Barriers and commitment of facilities management profession to the sustainability agenda

The practice of sustainable facilities management (FM) is rapidly evolving with the increasing interest in the discourse of sustainable development. This paper examines a recent survey of the experiences of facilities managers in the rapidly growing and evolving industry in regard to the barriers and their commitment to the sustainability agenda. The survey results show that time constraints, lack of knowledge and lack of senior management commitment are the main barriers for the implementation of consistent and comprehensive sustainable FM policy and practice. The paper concludes that the diversity of the FM role and the traditional undervaluation of the contribution it makes to the success of organisations are partially responsible for lack of success in achieving sustainable facilities. The overwhelming barrier for sustainable FM practice is the lack of understanding, focus and commitment of senior executives in appreciating the opportunities, threats and need for strategic leadership and direction in driving essential change, and hence further the sustainability agenda.

A green profession? A global survey of RICS members and their engagement with the sustainability agenda

Purpose – This study seeks to provide a review of the background and context to the engagement of RICS members with the sustainability agenda, and to examine the extent to which the surveying profession uses relevant information, tools and techniques to achieve the key objectives of sustainable development (or sustainability). Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses results from a major international online survey of 4,600 RICS respondent members, supported by 31 structured telephone interviews. Findings – The results suggest that, although sustainability is highly relevant to RICS members’ work, a lack of knowledge and expertise is making it more difficult for sustainability tools and other information to be used effectively. Research limitations/implications – The survey is based on a substantial number of responses which are broadly representative of the global RICS population. A key implication is that “laggard” faculties include the disciplines of commercial property and valuation. Practical implications – The research suggests that key stakeholders must work together to provide better information, guidance and education and training to “hardwire” the sustainability agenda across RICS faculties. Originality/value – This is the first truly global survey of its kind and focuses particularly on those faculties that play a major role in property investment and finance (i.e. valuation and commercial property), comparing their position with that of other faculties in an international context.

Whistle-blowing by external auditors: seeking legitimacy for the South African audit profession?

Auditing is often cited as playing an important role in managing agency-related costs and, accordingly, being integral to the sound functioning of capital markets. There may, however, be more to the attest function than a technical rational practice. By virtue of relying heavily on claims to technical expertise, professionalism, prudential judgement and public confidence, auditing is both a source of legitimacy for organisations and, paradoxically, dependent on claims to legitimacy for its continued existence. From this perspective, recent regulatory developments, purportedly enacted to increase arms-length control over the profession, may not only be about improving perceived audit quality and practice but also about ensuring continued faith in the well-established ‘rituals’ of the assurance function. A reporting duty imposed on South African external auditors, akin to whistle-blowing, is used as a case study to explore this perspective. In doing so, this paper contributes to the scant body of interpretive research on auditing, simultaneously offering one of the first insights into auditing regulation from an African perspective.

Building the web: the Internet and the property profession

The report examines the development of the Internet and Intranets in the world of business and commerce, drawing on previous literature and research. The new technology is explained, and key issues examined, such as the impact of the Internet on the surveyor's role as 'information broker' and its likely effect on clients' property requirements. The research is based on an analysis of 261 postal questionnaire responses and eight case study interviews from a sample of general practice and quantity surveying practices and corporates. For the first time the property profession is examined in detail and the key drivers, barriers and benefits of Internet use are identified for a range of different sized organisations.

Läraryrket - kall eller profession? : Enkätundersökning med nyantagna lärarstudenter om deras motiv till yrkesvalet

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar lärarstudenters val till lärarprogrammet samt att undersöka om det fortfarande finns någon sorts kall till yrket. En anledning till detta syfte är att läraryrkets status har sjunkit och att media oftast ensidigt rapporterar om de problem och missförhållanden som råder i skolor och på lärarutbildningar. Undersökningsmaterialet utgörs av en enkätundersökning som genomförts bland lärarstudenter som gått en termin på lärarprogrammet vid en högskola i Mellansverige. Sammanlagt har 111 personer besvarat enkäten. Resultatet visar att det fortfarande finns kall-tankar i lärarstudenternas motiv. De flesta angav motiv som var inriktade mot att arbeta med och fostra barn, dvs. klientfokuserade. Kvinnorna angav i högre grad än männen de motiv som hörde till kallet. Ett annat vanligt motiv var att utbildningen var personligt utvecklande. Tidigare lärare som studenterna hade haft påverkade deras val till stor del. Lärarstudenterna trodde att de som färdiga lärare ibland kommer att hoppa över egna raster och gå till arbetet trots att de känner sig sjuka om det gynnar eleverna. Männen var mer villiga till detta än kvinnorna. Även ur detta beteende kan kall-tankar utläsas.

Socialt arbeteEn diskursanalys av ett begreppmellan kall och profession

Vårt syfte är att se hur begreppet socialt arbete konstrueras genom tal och text, av studenterna på socialarbetarprogrammet Högskolan Dalarna. Detta har vi gjort genom att titta på hur diskursen socialt arbete ser ut hos studenterna på termin ett respektive termin fem. Vi kommer att titta på frågeställningarna ur ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv för att se hur studenterna med hjälp av språket konstruerar innebörden av begreppet socialt arbete. Vi gjorde sex stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer som vi sedan har analyserat genom ett diskursanalytiskt perspektiv. Vi har använt oss av Norman Fairclough kritiska diskursanalys men har anpassat hans modell till vår undersöknings syfte och frågeställning. Vårt intresse för denna undersökning bottnar i definitionsproblematiken kring socialt arbete. Vi har funnit, i likhet med tidigare forskning att det är svårt att säga vad socialt arbete är och att det är problematiskt att avgränsa området. Det vi kan utläsa är att skillnaden mellan studenterna på de olika terminerna i talet kring socialt arbete inte var lika stor som vi förväntade oss utan att man snarare kan identifiera vissa likheter mellan deras språkliga diskurser av vad socialt arbete är och vilka som utför detta.

TEACHING OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY - COMMENTS ON BASIC VERSUS APPLIED ASPECTS RELATED TO PROFESSION

Comments about education and medicine teaching were made. The learning and the curriculum in according with the priorities of the country's health had special emphasis.Students and teachers of Botucatu considered that the improvement of the 2nd year medical microbiological course was good with predominantly basic contents. The students prefer a balanced content or predominantly applied to medicine.Three phases of the teaching of microbiological contents are proposed: 1st - in the basic cycly (2nd year); 2nd - into the course of Clinical Laboratory (3rd or 4th year); 3rd - into the clinical cycle, following a program of integration.

Women in statistics: the profession speaks

Includes bibliography

Multijurisdictional Practice for a Multijurisdictional Profession

The issue of multijurisdictional practice ("MJP") concerns whether, and to what extent, lawyers can practice law in states in which they are not licensed. Under current law in Nebraska and almost every other state, it may be a violation of both the ethics rules and state law for a lawyer not licensed in that state to engage in activity that constitutes the practice of law, even on a temporary basis. This is law that is no longer practical or necessary and Nebraska should now consider modifying it.