The evolution in animals of a first possession convention, in which individuals retain what they are the first to acquire, has often been taken as a foundation for the evolution of human ownership institutions. However, among humans, individuals actually only seldom retain an item they have acquired from the environment, instead typically transferring what they possess to other members of the community, to those in command, or to those who hold a contractual title. This paper presents a novel game-theoretic model of the evolution of ownership institutions as rules governing resource transfers. Integrating existing findings, the model contributes a new perspective on the emergence of communal transfers among hominin large game hunters around 200,000 years ago, of command ownership among sedentary humans in the millennia prior to the transition to agriculture, and of titled property ownership around 5,500 years ago. Since today’s property institutions motivate transfers through the promise of future returns, the analysis presented here suggests that these institutions may be placed under considerable pressure should resources become significantly constrained. One of the earliest applications of evolutionary game theory was to model how nonhuman animals signalling an intent to defend territory prevents wasteful conflict within groups , 2, and The need for a clearer understanding of the mechanisms by which a society’s institutions change alongside its resource base has been noted by researchers across disciplines –11. In eIn the next section, the model is outlined and the results and predictions are set out. This provides a heuristic for an examination of the existing empirical evidence for the evolution of communal, command, and titled property institutions. This is followed by a ‘Discussion’ section in which the main similarities and differences between this and other models, as well as the model’s main limitations, are discussed. A short ‘Conclusion’ summarises the contributions that this paper makes to the literature. At the end of the paper, a ‘Methods’ section sets out the model in full.The model builds on the intuition that each individual can either obtain some resource item from the environment or can demand some resource item from someone else; and that an individual who has obtained a resource from the environment can either surrender it upon demand or can resist such demands. This yields three discrete strategies: a Demander demands resources from others and fights if necessary; a Resister obtains a resource from the environment and fights to defend it if necessary; and a Transferrer obtains a resource from the environment but surrenders it if demanded. Five parameters determine the strategy payoffs see .Though some forms of institutionalism take institutions to be exogenous, the explicitly evolutionary approach taken here interprets institutions as selected from a diversity of possibilities, and evolving as the result of a change in a given population of individuals , 13. IndP)v − f − c, which could be rewritten as f + c < (1 − P)v; that is, first possession survives as long as the net increase in fitness that accrues to Resisters after their losses to Demanders ((1 − P)v) is greater than the fitness costs of obtaining and defending (c + f) the resource. Correspondingly, a shift away from first possession is predicted when 0 < (1 − P)v − f − c no longer holds; if, alongside this condition, the fitness costs of obtaining a resource is greater than the benefits of transferring, so that c > b, then the population is predicted to be dominated by Demanders, but probably only quite briefly since no resources are being acquired by anyone in such a population.As summarised in b > c; in that case, a mixed Demander-Transferrer population results, corresponding to a communal, command, or titled property institution. The transition to communal ownership, then, is predicted to occur when there are increases in the costs of fighting between group members (f), which might occur with the development of better hunting tools which can also be used as weapons, and when there are sufficient increases in the fitness benefits of transferring to others (b) in relation to the costs of acquiring resources from the environment (c), such as when sustaining other group members provides sufficient benefits in the form of collective defence or a reduction in the unpredictability of the food supply. It is predicted that communal ownership institutions will no longer be maintained if it becomes more costly to hunt, for example as large game declines, or if there are fewer benefits of sustaining other group members, as then the inequality b > c may no longer hold; a Demand dominated population may briefly occur.The population will not become dominated by Demanders, however, as long as there are sufficient benefits to making transfers, relative to the costs of resource acquisition, to maintain P)v − f − c and b > c which may occur where, for example, those demanding resources are sufficiently likely to win resource conflicts as this reduces the net fitness of Resisters, and where the benefits of group defence remains high relative to cost of resource acquisition, for example if conflict between groups escalates so that the defensive benefits of group membership remain high.Alternatively, command ownership is predicted to survive where 0 >  of transferring resources to others in the group. Though hominin meat consumption dates to at least 2.5 million years ago [f) between group members wielding those tools as weapons [Among human hunter-gatherers, however, active food sharing is ubiquitous , 19, 21.ears ago  and the ears ago , 26, the weapons . By arou weapons , and aro weapons . These h weapons , 29, 30. weapons , 19, 21. weapons , 32; amo weapons .v) may increase relative to the costs of acquiring them from the environment (c) and the costs of fighting (f), a return to a first possession institution can nevertheless be avoided if those demanding resources are sufficiently likely to win resource conflicts (P). Meanwhile, the benefits of some level of stratification might include the creation of role models, the provision of dispute resolution, a division of labour, and the collective punishment of free-riders [Though archaeological evidence suggests sporadic experiments with institutional inequality as long as 29,000 years ago, stratification seems to have become more permanent only much later among more sedentary societies . Theoriee-riders –41. These-riders .c > b) and so communal ownership institutions may no longer be maintained. Groups may briefly become dominated by those who demand resources from others, or fission as other social carnivores do when competition for food becomes too intense [Beginning around 15,000 years ago, the archaeological record shows the start of what has become known as the ‘quaternary extinction’, a period in which many species of larger animals became extinct –45. The  intense , 18 as o intense , 47. Thi intense . Periods intense . It may In western Asia, beginning around 12,800 years ago, clusters of small huts each probably housing a nuclear family appear in the archaeological record . This noIn the light of recent ethnographic and archaeological evidence, the popular theory that domestication was delayed until the creation of an institution of individual land ownership –61 is noP) that these powerful elites will win any conflicts with those who acquire resources from the environment, and thus prevents a return to a first possession institution. Even in nonagricultural societies sedentism often coincided with hereditary power, for example in the salmon-rich American Pacific northwest where chiefs commanded tributes and held slaves—though nonagricultural societies never reach the levels of surplus and differences in power achieved in agricultural societies [b) for even the lowliest member of society [Though land ownership may not have been a prerequisite for domestication, some level of sedentism has historically allowed wealth, power, and status to be accumulated not only by individuals, but by lineages . This inocieties , 63–65. ocieties , 65, 66.ocieties , 67. Chiocieties , 38, 68;ocieties , 37, 69. society , 70. The society .b > c and a return to first possession is avoided). However, the relationship between property titles and economic growth is also hypothesised to be bidirectional [Whilst a strong literature had suggested that secure ownership affords owners economic incentives and so drives economic growth , 72, 73,ectional , 80: theectional .Unlike earlier ownership institutions, the evolution of contractual titles to resource items can largely be traced through the written historical record; indeed, writing itself likely first developed in Mesopotamia around 5500 years ago for the purpose of recording such contracts , 82, 83.Contracts for interest-bearing loans appear in Greece during the eighth century BC, likely due to the influence of Syrian and Phoenician merchants . Lackingproletarii were drawn to one of dozens of new colonies, after 180 BC only one new colony is reported [The early centuries of the Roman Republic, its beginning traditionally dated to 509 BC, were similarly characterised by debt crises. Successive legislation was passed to limit interest and wealth concentration –95. A kereported , 99, 100reported , 94, 101reported .Keen to avoid such recurring debt crises, the early Christian Fathers prohibited the charging of usury, particularly drawing on Old Testament texts describing Hebrew practices likely borrowed from the ancient Mesopotamians , 103. AcBeginning in western Europe, the modern period saw the gradual relaxation of laws restricting the kinds of contract that could be entered into for the transfer of resources. Among the earliest, England’s post-Reformation pro-creditor laws in 1543 and 1545 legislated for the imprisonment and dispossession of defaulters and effectively decriminalised all loan contracts that charged interest at less than ten per cent , 108. AsUnlike earlier periods, the resource base of modern economies has continued expanding not only territorially but also through the use of vast reserves of fossil fuel energy, first from coal, then later increasing inputs of oil and natural gas , 112. InSince the late twentieth century, however, global energy growth has begun to slow . The eneWhilst titled property institutions have historically survived as long as resource transfers can be motivated by the promise of increased returns, in the absence of expansion the motivation to transfer resources through the promise of increased returns declines. The analysis presented here suggests that, in past societies, this has often led to social polarisation and a return to more directly coercive ownership forms. A better understanding of the evolution of our current ownership institutions seems increasingly important as our own society approaches ever more significant constraints , 79, 