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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to existing models of human motivation by measuring transcendental needs along with the more commonly studied basic and social needs in order to take into account the multitude of needs experienced in the workplace.

A survey combining the Big Five Inventory (John and Srivastava, 1999) with the authors’ 30-item need-level questionnaire was administered to 366 participants (162 males, 204 females). The authors examined the relation between need levels, particularly transcendental needs, and personality to detect the predictors of the different personality traits.

The results showed that extraversion (r=0.24; p<0.001) and agreeableness (r=0.19; p<0.001) are predicted by high social needs, whereas openness to experience is predicted by high transcendental needs (r=0.35; p<0.001). While the authors made no hypotheses about conscientiousness and neuroticism, they found that neuroticism was significantly correlated with transcendental needs (r=−0.15; p<0.01).

The relations between needs and other individual dimensions, such as values or interests, could be further examined. The nature of the sample could be extended in additional studies.

Since need levels were able to predict personality traits, measuring need levels instead of personality could be a better predictor of both adaptability and performance in specific contexts.

In a position that requires a specific vocation and sense of purpose (priest, counselor, etc.), transcendental needs could be a better predictor of job achievement than personality traits. Monitoring all levels of needs could also be valuable in helping managers develop a deeper understanding of their team members’ expectations for meaning and purpose.

This research contributes to the model on human motivation by adding one more level (transcendental) and by testing the hypothesis of a link between a need scale and personality traits.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual work-related curiosity and worker innovation and to test the mediating role of worker divergent thinking.

In all, 480 participants, holding 188 different jobs, filled in a validated work-related curiosity scale and indicated their job title. Job requirements in terms of divergent thinking and innovation − derived from the Online Information Network (O*NET) database − were used as proxies for divergent thinking and innovation skills.

Results indicated that individual work-related curiosity was a positive predictor of worker innovation and that worker divergent thinking mediated this relationship.

Individual work-related curiosity supports exploratory skills which support in turn innovation skills.

Managers could use individual work-related curiosity as a predictor of innovation skills when recruiting, training and guiding employees.

This study is the first to show an association between individual work-related curiosity and innovation skills across more than 150 different jobs.

This paper aims to investigate the role of attention, processing motivation and processing depth in the relationship between self-reported subjective processing fluency and relevant advertisement variables such as ad attitude, brand attitude and purchase intentions.

Two empirical studies were conducted using self-report questionnaires.

In Study 1 (N = 176), the measure of self-reported subjective processing fluency was pretested. As expected, it was found to be sensitive to visual and semantic features of advertisements and to predict attitudes toward an advertisement. In Study 2 (N = 204), mediation analyses showed that self-reported subjective processing fluency was a predictor of attitude toward the advertisement (through attention and processing depth), attitude toward the brand (through processing depth) and purchase intentions (through processing depth).

The results emphasize the role of cognitive processing in explaining the effect of processing fluency on attitudes in marketing research.

Practitioners could use this theoretical framework and take into account the fluency with which consumers process information to improve the way they advertise their products.

The results suggest that self-reported subjective processing fluency can be relevant to predicting consumers’ attitudes because it increases attention and processing depth of the advertisement.

The purpose of this paper is to provide new elements to understand, measure and predict managerial creativity. More specifically, based on new approaches to creative potential (Lubart et al., 2011), this study proposes to distinguish two aspects of managerial creative problem solving: divergent-exploratory thinking, in which managers try to generate several new solutions to a problem; and convergent-integrative thinking, in which managers select and elaborate one creative solution.

In this study, personality is examined as a predictor of managerial creative problem solving: On one hand, based on previous research on general divergent thinking (e.g. Ma, 2009), it is hypothesized that managerial divergent thinking is predicted by high openness to experience and low agreeableness. On the other hand, because efficient people management involves generating satisfying and trustful social interactions, it is hypothesized that convergent-integrative thinking ability is predicted by high agreeableness. In all, 137 adult participants completed two divergent-exploratory thinking managerial tasks and two convergent-integrative thinking managerial task and the Big Five Inventory (John and Srivastava, 1999).

