Theoretical Analysis of "Academic Credibility and the Hospitality Curriculum" : The Image Problem

Social issues are assessed from different perspectives. The purpose here is to evaluate one short article in terms of interpretive social theory and then briefly assess it in terms of functionalism, conflic theory and critical theory.

Discussion Paper: Triangulation of Methodology to Solve the Practitioner - Academic Debate Concerning the Value of Research

In support of research in the debate concerning its relevance to hospitality academics and practitioners, the author presents a discussion of how the philosophy of science impacts approaches to research, including a brief summary of empiricism, and the importance of the triangulation of research orientations. Criticism of research is the hospitality literature often focuses on the lack of an apparent philosophy of science perspective and how this perspective impacts the way in which scholars conduct and interpret research. The Validity Network Schema (VNS) presents a triangulation model for evaluating research progress in a discipline by providing a mechanism for integrating academic and practitioner research studies.

A retrospective-longitudinal examination of the relationship between apportionment of seat time in community-college algebra courses and student academic performance

During the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase by postsecondary institutions in providing academic programs and course offerings in a multitude of formats and venues (Biemiller, 2009; Kucsera & Zimmaro, 2010; Lang, 2009; Mangan, 2008). Strategies pertaining to reapportionment of course-delivery seat time have been a major facet of these institutional initiatives; most notably, within many open-door 2-year colleges. Often, these enrollment-management decisions are driven by the desire to increase market-share, optimize the usage of finite facility capacity, and contain costs, especially during these economically turbulent times. So, while enrollments have surged to the point where nearly one in three 18-to-24 year-old U.S. undergraduates are community college students (Pew Research Center, 2009), graduation rates, on average, still remain distressingly low (Complete College America, 2011). Among the learning-theory constructs related to seat-time reapportionment efforts is the cognitive phenomenon commonly referred to as the spacing effect, the degree to which learning is enhanced by a series of shorter, separated sessions as opposed to fewer, more massed episodes. This ex post facto study explored whether seat time in a postsecondary developmental-level algebra course is significantly related to: course success; course-enrollment persistence; and, longitudinally, the time to successfully complete a general-education-level mathematics course. Hierarchical logistic regression and discrete-time survival analysis were used to perform a multi-level, multivariable analysis of a student cohort (N = 3,284) enrolled at a large, multi-campus, urban community college. The subjects were retrospectively tracked over a 2-year longitudinal period. The study found that students in long seat-time classes tended to withdraw earlier and more often than did their peers in short seat-time classes (p < .05). Additionally, a model comprised of nine statistically significant covariates (all with p-values less than .01) was constructed. However, no longitudinal seat-time group differences were detected nor was there sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that seat time was predictive of developmental-level course success. A principal aim of this study was to demonstrate—to educational leaders, researchers, and institutional-research/business-intelligence professionals—the advantages and computational practicability of survival analysis, an underused but more powerful way to investigate changes in students over time.

The Effectiveness of an Online Workshop on Behavior Management as a Professional Development Tool for Teachers

The current study examines the effects of an online workshop pertaining to classroom behavior management on teacher self-efficacy, attitudes, motivation, knowledge, and practices. In addition, information about teacher utilization of the Internet, their opinions about professional development, and experiences with classroom management were collected. Participants included 57 1st through 5th grade special and regular education teachers. Eligible teachers were those who teach an academic subject and had at least one child in the classroom they considered as disruptive. Teachers were randomized to either a training or waitlist group. Classroom observations of teacher practices and questionnaires were utilized. Teachers in the training group participated in two assessment points, baseline and post-workshop, and received access to the online course immediately following the baseline assessment. Teachers in the waitlist group participated in three assessment points, baseline, post-workshop, and follow-up, and received access to the online course immediately following the post-workshop assessment. Findings show that all teachers had access to the Internet at home and at school and used it on a daily basis. The majority of teachers indicated having some past training on all the techniques that were presented in the online workshop. All teachers expressed satisfaction with the workshop, indicating that it should be offered again. Post-workshop, findings showed significant group differences in knowledge with a large effect for the training group scoring higher than the waitlist group on a quiz. Secondly, group differences in self-efficacy, knowledge, and attitudes with teachers’ past-training as a moderator, was examined. Past-training was not found to be a significant moderator of self-efficacy, knowledge, or attitudes. However, the main effect for training group was significant for attitudes. In addition, teacher attitudes, but not knowledge and self-efficacy, significantly predicted motivation to implement. Next, the moderating effect of barriers on motivation and classroom management skill implementation was examined. Barriers were not found to be a significant moderator. Lastly, the training group was observed to be significantly more effective at giving commands compared to the waitlist group. The current study demonstrates the potential of a low-intensity online workshop on classroom management to enhance the accessibility of teacher professional development.