80.The model here differs from others in the literature in that it seeks to examine the evolution among human societies of communal, command, and titled property institutions, characterising these forms of ownership as institutions that govern the transfer of resource items. It therefore differs from the existing literature in six key ways.First, I have here characterised communal, command, and titled property ownership institutions as rules governing the transfer of resource items. This characterisation therefore differs from an oft used typology within the social science literature that classifies private, public, common, and club ownership in terms of excludability and rivalry . The conSecond, the evolutionary model here is constructed in contrast to an economic literature in which human ownership institutions are viewed as the result of when the marginal costs of asserting ownership are exceeded by the marginal benefits of reducing externalities, so that a mutual respect for the possessions of others reduces the costs of fighting required to defend those possessions , 126. ThThird, the existing evolutionary game theory modelling literature has focussed on the variation, selection, and retention of behaviours as they evolved in cellular and chromosomal processes and nonhuman animals, and have not yet been extended to examine the ownership institutions of humans that are my focus here , 131–134Fourth, given this focus on human institutions, the model in this paper builds upon the observation that under the communal, command, and titled property ownership characteristic of human societies, resource items are typically not retained by their first possessor but are transferred to others. This differs from Hawk-Dove-Bourgeois type models that aim to provide an account of the conventions observed in nonhumans by which the first possessor of a resource tends to retain possession of a resource. Variants include the Hawk-Dove-Bourgeois-Assessor model whereby disputes over possession are settled according to assessments about the rate of expenditure of a fitness budget during a fight , the ‘coFifth, one further reason that both economic and Hawk-Dove-Bourgeois type models have tended to neglect the difference between animal possessiveness and the non-possessiveness characteristic of humans is that those literatures have largely focussed on the ownership of territory, rather than on the rules governing the ownership of resource items. With my focus on modelling resource transfers, I have distinguished ownership of territory from ownership of resource items, focussing on the ownership of resource items in order to better understand the rules governing their transfer and retention. Since my focus is on humans, this is an approach consistent with those within the anthropological tradition who focus less on the presence or absence of territorial boundaries, and more on the ownership rules that govern the ownership of resource items .Sixth, the model allows the possibility that there may be a net benefit for an individual to transfer a resource item. This is in contrast to Producer-Scrounger models –146 whicScientific models cannot simultaneously maximise generality, realism, and precision . Since IThe first limitation, that the model is simplistic, results from its focus on just five variables that place the analytical focus on intra-group interactions. As a result, the model neglects more complicated multi-level effects such as inter-group interactions like warfare, which are included in the model only to the extent that such activities impact upon the costs and benefits of interactions within the group, though group selection effects are widely thought to influence learned behaviours , 13. SimP) is used only as a factor of one of the other four (v). The relationship between the variables is therefore expressed in terms of the relative values of fitness increases and decreases. This implies that resources are treated as inherently continuous, an assumption that is nevertheless reasonably realistic for my purposes, since the resources that are the focus are foraged foods, large game, agricultural yields, and fuels—all resources that are in principle indefinitely divisible. A related consequence of the use of an abstract ‘fitness’ unit as the model measure is that a given cost or benefit is defined in quite an aggregated manner. As such, it is not possible within the model to recreate the specific actions of individuals in particular circumstances, for which a finer-grained model would be required. As an illustrative example, the model cannot describe in detail the events that occur during a specific hunt should a number of individuals forego their foraging activities to pursue some larger prey, incurring costs in the pursuit and then attempting to obtain shares of the kill [The second limitation is that the model is abstract since it uses ‘fitness’ as the unit measure of the model variables. Standard practice in evolutionary modelling, such abstraction is very useful for producing a highly generalisable model, though it relegates much of the work of precision to the interpretative stage. In the case of the model presented here, four of the five variables are defined in terms of the increases or decreases they bring about in an individual’s fitness, and the fifth : demands a resource of value v from the other player. If the other player resists then there is a fight where D incurs a cost f. Demand wins the fight a proportion P of the time and gains v when it wins.Resist (R): Obtains a resource of value v at a cost c. Incurs a cost f if fought by a Demander; wins the fight and retains the resource 1 − P of the time.Transfer (T): Obtains a resource of value v at a cost c. Transfers the resource if demanded by a Demander with neither Transferrer nor Demander suffering any cost of fighting, and some additional benefit b may be gained by the Transferrer.The three strategies can be expressed in terms of the five parameter variables as follows  denotes the increase in fitness that results from an interaction between some strategy X and some strategy Y, and W(X) denotes the average change in fitness across all of some strategy X’s interactions, which in turn depends upon the proportion of each of the other strategies in the population. The outcome of each interaction can therefore be listed as:Different values for these five variables leads to different mixes of strategies in the population. These are represented by the proportion p′ denotes the proportion of D in the succeeding population, this dynamic is:The replicator dynamic is used to calculate the strategy mix in a population based upon the proportions in the preceding population and the relative fitness of the strategies. For the sake of argument, the model uses the standard replicator dynamic . For a t derived :Δp=pv − f − c holds (as well as whenever 0 > (1 − P)v + f − c which, since f > 0, holds whenever the first inequality holds); they will also be fitter across all interactions with Transferrers if c > b . Correspondingly, Resisters can dominate Demanders when (1 − P)v − f − c > 0 (and when (1 − P)v + f − c > 0 which, since f > 0, holds whenever the first inequality holds), and in interactions with Transferrers will be equally fit since Resister and Transferrer payoffs are equal.Transferrers cannot dominate the other two strategies, since when they meet Resisters their payoffs are equal, and they would only always be fitter in their interactions with Demanders if both −P)v − f − c and b > c then no strategy will dominate, but a mixed population will result. In a coexisting Resister-Transferrer population the payoffs between the two strategies are equal, so its ability to repel Demanders depends upon the proportions of the mix, that is, whether there is a sufficient proportion of Resisters in the population to repel Demanders.If 0 > . A Demander-Transferrer population can repel Resisters when both are fitter than invading Resisters. To find where this occurs, we first find the Demander-Transferrer equilibrium point q = 0):Demander-Transferrer coexistence is possible where W(D) = W(T) > W(R):We then find the conditions where at this equilibrium point, Substituting P)v − f − c and b > c. So, when 0 > (1 − P)v − f − c and b > c, a Demander-Transferrer population coexists and repels Resisters.This inequality holds whenever 0 > (1 − W(D) > W(T). However, estimating that inequality and substituting p simplifies to the inequality (1 − P)v − f − b > 0; since 0 > (1 − P)v − f − c and c > b, this outcome is not possible.A coexisting Demander-Resister population is not possible. Using the same process as above, the equilibrium point of a coexisting Demander-Resister population would be


The reintegration of high-profile ex-offenders—including homicide offenders, pedophiles, and terrorists—frequently receives great political and public attention. This raises several important questions: how do such offenders reintegrate into society after their release? What is the impact of their prison sentence and media attention on life domains post-release? And, given their presence in the public eye, how do current life course theories account for desistance among this special group?Based on in-depth life course interviews with ten Dutch high-profile ex-offenders and interviews with 17 professionals involved in their reintegration, this study seeks to address a significant gap in academic literature on the role of public attention on reentry and desistance.While none of the subjects reengaged in criminal behavior, all of them significantly struggled in the domains of family relations, parenthood, intimate partner relationships, employment, and housing post-release. This poses challenges in terms of explaining their desistance through life course theory alone. They are frequently in the public eye, which—combined with strict supervision—inhibits them from rebuilding relationships that may act as informal social controls.Findings emphasize the significance of the broader social context of high-profile offenders as well as factors such as time and age, for gaining an understanding of their lived experiences and desistance. The societal reentry of some ex-offenders receives a great deal of political and public attention. Well known are the public demonstrations and expressions of anger and concern against released sex offenders , 12, 51.This article seeks to discuss the impact of imprisonment and public attention on different life domains after release. Over the last decades, the life course approach has offered an important perspective for scholars seeking to understand processes of reintegration and desistance post-release , 43. AccFrom a life course perspective, stakes of conformity associated with intimate partner relationships, parenthood, and preexisting family ties are all thought to contribute to successful reentry . A life In this article, we mostly focus on primary desistance  or “act-In