As expected, divergent-exploratory thinking was predicted by openness to experience (r=0.21; p<0.05) and agreeableness (r=−0.22; p<0.05) and the convergent-integrative thinking part of managerial creative problem solving was predicted by agreeableness (r=0.28; p<0.001).

Contrary to most research on managerial creativity (e.g. Scratchley and Hakstian, 2001), the study focuses (and provides measure guidelines) on both divergent and convergent thinking dimensions of creative potential. This study replicates and extends previous results regarding the link between personality (especially agreeableness) and managerial creativity.

The purpose of this paper is to question the profiles of female directors on top French company boards. It explores the legitimacy attributes of current female directors to identify the profiles sought recently, as firms approach the need to make many new appointments to fulfill gender quotas for supervisory boards, given that the proportion of women on a corporate board must reach 40 percent by 2017, with an intermediate level of 20 percent by 2014.

The authors gathered numerical and qualitative biographical data on all SBF 120 (French stock exchange index) firms’ female directors from annual reports and web sites over seven years (from 2003 to 2009). The authors constructed an SPSS database to categorize the individuals into various orders of legitimacy.

Drawing on director bio-data, the authors extend previous work on four legitimacy assets (family ownership; academic excellence; strong ties to the State; and top career), by adding a fifth asset (representative director), and contribute a gender dimension to the literature on personal legitimacy. Owning-family ties and academic excellence are still particularly salient in explaining legitimacy of women directors. A new source of female directors since 2005 is the pool of foreign women, outside the elite Grandes Ecoles system.

The authors had data for directors of 115 companies out of the SBF 120 firms. The authors also lacked data for seven women out of 144 appointed during the period, despite efforts to track down data from public sources.

These legitimacy profiles present different challenges for management development as those responsible for appointing several women to their boards in a short space of time will find out.

The authors highlight that with the diminishing role of family members on large corporate boards, more women directors need to be found, developed and mentored. If this approach is followed, new female directors with solid achievements can be appointed, without having their legitimacy as directors challenged by resistant males. Women will thus be able to take their legitimate place in French boardrooms and contribute their diverse experiences and knowledge.

This paper questions the legitimacy assets of female directors, which can be clustered into three groups: combined elite education and top corporate career; owning-family membership; and representative directors. These legitimacy profiles present different challenges for management development as those responsible for appointing several women to their boards in a short space of time will find out.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proven to be efficacious in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). We previously examined the effectiveness of rTMS for MDD in an applied clinical setting, AwakeningsKC Clinical Neuroscience Institute (CNI) and found high remission rates for patients diagnosed with MDD following rTMS treatment. An unexpected relationship with body composition and rTMS unit was discovered. This sub-study extends the previous investigation through a focused analysis of the effects of body composition on response to rTMS in the treatment of MDD. We utilized data collected from a retrospective review of medical records for patients diagnosed with MDD undergoing rTMS therapy at AwakeningsKC CNI. Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) scores, time to remission status and body mass index (BMI) at baseline were considered while referencing two different rTMS instruments (MagVenture; NeuroStar). We found 23 (9%) of 247 participants met criteria for obese status (BMI?30) with an average baseline PHQ-9 score of 22±4, classified as “severe depression”. Obesity status was differentially impacted by the rTMS instrument used for treatment. Patients with obesity showed a shorter time to remission (mean 2.7±0.27 vs. mean 3.4±0.3 weeks) and proportionately greater remission rate (100% vs. 71%) when treated using the MagVenture relative to the NeuroStar instrument. Clinical response to rTMS therapy for MDD appears to be guided by individual factors including body composition and rTMS parameters such as the unit used for treatment. Further study of these influences could aid in the optimization of clinical response to rTMS.

The prospects for prosperity and well‐being in the 21st century will depend on leveraging social diversity to encourage technological, economic and social dynamism. A striking confluence of forces over the next twenty years could drive a twofold convergence: first, towards more highly differentiated and complex societies, and second, towards the adoption of a common set of general policy goals that are conducive to both diversity and social sustainability. In the opening decades of the 21st century four simultaneous and powerful societal transformations will give rise to more variety and interdependence: from the uniformity and obedience of the mass‐era to the uniqueness and creativity of a knowledge economy and society; from rigid and isolated command planning to flexible, open and rule‐based markets; from predominantly agricultural structures to industrial urbanization; and lastly, from a relatively fragmented world of autonomous societies and regions to the dense and indispensable interdependencies of an integrated planet. In different ways and in different parts of the world, greater social complexity will in all likelihood accompany these wrenching shifts. Rather than fear this increase in social diversity we should welcome the opportunities for learning and sharing that could bring prosperity and well‐being. Nevertheless, there are risks of heightened conflict due to the possible polarization that frequently accompanies the passing of old social orders and the emergence of new ones. Policy choices will be the determining factor in minimizing this friction and encouraging the potential synergies.

