Concept definition in knowledge management : the development of an organizational memory scale

Theorists and researchers in the field of Knowledge Management are frequently frustrated by issues with concept definition, as illustrated by the following comment "there remains disagreement on methodologies, definitions and processes" from the summary article "Issues Raised at ECKM, 2008". How can we clearly define constructs of interest? How can we further research and understanding in the field if we are speaking with different vocabularies? This paper illustrates some of these issues by describing the concept definition process involved in the development of an organizational memory scale. The example being used to illustrate these issues was a self-report scale of organizational memory developed to survey experienced workers' attitudes to mentoring others to pass on their knowledge. The current research sought to differentiate between the types of organizational knowledge that experienced workers have and the possible relationships these have with attitudes pertaining to knowledge transfer via mentoring. Defining the construct to be measured is the vital first ingredient in scale development. Many researchers lament that the concept of organizational memory is a "rather loosely defined and under-developed concept" (e.g. Johnson & Paper, 1998, p.504), and this hints at the challenges that concept definition can entail. Furthermore, in the early stages of this particular project it became clear that the organizational memory scale had similar aims, and was able to borrow from, an existing sale of organizational socialization (Chao, O'Leary-Kelly, Woolf, Klein & Gardner, 1994). This paper describes the concept definition process involved in the development of the scale along with results from the exploratory factor analysis. There is a discussion of the relative contribution that the organizational memory scale makes alongside the existing measure of socialization (Chao et al., 1994), along with goals for further development.

Personality and the emergence of the pace-of-life syndrome concept at the population level

The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis specifies that closely related species or populations experiencing different ecological conditions should differ in a suite of metabolic, hormonal and immunity traits that have coevolved with the life-history particularities related to these conditions. Surprisingly, two important dimensions of the POLS concept have been neglected: (i) despite increasing evidence for numerous connections between behavioural, physiological and life-history traits, behaviours have rarely been considered in the POLS yet; (ii) the POLS could easily be applied to the study of covariation among traits between individuals within a population. In this paper, we propose that consistent behavioural differences among individuals, or personality, covary with life history and physiological differences at the within-population, interpopulation and interspecific levels. We discuss how the POLS provides a heuristic framework in which personality studies can be integrated to address how variation in personality traits is maintained within populations.

A proof of concept for using brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy as a treatment for problem gambling

Fourteen ‘treatment resistant’ problem gamblers received 9 weeks of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) at specialist problem gambling services delivered in Melbourne, Australia. This study is the first to investigate the effectiveness of a brief DBT treatment for problem gambling, with a focus on measuring change in the four DBT process skills (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion dysregulation, and negative relationships). Although there were no statistically significant improvements in measures of gambling behaviour, 83% of participants were abstinent or reduced their gambling expenditure pre- to post-treatment. Participants also reported statistically and clinically significant improvements in psychological distress,  mindfulness, and distress tolerance. Moreover, there were no increases in alcohol or substance use. These results are discussed in the context of focusing on a single DBT process skill, and the benefits of using group-based approaches.

How the concept of agency aids in teaching about sustainability

Sustainability education is becoming an integral part of education for all students.The paper revisits startling results from large scale international studies that show the dissonance between young people’s sustainability knowledge and the resistance of young people to put into practice. The reluctance to enact sustainability knowledge necessitates a review of current teaching practices as these raise important issues about current models of education and how sustainability is captured within education. Education about sustainability seeks to future proof our society through the teaching and learning of actions that ensure our collective long term future. For this reason teaching about sustainability incorporates a focus on social responsibility as well as individual responsibility. 

Salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) as a biomarker of immune suppression following the combat fitness assessment

SIgA is a potential biomarker for stress. The usual day-to-day and within day variation in sIgA amongst a group of healthy Army reservists was estimated and the acute response of sIgA to moderate intensity exercise (Combat Fitness Assessment) undertaken in both cool-dry and hot-humid conditions was determined. The results indicate that thermal and cardiovascular strain resulting from moderate intensity exercise in hot-humid conditions suppresses sIgA for at least 24 hours post-exercise. Salivary sIgA exhibits a wide biological variation which casts some doubt on its usefulness as a biomarker, however because sIgA has been shown to be sensitive to dietary restriction, alcohol consumption, loss of body mass, fatigue and negative emotions in previous studies and now heat-induced cardiovascular strain, further work is warranted to develop this biomarker.