sum, marriage, parenthood, employment, and preexisting family ties are thus thought to constitute mechanisms of informal social control that facilitate the alteration of criminal trajectories, putting ex-offenders on a path toward desistance , 21, 50.In order to empirically ground our argument, we now turn to the experiences of high-profile offenders and professionals in the Netherlands. One of the key organizations involved in the post-release phase is the Dutch Probation Service. Over the last decades, probation has become a central element in the criminal justice systems of many Western countries . Among oTo determine who could be regarded a “high-profile offender,” the media database LexisNexis was used, to search in Dutch local, regional, and national newspapers and websites with keywords specific to the research population.Localizing these high-profile (ex-offenders) was a first step, gaining contact with them a second. Many former prisoners are subject to feelings of shame, mistrust, and some want to leave the past behind , 34. PreN = 5), homicide offenses (N = 2), or offenses committed with a terrorist or extremist intention (N = 3). All the respondents were male and aged between 25 and 65 years when released from prison. The former prisoners with a terrorist background were on average the youngest group and those sentenced for sexual offenses the oldest . This interviewing method offers as an advantage the opportunity to ask respondents for additional questions and details, in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of their experiences . The intIn addition, we interviewed 17 professionals working with high-profile offenders. They are all regarded as specialists on the issue and work at the Ministry of Security and Justice, Dutch Probation Services, Public Prosecutors office, a penitentiary, NGOs, municipal level, or in a penitentiary. With these semi-structured interviews, we sought to map the general practice of reintegrating of high-profile offenders. We asked the professionals about the influence of public and political attention on these offenders, as well as the effects of such attention on the practice of reintegration. These interviews offered us the opportunity to cross-check some of the claims made by the high-profile offenders. Most interviews were conducted in a face-to-face setting at the professional’s office. In one case, the interview was held over the telephone.With the interviewees’ permission, most interviews were audio recorded. Interviews were transcribed ad verbatim. The interviews were submitted to content analysis. Following prior research in this area , 46, 53,Given the well-known identity of the interview participants, numerous precautions were taken to secure anonymity and confidentiality. First, interviews were held at locations suggested by the interviewees, where they indicated they felt safe to talk to us—ranging from their private home to public venues. We informed all respondents about the research design and goals via e-mail prior to the interview. At the interview, verbal consent was provided in all cases. In order to guarantee the safety and privacy of the respondents, all personal information from the interviews has been made anonymous in the transcription process. Even through some interviewees wanted their own name to be used, we replaced each name with a pseudonym. To avoid identification, we also left out or changed specific information about their persona—including hobbies, place of residence, or previously held jobs. No identifying information was retained following the completion of the analysis. Finally, we e-mailed each participant a word file including interview excerpts we intended to use, for their review, and only included these excepts when they approved.None of the interviewed offenders self-reportedly reoffended post-release. At the same time, the high-profile nature of their offenses inhibited the building of conventional social relationships through family, intimate relationships, or children and employment that may act as potential deterrents for future crime. What we should therefore be questioning is not only how they accomplished their desistance but also to what extent desistance corresponded to being successful in each of the aforementioned life course domains. Below we discuss both the offenders’ lived experiences as well as the professional reflections on developments taking place within these domains.“You are portrayed as the most dangerous criminal. One that could strike any minute. [...] My family was predominantly informed by the media rather than by experts. These experts told them that they are ‘not responsible for who will show up on their doorstep’. They are not involved in any way, while they should be. My ex-wife believed the words of the public prosecutor rather than those of me and my lawyer.”In five cases, intimate relationships survived the (at times prolonged) period of incarceration. Post-release, interviewees pointed out that the quality of their relationships took a big hit, not only because of their time away in prison but also because their intimate partners were faced with the effects of their crime. Family relations became an issue of concern for them. For example, Peter talks about his wife’s frequent reproaches:“My daughter has always been very open, also from the moment I was arrested [...] but my son has always hidden it from his friends. My wife still frequently argues that my children have not accomplished what they could have when “all of this” did not happen.”Willem, who is now in his 60s, similarly reflects on the struggles in the relationship with his partner:“I still have my partner after 30 years. [...] Yet, it has been a very difficult period and I worried how our relationship would survive it [prison]. He [partner] had a very difficult time [...]. We lost many mutual friends […] [and the] media attention for my case was confronting for him”.These quotes illustrate that, due to the public attention for their crimes, their intimate partners not only felt to be in the public eye but also experienced that their social environment approached them suspiciously, almost as if they were co-offenders in the same crime(s).Nine out of the ten interviewed ex-offenders were involved in a romantic relationship prior to their incarceration. In four cases, the relationship ended while they were in prison, which was both attributable to their prison sentence, as well as to the (public) nature of their crime, as Greg, convicted for a sex offense with a minor, points out:“Well, I always wait-and-see, trying to find out how someone would respond to things like these. […] Eventually I will tell everything, about who I am and what I am convicted for. I told her to take a few weeks to process everything, to think things through. ‘Have a couple of nights sleep and then let me know if I would still be welcome or not. I do not expect anything from you, and I will not be angry if you decide I’m not’. I told her I would understand”.Those not involved in a relationship prior to incarceration, but who wanted to get involved with someone, also struggled, predominantly, with stigma management. Some said that stigma prohibited them from having intimate relationships and adopted a withdrawing approach to stigma management. Others, like Marco, adopted secrecy, as he argued “[I] don’t see the point of telling them [other people].” When they do open up to new relationships, they always do so with caution and with low expectations, also known as preventative telling, as Greg’s example illustrates:In total, five ex-offenders were fathers prior to incarceration, two of whose children had already left the house. The other three had children who were minors at the time of their incarceration. One example is Peter, a man in his 60s, who was arrested when his children were still young. During his 12-year incarceration for homicide, his wife was “pretty much on her own” in taking care of the children.By the time they were released, their children entered adolescence or even adulthood. In Youssef’s case, for example, his ex-wife did not want to be associated with his case and broke off contact after his arrest. He resigned to his ex’s decision and due to the fact she lives abroad, Youssef—now in his late 20s—has had no role in raising his daughter since. Rather, due to the nature and duration of their incarceration, these men did not take up a significant parental role while in prison. Further, the length of their sentences disrupted their life courses. Once they were released, they were “out of time” in fulfilling a parental role that could have acted as a deterrent. Others considered themselves as too old to start a family, as Marco, who is now in his mid-40s, illustrates:“My life is rather stable at the moment [...] but still my life will always be different than of other people. I mean, […] when I see people of my age; they have bought a house, have a family. Well.. I will never have that.Parenthood, in other words, lacked the potential to lead these men to paths of desistance. Ahmed—who is in his late 20s—seems to be an exception to this rule, as he considers his identity and role as a father as very important and, as such, possibly functions as a deterrent.“My son-in-law has, among other things, pressured her to do so: ‘If you keep seeing your father, then I will leave you!’ he’d said”Youssef, who is still in contact with most family members, lost contact with his brother post-release:With the exception of two, the vast majority of the interviewees said they lost contact with family members, as well as with close friends, while in prison. They partly attributed this to the length of the confinement, as well as to the nature of their crime(s) and media coverage of their stories. Greg, for example, who is now in his 60s, is only in touch with one of his sisters. While in prison, his daughter, among others, broke contact with him:“I rarely speak to my brother anymore. I do not see him very often. [...] He also experienced quite some problems because of the negative label I have been given.”In line with previous research , at thisMost other respondents speak of not only of a lack of contact with family members but also to a more general lack of social contact, in some cases resulting in far-reaching social isolation, as Hank illustrates:“There is absolutely nobody who wants to be associated with me. [...] I am always alone, well practically always. I do not really know anymore what loneliness is, since it is my life. I only have contact with a couple of people. Most of them of online. That is the safest way for me. Because the more people you bring together, the bigger the odds that people will recognize me. […] Those who I speak with recognize my problems and we are able to talk about them.”At the same time, interviewees emphasize that a supportive social network is essential for effective reintegration. Interviewed professionals even claim that this particularly accounts