New Product Development (NPD) Success Factors: A Review of the Literature

This paper reviews the literature on managerially actionable new product development success factors and summarises the field in a classic managerial framework. Because of the varying quality, breadth and scope of the field, the review only contains post-1980 studies of tangible product development that are of a rigorous scientific standard. Success is interpreted as a commercial success. The field has gained insight into a broad set of factors that vary in scope, abstraction and context. Main areas that contribute to NPD success are top management support exhibited through resource allocation and communicating the strategic importance of NPD in the organisation. The right projects need to be selected for investment at the beginning of the process and should be aligned to the organisation's internal competencies and the external environment. The NPD process should use cross-functional teams and a competent project champions. Marketing research competency is crucial, as an understanding of the market, customers and competitors is repeatedly highlighted. Product launch competency was also consistently shown to be important. In terms of controlling the NPD process, strict project gates are required to maintain control.

Business Intelligence Competency Centerin perustaminen: Case LähiTapiola

Tässä diplomityössä selvitetään case-tutkimuksena parhaita käytäntöjä Business Intelligence Competency Centerin (BICC) eli liiketoimintatiedonhallinnan osaamiskeskuksen perustamiseen. Työ tehdään LähiTapiolalle, jossa on haasteita BI-alueen hallinnoinnissa kehittämisen hajaantuessa eri yksiköihin ja yhtiöihin. Myös järjestelmäympäristö on moninainen. BICC:llä tavoitellaan parempaa näkyvyyttä liiketoiminnan tarpeisiin ja toisaalta halutaan tehostaa tiedon hyödyntämistä johtamisessa sekä operatiivisen tason työskentelyssä. Tavoitteena on lisäksi saada kustannuksia pienemmäksi yhtenäistämällä järjestelmäympäristöjä ja BI-työkaluja kuten myös toimintamalleja. Työssä tehdään kirjallisuuskatsaus ja haastatellaan asiantuntijoita kolmessa yrityksessä. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että liiketoiminnan BI-tarpeita kannattaa mahdollistaa eri tasoilla perusraportoinnista Ad-hoc –raportointiin ja edistyneeseen analytiikkaan huomioimalla nämä toimintamalleissa ja järjestelmäarkkitehtuurissa. BICC:n perustamisessa liiketoimintatarpeisiin vastaaminen on etusijalla.

A social-cognitive model of monitoring and its relationship to behaviour in a naturalistic observation : development and individual differences

years 8 months) and 24 older (M == 7 years 4 months) children. A Monitoring Process Model (MPM) was developed and tested in order to ascertain at which component process ofthe MPM age differences would emerge. The MPM had four components: (1) assessment; (2) evaluation; (3) planning; and (4) behavioural control. The MPM was assessed directly using a referential communication task in which the children were asked to make a series of five Lego buildings (a baseline condition and one building for each MPM component). Children listened to instructions from one experimenter while a second experimenter in the room (a confederate) intetjected varying levels ofverbal feedback in order to assist the children and control the component ofthe MPM. This design allowed us to determine at which "stage" ofprocessing children would most likely have difficulty monitoring themselves in this social-cognitive task. Developmental differences were obselVed for the evaluation, planning and behavioural control components suggesting that older children were able to be more successful with the more explicit metacomponents. Interestingly, however, there was no age difference in terms ofLego task success in the baseline condition suggesting that without the intelVention ofthe confederate younger children monitored the task about as well as older children. This pattern ofresults indicates that the younger children were disrupted by the feedback rather than helped. On the other hand, the older children were able to incorporate the feedback offered by the confederate into a plan ofaction. Another aim ofthis study was to assess similar processing components to those investigated by the MPM Lego task in a more naturalistic observation. Together the use ofthe Lego Task ( a social cognitive task) and the naturalistic social interaction allowed for the appraisal of cross-domain continuities and discontinuities in monitoring behaviours. In this vein, analyses were undertaken in order to ascertain whether or not successful performance in the MPM Lego Task would predict cross-domain competence in the more naturalistic social interchange. Indeed, success in the two latter components ofthe MPM (planning and behavioural control) was related to overall competence in the naturalistic task. However, this cross-domain prediction was not evident for all levels ofthe naturalistic interchange suggesting that the nature ofthe feedback a child receives is an important determinant ofresponse competency. Individual difference measures reflecting the children's general cognitive capacity (Working Memory and Digit Span) and verbal ability (vocabulary) were also taken in an effort to account for more variance in the prediction oftask success. However, these individual difference measures did not serve to enhance the prediction oftask performance in either the Lego Task or the naturalistic task. Similarly, parental responses to questionnaires pertaining to their child's temperament and social experience also failed to increase prediction oftask performance. On-line measures ofthe children's engagement, positive affect and anxiety also failed to predict competence ratings.

