Search

Finally, it is highly likely that if lorlatinib were being considered for approval today, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would require dose optimization prior to initiating a registration trial, probably through a randomized dose-ranging trial, aiming to maximize the anticancer activity and minimize the off-target metabolic liabilities. To start with, Chen I et al i . confirm the absence of a relationship between administered lorlatinib dose and plasma exposure, as expressed by log (maximum concentration [C SB max event sb ]), at the tested doses. Sotorasib lacks even a dose-concentration relationship, while simultaneously possessing a dose-toxicity relationship and lacking a dose-efficacy relationship.4 Like sotorasib, lorlatinib is very likely overdosed, leading to marginal increases in clinical toxicity not compensated for by any increased efficacy. [Extracted from the article]

The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey is an annual survey of over 800,000 permanently employed civilian personnel from 87 agencies. First administered in 2002, the web-based survey measures a broad range of employee perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, serving as a valuable tool for human resources managers to determine which aspects of an organization are working well and which may require intervention. The data collection protocol begins by sending all sampled individuals an initial invitation to participate. Thereafter, nonrespondents are sent weekly reminder e-mails. These notifications are typically sent on Tuesday mornings. In this article, we present results from an experiment investigating two alternative protocols varying when survey notification and reminder e-mails are sent. Interestingly, the stable Tuesday morning strategy produced a significantly higher response rate than the two alternatives, and we analyze timestamp information from one of the alternatives to help provide insight as to why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public organizations are interested in how to improve their performance. Performance in a work unit can also influence employee job satisfaction due to positive expectations based on higher performance. Thus, our study attempts to investigate if organizational performance has an impact on employee motivation under the premise that employees who perform better in a work unit expect greater professional recognition and rewards. By using data from the 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), we find that employees who perceive higher levels of performance in a work unit have a higher level of job satisfaction. This paper further shows that performance perception based on rewards is also positively related to job satisfaction. However, underrepresented groups (female and non-white), older employees and mid-level (work experience from 6 to 14 years) employees are less satisfied with higher work unit performance. Finally, employees in the distributive agency category are more satisfied with work unit performance while those in the regulatory agency category are less satisfied with work unit performance. In conclusion, organizations should recognize particular characteristics of employees to develop the policies related to performance management, and effectively utilize these policies in order to attract and retain proficient workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open government is an important innovation to foster trustworthy and inclusive governments. The authors develop and test an integrative theoretical framework drawing from theories on policy diffusion and innovation adoption. Based on this, they investigate how structural, cultural, and environmental variables explain three dimensions of open government: accessibility, transparency, and participation. The framework is tested by combining 2014 survey data and observational data from 500 local U.S. government websites. Organizational structure, including technological and organizational capacity, is a determinant shared by all dimensions of open government. Furthermore, accessibility is affected by a mixture of an innovative and participative culture and external pressures. A flexible and innovative culture positively relates to higher levels of transparency, whereas capacity is a strong predictor of adopting participatory features. The main conclusion is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to fostering the three dimensions of open government, as each dimension is subject to a unique combination of determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the U.S. government workforce, across all levels of government in the U.S., women use information technology (IT) more than men. Two different theoretical perspectives are used to investigate this finding, namely 1) the human capital perspective and 2) the sociological perspective. This paper finds that differences in IT-usage among the genders persist even after controlling for human capital factors. Thus the human capital theoretical perspective may not provide sufficient explanation for the differences observed. Further analysis reveals significant differences among the genders in the kinds of occupational roles filled by them. This new finding suggests that the sociological theoretical perspective may be more appropriate in accounting for the differences in IT-usage among the genders. This paper concludes that higher usage of IT by women is not necessarily evidence of progress for women, and instead may point to deeper, underlying, problematic issues such as the persistence of stereotypical occupational gender roles in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace verbal aggressiveness is detrimental to employees and organizations and is perceived as unwanted and unproductive. This study examined whether and how verbal aggressiveness from supervisors and coworkers influences workgroup relationship conflict, employees' work-life conflict, and employee-organization relationships. An online survey was conducted with 392 full-time employees in the United States. The key findings of this study showed that when verbal aggressiveness abounds in a workgroup, it creates workgroup relationship conflict, which triggers individual employees' work-life conflict and tarnishes their trust, satisfaction, commitment, and sense of shared power with their organizations. • Toxic workplace communication can negatively impact the relationship between employees and the organization. • Workgroup relationship conflict arises from the verbal aggressiveness of supervisors and coworkers. • Workgroup relationship conflict can lead to work-life conflict and degrade employee-organization relationship quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creativity is a focal area of interest in public administration because it is an important resource that helps organizations in the public sector respond effectively to complex and growing challenges. The impact of organizational leadership and employee empowerment on creative tendency was examined empirically using the 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) data. The findings suggest that organizational leadership factors have different impacts on the creative tendency. Furthermore, employees are more likely to have a high creative tendency when they are given the opportunity to be informed about their organization’s performance, are provided with training and development, have autonomy on the job, and receive rewards based on performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on topics related to workplace financial wellness. Topics mentioned include the study which reveals that majority of surveyed U.S. workers feels that they are stressed on their financial situation, the contribution of insurance company Prudential Financial Inc. in the promotion of employees' financial wellness, and the role of employees physical wellness in the reduction of financial stress.