for high-profile offenders “especially when people are under a magnifying glass and there is social unrest, then it is important that they are supported by friends or family members”; one professional involved in their reentry puts it. However, they readily acknowledge that building and maintaining such a supportive social network is problematic for this group of ex-offenders:“Indeed, while being one of the keys to success, it is very difficult to build a healthy social network through work or organizations. But who wants to befriend these notorious offenders? Only a really small group of people. In practice, volunteers are often the only ones willing to give them a chance [...] in terms of being supportive factors. […] I think that is absolutely crucial given the fact that society has already written them off and flushed them down the toilet.”Difficulties in reentering in the spotlights also become apparent when it comes to their social networks. Six of the ex-offenders told us that they have made some new friends in prison, while most of them have been unable to meet new people after their release. Both Marco and Ahmed, for example, concluded that most of their friends are still in prison or have recently been released.Post-release, the vast majority of those interviewed struggled with finding employment—not only because their (extended) incarceration, which inhibited them from applying for certain jobs, and public profile, which seemingly inhibited them from being hired, but also due to the lack of assistance of formal reentry organizations, as Johan explains:“I had hoped that the Dutch Probation Service and municipality would help me in finding a job. Yet, that didn’t happen really. I did receive valuable assistance by a volunteer organization. They visited me and helped me making a CV. However, in the end no-one actually found me a job”.Even though one may question Johan’s sense of agency in individually acquiring a job, the probation service is certainly required to play a supportive role in obtaining employment. Professionals at various reentry organizations (including the probation service), however, supported these ex-prisoner’s accounts of experiencing a “hands-off” approach, given the public sensitivity of these ex-offenders. Youssef, who was convicted for a terrorist offense, similarly experienced a lack of support, seemingly due to the nature of his past offense and public profile, as he exclaims:“Help me then! I am being punished twice here. Someone from Dutch social services told me: ‘How do I need to find a job for you? How would an employer respond when I say ‘hey, this is Youssef, a well-known former terrorist?’ He told me that in the presence of my wife!”These practices, as Youssef and others outline, seem to be indicative of a situation in which professionals do not know how to effectively assist high-profile offenders. Moreover, in some cases, professionals even seem to act out of risk management, rather than reentry support, or as Youssef puts it elsewhere: “they seem to think ‘imagine when things go wrong here’.” Professionals’ accounts support this sentiment, as one public prosecutor says: “While we know from experience that assisting in the reintegration of offenders can be beneficial, at some point things can turn into a political discussion [about perceived risks].” This seems to be especially the case when media enter the equation or as one policy officer for local governments states: “the less spotlights, the better. When the cameras come in, the potential actions of governments are limited”.Ultimately, some ended up being unemployed, while others took up a voluntary work. While this provided them with some satisfaction, they are also constantly aware of possible restrictions to their activities, as Johan exemplifies:“I am volunteer at a church, I work in the garden. I also like to be involved in providing technical services there and I organize an open museum day. Well, that is be something the Probation Service would probably forbid when they would find out. Because of the presence of children there”.For some, volunteering became a way to find meaning in their lives, yet at the time of the interview, none of the interviewees mentioned volunteering as a part of their identity. Difficulties in finding employment are readily acknowledged by many professionals. In line with ex-offenders, they too sometimes wonder “who is going to employ this particular offender?”Oftentimes offenders were unable to return to their old homes. For example, when we asked Greg about his release from prison, he admitted that finding a house had been rather problematic: “I was forced to live on the streets for a while, because Probation Services could not find a house that was suitable for someone like me.” Ultimately, he states, “The judge and public prosecutor thought I was too big of a risk when living on the streets. Eventually, I had to finish the remaining three months of my sentence behind bars.”In total, more than half of the former prisoners we interviewed experienced problems in finding housing. Support from official governmental organizations was experienced as insufficient. In some cases, it took months—after their release—before a location was found, in others they were unable to be released in time because of a lack of housing, and in other cases, the only available housing was far removed from their original place of residence. Ahmed, for example, was not allowed to return to his old home because of the conditions of his release (he received an area ban) and, as such, he ended up in a house and city in which he did not want to live. His experience is similar to Khalil’s:“I did not want to live in this city, because I [whilst incarcerated] already knew I would go to a school somewhere else; my future would not be there. I thought “What on earth should I do in this other city?”This dynamic was reported by many interviewees, who felt frequent media attention covering their release inhibited their efforts in finding a suitable place to live. Hank, for example, argued that after his release he wanted to return to his own home. However, as his personal safety could not be guaranteed (demonstrators threatened to harm him), he was unable to do so:“Of course, it [his release] has been announced very broadly that I could not return to my own home […] When journalists write that you have been released from prison, then, yes, people sometimes get the spontaneous idea to pay someone a visit. Not with the best intentions though.”Hank further states that as the Dutch Probation Service, the public prosecutor and local governments were unwilling to offer him help in finding housing, he went looking for alternatives: “I started living on campsites” he explained. However, sometimes, people recognized him and he was chased away from the perimeter:“Eventually, an unofficial organization offered to help me. They called the mayor of the municipality in which I lived. Instantly, police cars arrived at the campsite where I lived. They had given me an area ban. I had to leave again […]. Housing-organizations keep refusing me. Even the homeless shelter told me I wasn’t welcome.”precious political capital.”It is worth noting, however, that the degree of stigma in this context may differ between offenders, given their index crime. As one professional emphasized: “When a convicted murderer comes to live next door, well, people probably do not like that. But it is a whole lot less problematic than when someone has a history as a sex offender.” Notwithstanding, these differences in public stigmatization, the Public Prosecutors office and other professionals admit that finding these high-profile ex-offenders a place to live often takes considerable effort. They see a paradox, while emphasizing the importance of reintegrative activities; they also describe the experienced societal and political pressure among professionals and governments. A representative of the Dutch organization of local governments concludes that this is the “five percent for whom no protocol is available, for whom no system can be designed.” The societal pressure is, among other things, fuelled by a fear of what will happen in the case a high-profile offender relapsing into criminal behavior. This makes housing a high-profile offender a potentially unpopular thing to do, as a Mayor’s advisor highlights: “sometimes a Mayor rejects a high-profile offender’s request for housing in his town. (…) For this political support is needed, it is delabelled by officials who publicly acclaim that the offender is now an ex and no longer a threat. However, as a policy advisor highlights, “the public comforting of experts or relevant officials promotes the reintegration of an ex-offender.” A valuable alternative, according to both professionals and high-profile offenders, is the involvement of informal social networks of volunteers. On a smaller scale, they can redefine the social status of a former prisoner. As one case-worker puts it:Reentry of high-profile offenders often generates substantial media attention. This, in turn, leads professional organizations to focus on repression and risk-management instead of finding options for adequate support and, hence, at least in theory, a higher risk of recidivism. Various professionals argue that significant assistance in the transition from prison to society can only be ensured “when someone is a bit invisible” . This may be achieved by changing their names or physical characteristics. This need for anonymity can also be linked to the lack of public rehabilitation—or in Meisenhelder’s terms, certification—of high-profile offenders. Seldom, infamous sex offenders, murderers, and terrorists are “The public shaming of known offenders is counter-productive. ‘Oh, society has written me off?, I will show them then’. It is much more effective to provide them with a network, of volunteers, who will highlight other parts of their identity”.Based on in-depth interviews with high-profile ex-offenders and professionals working with them, the findings of this study illustrate the impact of the prison sentence and media attention on different life and social domains. Taken together, the nature of their crimes, the duration of their prison sentence, and the public attention to their cases post-release often inhibit these ex-offenders in building pro-social relationships post-release that may act as deterrents from future crime. From a life course theory perspective, this includes family relations, parenthood, intimate partner relationships, and employment. The limited presence of such pro-social roles urges life course theorist to turn to the broader  contexts of these ex-offenders for explaining desistance, and, as extension, adequate reintegration among this special group.Even though this study attempted to reflect the lived experiences from a relatively small, hard-to-reach population, the recruitment strategy is not without limitations. First, we relied