It's All About Connections: Teachers, Online Communities and PD

The impact of the Internet on our lives has been pervasive. People are increasingly turning to the social interaction available on the Internet to satisfy their needs, whether these are professional or personal. The Internet offers users fast access to social contacts such as online chat groups and discussion lists helping us to make connections with others. Online communities are being increasingly used by teachers for professional support, guidance and inspiration. They present as a source of continuous professional development for teachers as they are able to deliver authentic and personalised opportunities for learning. This book will present the findings of a study that was conducted on three online communities for teachers. It will explore the nature of online community membership and offer some conclusions regarding their potential as a source of professional learning for teachers.

Supply chain collaboration : capabilities for continuous innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate how collaborative relationships enhance continuous innovation in the supply chain using case studies. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 23 managers in ten case studies. The main intention was to comprehend how these firms engaged in collaborative relationships and their importance for successful innovation. The study adopted a qualitative approach to investigating these factors. Findings – The findings demonstrate how differing relationships can impact on the operation of firms and their capacities to innovate. The ability to work together with partners has enabled firms to integrate and link operations for increased effectiveness as well as embark on both radical and incremental innovation. Research limitations/implications – The research into the initiatives and strategies for collaboration was essentially exploratory. A qualitative approach using case studies acknowledged that the responses from managers were difficult to quantify or gauge the extent of these factors. Practical implications – The findings have shown various methods where firms integrated with customers and suppliers in the supply chain. This was evident in the views of managers across all the firms examined, supporting the importance of collaboration and efficient allocation of resources throughout the supply chain. They were able to set procedures in their dealings with partners, sharing knowledge and processes, and subsequently joint-planning and investing with them for better operations, systems and processes in the supply chain. Originality/value – The case studies serve as examples for managers in logistics organisation who are contemplating strategies and issues on collaborative relationships. The study provides important lessons on how such relationships can impact on the operation of firms and their capability to innovate. Keywords Supply chain management, Innovation, Relationship marketing

Patterns of engagement in workplace learning amongst employees from social sectors

Continuous learning and development has become increasingly important in the information age. However, employees with limited formal education in lower status occupations may be disadvantaged in their opportunities for development, as their jobs tend to require more limited knowledge and skills. In mature age, such workers may be subject to cumulative disadvantage with respect to work related learning and development, as well as negative stereotyping. This thesis concerns work related learning and development from a lifespan development psychology perspective. Development across the lifespan is grounded in biocultural co-constructivism. That is, the reciprocal influences of the individual and environment produce change in the individual. Existing theories and models of adaptive development attempt to explain how developmental resources are allocated across the lifespan. These included the Meta- theory of Selective Optimisation with Compensation, Dual Process Model of Self Regulation, and Developmental Regulation via Optimisation and Primary and Secondary Control. These models were integrated to create the Model of Adaptive Development for Work Related Learning. The Learning and Development Survey (LDS) was constructed to measure the hypothesised processes of adaptive development for work related learning, which were individual goal selection, individual goal engagement, individual goal disengagement, organisational opportunities (selection and engagement), and organisational constraints. Data collection was undertaken in two phases: the pilot study and the main study. The objective of the pilot study was to test the LDS on a target population of 112 employees from a local government organisation. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the pilot version of the survey to 38 items encompassing eight constructs which covered the processes of the model of adaptive development for work related learning. In the main study, the Revised Learning and Development Survey (R-LDS) was administered to another group of 137 employees from the local government organisation, as well as 110 employees from a private healthcare organisation. The purpose of the main study was to validate the R-LDS on two different groups to provide evidence of stability, and compare survey scores according to age and occupational status to determine construct validity. Findings from the main study indicated that only four constructs of the R-LDS were stable, which were organisational opportunities – selection, individual goal engagement, organisational constraints – disengagement and organisational opportunities – engagement. In addition, MANOVA studies revealed that the demographic variables affected organisational opportunities and constraints in the workplace, although individual goal engagement was not influenced by age. The findings from the pilot and main study partially supported the model of adaptive development for work related learning. Given that only four factors displayed adequate reliability in terms of internal consistency and stability, the findings suggest that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are less relevant to work related learning and development. Some recent research which emerged during the course of the current study has suggested that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are more relevant when goal achievement is impeded by biological constraints such as ageing. However, correlations between the retained factors support the model of adaptive development for work related learning, and represent the role of biocultural co-constructivism in development. Individual goal engagement was positively correlated with both opportunity factors (selection and engagement), while organisational constraints – disengagement was negatively correlated with organisational opportunities – selection. Demographic findings indicated that higher occupational status was associated with more opportunities for development. Age was associated with fewer opportunities or greater constraints for development, especially for lower status workers.

Examining the role of human resource management in continuous improvement

The objective of this paper is to take a first step in developing a theoretical framework describing the role of HRM in successful CI, based on the current literature from both fields. To this end, elements from the CI Maturity Model and a framework depicting the role of HRM in innovation serve as a foundation for examining how specific bundles of HRM practices utilised during different phases of the CI implementation process may contribute to sustained organisational and enhanced operational performance. The primary contribution of this paper is theoretical; however, the framework has practical value in that it suggests important relationships between HRM practices and behaviours necessary for successful CI. A preliminary test of the framework in an empirical setting is summarised at the conclusion of this paper, where a number of possible research avenues are also suggested.

