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Have We Changed Our Ways After the BP Oil Spill? Not Really

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 2011Culture, Environmentandrew Hoffman, cultural anomaly, environmental management, fossil fuel production, Halliburton, journal of management, obama administration, offshore drilling, oil spill, transocean, university of Alberta, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—On the heels of last week’s federal recommendations to help prevent another BP oil spill disaster, a University of Michigan researcher says the tragedy has come close to acting as a catalyst for deeper change—but not quite.

“The BP oil spill is, potentially, a ‘cultural anomaly’ for institutional changes in environmental management and fossil fuel production,” said Andrew Hoffman, professor of management and organizations at the Ross School of Business and a professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment. “But true change in our approach to handling issues related to oil drilling, oil consumption and environmental management have yet to occur.” (more…)

Study: Workplace Diversity Must Include buy-in from Whites

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 20111 commentCulture, Economyamerican lexicon of diversity, basic human need, buy in, colorblindness, conceptualization of multiculturalism, jeffrey sanchez burks, laura buffardi, multicultural environment, multiculturalism, organizational efforts, research, university of michigan, white individuals, whites

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Organizational efforts to create and maintain an inclusive multicultural environment often face resistance by whites, says a University of Michigan researcher.

“Without the support of whites, organizations and educational settings will fail in their attempts to navigate and manage the complexities of diverse work forces and constituencies,” said Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, an associate professor of management and organizations at Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “In the face of the dramatic projected growth in demographic diversity, such failure could have severe economic, social and political consequences. (more…)

Sick at Work and Surfing the Net? You’re Not Alone – or Are You?

By Guest PostNovember 10, 2010Culture, Economy, Generalabsenteeism, buzzword, environmental medicine, Health, presenteeism, reduced productivity, scholars, susan hagen, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Some scholars estimate that presenteeism, a relatively recent buzzword that applies to people who are less productive at work because of health issues, costs employers as much as three times the dollar amount as absenteeism in terms of lost productivity.

But researchers at University of Michigan believe those numbers may be inaccurate. A new opinion paper suggests that the tools for measuring and quantifying hours of lost productivity and translating those hours to dollars are unreliable and don’t capture the entire presenteeism picture, said Susan Hagen, an analyst from the U-M School of Kinesiology Health Management Research Center (HMRC). (more…)

Nuclear Materials Detector Shows Exact Location of Radiation Sources

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2010Science18 cubes, cadmium zinc telluride, conventional detectors, gamma ray detector, gamma rays, high energy photons, nuclear engineering, nuclear materials, nuclear weapons, particles of light, polaris, radiation, radiation source, semiconductor, university of michigan, zhong he

The new Polaris gamma ray detector can pinpoint the location of special nuclear materials, such as those used for dirty bombs or nuclear weapons. Image credit: Zhong He

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A table-top gamma-ray detector created at the University of Michigan can not only identify the presence of dangerous nuclear materials, but can pinpoint and show their exact location and type, unlike conventional detectors.

“Other gamma ray detectors can tell you perhaps that nuclear materials are near a building, but with our detector, you can know the materials are in room A, or room B, for example,” said Zhong He, an associate professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences.

“This is the first instrument for this purpose that can give you a real-time image of the radiation source. Not only can we tell you what material is there, but we can tell you where it is, and you can find it and walk towards it.” (more…)

Friends with Cognitive Benefits: Mental Function Improves After Certain Kinds of Socializing

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2010Culturebrain functions, cognitive benefits, cognitive flexibility, common life problems, conversation, friends, mental benefits, oscar ybarra, psychologist, social cognitive, social contact, social interactions, social research, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Talking with other people in a friendly way can make it easier to solve common problems, a new University of Michigan study shows. But conversations that are competitive in tone, rather than cooperative, have no cognitive benefits.

“This study shows that simply talking to other people, the way you do when you’re making friends, can provide mental benefits,” said psychologist Oscar Ybarra, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). (more…)

Climate Change: Cultural Shift Needed Similar to Smoking, Slavery

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2010Culture, Environmentandy hoffman, attitudes, cigarette smoking, climate change, cultural attitudes, cultural shift, earth, ecological systems, erb institute, fossil fuels, holcim professor, moral problem, planetary scale, scientific evidence, slavery, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Despite scientific evidence of climate change, it will take a significant cultural shift in attitudes to address the situation, says a University of Michigan researcher.

The shift would be much like what has happened with recent cigarette smoking bans and even similar to the abolition of slavery in the 19th century.

“The present reality is that we tend to overlook the social dimensions of environmental issues and focus strictly on their technological and economic aspects,” said Andy Hoffman, the Holcim (U.S.) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment. “To properly address climate change, we must change the way we structure our organizations and the way we think as individuals. (more…)

Investing in Kids’ Future Pays Off

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2010Culture, Generaland downpayment, business start ups, cda, child development accounts, entrepreneurship, feel, kids, long term savings accounts, mich, parent child interactions, parents, pontiac, saving for education, secure, seed, trina shanks, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When parents set up long-term savings accounts for college, business start-ups or home ownership, kids feel more financially and emotionally secure, new research shows.

The studies show the importance of families using child development accounts (CDA) as one measure to shift from an overreliance on credit and create a foundation for asset building. In other words, this program encourages households to maintain less debt and more savings. (more…)

Urban Psychology: Is Your City Led by Heart or Head?

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2010Culture, GeneralBarack Obama, character, christopher peterson, cities, economic and political consequences, el paso, head strong cities, heart cities, John McCain, nansook park, psychology, university of michigan, urban psychology, us cities

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Is your character shaped by where you live—or vice versa?

University of Michigan psychology researchers found that some cities lead with their heart—emotional and interpersonal strengths—while others lead with their head—intellectual and self-oriented strengths.

They also found such distinctions are also related to economic and political consequences. (more…)

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