The article states that U.S. officials have often connected arms control negotiating proposals with the Soviet Union with unilateral strategic and political objectives as they were skeptical of the value of arms control and the objectives of the negotiating partner. The concept of utilizing negotiating proposals as a tool in the political and strategic competition with the Soviets gained a new lease of life in the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Paul Nitze, the chief U.S. negotiator at the Geneva talks on intermediate-range nuclear forces and Edward Rowny, the chief negotiator at the strategic arms reduction talks, are both proponents of this concept of linkage.

The article discusses the critical problems faced by scientific community due to the selection of Ragnar Rollefson as director of the Office of International Scientific Affairs of the Department of State in the U.S. The author cited the experiences and knowledge of Rollefson in the world of international politics. It was noted that he has pushed forward the frontiers of science in the political establishment with cautious care and stubborn determination. In addition, the author also mentioned that the agency should facilitate the development of viable relationship between science and technology.

To fill the research gap and expand the body of knowledge on leadership communication and internal communication, the current study investigates the effect of leader motivating language on psychological safety, job meaningfulness, and psychological availability, and employee advocacy in the United States and India. Through a web survey of 441 participants from the U.S and 354 participants from India, the study confirmed that leader motivating language is positively related with psychological safety, job meaningfulness, psychological availability, and employee advocacy in the United States and India. The study also looked at the relationship that psychological safety, work meaningfulness, and psychological availability have with employee advocacy, a concept that has been described as an indicator of public relations effectiveness and the ultimate test of a relationship between an organization and its employees. • LML is positively related with psychological safety, job meaningfulness, psychological availability, and employee advocacy. • Work meaningfulness had a positive relationship with advocacy behaviors in both countries. • Psychological availability had a positive relationship with advocacy in India but not in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Job Demands-Resources literature and social exchange theory, this study examines the lagged effects of job resources and job demands at the agency level on organizational commitment at the individual level, with these effects mediated by individual-level demands and resources. Using hierarchical linear modeling to analyze data obtained from federal government employees (agency N = 38, employee N = 295,851), this study found that aggregated job resources (empowerment, cooperation, feedback) were related to higher employee commitment over time, with this effect mediated by lower levels of perceived workload. Furthermore, aggregated workload was negatively related to commitment over time, with this effect mediated by lower levels of perceived job resources. This study provides further empirical evidence for the lagged effect of job resources and job demands in predicting employee commitment. Furthermore, this study found interrelations among demands and resources across levels of analysis, addressing theoretical relationships that have remained largely unexamined in the context of job attitudes and commitment research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the method of efficiency ratings and performance appraisals being implemented in the U.S. federal government as of June 2016. Topics discussed include elimination of performance ratings and its impact on the practice and research of performance appraisal, criteria for developing performance appraisal systems such as periodic appraisals, and use of results as a basis for training, and the legal requirement for performance appraisals for federal employees.

The Supreme Court has characterized the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) as "waiv[ing] the Government's immunity from suit in sweeping language." But the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) provides that compensation under that statute "with respect to the injury or death of an employee is exclusive." Moreover, FECA provides that the determination of the Secretary of Labor with respect to FECA benefits is "final and conclusive" and is "not subject to review … by a court by mandamus or otherwise." What then is a federal court to do when presented with an FTCA suit by a federal civilian employee that FECA may or may not cover? Is there an approach by which the court can avoid casting off every FTCA suit whenever the remotest possibility exists that the matter is within the scope of FECA or steaming ahead heedless to the Secretary's exclusive jurisdiction over FECA matters? This article offers suggestions for navigating between the shoals of FECA and the crest of the FTCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the U.S. Supreme Court case 'Hillman v. Maretta' that is related centered on a Virginia statute that gives a federal employee's widow or widower a cause of action against an exspouse who is the named beneficiary on the decedent's life insurance policy. It informs that the court decided that the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act of 1954 preempts the Virginia statute.

This article is based on the author's experience in developing and field testing a peer support pilot project designed to enhance operational functioning and promote workforce resilience through encouragement, support, and service to the employees of the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region VIII, in Denver, Colorado, during the period of September 2010-May 2013. This article presents the framework of a presence-based companioning model serving federal employee disaster responders and highlights the results of a field test of the pilot project. The dynamics of federal workers with military and first responder backgrounds and their potential reluctance to request services from a medical model are discussed as is the potential for the pilot project to serve as a bridge to additional work-life programs and as an individual means of resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]