Indicating Commitment: The Notion of dépense in the Study of Ritual and Religion

By analysing two cases from the recent history of Vaishnavism (a temple festival in Vrindavan; the development of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON), this paper shows that the notion of dépenseas developed by Marcel Mauss, Robert Hertz and Georges Bataille can be applied as an analytical tool in the study of rituals and religion as an indicator of religious commitment. At the same time it is possible to show that, by constructing a kind of macro-economic theory that includes religious behaviour, recent theories of religious economics are part of, and reproduce, a modern discourse of rationality that rules out, rather than understands, forms of irrationality such as unproductive expenditure (dépense).

Does the (structural) context matter? Analysing individual and structural factors of members’ commitment to sports clubs

Introduction: Over the last decades, Swiss sports clubs have lost their "monopoly" in the market for sports-related services and increasingly are in competition with other sports providers. For many sport clubs long-term membership cannot be seen as a matter of course. Current research on sports clubs in Switzerland – as well as for other European countries – confirms the increasing difficulties in achieving long-term member commitment. Looking at recent findings of the Swiss sport clubs report (Lamprecht, Fischer & Stamm, 2012), it can be noted, that a decrease in memberships does not equally affect all clubs. There are sports clubs – because of their specific situational and structural conditions – that have few problems with member fluctuation, while other clubs show considerable declines in membership. Therefore, a clear understanding of individual and structural factors that trigger and sustain member commitment would help sports clubs to tackle this problem more effectively. This situation poses the question: What are the individual and structural determinants that influence the tendency to continue or to quit the membership? Methods: Existing research has extensively investigated the drivers of members’ commitment at an individual level. As commitment of members usually occurs within an organizational context, the characteristics of the organisation should be also considered. However, this context has been largely neglected in current research. This presentation addresses both the individual characteristics of members and the corresponding structural conditions of sports clubs resulting in a multi-level framework for the investigation of the factors of members’ commitment in sports clubs. The multilevel analysis grant a adequate handling of hierarchically structured data (e.g., Hox, 2002). The influences of both the individual and context level on the stability of memberships are estimated in multi-level models based on a sample of n = 1,434 sport club members from 36 sports clubs. Results: Results of these multi-level analyses indicate that commitment of members is not just an outcome of individual characteristics, such as strong identification with the club, positively perceived communication and cooperation, satisfaction with sports clubs’ offers, or voluntary engagement. It is also influenced by club-specific structural conditions: stable memberships are more probable in rural sports clubs, and in clubs that explicitly support sociability, whereas sporting-success oriented goals in clubs have a destabilizing effect. Discussion/Conclusion: The proposed multi-level framework and the multi-level analysis can open new perspectives for research concerning commitment of members to sports clubs and other topics and problems of sport organisation research, especially in assisting to understand individual behavior within organizational contexts. References: Hox, J. J. (2002). Multilevel analysis: Techniques and applications. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum. Lamprecht, M., Fischer, A., & Stamm, H.-P. (2012). Die Schweizer Sportvereine – Strukturen, Leistungen, Herausforderungen. Zurich: Seismo.

Does context matter? Analysing structural and individual factors of member commitment in sport clubs

This article addresses factors that infl uence member commitment in sport clubs. Based on the theory of social action and the economic behaviour theory, it focuses not only on individual characteristics of club members but also on the corresponding structural conditions of sport clubs. Accordingly, a multilevel framework is developed for explaining member commitment in sport clubs. Different multilevel models were estimated in order to analyse the infl uences of both the individual and corresponding context Level in a sample of n = 1,699 members of 42 Swiss and German sport clubs. The multilevel analysis permitted an adequate handling of hierarchically structured data. Results of These multilevel analyses indicated that the commitment of members is not just an outcome of individual characteristics such as strong identifi cation with their club, positively perceived (collective) solidarity, satisfaction with their sport club, or voluntary engagement. It is also determined by club-specific structural conditions: commitment proves to be more probable in rural sport clubs and clubs that explicitly support sociability. Furthermore, cross-level effects in relation to member commitment were also found between the context variable sociability and the individual variable identification.