Environmental Impacts of the Deep-Water Oil and Gas Industry : A Review to Guide Management Strategies

The authors would like to thank the leadership of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI), including Lisa Levin, Maria Baker, and Kristina Gjerde, for their support in developing this review. This work evolved from a meeting of the DOSI Oil and Gas working group supported by the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and associated with the Deep-Sea Biology Symposium in Aveiro, Portugal in September 2015. The members of the Oil and Gas working group that contributed to our discussions at that meeting or through the listserve are acknowledged for their contributions to this work. We would also like to thank the three reviewers and the editor who provided valuable comments and insight into the work presented here. DJ and AD were supported by funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the MERCES (Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Changing European Seas) project, grant agreement No 689518. AB was supported by CNPq grants 301412/2013-8 and 200504/2015-0. LH acknowledges funding provided by a Natural Environment Research Council grant (NE/L008181/1). This output reflects only the authors' views and the funders cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Correlation between anxiety and academic self-concept in interpreter trainees

This paper focuses on two basic issues: the anxiety-generating nature of the interpreting task and the relevance of interpreter trainees’ academic self-concept. The first has already been acknowledged, although not extensively researched, in several papers, and the second has only been mentioned briefly in interpreting literature. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the anxiety and academic self-concept constructs among interpreter trainees. An adapted version of the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986), the Academic Autoconcept Scale (Schmidt, Messoulam & Molina, 2008) and a background information questionnaire were used to collect data. Students’ t-Test analysis results indicated that female students reported experiencing significantly higher levels of anxiety than male students. No significant gender difference in self-concept levels was found. Correlation analysis results suggested, on the one hand, that younger would-be interpreters suffered from higher anxiety levels and students with higher marks tended to have lower anxiety levels; and, on the other hand, that younger students had lower self-concept levels and higher-ability students held higher self-concept levels. In addition, the results revealed that students with higher anxiety levels tended to have lower self-concept levels. Based on these findings, recommendations for interpreting pedagogy are discussed.

Hospital Administrative Characteristics and Volunteer Resource Management Practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between various characteristics of hospital administration and the utilization of classes of volunteer resource management (VRM) practices. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses original data collected via surveys of volunteer directors in 122 hospitals in five Northeastern and Southern US states. Findings – Structural equation modeling results suggest that number of paid volunteer management staff, scope of responsibility of the primary volunteer administrator, and hospital size are positively associated with increased usage of certain VRM practices. Research limitations/implications – First, the authors begin the exploration of VRM antecedents, and encourage others to continue this line of inquiry; and second, the authors assess dimensionality of practices, allowing future researchers to consider whether specific dimensions have a differential impact on key individual and organizational outcomes. Practical implications – Based on the findings of a relationship between administrative characteristics and the on-the-ground execution of VRM practice, a baseline audit comparing current practices to those VRM practices presented here might be useful in determining what next steps may be taken to focus investments in VRM that can ultimately drive practice utilization. Originality/value – The exploration of the dimensionality of volunteer management adds a novel perspective to both the academic study, and practice, of volunteer management. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical categorization of VRM practices.

