Role theory suggests and empirical research has found that there is considerable variation in how broadly individuals define their jobs. We investigated the theoretically meaningful yet infrequently studied relationships between incumbent job autonomy, cognitive ability, job-related skill, role breadth, and job performance. Using multiple data sources and multiple measurement occasions in a field setting, we found that job autonomy, cognitive ability, and job-related skill were positively related to role breadth, accounting for 23% of the variance in role breadth. In addition, role breadth was positively related to job performance and was found to mediate the relationship between job autonomy, cognitive ability, job-related skill, and job performance. These results add to our understanding of the factors that predict role breadth, as well as having implications for how job aspects and individual characteristics are translated into performance outcomes and the treatment of variability in incumbent reports of job tasks.

Withdrawal behaviours (de ned here as turnover and absenteeism) and workrelated injuries are a signi cant problem in the nursing profession and are commonly attributed to the stressful nature of the job. This study examines an occupation-speci c model of the stress process in nurses in which speci c organizational climate dimensions were hypothesized to aVect withdrawal behaviours and injuries both directly and indirectly through the mediating eVects of speci c occupational stressors. Regression analyses on the responses of 252 nurses revealed direct climate-stressor and stressor-outcome relationships to exist, as well as an indirect climate-outcome relationship. The ndings suggest that researchers/practitioners should concentrate on developing interventions designed to aVect speci c stressors and their anteced ents rather than focusing on generic stress reduction interventions and global measures.

As a companion piece to Wiechmann et al. (2003), practical guidance regarding how to implement a global staffing system is provided. Best practices were derived from interviews with key informants in six organizations recognized as leading in the area of global staffing. Best practices related to system acceptability, development, and implementation are presented.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect on EMG amplitude measures of variations in the thickness of underlying tissue between surface electrodes and the active muscle. 20 normal subjects with different amounts of subcutaneous tissue performed comparable constant force contractions for a 45-second period, during which paraspinal EMG recordings were taken. Three measures of subcutaneous tissue thickness were obtained from each subject: Body Mass Index, total body fat as calculated by Durnin's formula, and skinfold thickness at the recording sites. The results show that (i) the greater the thickness of subcutaneous tissue between the surface recording site and the contracting muscles, the lower the recorded electromyographic activity, and that (ii) up to 81.2% of the variance in the EMG measures can be explained by variation in the amount of subcutaneous tissue. These findings support the view that the absolute level of surface-recorded EMG cannot simply be taken at face value. The amplitude of the signal will be affected by, for example, the amount of body fat.