The adult learner : the definitive classic in adult education and human resource development.

Es una lectura esencial para los profesionales del aprendizaje de adultos, estudiantes y profesionales de los recursos humanos, pues proporciona un marco teórico para la comprensión de los problemas del aprendizaje de adultos, tanto en los entornos docentes como en los lugares de trabajo. Se divide en tres partes: la primera parte estudia 'Las raíces de la andragogía', se traza el desarrollo de esta teoría y las características de los estudiantes adultos; en la segunda parte 'Los avances en el aprendizaje de adultos', se explican sus perspectivas de futuro en la investigación y la práctica y, en la última parte, 'Practica en el aprendizaje de adultos', se presentan lecturas seleccionadas que desarrollan los aspectos específicos de la andragogía en la práctica y que incluye estrategias para implementar los supuestos básicos, para adaptar el aprendizaje a las diferencias individuales, y para implementar la educación de adultos en las organizaciones. De especial interés son dos instrumentos de autoevaluación, 'the Core Competency Diagnostic and Planning Guide' y 'the Personal Adult Learning Style Inventory' que permiten al lector ponerse en camino del desarrollo personal en el aprendizaje de adultos.

The Acute Care Undergraduate TEaching (ACUTE) initiative: consensus development of core competencies in acute care for undergraduates in the United Kingdom

Background: The care of the acutely ill patient in hospital is often sub-optimal. Poor recognition of critical illness combined with a lack of knowledge, failure to appreciate the clinical urgency of a situation, a lack of supervision, failure to seek advice and poor communication have been identified as contributory factors. At present the training of medical students in these important skills is fragmented. The aim of this study was to use consensus techniques to identify the core competencies in the care of acutely ill or arrested adult patients that medical students should possess at the point of graduation. Design: Healthcare professionals were invited to contribute suggestions for competencies to a website as part of a modified Delphi survey. The competency proposals were grouped into themes and rated by a nominal group comprised of physicians, nurses and students from the UK. The nominal group rated the importance of each competency using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: A total of 359 healthcare professionals contributed 2,629 competency suggestions during the Delphi survey. These were reduced to 88 representative themes covering: airway and oxygenation; breathing and ventilation; circulation; confusion and coma; drugs, therapeutics and protocols; clinical examination; monitoring and investigations; team-working, organisation and communication; patient and societal needs; trauma; equipment; pre-hospital care; infection and inflammation. The nominal group identified 71 essential and 16 optional competencies which students should possess at the point of graduation. Conclusions: We propose these competencies form a core set for undergraduate training in resuscitation and acute care.

Effects of FGF10 on bovine oocyte meiosis progression, apoptosis, embryo development and relative abundance of developmentally important genes in vitro