Reprint: Learning With a Strategic Management Simulation Q2 Game: A Case Study

The use of simulation games as a pedagogic method is well established though its effective use is context-driven. This study adds to the increasing growing body of empirical evidence of the effectiveness of simulation games but more importantly emphasises why by explaining the instructional design implemented reflecting best practices. This multimethod study finds evidence that student learning was enhanced through the use of simulation games, reflected in the two key themes; simulation games as a catalyst for learning and simulation games as a vehicle for learning. In so doing the research provides one of the few empirically based studies that support simulation games in enhancing learning and, more importantly, contextualizes the enhancement in terms of the instructional design of the curriculum. This research should prove valuable for those with an academic interest in the use of simulation games and management educators who use, or are considering its use. Further, the findings contribute to the academic debate concerning the effective implementation of simulation game-based training in business and management education.

Strategic Management Simulation as a Blended Learning Dimension: Campus Based Students’ Perspectives

Although business simulations are widely used in management education, there is no consensus about how to optimise their application. Our research explores the use of business simulations as a dimension of a blended learning pedagogic approach for undergraduate business education. Accepting that few best-practice prescriptive models for the design and implementation of simulations in this context have been presented, and that there is little empirical evidence for the claims made by proponents of such models, we address the lacuna by considering business student perspectives on the use of simulations. We then intersect available data with espoused positive outcomes made by the authors of a prescriptive model. We find the model to be essentially robust and offer evidence to support this position. In so doing we provide one of the few empirically based studies to support claims made by proponents of simulations in business education. The research should prove valuable for those with an academic interest in the use of simulations, either as a blended learning dimension or as a stand-alone business education activity. Further, the findings contribute to the academic debate surrounding the use and efficacy of simulation-based training [SBT] within business and management education.

A gestão da informação sob a luz do Enterprise Content Management (ECM): um estudo de caso em uma universidade pública

This work involves the organization and content perspectives on Enterprise Content Management (ECM) framework. The case study at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte was based on ECM model to analyse the information management provided by the three main administrative systems: The Integrated Management of Academic Activities (SIGAA), Integrated System of Inheritance, and Contracts Administration (SIPAC) and the Integrated System for Administration and Human Resources (SIGRH). A case study protocol was designed to provide greater reliability to research process. Four propositions were examined in order to reach the specific objectives of identification and evaluation of ECM components from UFRN perspective. The preliminary phase provided the guidelines for the data collection. In total, 75 individuals were interviewed. Interviews with four managers directly involved on systems design were recorded (average duration of 90 minutes). The 70 remaining individuals were approached in random way in UFRN s units, including teachers, administrative-technical employees and students. The results showed the presence of many ECM elements in the management of UFRN administrative information. The technological component with higher presence was "management of web content / collaboration". But initiatives of other components (e.g. email and document management) were found and are in continuous improvement. The assessment made use of eQual 4.0 to examine the effectiveness of applications under three factors: usability, quality of information and offered service. In general, the quality offered by the systems was very good and walk side by side with the obtained benefits of ECM strategy adoption in the context of the whole institution

Coproducing flood risk management through citizen involvement: insights from cross-country comparison in Europe

Across Europe, citizens are increasingly expected to participate in the implementation of flood risk management (FRM), by engaging in voluntary-based activities to enhance preparedness, implementing property-level measures, and so forth. Although citizen participation in FRM decision making is widely addressed in academic literature, citizens’ involvement in the delivery of FRM measures is comparatively understudied. Drawing from public administration literature, we adopted the notion of “coproduction” as an analytical framework for studying the interaction between citizens and public authorities, from the decision-making process through to the implementation of FRM in practice. We considered to what extent coproduction is evident in selected European Union (EU) member states, drawing from research conducted within the EU project STAR-FLOOD (Strengthening and Redesigning European Flood Risk Practices towards Appropriate and Resilient Flood Risk Governance Arrangements). On the basis of a cross-country comparison between Flanders (Belgium), England (United Kingdom), France, the Netherlands, and Poland, we have highlighted the varied forms of coproduction and reflected on how these have been established within divergent settings. Coproduction is most prominent in discourse and practice in England and is emergent in France and Flanders. By contrast, FRM in the Netherlands and Poland remains almost exclusively reliant on governmental protection measures and thereby consultation-based forms of coproduction. Analysis revealed how these actions are motivated by different underlying rationales, which in turn shape the type of approaches and degree of institutionalization of coproduction. In the Netherlands, coproduction is primarily encouraged to increase societal resilience, whereas public authorities in the other countries also use it to improve cost-efficiency and redistribute responsibilities to its beneficiaries.