only on those who were willing to participate in our study. Those who—out of fear of renewed attention to their case or their person—did not participate may have reported different experiences. Second, we relied on self-reported crime alone, without the ability to cross-reference actual desistance with official reports. Even though we acknowledge that these ex-offenders may commit crimes for various reasons, we hold that self-reported crime is highly unlikely to go unnoticed among this group given their tight restrictions and constant monitoring and supervision . Third, Frequently being in the public eye, combined with strict supervision rules, seems to inhibit these individuals from rebuilding strong relationships that may act as informal social controls. While high-profile ex-offenders sometimes encounter different types of stigma, they frequently have comparable experiences on different life domains. First, from a life course theory point of view, establishing and maintaining an intimate relationship would be expected to positively influence these high-profile ex-offenders in going straight. The attachment to an intimate partner would give them a reluctance to engage in crime, because they might hurt or jeopardize their relationship . Yet, siSecond, from a life course perspective, (re)assuming a parental role is thought to positively influence these prisoner’s success post-release , 52. AltA third factor derived from life course theory is the positive role of preexisting family ties on reentry. Similar to findings reported elsewhere, the prolonged, deprived nature of contact with family members while incarcerated may explain why so many families do not survive the imprisonment of one of their members  , as emphFurther, it may be argued that each of these men were sentenced and incarcerated for very specific crimes that took place in highly contextualized settings. Their long-term removal from these settings, in combination with both self-chosen as well as enforced social isolation, may explain their lack of reoffending.In line with findings reported elsewhere , 39, 53,In its current form, it has been argued strict supervision as experienced by these ex-offenders extends the gaze of the penal state and regulates and governs a group of marginalized people returning to their communities . The vasthe parole paradox [Having trouble finding employment due to lack of professional expertise and protocol, experiencing difficulties in obtaining housing, and not being allowed to travel through certain areas contribute to what has recently been coined  paradox . This su paradox . In this paradox .On a more fundamental level, truly making possible rehabilitation for this special group of offenders, one solution may lie in revising the current “contract” between the reentry organization and the (former) prisoner. Following Petersilia , based oMost ex-offenders, including the high-profile ex-offenders interviewed for this study, are motivated to be discharged from supervision. Research has demonstrated that older offenders, and individuals who stay arrest-free for 7 years or more, simply have very little risk for future crime, and this risk is similar to that of non-offenders . Further


Human resource management has increasingly become one of the most important challenging issues in the pharmaceutical industry in general and in developing countries in particular to increase the access of societies to needed medicines. In this study, an attempt was made to explore the challenges of human resource management practices surrounding pharmaceutical firms in Iran, as a developing country. To answer the research question, a qualitative descriptive study using thematic analysis was performed through 22 semi-structured interviews with the key informants of Iranian pharmaceutical industry. Extracted themes of interviews were categorized into three main groups namely ability, motivation, and opportunity challenges based on the AMO model and briefly discussed separately. This is the first study investigating HRM challenges in the pharmaceutical industry; the research contributes to developing knowledge of human resource practices and assist pharma managers with better understanding how well implement human resource practices. In the present knowledge-based economy, firms attempt to attain organizational goals with optimal exploitation of their resources. Humans, as a vital resource for organizations, not only have a decisive role in the evolution of firms, but also act as the leader of all other resources to conquer rivals in today’s dynamic atmosphere of businesses. Playing a pivotal role in success of the firms, human resource management (HRM) needs human resource (HR) systems, HR policies, and HR practices. There are obvious differences among these concepts. HR practices reflect specific organizational actions designed to achieve some specific outcomes. HR policies reflect an employee-focused program that influences the choice of HR practices. An HR system operates at an even higher level of analysis and reflects a program of multiple HR policies that are espoused to be internally consistent and reinforcing to achieve some overarching results . Human rDespite the wide range of studies focused on the outcomes of HRMPs, there are other studies believing that such practices are influenced by such factors as culture, climate, institution, business structure, and HRM professionals . Given tRelying on its ancient cultural heritage, Iran possesses traditional HRMPs and policies. The country undergoes a transition phase toward organizational efficiency and adoption of advanced HRM systems . It is oThe rest of this study is organized as follows; first, a review on existing literature is outlined; then, the research methodology is presented, followed by presenting the results, discussion, conclusion, and managerial implications, respectively.Theoretical backgroundet al. identified a black box called ‘HRM implementation by line managers’ that was considered as a gap between intended and implemented HR practices , HR managers, and academicians. It must be noted that even though the study researchers had arranged a list of 15 candidates of interviewees, the method used to gather data was purposive sampling followed by snowball sampling. In this manner, 22 interviews performed that 8 of them were not in the initial list and their selection was based on the judgment of interviewer, the situation of the study, and the suggestions of the interviewees. Each interview was performed within a pre-arranged time, mostly in the participant’s office. The interviewer was one of the authors who had adequate knowledge of HRM. The interviews were performed during January-March 2017. Since semi-structured interviews often contain open-ended questions, and discussions may diverge from the interview guide, it is generally best to tape-record the interviews and then transcribed them for analysis.nd interview, the researchers got into theoretical saturation and ended the interviews. As for the details on the interviews, it is be noted that mean (standard deviation) of interviewees experience (year), duration of interviews (minute), and number of the themes extracted from each interview are respectively 19.1 (12.2), 76.8 (22.4), and 20.3 (5.9). Also, about the educational degree of the interviewees, five had Ph.D, six had pharm. D, nine had M.A, and two of them had B.A. All interviews were recorded upon the interviewee’s permission. In some cases, because of the ambiguity and uncertainty of the recorded voice, the interviewee was recalled to clear up the subject. Upon accomplishment of the 22Data analysis processOnce finished with the interviews and their transcription, two of the researchers began to generate initial codes and cross checked them according to the method proposed by Braun and Clarke . In ordeAs it was mentioned in the prior section, the results of this study were depicted based on AMO model. Accordingly, the recognized challenges of HRMPs, which are summarized in Ability challengesStaffing challengesIn our study, three items were identified as the main obstacles for effective recruitment and staffing.Unskilled and unqualified manpoweretc., and do not learn enough about the principles of business and management sciences”. In addition, a manager of HR department of a pharmaceutical firm stated that “employees with master or Ph.D. degrees are appointed to managerial positions shortly after they are employed, while they are not well familiar with management principles and essential skills needed for managing an organization”.The interviewees pointed out three main defects, as shown in Inefficient staffing processAll interviewees put emphasis on the undeniable role of staffing as well as selection procedures, and believed that such procedures are critical to assure the quality of HRs. They also mentioned that ‘formal written HR or staffing plans’, ‘tests administered prior to hiring’, ‘validated selection tests’, ‘different recruiting sources’, ‘rigorous selection techniques’, ‘extensive attention to capabilities’, and ‘assessing workforce’s knowledge and experience’ are the main concerns that play fundamental roles in HRM in companies. One of the participants stated that, “nepotism plays a key role in hiring new employees, particularly in state sectors”. Inadequate professional candidatesOne of the well-experienced participants stated that, “generally, the industry does not provide interests for pharmacists; moreover, they are less paid and compensated compared to their responsibilities. Most pharmacists in Iran are interested in working in private and public pharmacies. It seems that pharmaceutical industry is not able to compete with retail pharmacies in recruiting pharmacists. Therefore, it is too difficult to find experienced pharmacists to hire”. Another interviewee mentioned: “considering the undeniable role played by pharmacists in the pharmaceutical industry, one of the most important incentives for pharmacists to step in the industry is to attain managerial and key positions in a firm, resulting in such positions being less available for other professionals such as chemists who have a prominent role in the industry all over the world”.Training and development challengesInefficient training of human resourcesThe interviewees stated several factors resulting in deficiency of training programs on generic pharmaceutical producers in Iran, as reported in Most of the interviewees asserted that due to legal requirements, the pharmaceutical companies do their best to develop firm-specific knowledge and skills, but they do not pay adequate deal of attention to non-technical skills such as professional ethics, organizational values, negotiation skills, inter-personal relations, and behavioral skills. For instance, one of the participants stated that, “in some organizations, training is not considered as a priority; and failure to have an appropriate attitude towards training