Month: January 2011

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Megalomaniac CEOs: Good or Bad for Company Performance?

January 26, 2011 coms 0

According to a new study, dominant CEOS, who are powerful figures in the organization as compared to other members of the top management team, drive companies to extremes of performance. Unfortunately for shareholders, the performance of a company with an all powerful CEO can be either much worse than other companies, or much better. But there is one solution to an all powerful CEO: a strong board of directors. Companies with strong boards counteract powerful CEOS, and swing the tide of performance to the plus side. This study on dominating CEOs and powerful boards is now published in the Journal of Management Studies.

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Sign languages help us understand the nature of metaphors

January 26, 2011 coms 0

A recent study of the use of metaphors in spoken language and various sign languages shows that certain types of metaphors are difficult to convey in sign language. The study, “Iconicity and metaphor: Constraints on metaphorical extension of iconic forms,” to be published in the December 2010 issue of the scholarly journal Language, is authored by Irit Meir of the University of Haifa.

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SAGE Launches Networking Site: Communicationspace

January 25, 2011 coms 0

SAGE, the world’s leading independent academic and professional publisher, recently announced the launch of a new social networking site for the academic community: Communicationspace for media studies and communication.

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Accents Shape Our Perceptions Of People

January 18, 2011 coms 1

The accent someone talks in plays a crucial role in the way we judge this person, psychologists of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) found out recently. “The accent is much more important than the way a person looks”, Dr. Tamara Rakic sums up one of the key findings of the study, which has just been published in the online edition of the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”.

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Research uncovers what’s behind image in the modeling industry

January 17, 2011 coms 0

The casting sessions aren’t just for movie stars, but what is involved in casting decisions that can launch fashion models to fame – or at the very least – to land a job? Stephanie Sadre-Orafai, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor and socio-cultural anthropologist, spent 11 months of fieldwork at a premiere casting agency in New York to uncover the decisions that happen behind the scenes of the glossy photos and slick commercials.

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Geography Influences Dialects and Slang of Twitter Tweets

January 13, 2011 coms 0

Microbloggers may think they’re interacting in one big Twitterverse, but researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science find that regional slang and dialects are as evident in tweets as they are in everyday conversations.

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Are attractive people more employable? Study finds double standard

January 11, 2011 coms 0

“Good looks” are only sometimes a positive factor in consideration for a job, according to new research from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). In the new working paper, “Are Good-Looking People More Employable?” two economics researchers from BGU prove that a double standard exists between good looks as a positive factor in men and women.

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Research examines key qualities that voters expect in their presidential candidates

January 10, 2011 coms 0

What are the key characteristics that voters consider when they’re choosing their candidate for president? New research led by Judith Trent, a professor of communication at the University of Cincinnati, yields some surprising findings from surveys from the 2008 primary campaign in New Hampshire – a historic campaign in itself because of the diverse demographic characteristics of some of the leading contenders. The top ideal quality picks are a candidate’s honesty and willingness to talk about the challenges affecting the nation.