Contents Fibroblast growth factor (FGF10) acts at the cumulus oocyte complex, increasing the expression of cumulus cell expansion-related genes and oocyte competency genes. We tested the hypothesis that addition of FGF10 to the maturation medium improves oocyte maturation, decreases the percentage of apoptotic oocytes and increases development to the blastocyst stage while increasing the relative abundance of developmentally important genes (COX2, CDX2 and PLAC8). In all experiments, oocytes were matured for 22h in TCM-199 supplemented with 0, 2.5, 10 or 50ng/ml FGF10. In Experiment 1, after maturation, oocytes were stained with Hoechst to evaluate meiosis progression (metaphase I, intermediary phases and extrusion of the first polar body) and submitted to the TUNEL assay to evaluate apoptosis. In Experiment 2, oocytes were fertilized and cultured to the blastocyst stage. Blastocysts were frozen for analysis of COX2, CDX2 and PLAC8 relative abundance. In Experiment 1, 2.5ng/ml FGF10 increased (p<0.05) the percentage of oocytes with extrusion of the first polar body (35%) compared to 0, 10 and 50ng/ml FGF10 (21, 14 and 12%, respectively) and FGF10 decreased the percentage of oocytes that were TUNEL positive in all doses studied. In Experiment 2, there was no difference in the percentage of oocytes becoming blastocysts between treatments and control. Real-time RT-PCR showed a tendency of 50ng/ml FGF10 to increase the relative abundance of COX2 and PLAC8 and of 10ng/ml FGF10 to increase CDX2. In conclusion, the addition of FGF10 to the oocyte maturation medium improves oocyte maturation in vitro, decreases the percentage of apoptotic oocytes and tends to increase the relative abundance of developmentally important genes.

Red Bell Pepper Chromoplasts Exhibit in Vitro Import Competency and Membrane Targeting of Passenger Proteins from the Thylakoidal Sec and ΔpH Pathways but Not the Chloroplast Signal Recognition Particle Pathway1

Chloroplast to chromoplast development involves new synthesis and plastid localization of nuclear-encoded proteins, as well as changes in the organization of internal plastid membrane compartments. We have demonstrated that isolated red bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) chromoplasts contain the 75-kD component of the chloroplast outer envelope translocon (Toc75) and are capable of importing chloroplast precursors in an ATP-dependent fashion, indicating a functional general import apparatus. The isolated chromoplasts were able to further localize the 33- and 17-kD subunits of the photosystem II O2-evolution complex (OE33 and OE17, respectively), lumen-targeted precursors that utilize the thylakoidal Sec and ΔpH pathways, respectively, to the lumen of an internal membrane compartment. Chromoplasts contained the thylakoid Sec component protein, cpSecA, at levels comparable to chloroplasts. Routing of OE17 to the lumen was abolished by ionophores, suggesting that routing is dependent on a transmembrane ΔpH. The chloroplast signal recognition particle pathway precursor major photosystem II light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein failed to associate with chromoplast membranes and instead accumulated in the stroma following import. The Pftf (plastid fusion/translocation factor), a chromoplast protein, integrated into the internal membranes of chromoplasts during in vitro assays, and immunoblot analysis indicated that endogenous plastid fusion/translocation factor was also an integral membrane protein of chromoplasts. These data demonstrate that the internal membranes of chromoplasts are functional with respect to protein translocation on the thylakoid Sec and ΔpH pathways.

The Role of Enjoyment and Motivational Climate in Relation to the Personal Development of Team Sport Athletes

Sport has been identified as a context in which youth encounter positive and negative experiences. However, relatively little is known about the factors that lead to positive and negative personal development among sport participants. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of enjoyment and motivational climate on positive and negative personal development of team sport participants. A sample of 510 athletes between the ages of 9 and 19 completed questionnaires on positive and negative personal development, enjoyment, and motivational climate. Stepwise multiple regression analyses examined the effects of enjoyment and motivational climate on the personal development of the athletes. Results demonstrated that positive experiences in sport were most strongly predicted by affiliation with peers, self-referenced competency, effort expenditure, and a task climate. Negative experiences were most strongly predicted by an ego climate and other-referenced competency. Results suggest that creating an environment that encourages peer affiliation and personal achievement can result in the positive personal development of youth sport participants.