have caused managers consider training more of as a cost rather than an investment”.Inattentiveness to the development of human resourcesParticipants believed that HRs development has been widely ignored as only few companies have addressed that. One of the interviewees said “development discussions have just recently been started in our company. To do so, we identified talents in the company and work on their skills; for example, some mentors have been hired to teach our managers, coaches, and middle-managers on how to behave the staff. To this end, our top managers need to be taught too”.Talent management challengesIncapability in the retention of talented peopleRetaining knowledge workers is one of or even the principle of HRM challenges in public companies. “Totally, a little has been done for managing our talents in pharmaceutical companies, and consequently, our talents and knowledge workers have always been hunted by competitors; as a result, average turnover rate of capable and talented employees in our organizations is high”, one of our participants said. It is also reported that, payment is not the only reason for the workforce turnover, as some quit the company either because of conflicts with coworkers and managers or since they receive offers from other companies. Inattentiveness to talent management and succession planning One of HR managers interviewed in this study stated that, “only a few Iranian pharmaceutical companies deploy systematic and scientific succession plans; we are trying to utilize such plans through job rotations and training courses as well as developmental programs. These policies are not merely offered for managers and CEOs, but include all workers”.Motivation challengesIn this section, following the ability challenges, the findings pertaining to motivation challenges are presented in three categories, as shown in Compensation challenges Inefficiency of compensation systemsOne of the main factors contributing to compensation challenges is inefficiency of HR grading system. In most of Iranian companies, job grading tools are based upon Iranian National Occupational Classification System. One of the interviewees believes that “the system is not efficient anymore as it works for conventional companies and cannot be applied for knowledge-based ones and research centers”. One of the participants stated that “in knowledge-based organizations like pharmaceutical companies, the co-working of low-skilled workers with knowledge staff in research and development activities centers in one hand, and the managers’ personal views on compensation systems along with legal limitations on payment systems, on the other hand, have ended up with dissatisfied employees feeling a sense of inequity across the company”. In addition, considering job opportunities available for pharmacists, one of the interviewees mentioned that, “pharmaceutical companies have to compete with community pharmacies in employing pharmacists; hence, it is undeniable that the pharmacists prefer to work in pharmacies where they work less and are paid more compared to the industry”. It is also obvious that the diversification of compensation schemes is an important function; for example, one of the HR mangers stated that “in order to optimize the effectiveness of compensation, it is crucial to identify that, key positions deserve compensation prior to compensate other employees; otherwise, employees may develop a sense of discrimination”. Low salary baseOne of HR managers stated that “payments rate is increasing at lower rate than the inflation rate, and generable revenue by the industry is limited and controlled by the strict pricing policies set forth by the government, leading to dissatisfaction of the manpower”.Lack of assured salary data bank One of the participants mentioned that, “due to the deficiency of the grading system in majority of companies, lack of data banks containing salary surveys data has reduced our power against high salary requests by some experts; this leads to make a decision in a gloomy condition”.Performance management challenges Unstructured performance managementA senior manager of a pharmaceutical company believed that “in order to achieve organizational goals, besides improving organizational culture and creating the capabilities necessary in every workforce to be appraised, valid indicators and tools should be applied, and the evaluators have to be trained regularly”.Lack of linkage between performance appraisals and compensation, training opportunity, and promotion“In Iranian pharmaceutical industry, performance management systems are not fully implemented; the reason behind this issue is that for implementing a performance management system, some infrastructures are needed”, one of the interviewees stated and continued his talk, “the methods used to appraise employees’ performance and link the benefits to their evaluated performance are highly recommended as allocating resources without measuring the employees’ real performance may end up creating an improper right for them, as a result of which, the employees will think that there is no rational association between their received benefits and appraisals”. Promotion challengesAn experienced HR manager believes that “if a company fails to offer its workforce a positive prospect about their job promotion in the future, it will neither receive their optimum cooperation nor be able to maintain them for long time. Albeit, the promotion activities should be based upon the employees’ capabilities and development”. Seniority versus merits“Taking into account the seniority of employees instead of their capabilities when it comes to offering key positions in the course of promotion process would mislead us to a wrong decision”, one of the participants said. Lack of clear career pathDeveloping a clear career path is necessary in every organization. In this regard, one of participants detailed that “lack of clear promotion guidelines reduces active participation of workforce, stifles their creativity, causes job exhaustion, and finally makes talented workforce leave the company”.Opportunity ChallengesIn the following, finding of the opportunity challenges are presented in two categories, as shown in Communication and information sharing challengesLack of information and knowledge sharingGiven the importance of knowledge sharing behavior, one of interviewees stated that, “unfortunately, some senior managers do not pay enough attention to the information and knowledge sharing, while by doing so, companies would be able to develop and internalize employees’ know-how in the firm”. In addition, high turnover of top managers is another concern of HRM in the Iranian pharmaceutical industry where a large number of companies are state-owned. In this line, one of HR mangers mentioned that “as the managers working in the pharmaceutical industry are changed repeatedly, their priceless knowledge and experience would be missed once they leave the company. For this reason, companies should not only pay especial attention to knowledge sharing, but also invest in the documentation of their organizations’ routines, patterns, and current practices”.Communicational obstaclesAccording to interviewees, there are several communication challenges in Iranian pharmaceutical firms such as ‘interpersonal relations’, ‘communicating with superiors as well as sub-ordinates’, ‘inter-organizational relations’, and ‘ cross-functional relations’. For instance, one of the participants who were CEO at a pharmaceutical company mentioned that, “I gained surprising results through communicating with universities and hired talented graduates who have brought us considerable deals of added value”. Insufficient attention to empowerment factorsInattentiveness to the empowermentstrategies for employees“Paying enough attention to the strategies aimed at empowering the employees would flourish the potentials of workforce for achieving organizational goals and create opportunities to identify talents who can subsequently solve problems and make right decisions. By taking this into account, a company is more likely to be successful in terms of succession plan and retaining knowledge-workers”, one of the employees stated.Inability to collaborateOne of the interviewees mentioned that, “even though there are some diverse plans in companies to build working groups for the purpose of problem solving and involving others in decision-making process, such plans often fail to work in practice and end up with no higher organizational performance. Moreover, there is neither organized system for posting suggestions nor a formal grievance procedure and/or complaint process in most of Iranian pharmaceutical firms”.Miscellaneous challengesBeside the mentioned challenges categorized based on AMO model, some issues were revealed by the participants during the course of interviews. In this section, brief explanations of these issues are outlined.Imperfective HRM governance The interviewees referred to some main factors contributing to imperfective HRM governance in the companies. These included ‘traditional approach to HRM’, ‘insufficient attention to HRM strategy’, and ‘non-advanced views of top managers on HRM’. In this line, one of the participants argued that “senior managers’ non-technical view on HRM leads to hiring unskilled HR managers; in such a case, the HRM department is administered by a person who is not well-qualified in the field, resulting in different HR problems”.Organizational culture challengesIn this relation, our interviewees mentioned three critical challenges: ‘change management’, ‘conflict management’, and ‘presence of different generations’. Change and conflict managements are long known challenges in organizations. One of the interviewees said “as the main body of an organization is made up of people with great deals of experience along with those who are newly hired, top managers are required to be familiar with the change and conflict management concepts as such skills enable managers to orchestrate employees with different demographic profiles”.Given the crucial role of HRs in knowledge-based industries, an attempt was made to identify HRMPs challenges surrounding pharmaceutical managers in a developing country such as Iran. To this purpose, a qualitative study using thematic analysis was performed through inviting key informants of the industry. In Section 4 on findings, the participants’ quotations on HRM challenges were briefly reviewed. In this section, we focused on the themes to which the interviewees referred more frequently.One of the most important challenges surrounding Iranian pharmaceutical firms, which have shed light on the entire body of HRM functions, is the traditional view on HRM; this view considers workforce more of cost rather than investment, adversely affecting the employees’ attitude and preventing their development. Some of the interviewees believed that in their companies, unfortunately, HRM