An epidemiologic evaluation of a worksite based intervention

The healthcare industry spends billions on worker injury and employee turnover. Hospitals and healthcare settings have one of the highest rates of lost days due to injuries. The occupational hazards for healthcare workers can be classified into biological, chemical, ergonomic, physical, organizational, and psychosocial. Therefore, interventions addressing a range of occupational health risks are needed to prevent injuries and reduce turnover and reduce costs. ^ The Sacred Vocation Program (SVP) seeks to change the content of work, i.e., the meaningfulness of work, to improve work environments. The SVP intervenes at both the individual and organizational level. First the SVP attempts to connect healthcare workers with meaning from their work through a series of 5 self-discovery group sessions. In a sixth session the graduates take an oath recommitting them to do their work as a vocation. Once motivated to connect with meaning in their work, a representative employee group meets in a second set of five meetings. This representative group suggests organizational changes to create a culture that supports employees in their calling. The employees present their plan in the twelfth session to management beginning a new phase in the existing dialogue between employees and management. ^ The SVP was implemented in a large Dallas hospital (almost 1000 licensed beds). The Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) Pastoral Care department invited front-line caregivers (primarily Patient Care Assistants, PCAs, or Patient Care Technicians, PCTs) to participate in the SVP. Participants completed SVP questionnaires at the beginning and following SVP implementation. Following implementation, employer records were collected on injury, absence and turnover to further evaluate the program's effectiveness on metrics that are meaningful to managers in assessing organizational performance. This provided an opportunity to perform an epidemiological evaluation of the intervention using the two sources of information: employee self-reports and employer administrative data. ^ The ability to evaluate the effectiveness of the SVP on program outcomes could be limited by the strength of the measures used. An ordinal CFA performed on baseline SVP questionnaire measurements examined the construct validity and reliability of the SVP scales. Scales whose item-factor structure was confirmed in ordinal CFA were evaluated for their psychometric properties (i.e., reliability, mean, ceiling and floor effects). CFA supported the construct validity of six of the proposed scales: blocks to spirituality, meaning at work, work satisfaction, affective commitment, collaborative communication, and MHI-5. Five of the six scales confirmed had acceptable measures of reliability (all but MHI-5 had α>0.7). All six scales had a high percentage (>30%) of the scores at the ceiling. These findings supported the use of these items in the evaluation of change although strong ceiling effects may hinder discerning change. ^ Next, the confirmed SVP scales were used to evaluate whether the intervention improved program constructs. To evaluate the SVP a one group pretest-posttest design compared participants’ self-reports before and after the intervention. It was hypothesized that measurements of reduced blocks to spirituality (α = 0.76), meaning at work (α = 0.86), collaborative communication (α = 0.67) and SVP job tasks (α = 0.97) would improve following SVP implementation. The SVP job tasks scale was included even though it was not included in the ordinal CFA analysis due to a limited sample and high inter-item correlation. Changes in scaled measurements were assessed using multilevel linear regression methods. All post-intervention measurements increased (increases <0.28 points) but only reduced blocks to spirituality was statistically significant (0.22 points on a scale from 1 to 7, p < 0.05) after adjustment for covariates. Intensity of the intervention (stratifying on high participation units) strengthened effects; but were not statistically significant. The findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that meaning in work can be improved and, importantly, lend greater credence to any observed improvements in the outcomes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)^

Sacred vocation program follow up evaluation at the Baylor healthcare system

Background: The Sacred Vocation Program (SVP) (Amick B, Karff S., 2003) helps workers find meaning, spirituality, and see their job as a sacred vocation. The SVP is based on Participatory Action Research (PAR) (Minkler & Wallerstein, 1997; Parker & Wall, 1998). This study aims to evaluate the SVP implemented at the Baylor Healthcare System, Dallas-Fort Worth. ^ Methods: The study design is a qualitative design. We used data from study participants who have participated in focus groups. During these focus groups specific questions and probes regarding the effectiveness of the SVP have been asked. We analyzed the focus groups and derived themes. ^ Results: Results of this study demonstrate SVP helps graduates feel valued and important. The SVP has improved meaningful work for employees and improved a sense of belonging for participants. The program has also increased participant spirituality. The coping techniques developed during a SVP class helps participants deal with stressful situations. The SVP faces challenges of implementation fidelity, poor communication, program viability in tough economic times and implementation of phase II. Another sustainability challenge for SVP is the perception of the program being a religious one versus a spiritual program. ^ Conclusion: Several aspects of the SVP work. The phase I of SVP is successful in improving meaningful work and a sense of belonging for participants. The coping techniques help participants deal with difficult work situations. The SVP can increase effectiveness through improvements in implementation fidelity, communication and leadership commitment. ^

Modelo explicativo de la relación entre productividad y valores organizacionales, en la PYME del sector metalúrgico y minero de Venezuela