Demographic category membership and leadership in small groups : a social identity analysis

Developing the social identity theory of leadership (e.g., [Hogg, M. A. (2001). A social identity theory of leadership. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 184–200]), an experiment (N=257) tested the hypothesis that as group members identify more strongly with their group (salience) their evaluations of leadership effectiveness become more strongly influenced by the extent to which their demographic stereotype-based impressions of their leader match the norm of the group (prototypicality). Participants, with more or less traditional gender attitudes (orientation), were members, under high or low group salience conditions (salience), of non-interactive laboratory groups that had “instrumental” or “expressive” group norms (norm), and a male or female leader (leader gender). As predicted, these four variables interacted significantly to affect perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Reconfiguration of the eight conditions formed by orientation, norm and leader gender produced a single prototypicality variable. Irrespective of participant gender, prototypical leaders were considered more effective in high then low salience groups, and in high salience groups prototypical leaders were more effective than less prototypical leaders. Alternative explanations based on status characteristics and role incongruity theory do not account well for the findings. Implications of these results for the glass ceiling effect and for a wider social identity analysis of the impact of demographic group membership on leadership in small groups are discussed.

Complexity and learning behaviors in product innovation

Successful product innovation and the ability of companies to continuously improve their innovation processes are rapidly becoming essential requirements for competitive advantage and long-term growth in both manufacturing and service industries. It is now recognized that companies must develop innovation capabilities across all stages of the product development, manufacture, and distribution cycle. These Continuous Product Innovation (CPI) capabilities are closely associated with a company’s knowledge management systems and processes. Companies must develop mechanisms to continuously improve these capabilities over time. Using results of an international survey on CPI practices, sets of companies are identified by similarities in specific contingencies related to their complexity of product, process, technological, and customer interface. Differences between the learning behaviors found present in the company groups and in the levers used to develop and support these behaviors are identified and discussed. This paper also discusses appropriate mechanisms for firms with similar complexities, and some approaches they can use to improve their organizational learning and product innovation.

Exploration and exploitation : the interplay between knowledge and continuous innovation

In rapidly changing environments, organisations require dynamic capabilities to integrate, build and reconfigure resources and competencies to achieve continuous innovation. Although tangible resources are important to promoting the firm’s ability to act, capabilities fundamentally rest in the knowledge created and accumulated by the firm through human capital, organisational routines, processes, practices and norms. The exploration for new ideas, technologies and knowledge – to one side – and – on the other one – the exploitation of existing and new knowledge is essential for continuous innovation. Firms need to decide how best to allocate their scarce resources for both activities and at the same time build dynamic capabilities to keep up with changing market conditions. This in turn, is influenced by the absorptive capacity of the firm to assimilate knowledge. This paper presents a case study that investigates the sources of knowledge in an engineering firm in Australia, and how it is organised and processed. As information pervades the firm from both internal and external sources, individuals integrate knowledge using both exploration and exploitation approaches. The findings illustrate that absorptive capacity can encourage greater leverage for exploration potential leading to radical innovation; and reconfiguring exploitable knowledge for incremental improvements. This study provides an insight for managers in quest of improving knowledge strategies and continuous innovation. It also makes significant theoretical contributions to the literature through extending the concepts of

Performance measurement and continuous improvement : are they linked to manufacturing strategy?

To maintain or achieve competitiveness and profitability, a manufacturing firm or enterprise must respond to a range of challenges, including rapid improvements in technology; declining employment and output; globalisation of markets and environmental requirements. In addition, substantial changes in government policy have had important impacts in many countries, as have the increasing levels of global trade. Manufacturing enterprises need to have a clear understanding of what their customers want and why customers purchase their products rather than purchase from their competitors. They need to fully understand the aims of the business in terms of its customers, market segments, product attributes, geographical markets and performance. Continuous Improvement (CI) methods have become widely adopted and regarded as providing an important component of increased company competitiveness. This article examines the extent to which continuous improvement activities have contributed to the different areas of business performance.

Learning barriers in continuous product innovation

In today's dynamic and turbulent environment companies are required to increase their effectiveness and efficiency, exploit synergy and learn product innovation processes in order to build competitive advantage. To be able to stimulate and facilitate learning in product innovation, it is necessary to gain an insight into factors that hinder learning and to design effective intervention strategies that may help remove barriers to learning. This article reports on learning barriers identified by product innovation managers in over 70 companies in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. The results show that the majority of the barriers identified can be labelled as organisational defensive routines leading to a chain of behaviours; lack of resources leads to under-appreciation of the value of valid information, absence of informed choice and lack of personal responsibility. An intervention theory is required which enables individuals and organisations to interrupt defensive patterns in ways that prevents them from recurring.