was not understood well and paid enough attention to. This is a fundamental problem which has gained attention from researchers since decades ago . In ordePaying inadequate attention to the staffing and selection practices was among the challenges more emphasized in this study, which relates to several distinct domains. First of all, lack of comprehensive, rigorous, and validated hiring tests in one hand, and recruiting not based on meritoriousness on the other hand, are defined as the two main challenges in staffing processes, especially in public sector. Hence, under these circumstances, selecting talents, who play a critical role in the pharmaceutical industry, is unlikely to achieve . Second,As mentioned earlier, according to the participants’ views, succession planning and talent management are two challenging issues in organizations; talents comprise the biggest capital of knowledge-based companies. Due to high costs of research and development in pharmaceutical companies, succession in competitive markets depends highly on the way talented staffs are retained in the firms . In addiTraining and development are of the main functions of HRM which enrich the workforce’s pool of knowledge, improve human capital, and ultimately build valuable intangible assets . TherefoGiven the important role of medicines in providing societies with health, there are strict regulatory controls and requirements in the pharmaceutical industry  in almost all countries; consequently, technical education standards are developed to meet the requirements . CommonlBesides the challenges discussed earlier, some others would reduce employees’ motivation, and one of them is deficiency of compensation packages. Undoubtedly, compensation system is one of the major HRM functions which contribute largely to the success of companies , 47. FinConsistent with other investigations, our study strongly recommended performance appraisals as major HRMPs to alter employees’ behaviors , 49 and While it is well-acknowledged that information sharing, empowerment factors, and collaborations can significantly contribute to the innovation capabilities and organizational performance , and 52,Other than HRMPs’ challenges identified based on AMO model, there were some other issues highlighted by the participants such as change management, conflict management, and differences between generations. As an example of these three, Cogin pointed out that managing the conflicts between younger and older workers has recently become one of the most important challenging issues as the perceptions of work ethics and work-life balance requirements are quite different between them ; this waFinally, based on the results of this research, the nature of the Iranian pharmaceutical industry has some specific characteristics that influence the functions of HRM: ‘capital structure of Iranian pharmaceutical companies’, ‘generic regimes’, ‘market size’, and ‘pricing systems’. It seems that as the capital structure of the most Iranian pharmaceutical companies is state-owned, there would be too difficult to compete in a quite free market, resulting in forming a generic market and highly restricted pricing systems. We believe that although these factors are specific to our research context, they potentially influence HRM practices of all other industries. In this study, an attempt was made to use thematic analysis to explore HRMPs challenges surrounding pharmaceutical firms in Iran as a developing country. Our findings were categorized into three main groups based on AMO  model. With respect to the ability, staffing challenges, training as well as development challenges, and talent management challenges were the three themes identified. Regarding the motivation, the deficiency of compensation packages, inefficient performance management, and promotion challenges were emphasized by the participants. As far as the opportunity was concerned, two themes were generated: communication as well as information sharing challenges and insufficient attention to empowerment factors. In addition to the mentioned themes, some miscellaneous challenges were recognized, including the imperfective HRM governance, the organizational culture obstacles, and the nature of the industry.This study revealed some HRMPs that should be taken into account in developing countries and highlighted barriers for institutionalizing such practices given socio-cultural setting in these countries. Finally, it can be concluded that being theoretically aware of HRM concepts, Iranian top managers are gradually trying to implement HRMPs in their organizations. Briefly, in the recent years, as it is reflected in the previous research, the Iranian organizations have begun to pay further attention to HRM, and to work on the development of people . It is a


A growing body of research explores emoji, which are visual symbols in computer mediated communication (CMC). In the 20 years since the first set of emoji was released, research on it has been on the increase, albeit in a variety of directions. We reviewed the extant body of research on emoji and noted the development, usage, function, and application of emoji. In this review article, we provide a systematic review of the extant body of work on emoji, reviewing how they have developed, how they are used differently, what functions they have and what research has been conducted on them in different domains. Furthermore, we summarize directions for future research on this topic. With the widespread application of computing and the development of technology, computer mediated communication (CMC) is infiltrating daily life to a greater and greater extent. It has many advantages, including enhancing the continuity of individual communication . “Emoji” is a transliteration of the Japanese word  (e=picture) 文 (mo=write) 字 (ji=character)[8]. They are graphic symbols with predefined names and code (Unicode), which can represent not only facial expressions, abstract concepts and emotions/feelings, but also animals, plants, activities, gestures/body parts, and objects  were positively correlated with agreeableness.The use of emoji is also affected by individual psychological differences. This has been shown in research which demonstrates a positive correlation between the frequency of emoji use among Facebook users and their extraversion and self-monitoring traits . One line of research using the K-MEANS clustering algorithm found that the most distinctive feature of emoji use in the “first world”  was a lack of emotions, while in the “second world” cluster  emoji are used in a more specific, emotionally clear way. The “third world” cluster  uses a balance of positive and negative emoji, and the “fourth world” cluster (made up of certain African countries) uses mostly negative emoji  as “prayer” and others interpret it as “clapping hands”. In this case, it is difficult for the two sides to understand each other, which reduces the efficiency of communication. Berengueres and Castro  and “tears of joy”  were found to be more popular, but whether their popularity is related to specific cultural traits has not been studied. Users' preferences for emoji are influenced by many factors such as contextual information, interpersonal relationships, familiarity with emoji and personal interpretations other than official definitions, which are all worthwhile factors to explore.At present, research focuses on the description of users' preference for emoji, but fails to go deeply into the underlying reasons. Emoji such as “heart” , this paper comprehensively combs the research topics, methods and tools used in studies related to emoji, systematically summarizes the research status of emoji in various fields, and puts forward some new perspectives for future emoji research such as emotional association, use preference, new modalities and impacts on society.The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.QB contributed conception and design of the study. QB, QD, ZM, and MY wrote sections of the manuscript. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


The current scholarly focus on implementation science is meant to ensure that public health interventions are effectively embedded in their settings. Part of this conversation includes understanding how to support the sustainability of beneficial interventions so that limited resources are maximised, long-term public health outcomes are realised, community support is not lost, and ethical research standards are maintained. However, the concept of sustainability is confusing because of variations in terminology and a lack of agreed upon measurement frameworks, as well as methodological challenges. This commentary explores the challenges around the sustainability of public health interventions, with particular attention to definitions and frameworks like Normalization Process Theory and the Dynamic Sustainability Framework. We propose one important recommendation to direct attention to the sustainability of public health interventions, that is, the use of theoretically informed approaches to guide the design, development, implementation, evaluation and sustainability of public health interventions. There is increasing interest and effort among researchers, evaluators, funders and community partners to understand the sustainability of effective public health interventions . DespiteFirst, we consider the definitions of sustainability followed by a discussion of the importance of sustainability. We then examine some of the theories, models and frameworks that have been proposed to guide the evaluation of sustainability of public health interventions. To do this, we explored relevant literature through online database searches using the words ‘public health’, ‘sustainability’, ‘health policies’, ‘integration’ and ‘implementation’. The PubMed, CINHAL, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were searched for articles exploring sustainability and how it relates to public health. We conclude with a key recommendation to improve sustainability of public health interventions, using theoretically informed approaches to guide the design, development, implementation, evaluation and sustainability of public health interventions.the maintenance of health benefits over time”, whereas the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) defines sustainability through a more focused definition of “the capacity to maintain program services at a level that will provide ongoing prevention and treatment for a health problem after termination of major financial, managerial and technical assistance from an external donor” [the continued use of program components and activities for the continued achievement of desirable program and population outcomes”. This definition has been adapted by Schell et al. [the ability to maintain programming and its benefits over time”.Despite the increase in the health literature discussing sustainability, there remains