Behavioural preferences

An example of a model of behavioural preferences that many managers will be familiar with is Belbin s classlflcation of team roles, for example chairman, resource Investigator, company worker, plant, finisher (Belbin, 1981). Measuring people s preferences for team roles has become part of the normal routine of team building. Successful teams need a balance of roles, which in turn means that a balance of preferences needs to exist among the team members. If it does not exist and the team is to function effectively, some members may need to engage in styles of behaviour that do not come naturally. 

No discussion of team-working would be complete without a mention of the well-known Belbin team roles , already mentioned in Chapter 2 in the context of behaviour preferences, which seem to have dominated training in teamworking ever since the research defining them was published, Meredith Belbin (1981) identified characteristics that marked out successful and unsuccessful teams. He concluded that... 

One approach is to find a means to reinforce the desired behaviour, preferably on a variable ratio schedule. One such example was reported from a factory in Liverpool (see Chapter 3). The introduction of a prize draw, based upon tokens collected for attendance, led to the reduction of absenteeism levels to almost zero. Other schemes have used cash bonuses for those attending on days chosen at random during the month. Both of these types of schemes use variable ratio reinforcement - one by means of a draw, the other by the random choice of the day on which attendance is rewarded. (It is worth noting that both also required attendance at the required starting time, thus also reinforcing punctuality.)... 

Under the usual conditions their ratio is kinetically controlled. Alder and Stein already discerned that there usually exists a preference for formation of the endo isomer (formulated as a tendency of maximum accumulation of unsaturation, the Alder-Stein rule). Indeed, there are only very few examples of Diels-Alder reactions where the exo isomer is the major product. The interactions underlying this behaviour have been subject of intensive research. Since the reactions leadirig to endo and exo product share the same initial state, the differences between the respective transition-state energies fully account for the observed selectivity. These differences are typically in the range of 10-15 kJ per mole. ... 

The unexpected preference for the interfacial region at lower concentrations of benzene has prompted speculation. It has been demonstrated that aromatic compounds are capable of forming weak hydrogen bonds with water. This ability favours uptake in the aqueous interface over solubilisation in the interior. Alternatively, some authors have attributed the binding behaviour of benzene to its... 

The binding behaviour of benzene can be extrapolated to many other aromatic compounds such as naphthalene and benzene derivativesInterestingly, a large number of probe molecules contain aromatic rings and many of them will prefer the outer regions of micelles, whereas in bilayer systems, the same molecules prefer the interior of the aggregate ". Qearly these probes cannot be used to determine polarity of the micellar interior or the extent of water penetration therein . 

An interesting aspect of this reaction is the contrasting stereoselective behaviour of the dimethyisulfonium and dimethyloxosuifonium methylides in reactions with cyclic ketones (E.J. Corey, 1963 B, 1965 A C.E. Cook, 1968). The small, reactive dimethyisulfonium ylide prefers axial attack, but with the larger, less reactive oxosulfonium ylide only the thermodynamically favored equatorial addition is observed. 

The pyrazole molecule resembles both pyridine (the N(2)—C(3) part) and pyrrole (the N(l)—C(5)—C(4) part) and its reactivity reflects also this duality of behaviour. The pyridinic N-2 atom is susceptible to electrophilic attack (Section 4.04.2.1.3) and the pyrrolic N-1 atom is unreactive, but the N-1 proton can be removed by nucleophiles. However, N-2 is less nucleophilic than the pyridine nitrogen atom and N(1)H more acidic than the corresponding pyrrolic NH group. Electrophilic attack on C-4 is generally preferred, contrary to pyrrole which reacts often on C-2 (a attack). When position 3 is unsubstituted, powerful nucleophiles can abstract the proton with a concomitant ring opening of the anion. 

As a first approach to the principles which govern the behaviour of metals in specific environments it is preferable for simplicity to disregard the detailed structure of the metal and to consider corrosion as a heterogeneous chemical reaction which occurs at a metal/non-metal interface and which involves the metal itself as one of the reactants (cf. catalysis). Corrosion can be expressed, therefore, by the simple chemical reaction ... 

Other similar cyclic structures may present quite unexpected behaviour. Let us give the example of 46, where X is Cl or Br. Such structures are very easily reduced44 (polished platinum microelectrodes are preferred owing to the reaction of mercury with C—X linkages), and the presence of an anion radical of some stability can be demonstrated in the... 

In order for an experimental test of the kinetic behaviour to be as informative as possible, the system investigated should fulfil various specific requirements. From the experimental point of view, the reaction should cause a minimum of change in the reaction medium and be without side-reactions as far as possible, in order for accurate and well-defined rate measurements to be feasible. For the same reason an accOTate physical method which can be applied without distiubing the reacting system is to be preferred. From the theoretical point of view, it is desirable that the steric effects play as important a role in the reaction as possible, because only then is a sizeable effect to be expected. Finally, a transition state of well-known conformation is a necessary prerequisite for the quantitative application of the theory. 

Binger and Hanna [76] have considered the alignment of 4-n-octyl-2-flurophenyl-4-n-octyloxybiphenyl-4 -carboxylate (MBF) and 8CB at room temperature on the (110) surface of polyethylene and the (100) surface of nylon. They find that alignment of both molecules is dominated by the behaviour of the flexible tails that prefer to align parallel between two polymer chains. This forces the mesogenic core to straddle one or more chains. This is illustrated in Fig. 4 for the specific case of MBF on the (110) surface of... 

Two contrasting conclusions have been reported in the reactions of lithium aluminium hydride in THF with phosphine oxides and phosphine sulphides respectively. The secondary oxide, phenyl-a-phenylethylphos-phine oxide (42), has been found to be racemized very rapidly by lithium aluminium hydride, and this observation casts some doubt on earlier reports of the preparation of optically active secondary oxides by reduction of menthyl phosphinates with this reagent. A similar study of the treatment of (/ )-(+ )-methyl-n-propylphenylphosphine sulphide (43) with lithium aluminium hydride has revealed no racemization. These results have been rationalized on the basis of the preferred site of attack of hydride on the complexed intermediate (44), which, in the case of phosphine oxides (X = O), is at phosphorus, and in the case of the sulphides (X = S), is at sulphur. Such behaviour is comparable to that observed during the reduction of phosphine oxides and sulphides with hexachlorodisilane. ... 

A surprising exception has been reported with evidence for a cleavage reaction in the case of divinyl sulphone. In non-aqueous and slightly acidic media, the behaviour of a., ji-unsaturated aromatic sulphones is also complex (see Table 7) since the cleavage and the saturation may compete. Strongly electrophilic double bonds undergo Michael additions in aprotic solvents by slowly protonated anions. Transfer of labile hydrogen may also lead to unactivated bases. It is noteworthy that in numerous cases (Table 6) the saturation is the preferred route. 

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