Continuous infusion of ticarcillin-clavulanate for home treatment of serious infections : clinical efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

Continuous infusion (CI) ticarcillin–clavulanate is a potential therapeutic improvement over conventional intermittent dosing because the major pharmacodynamic (PD) predictor of efficacy of β-lactams is the time that free drug levels exceed the MIC. This study incorporated a 6-year retrospective arm evaluating efficacy and safety of CI ticarcillin–clavulanate in the home treatment of serious infections and a prospective arm additionally evaluating pharmacokinetics (PK) and PD. In the prospective arm, steady-state serum ticarcillin and clavulanate levels and MIC testing of significant pathogens were performed. One hundred and twelve patients (median age, 56 years) were treated with a CI dose of 9.3–12.4 g/day and mean CI duration of 18.0 days. Infections treated included osteomyelitis (50 patients), septic arthritis (6), cellulitis (17), pulmonary infections (12), febrile neutropenia (7), vascular infections (7), intra-abdominal infections (2), and Gram-negative endocarditis (2); 91/112 (81%) of patients were cured, 14 (13%) had partial response and 7 (6%) failed therapy. Nine patients had PICC line complications and five patients had drug adverse events. Eighteen patients had prospective PK/PD assessment although only four patients had sufficient data for a full PK/PD evaluation (both serum steady-state drug levels and ticarcillin and clavulanate MICs from a bacteriological isolate), as this was difficult to obtain in home-based patients, particularly as serum clavulanate levels were found to deteriorate rapidly on storage. Three of four patients with matched PK/PD assessment had free drug levels exceeding the MIC of the pathogen. Home CI of ticarcillin–clavulanate is a safe, effective, convenient and practical therapy and is a therapeutic advance over traditional intermittent dosing when used in the home setting.

Critique groups : a technique for the author’s toolbox?

With a lack of places to gain an education in the craft of romance writing, novelists have few places to turn to gain real feedback. This paper investigates an alternative to textbooks, conferences, and workshops through an examination of the role provided to the writer by critique groups. How these groups work, how they benefit an author, and the critique groups as a whole are discussed. This work studies the form of Peer Assessment and Learning (PAL) and compares the technique used by educational institutions all over the world with the practice of author groups critiquing their own work. The research shows how a critique group can assist a writer to learn, grow and develop, helping to enhance the writer’s skills through constructive feedback, which gives them confidence to sell their work.

Experience mapping : producing spatially continuous environment representations using RatSLAM

RatSLAM is a system for vision-based Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) inspired by models of the rodent hippocampus. The system can produce stable representations of large complex environments during robot experiments in both indoor and outdoor environments. These representations are both topological and metric in nature, and can involve multiple representations of the same place as well as discontinuities. In this paper we describe a new technique known as experience mapping that can be used online with the RatSLAM system to produce world representations known as experience maps. These maps group together multiple place representations and are spatially continuous. A number of experiments have been conducted in simulation and a real world office environment. These experiments demonstrate the high degree to which experience maps are representative of the spatial arrangement of the environment.

Development of a Systematic Approach to Assessing Quality within Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities: The Clinical Care Indicators Tool

Recent years have seen the introduction of formalised accreditation processes in both community and residential aged care, but these only partially address quality assessment within this sector. Residential aged care in Australia does not yet have a standardised system of resident assessment related to clinical, rather than administrative, outcomes. This paper describes the development of a quality assessment tool aimed at addressing this gap. Utilising previous research and the results of nominal groups with experts in the field, the 21-item Clinical Care Indicators (CCI) Tool for residential aged care was developed and trialled nationally. The CCI Tool was found to be simple to use and an effective means of collecting data on the state of resident health and care, with potential benefits for resident care planning and continuous quality improvement within facilities and organisations. The CCI Tool was further refined through a small intervention study to assess its utility as a quality improvement instrument and to investigate its relationship with resident quality of life. The current version covers 23 clinical indicators, takes about 30 minutes to complete and is viewed favourably by nursing staff who use it. Current work focuses on psychometric analysis and benchmarking, which should enable the CCI Tool to make a positive contribution to the measurement of quality in aged care in Australia.

Indigenous men's support groups and social and emotional wellbeing : a meta-synthesis of the evidence

Indigenous men’s support groups are designed to empower men to take greater control and responsibility for their health and wellbeing. They provide health education sessions, counselling, men’s health clinics, diversionary programs for men facing criminal charges, cultural activities, drug- and alcohol-free social events, and advocacy for resources. Despite there being ~100 such groups across Australia, there is a dearth of literature on their strategies and outcomes. This paper is based on participatory action research involving two north Queensland groups which were the subject of a series of five ‘phased’ evaluative reports between 2002 and 2007. By applying ‘meta-ethnography’ to the five studies, we identified four themes which provide new interpretations of the data. Self-reported benefits included improved social and emotional wellbeing, modest lifestyle modifications and willingness to change current notions of ‘gendered’ roles within the home, such as sharing housework. Our qualitative research to date suggests that through promoting empowerment, wellbeing and social cohesion for men and their families, men’s support groups may be saving costs through reduced expenditure on health care, welfare, and criminal justice costs, and higher earnings. Future research needs to demonstrate this empirically.