little consensus as to its definition. Terms such as ‘continuation’, ‘maintenance’, ‘durability’, ‘adoption’, ‘embedding’, ‘incorporation’, ‘appropriation’, ‘continuance’, ‘integration’, ‘institutionalisation’, ‘routinisation’, ‘long term’ and ‘adherence’, among others, have been used to describe sustainability –6. Shedil donor”  focus exl et al. , who conThe above definitions have nuanced differences in the conceptualisation of sustainability and each of them highlights distinct, yet interrelated constructs of sustainability. As noted by Moore et al. , the aboNoting the multiplicity of the terminologies and constructs across definitions of sustainability, Moore et al.  systematDespite these efforts, the approaches to sustainability, articulation and specific outcomes of interest addressed by the above constructs continue to vary. No sustainability approach contains a similar combination of constructs and nor do any of them capture all the identified constructs  over time . By consA number of reasons have been advanced to explain the limited focus on the sustainability of public health interventions. Key among these is the temporal aspect of sustainability. Sustainability is often conceptualised as a final phase of programme development after planning, implementation and evaluation phases . As a reLimited reporting on the use of theories and their impacts in studying the implementation of public health interventions further accounts for the limited understanding and appreciation of sustainability-focused theories, models and frameworks. Glanz and Bishop  note thaThere is increasing concern and importance accorded to sustainability of public health interventions. For example, through a comprehensive review of literature and concept mapping processes, Schell et al.  developeimplementation outcomes” which endeavours to address sustainability. The taxonomy proposes eight conceptually distinct outcomes of an evaluation, including acceptability, adoption/uptake, appropriateness, costs, feasibility, fidelity, penetration and sustainability [the extent to which a newly implemented intervention is maintained or institutionalised within a service setting’s ongoing stable operations” [In an attempt to address the conceptualisation and evaluation of successful implementation efforts, Proctor et al.  advancednability . Accordirations” . This derations”  observe rations” .Despite the increasing concern and importance accorded to sustainability of public health interventions, most of the efforts remain at a conceptual stage with sustainability and related concepts appearing more often in conceptual papers than in empirical articles. Additionally, there is a shortage of tools to measure the sustainability of interventions .We have one key recommendation to improve sustainability of public health interventions, namely the use of theoretically informed approaches to guide the design, development, implementation, evaluation and sustainability of public health interventions.Proponents for the use of theory to explore sustainability argue that it facilitates the understanding of various influences on the implementation of complex interventions, including the contexts, characteristics of the target audiences and the intervention itself , 27–29. This commentary adopts the definition by Scheirer and Dearing , who ackAn important next step is to conduct a more thorough and comprehensive review of literature, listing all the different sustainability frameworks, models and theories by their name, source, constructs and validation status. This review will also attempt to classify how these are used, for example, as frameworks versus tools. It will document how various sustainability frameworks, models and theories are applied across health-related fields and programmes, for example, in public health versus environmental health or smoking cessation versus clinical well-child visits. Finally, the review will also attempt to document the settings in which the different sustainability frameworks, models and theories are used such as in low-income versus high-income settings.


Whenever I teach a class on Evolutionary Developmental Biology I show a photo of Charles Darwin together with one of Fritz Müller . Of courJohann Friedrich (Fritz) Theodor Müller, born 1822 in Thuringia, Germany, received his Doctorate in Zoology from the University of Berlin in 1844, having worked under the supervision of the famous anatomist and physiologist Johannes Peter Müller. He then went on to study medicine at the University of Greifswald, but driven by his critical spirit on religion and politics, in 1852 he decided to leave the ever more conservative Prussia and emigrated with his family and that of his brother Alfred to Santa Catarina, Brazil. There they joined the German settlement in Blumenau that had just been established by his family friend Hermann Blumenau. He built a house and cleared land in the Atlantic Forest to make a living as a settler, but gifted with a sharp eye and a trained biologist he also took to study the flora and fauna of the state Santa Catarina.On the Origin of Species. He immediately recognized the immense value of this work and, by then temporarily employed as a teacher at the Provincial Lyceum (High School) in Desterro , he immediately set out to review and revise the studies that he had been conducting so far on crustaceans. During that time, his house was in an ideal location, right on the Atlantic coast, and between the years 1858 and 1865 he published nearly 30 papers on marine invertebrates, most of them in German, in the Archiv für Naturgeschichte. His main interest by then was to reconstruct a natural phylogenetic classification of the Crustacea, and he found this to be possible by exploring the progression of the larval stages, starting from the Nauplius. This view of bringing together Natural History and Evolution with and through Embryology  made Scott Gilbert refer to Fritz Müller as a “precursor of evolutionary developmental biology in the Americas”  by natural selection, and that free-living larval stages can disappear in direct developers. It is through this critical perspective, that later was also profoundly expressed by Stephen Jay Gould in his Ontogeny and Phylogeny , but Müller found similar forms of resemblance also between unpalatable species, so for him there was no way of distinguishing between model and copy. To explain this, Müller ingeniously came up with a mathematical model, whereby the advantage gained by two unpalatable species from their resemblance would be inversely related to the square of their individual numbers . Truly, It is Müller who deserves the credit for being the pioneer in exploration of male scents in the Lepidoptera” and also “the first to distinguish between ‘sexual odours’ and ‘protective odours’ in butterflies”.Similarly, the notion that butterfly males may chemically communicate their presence to females came from field observations. Müller had read descriptions made by lepidopteran taxonomists on strange hair tufts  on the wings or abdomen of males, but not in females, and he came to associate these with chemical communication when he caught specimens in the wild and, when unfolding their wings, noted a strong smell coming from these tufts. This is what we now call sexual pheromone communication, and Michael Boppré, a renown chemical ecologist once considered: “Besides Darwin, with whom he corresponded until Darwin’s death in 1882, Müller had an extensive correspondence with other major thinkers and theorists of his time, such as the already mentioned Ernst Haeckel and August Weissmann, and actually it was Müller who convinced Weissmann to finally accept Francis Galton’s notion of the law of regression in the genetics of human hereditary stature, another pillar in Genetics.Nature.Fritz Müller died in 1897 in Blumenau. In his obituary, Ernst Krause, one of Fritz Müller’s closest German friends and correspondents, mentioned that in a letter Darwin had referred to Fritz Müller as ‘the Prince of observers’. Another obituary appeared the same year in Für Darwin - and much of the scientific and private correspondence was later (1915-1921) compiled by his younger cousin Alfred Möller and published in three volumes. This collection laid the foundation for David A. West’s biography, but different from that very extensive compilation, West gives us a close portrait of the person Fritz Müller, of his contributions as scientist and also his private life, and he puts Müller’s science in context with that of his time. Actually this is his second book on Fritz Müller, the first one published in 2003 (th birthday, and it is now only four years until his bicentenary.Fritz Müller’s extensive scientific production - 263 articles and the book  in 2003 . Of cour


A number of new therapeutics in development and in the marketplace, including ‘checkpoint inhibitors,’ suggest how a paradigm shift in therapeutic strategy is underway for many diseases and indications. The new strategy involves both a renormalization of physiology to treat the disease and a combination of molecule types, working on different pathways, often at different levels and tissues of the system, for example proteins and microbiota, to institute a systems therapeutic approach. This approach had been shown to be efficacious with few adverse side effects.This article briefly describes and provides examples of a combinatorial strategy for a new means of therapeutic development, a ‘systems therapeutic,’ combined with a new means for disease treatment ‘physiological renormalization.’ The overall idea is to develop systems therapeutics , where met al. [‘Systems therapeutics’ is the use of multiple molecule types to target multiple pathways underlying the indication and is used to develop a state of ‘physiological renormalization,’ the restoration of normal physiology. The idea is to provide diseased tissue with a set of molecules found in the normal state in order to restore normal physiology . Thus, uet al. , the secet al. ,4 and doet al. . Even ifet al. .A physiological renormalization strategy has been successfully used to develop ‘checkpoint inhibitors’ that reset the adaptive immune system so T cells can once again attack cancer cells , a stratet al. [Systems therapeutics for physiological renormalization was also successfully used by Mao-Qiang et al.  to develet al. . In thiset al.  and may et al. , a causaSystems therapeutics for physiological renormalization is under development to treat neurodegenerative disease , where tAt the level of protein pathways, many natural molecular, cellular and tissue functions are initiated and maintained by protein level circuits. For example, caspase-mediated programmed cell death – that is, apoptosis – is orchestrated by a circuit of proteases that activate one another through cleavage . A numbeMany diseases, if not most, are a function of our exposome and not our genome, affecting many nongenomic pathways . The fac