 8 (2).

How Can Businesses Retain High Ability Employees?

Employers often wonder how they can retain high ability employees for more effective results.  Because giftedness is a qualitatively and quantitatively different experience that can lead to higher production researchers wonder whether or not they can find a way to attract and retain such individuals. A study by Siekanska & Siekanska (2006), indicates that gifted workers are actually more satisfied than other workers and less likely to bounce around from job to job. Once such individuals have been attracted it can be easier to retain them.

For gifted individuals, job satisfaction ranks just behind life satisfaction in importance. Individuals seek to create a well-rounded and satisfactory life. As all workplaces include some levels of stress and this stress can be considered a negative draw away from workplace satisfaction. The gifted appear to be able to handle that stress a little more efficiently through adaptation and understanding. 

When the gifted can adjust to their job environment effectively, they are considered matched and can begin to have a big impact on their employer. Their nervous system conditions them to certain stimuli that influence their ability to find this match. Their awareness helps them understand the culture and nuances of the workplace faster than others, which can lead to better decision-making.

Likewise, the efficiency of their nervous system can create higher levels of activity, intense work, and more focus on a given problem. They develop an ability to create higher general activity and the ability to overcome difficulties. They are often more eager to work than the general population and can create variability within their jobs to maintain interest.  

The downside is that their efficient information processing can also create greater reactivity to stimuli they may consider unfair, shortsighted, or self-seeking. Inexperienced workers may overreact while more experienced workers may control that reaction and use their cognitive abilities to find the most effective solution. This is one of the reasons why giftedness is considered the tragic gift. Heightened intensities that are beneficial to the human species but shunned in society.

The researchers used a group of gifted individuals that have shown past performance and compared them to the control group. They found that job satisfaction can be summed as “work is related to one’s interests, it gives a sense of liberty and independence, and provides an opportunity to display one’s own inventiveness in action.”  Jobs that do not offer a level of intellectual engagement and freedom of activity are considered less satisfactory.

Why is this study important? In the fostering of gifted individuals, it is important to match their job to their abilities to foster satisfaction. Once they have come to a level of psychological comfort they will begin to perform better and with greater impact and intensity. The adjustment of job descriptions is not as beneficial for average employees who seek homeostasis when they comparing themselves to their fellow co-workers. Gifted individuals are not seeking prestige as much as they are seeking a match for life satisfaction. This may be one way to help employers retain and maintain gifted individuals for higher performance.

Siekanska, M. & Sekowski, A. (2006). Job satisfaction and temperament structure of gifted people. High Ability Studies, 17 (1).