Como consecuencia de los procesos de globalización el mundo empresarial está sometido a constantes cambios que han originado la necesidad en las empresas de evaluar su funcionamiento, con el objeto de adecuar su gestión a las mejores prácticas gerenciales y operativas, en función de adaptarse a las exigencias presentes en los escenarios en que están inmersas. La presente investigación tiene como propósito desarrollar un modelo explicativo de la relación entre la productividad y los valores organizacionales, teniendo como premisa los distintos planteamientos o teorías que destacan la importancia que tienen los valores organizacionales para que las empresas logren sus metas. Específicamente se tomó como referencia la clasificación de los valores organizacionales, que contempla el modelo de gestión de Dirección por Valores (DPV), de García y Dolan (2001). Las PYMES, al considerar el efecto que tienen los valores organizacionales en la productividad, pueden apoyar su gestión a través del compromiso de las personas para lograr los resultados de productividad que quieren o necesitan alcanzar. El abordaje del estudio se ha basado en la investigación explicativa, a través de la cual se exponen las razones de ocurrencia de un fenómeno o se muestran los mecanismos por los que se relacionan dos o más variables, lo que permitió conjugar definiciones y supuestos de las relaciones encontradas entre los valores organizacionales identificados de acuerdo a la opinión de los entrevistados y que resultaron ser significativos con los resultados de productividad que presentan las empresas que fueron objeto de esta investigación La población estuvo conformada por 40 empresas activas del sector metalúrgico y minero de Ciudad Guayana, Estado Bolívar, Venezuela, pertenecientes a la Asociación de Industriales Metalúrgicos y de Minería de la región Guayana (AIMM) y al directorio de la Cámara de Industriales y Mineros de Guayana. La muestra estudiada corresponde a 25 empresas que representan el 62% de la población. El proceso que se siguió para generar el modelo explicativo contempla tres etapas. La primera consiste en la fase descriptiva donde se recogió la información referente a la productividad de las empresas y a la determinación de los valores organizacionales identificados a través del análisis cualitativo de las entrevistas que se realizaron a los informantes de las empresas de la muestra. Para ello se utilizó el software Atlas ti 6.0. La segunda etapa, denominada comparativa, consistió en determinar la relación entre la productividad y los valores organizacionales, a través de las tablas de contingencias, de acuerdo con el grado de significancia que mostró el estadístico Chi- cuadrado. La tercera y última etapa del proceso es la fase explicativa que consistió en estimar la magnitud de la relación entre las variables productividad y valores organizacionales utilizando el coeficiente de contingencia de Pearson, y en establecer las asociaciones de acuerdo a las proximidades observadas que resultaron del análisis de correspondencias múltiples. Entre los hallazgos del estudio desarrollado se encontró que la productividad de las empresas puede fijarse en tres categorías: alta, media y baja y entre los factores que afectan a la productividad destacan, en el contexto externo: el gobierno, los clientes y los proveedores y en el contexto interno: la mano de obra, los materiales y los suministros. Según la opinión de los gerentes entrevistados, los valores organizacionales que caracterizan a las empresas del sector estudiado se agrupan en veintisiete categorías, que se clasifican en los siguientes componentes: entorno mercado, clientes, proveedores y otras empresas aliadas, medio ambiente, forma de tratar la Dirección al resto de empleados, forma de trabajar cotidiana y gestión de los recursos económicos. Los valores organizacionales que resultaron ser significativos fueron la innovación, la honestidad y el orden y limpieza. La magnitud de la relación encontrada del valor innovación fue moderadamente fuerte. Se infiere que las empresas, al tener una Productividad baja, deciden innovar en el desarrollo de nuevos productos. El valor honestidad arrojó una relación moderadamente fuerte, determinando que las empresas de Productividad alta basan sus relaciones con los proveedores en la honestidad. Finalmente, el valor orden y limpieza muestra una relación moderadamente débil, lo que hace suponer que las empresas de Productividad media tienen alguna preferencia por mantener el orden y limpieza en las áreas de trabajo. El modelo explicativo de la relación entre productividad y valores organizacionales, en las PYMES del sector metalúrgico y minero de Ciudad Guayana, quedó conformado por los siguientes componentes: mercado, clientes, proveedores y otras empresas aliadas, y medio ambiente. No se encontraron relaciones en los componentes forma de tratar la Dirección al resto de empleados, forma de trabajar cotidiana y gestión