Development and evaluation of the Clinician Suicide Risk Assessment Checklist

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a new instrument – the Clinician Suicide Risk Assessment Checklist (CSRAC). The instrument assesses the clinician’s competency in three areas: clinical interviewing, assessment of specific suicide risk factors, and formulating a management plan. A draft checklist was constructed by integrating information from 1) literature review 2) expert clinician focus group and 3) consultation with experts. It was utilised in a simulated clinical scenario with clinician trainees and a trained actor in order to test for inter-rater agreement. Agreement was calculated and the checklist was re-drafted with the aim of maximising agreement. A second phase of simulated clinical scenarios was then conducted and inter-rater agreement was calculated for the revised checklist. In the first phase of the study, 18 of 35 items had inadequate inter-rater agreement (60%>), while in the second phase, using the revised version, only 3 of 39 items failed to achieve adequate inter-rater agreement. Further evidence of reliability and validity are required. Continued development of the CSRAC will be necessary before it can be utilised to assess the effectiveness of risk assessment training programs.

A reflexive course for Masters students to understand and plan their own continuing professional development

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is seen as a vital part of a professional engineer’s career, by professional engineering institutions as well as individual engineers. Factors such as ever-changing workforce requirements and rapid technological change have resulted in engineers no longer being able to rely just on the skills they learnt at university or can pick up on the job; they must undergo a structured professional development with clear objectives to develop further professional knowledge, values and skills. This paper presents a course developed for students undertaking a Master of Engineering or Master of Project Management at the University of Queensland. This course was specifically designed to help students plan their continuing professional development, while developing professional skills such as communication, ethical reasoning, critical judgement and the need for sustainable development. The course utilised a work integrated learning pedagogy applied within a formal learning environment, and followed the competency based chartered membership program of Engineers Australia, the peak professional body of engineers in Australia. The course was developed and analysed using an action learning approach. The main research question was “Can extra teaching and learning activities be developed that will simulate workplace learning?” The students continually assessed and reflected upon their current competencies, skills and abilities, and planed for the future attainment of specific competencies which they identified as important to their future careers. Various evaluation methods, including surveys before and after the course, were used to evaluate the action learning intervention. It was found that the assessment developed for the course was one of the most important factors, not only in driving student learning, as is widely accepted, but also in changing the students’ understandings and acceptance of the need for continuous professional development. The students also felt that the knowledge, values and skills they developed would be beneficial for their future careers, as they were developed within the context of their own professional development, rather than to just get through the course. © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

The role of self-regulation as a meta-competency in developing leaders: a longitudinal field experimental study

The question of how to develop leaders so that they are more effective in a variety of situations, roles and levels has inspired a voluminous amount of research. While leader development programs such as executive coaching and 360-degree feedback have been widely practiced to meet this demand within organisations, the research in this area has only scratched the surface. Drawing from the past literature and leadership practices, the current research conceptualised self-regulation, as a metacompetency that would assist leaders to further develop the specific competencies needed to perform effectively in their leadership role, leading to an increased rating of leader effectiveness and to enhanced group performance. To test this conceptualisation, a longitudinal field experimental study was conducted across ten months with a pre- and two post-test intervention designs with a matched control group. This longitudinal field experimental compared the difference in leader and team performance after receiving self-regulation intervention that was delivered by an executive coach. Leaders in experimental group also received feedback reports from 360-degree feedback at each stage. Participants were 40 leaders, 155 followers and 8 supervisors. Leaders’ performance was measured using a multi-source perceptual measure of leader performance and objective measures of team financial and assessment performance. Analyses using repeated measure of ANCOVA on pre-test and two post-tests responses showed a significant difference between leader and team performance between experimental and control group. Furthermore, leader competencies mediated the relationship between self-regulation and performance. The implications of these findings for the theory and practice of leadership development training programs and the impact on organisational performance are discussed.