Towars a chemical reagents and residues management at the teaching laboratories of the Chemistry School of the Universidad Nacional

The academic activities carried out at the School of Chemistry make indispensable to develop actions oriented toward the consolidation of a reagent and residue management system, especially in the teaching laboratories. The project “Management of reagents and residues in the teaching laboratories of the School of Chemistry” works under the Green Chemistry values which designs products and chemical processes that reduce or eliminate the use and production of dangerous substances, to benefit the environment. With a preventive vision, a change from the  laboratory practices is looked to select those with less environmental impact. Additionally, residue quantification is made and its management protocols are developed for each practice. The project has several stages: diagnose, action implementation, student, teacher and administration personnel training and evaluation during the process and at the end of it. The article describes methodological aspects of the project operation emphasizing on reagent and residue quantification through flow diagrams.

Strategic divide management in pharmaceutical alliances: A partner’s strategic evolution as a reason for strategic divide

Strategic alliances are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry and, ideally, they are long-lasting structures that bring many benefits and value to the alliance partners. However, organizations continuously encounter pressures to enhance performance, while the environment in which they operate evolves. Therefore, an alliance partner might be forced to change its strategy, which can lead to the partners’ misaligned priorities and strategic divide. The academic literature acknowledges the impact a partner’s strategic change can have on the value of the alliance, but the phenomenon is not studied further, which is why the purpose of this study is to understand the role that a partner’s strategic evolution plays in strategic alliances within the pharmaceutical industry. The main purpose is further divided into three sub-objectives: 1) Describe reasons behind the strategic direction change of a partner firm, 2) Understand the consequences of partners’ misaligned priorities, and 3) Describe proactive and reactive ways to manage strategic divide between alliance partners. Since the phenomenon is not studied much, the empirical part of the study was conducted as a qualitative analysis using expert interviews to better understand, how the partner’s strategic evolution affects the alliance. The empirical data was organized into themes, according to the researcher’s interpretations on the interviews. The research findings demonstrated, how the partners change their strategies if the external or organizational environments change. The strategic changes, again, cause strategic divides between the alliance partners that are likely to have an impact on the alliance value. The findings revealed that the interviewees consider anticipation of the partner’s strategic change to be really difficult, but, at the same time, it was noted that a proactive strategic divide management could help to prevent and detect some divides. Additionally, the results showed that, after the detection, a reactive approach in a controlled manner was seen to be the most beneficial for the alliance’s future performance. This study proved that a partner’s strategic evolution affects the partners’ priority alignment and alliance value, which is why the strategic divide management is important in organizations that are involved with strategic alliances. In order to understand the role of a partner’s strategic evolution and provide managers with a tool to manage alliances and strategic divides, the study combined the alliance lifecycle as well as the proactive and reactive approaches to strategic divide, and presented a framework for strategic divide management.

Development of project management procedures for customer project business

Objective of the thesis is to develop project management procedure for chilled beam projects. In organization is recognized that project management techniques could help in large and complex projects. Information sharing have been challenging in projects, so improvement of information sharing is one key topic of the thesis. Academic researches and literature are used to find suitable project management theories and methods. Main theories are related to phases of the project and project management tools. Practical knowledge of project management is collected from two project business oriented companies. Project management tools are chosen and modified to fulfill needs of the beam projects. Result of the thesis is proposed project management procedure, which includes phases of the chilled beam projects and project milestones. Project management procedure helps to recognize the most critical phases of the project and tools help to manage information of the project. Procedure increases knowledge of the project management techniques and tools. It also forms coherent project management working method among the chilled beam project group.