de los recursos económicos. ABSTRACT As a result of globalization processes, the business world is subject to constant change. This has resulted in the need for companies to evaluate their performance in order to adjust their processes to the best managerial and operational practices, with the goal to adapt to the demands present in the scenarios in which they are embedded. This research aimed to develop an explanatory model of the relationship between productivity and organizational values. In addition, it was based on the different approaches or theories that relate the importance for enterprises of the organizational values to achieve their goals. Specifically, reference was made to the classification of organizational values, which includes the model of Management by Values (DPV) following García and Dolan (1997). The SMEs, considering the effect of organizational values on productivity, can support their management through the commitment of their people to achieve productivity results that they want or need to accomplish. The study approach was based on explanatory research, which presents the reasons for occurrence of a phenomenon and the mechanisms through which two or more variables are related. This allowed to combine definitions and assumptions about the relationship found between organizational values and the productivity results of the companies that took part in this research. Organizational values were identified in the opinion of the managers interviewed, and were found to be significant with the productivity results. The population consisted of 40 active enterprises of the metallurgical and mining industry of Ciudad Guayana, Estado Bolivar, Venezuela. These enterprises were members of the Association of Metallurgical and Mining Industry of the Guayana Region (AIMM, by its acronym in Spanish) and the Directory of the Chamber of Industrial and Mining of Guayana. The sample of the study is comprised of 25 enterprises, which represent 62% of the total population. The process which has been followed to generate the explanatory model involves three stages. The first stage is the descriptive phase where the information about enterprises productivity and the determination of organizational values is gathered. These organizational values were identified by a qualitative analysis of the interviews conducted with managers of each enterprise. This analysis was performed using the Atlas ti 6.0 software. The second stage, denominated comparative, consisted in determining the relationship between productivity and organizational values through contingency tables, and according to the degree of significance showed by the Chi-Square, statistic. The third, and final stage of the process, is the explanatory phase. This consisted in estimating the magnitude of the relationship between productivity and organizational values variables using the Pearson's contingency coefficient. In addition, this stage comprises the establishment of the associations according to the observed proximities that resulted from the multiple correspondence analysis. Among the findings of this study, it was found that the productivity of enterprises can be set in three categories: high, medium and low. Additionally, it was found that in the external context the factors that stand out affecting productivity are: government policy, customers and suppliers, while in the domestic context they are: labor, materials and supplies. According to the opinion of the managers interviewed the organizational values that characterize the companies that were studied are grouped into twenty seven categories. These categories are classified into the following components: market environment, customers, suppliers and other allied companies, the environment, how Management deals with of the employees, way to work every day, and management of economic resources. Organizational values that were found to be significant were innovation, honesty and order and cleanliness. The magnitude of the relation of the innovation value was found to be moderately strong. It is inferred that companies that have low productivity decide to innovate in the development of new products. The honesty value showed a moderately strong relation, determining that high productivity enterprises base their relationships with suppliers on honesty. Lastly, the order and cleanliness value showed a moderately weak relation, which suggests that average productivity enterprises have a preference to maintain order and cleanliness in the work areas. The explanatory model of the relationship between productivity and organizational values, in the SMEs of the metallurgical and mining sector of Ciudad Guayana, was composed of the following components: market, customers, suppliers and other allied companies, and the environment. No relationships were found in the following components: how Management deals with employees, way to work every day, and management of economic resources.