The issue of the supply chain has been given much attention in recent decades, both in the academic arena as well as in the business world. It has become so important that organizations have begun to directly manage the supply chain, appointing specific managers to perform this function. New challenges now include a focus on supply to determine the right time and place for product delivery. Some authors indicate a close relationship between Total Quality Management and the supply chain regarding its philosophical and operational goals and perspectives. Lee (2004) goes even further by indicating that only organizations that devise agile, adaptable and aligned supply chains will be able to continue competing in today’s environment. Therefore, observing and measuring the supply chain at all times is critical for today’s organizations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of a tool called Supply Chain Value Stream Mapping (SCVSM) in order to thoroughly understand competitive priorities of volume and delivery (On-time Delivery (OTD)) for any supply chain in organizations.

An exploratory case study was conducted. Two manufacturing company which have been established in Mexico with a robust supply chain for at least 20 years, were selected. The paper chronicles the implementation of SCVSM in both case studies. Three methods were used to gather data: direct observation; documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews.

This paper proposes a new tool for operation management called SCVSM. Its development, refinement and applied in both case studies. The evidence shows that it is possible to apply the tool (SCVSM) to visualize the variables volume and OTD in supply chains. In consequence, this research has made a small empirical contribution to the theoretical field of supply chain quality management.

This paper has the same limitations as all other case-study-based research, including analysis subjectivity and questionable generalization of findings. There may well also be a theoretical gap in the geographic region because the paper only analyzes two companies established in Mexico.

Derived to describe both case studies on how to apply the SCVSM tool it may prove to be of value to practitioners and managers involved in the field. Similarly, a section on managerial implications has also been included.

The study contributes to the limited existing literature on the Supply Chain Quality Management and subsequently disseminates this information in order to provide impetus, guidance and support toward increasing the development companies in an attempt to move the Mexico manufacturing sector toward world class manufacturing performance.

This paper aims at a better understanding of contemporary women’s relationship paths and their reasoning behind them. Qualitative interviews with 48 rural and urban women from Western Mexico were conducted and analyzed using a thematic approach and data discussed from a feminist, gender approach and late modernity approach. Findings reveal civil and religious marriages were the paths two-third of women followed to start a family and that women living in permanent and alternating cohabitation did not seek to marry. Women held ambivalent views on marital life and poorer and less-educated women, particularly urban participants, had no choice but to marry. Findings on reasoning reveal a more complex and diverse reality than previous sociodemographic studies have portrayed, where pragmatism and social order were the main causes for marrying and cohabitation. Narratives show premarital sex and the symbolism of marriage and family are changing. A comparative approach between contexts of study, age groups, civil status, and social strata enriched and strengthened the discussion of the findings. The results were contrasted with existing Mexican literature from different fields. A larger qualitative study is needed to broaden the scope of the findings made by this study, whilst large-scale studies should consider either the use of mixed approaches or the inclusion of items that allow them to identify the elements of social and cultural change. The study could help to demystify women’s attitudes toward marriage, sex, and love; a field currently sprinkled with western romantic love values and gender-driven idealizations. This paper might be of interest for social demographers, anthropologists, sociologists, and historians conducting research on these themes from feminist and gender perspectives.

In this chapter, the authors describe the developments towards Roma inclusion in Spain through Successful Educational Actions. First, the authors describe the main characteristics of the Spanish Roma Minority with special regard to their cultural and linguistic diversity and deprivated social situation. After a brief overview of the Spanish education system, the authors give a detailed picture of the educational attainment of the Roma minority in Spain. After then the authors present and analyse the most important successful policies and support programmes for Roma education.