Leadership development: the role of developmental readiness, personality dispositions, and individual values

Increased awareness of the crucial role of leadership as a competitive advantage for organisations (McCall, 1998; Petrick, Scherer, Brodzinski, Quinn, & Ainina, 1999) has led to billions spent on leadership development programmes and training (Avolio & Hannah, 2008). However, research reports confusing and contradictory evidence regarding return on investment and developmental outcomes, and a lot of variance has been observed across studies (Avolio, Reichard, Hannah, Walumbwa, & Chan, 2009). The purpose of this thesis is to understand the mechanisms underlying this variability in leadership development. Of the many factors at play in the process, such as programme design and delivery, organisational support, and perceptions of relevance (Mabey, 2002; Day, Harrison, & Halpin, 2009), individual differences and characteristics stand out. One way in which individuals differ is in their Developmental Readiness (DR), a concept recently introduced in the literature that may well explain this variance and which has been proposed to accelerate development (Avolio & Hannah, 2008, 2009). Building on previous work, DR is introduced and conceptualised somewhat differently. In this study, DR is construed of self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-motivation, proposed by Day (2000) to be the backbones of leadership development. DR is suggested to moderate the developmental process. Furthermore, personality dispositions and individual values are proposed to be precursors of DR. The empirical research conducted uses a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design. Before conducting the study, though, both a measure of Developmental Readiness and a competency profiling measure are tested in two pilot studies. Results do not find evidence of a direct effect of leadership development programmes on development, but do support an interactive effect between DR and leadership development programmes. Personality dispositions Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience and value orientations Conservation, Open, and Closed Orientation are found to significantly predict DR. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.

The PHAR-QA project: competency framework for pharmacy practice—first steps, the results of the European Network Delphi round 1

PHAR-QA, funded by the European Commission, is producing a framework of competences for pharmacy practice. The framework is in line with the EU directive on sectoral professions and takes into account the diversity of the pharmacy profession and the on-going changes in healthcare systems (with an increasingly important role for pharmacists), and in the pharmaceutical industry. PHAR-QA is asking academia, students and practicing pharmacists to rank competences required for practice. The results show that competences in the areas of drug interactions, need for drug treatment and provision of information and service were ranked highest whereas those in the areas of ability to design and conduct research and development and production of medicines were ranked lower. For the latter two categories, industrial pharmacists ranked them higher than did the other five groups

Számítógép-használat otthon és a munkahelyen - a digitális kompetencia és a számítógépes munkakörnyezet ergonómiájának empirikus vizsgálata (Using of computers at home and on the workplace – an empirical study of the ergonomy of digital competency and the computerized working environment)

A számítógépes munkavégzés elterjedése számos szempontból és módszerrel vizsgálható. A szerző kutatásai során az ember-gép-környezet összhang megteremtésének igényéből kiindulva arra keresi a választ, hogy milyen tényezők befolyásolják a számítógéppel végzett tevékenységek megszervezésének és végrehajtásának hatékonyságát. Tanulmányában a kutatás indítófázisának főbb eredményeiről, a számítógép-használati szokásokról ad áttekintést, ami elengedhetetlen az irodai-adminisztratív jellegű tevékenységekhez kötődő kritikus tényezők feltárásához, továbbá a mérési és fejlesztési feladatok megalapozásához. A szűkebb értelemben vett ergonómiai szempontok mellett a digitális kompetenciák kérdéskörét vonta be a munkába, amit releváns kérdésnek tart a hatékonyság mérése szempontjából, mivel a számítógép megválasztása és a munkahely kialakítása nem értékelhető az emberi tényező alkalmassága és az elvégzendő feladat tartalma nélkül. __________ Office and administrative work, business corres-pondence, private contacts and learning are increasingly supported by computers. Moreover the technical possibilities of correspondence are wider than using a PC. It is accessible on the go by a cell phone. The author analysed the characteristics of the used devices, the working environment, satisfaction factors in connection with computer work and the digital competence by a survey. In his opinion development in an ergonomic approach is important not only to establish the technological novelties but to utilize the present possibilities of hardware and environment. The reason for this is that many people can not (or do not want) to follow the dynamic technological development of computers with buying the newest devices. The study compares the results of home and work characteristic of computer work. This research was carried out as part of the “TAMOP-4.2.1.B-10/2/ KONV-2010-0001” project with support by the European Union, co-financed by the European Social Fund.