Unit Commitment and Electricity Prices Forecasting for Market Strategy Preparation in Interconnected Systems

In this paper we present a solution for building a better strategy to take part in external electricity markets. For an optimal strategy development, both the internal system costs as well as the future values of the series of electricity prices in external markets need to be known. But in practice, the real problems that must be faced are that both future electricity prices and costs are unknown. Thus, the first ones must be modeled and forecasted and the costs must be calculated. Our methodology for building an optimal strategy consists of three steps: The first step is modeling and forecasting market prices in external systems. The second step is the cost calculation on internal system taking into account the expected prices in the first step. The third step is based on the results of the previous steps, and consists of preparing the bids for external markets. The main goal is to reduce consumers' costs unlike many others that are oriented to increase GenCo's profits.

University employees work schedule

The aim of this project is to create a website which is useful both employees and students of a university, so employees can add information, if they log in with username and password access, and students can view this information . Employees may modify and display information such as title, room, or their faculty (from a list defined by the administrator), and most importantly, their schedule, whether class, tutoring, free time, or any of tasks that the administrator define. There will be a manager, responsible for managing employees, the availables faculties and the types of tasks that employees can use on their schedule. Students may see the employees schedules and rooms on the homepage. They differentiate between differents tasks of employees, because these are in different colors. They can also filter information for faculty, employee or day. To achieve our goal, we decided to program in Java using Servlets, which we will use to generate response to requests coming from users from the website. We will also use JSP, allowing us to create different websites files. We use JSP files and not HTML, because we need that the pages are dynamic, since not only want to show specific information, we like that information can change depending on user requests. The JSP file allows us to generate HTML, but also using JAVA language, which is necessary for our purpose. As the information we store is not fixed. We want this information can be modified at any time by employees and admin, so we need a database, which can be accessed from anywhere. We decided SQLite databases because are integrated quite well in our application, and offer a quick response. To access the database from our program, we simply connect it to the database, and with very few lines of code, add, delete or modify entries in different tables that owns the database. To facilitate the initial creation of the database, and the first tables, we use a Mozilla Firefox browser plugin, called SQLite Manager, which allows us to do so from a more friendly interface. Finally, we need a server that supports and implements specifications Servlets and JSP. We decided on the TomCat server, which is a container Servlets, because is free, easy to use, and compatible with our program. We realized all the project with Eclipse environment, also free program that allows integrating database, server and program the JSP and Servlets. Once submitted all the tools we used, we must first organize the structure of the web, relating each Servlets with JSP files. Next, create the database and the different Servlets, and adjust the database accesses to make sure we do it right. From here simply is to build up the page step by step, showing in each place we need, and redirect to different pages. In this way, we can build a complex website, free, and without being an expert in the field. RESUMEN. El objetivo de este proyecto, es crear una página web que sirva tanto a empleados como a alumnos de una universidad, de tal manera que los empleados podrán añadir información, mediante el acceso con usuario y contraseña, y los alumnos podrán visualizar está información. Los empleados podrán modificar y mostrar información como su título, despacho, facultad a la que pertenecen (de entre una lista definida por el administrador), y lo más importante, sus horarios, ya sean de clase, tutorías, tiempo libre, o cualquiera de las tareas que el administrador defina. Habrá un administrador, encargado de gestionar los empleados existentes, las facultades disponibles y los tipos de tareas que podrán usar los empleados en su horario. Los alumnos, podrán visualizar los horarios y despacho de los empleados en la página principal. Diferenciarán entre las distintas tareas de los profesores, porque estas se encuentran en colores diferentes. Además, podrán filtrar la información, por facultad, empleado o día de la semana. Para conseguir nuestro objetivo, hemos decidido programar en Java, mediante el uso de Servlets, los cuales usaremos para generar respuesta antes las peticiones que llegan de los usuarios desde la página web. También usaremos archivos JSP, que nos permitirán crear las diferentes páginas webs. Usamos archivos JSP y no HTML, porque necesitamos que las diferentes páginas sean dinámicas, ya que no solo queremos mostrar una información concreta, si no que esta información puede variar en función de las peticiones de usuario. El archivo JSP nos permite generar HTML, pero a la vez usar lenguaje JAVA, algo necesario para nuestro cometido. Como la información que queremos almacenar no es fija, si no que en todo momento debe poder ser modificada por empleados y administrador, necesitamos una base de datos, a la que podamos acceder desde la web. Nos hemos decidido por bases SQLite, ya que se integran bastante bien en nuestra aplicación, y además ofrecen una rápida respuesta. Para acceder a la base de datos desde nuestro programa, simplemente debemos conectar el mismo a la base de datos, y con muy pocas líneas de código, añadir, eliminar o modificar entradas de las diferentes tablas que posee la base de datos. Para facilitar la creación inicial de la base de datos, y de las primeras tablas, usamos un complemento del navegador Mozilla Firefox, llamado SQLite Manager, que nos permite hacerlo desde una interfaz más amigable. Por último, necesitamos de un servidor que soporte e implemente las especificaciones de los Servlets y JSP. Nos decidimos por el servidor TomCat, que es un contenedor de Servlets gratuito, de fácil manejo, y compatible con nuestro programa. Todo el desarrollo del proyecto, lo realizamos desde el entorno Eclipse, programa también gratuito, que permite integrar la base de datos, el servidor y programar los JSP y Servlets. Una vez presentadas todas las herramientas que hemos utilizado, primero debemos organizar la estructura de la web, relacionando cada archivo JSP con los Servlets a los que debe acceder. A continuación creamos la base de datos y los diferentes Servlets, y ajustamos bien los accesos a la base de datos para comprobar que lo hacemos correctamente. A partir de aquí, simplemente es ir construyendo la página paso a paso, mostrando en cada lugar lo que necesitemos, y redirigiendo a las diferentes páginas. De esta manera, podremos construir una página web compleja, de manera gratuita, y sin ser un experto en la materia.