Entrepreneurial Orientation, Creativity, and Productivity： The Influence of Self-leadership Strategies

This study examines the influence of self-leadership strategies on the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation, creativity, and productivity. It also investigates the psychometric properties of the relatively newly developed self-leadership measurement instrument. The study involves a questionnaire-based survey of employees from a perceived innovative organisation operating in the United Arab Emirates. A total of 255 employees participated in the study. The responses were subject to a serious of factor, correlation and regression analyses using SPSS and structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that the second order factor of self-leadership behavioural-focused strategies has a significant and strong effect on entrepreneurial orientation, which in turn enhances influences on creativity and productivity. Furthermore, the second order factor of self-leadership natural reward strategies has no effect on entrepreneurial orientation, suggesting that strategies that seek work activities which are pleasant and enjoyable neither affect the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation, nor the dimensions of creativity and productivity. Results also showed that self-leadership behavioural-focused strategies accounted for 51% of the variance in entrepreneurial orientation, and 40% and 52% of the variance in creativity and productivity, respectively. The findings also showed that entrepreneurial orientation impacts significantly the dimensions of creativity and productivity. In conclusion, the findings clearly suggest that organisations should train and/or hire those employees who encompass strategies that are intended to strengthen positive, desirable behaviours, such as self-goal setting, self-observation, self-reward, self-punishment, and self-practice, if they wish to maintain and/or increase innovativeness, pro-activeness, creativity, and productivity. Directions for future research and practical implications for leadership and business approaches are discussed.

O-GlcNAcylation in Ventral Tegmental Area Dopaminergic Neurons Regulates Motor Learning and the Response to Natural Reward

Protein O-GlcNAcylation is a post-translational modification that links environmental stimuli with changes in intracellular signal pathways,and its disturbance has been found in neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders.However,its role in the mesolimbic dopamine(DA)system,especially in the ventral tegmental area(VTA),needs to be elucidated.Here,we found that injection of Thiamet G,an O-GlcNAcase(OGA)inhibitor,in the VTA and nucleus accumbens(NAc)of mice,facilitated neuronal O-GlcNAcylation and decreased the operant response to sucrose as well as the latency to fall in rotarod test.Mice with DAergic neuron-specific knockout of O-GlcNAc transferase(OGT)displayed severe metabolic abnormalities and died within 4–8 weeks after birth.Furthermore,mice specifically overexpressing OGT in DAergic neurons in the VTA had learning defects in the operant response to sucrose,and impaired motor learning in the rotarod test.Instead,overexpression of OGT in GABAergic neurons in the VTA had no effect on these behaviors.These results suggest that protein O-GlcNAcylation of DAergic neurons in the VTA plays an important role in regulating the response to natural reward and motor learning in mice.