Antecedents of task-specific goal orientation: An investigation of task practice, personality and global goal orientation

Goal orientation, a mental framework for understanding how individuals approach learning and achievement situations, has emerged as an important topic in organisational psychology. This study investigated the effects of task practice, personality (openness to experience and neuroticism), and global goal orientation (predisposition to adopt a certain response pattern across all domains) on participants’ task-specific goal orientation (response pattern adopted for a specific task). One hundred and three participants performed an air traffic control task and their task-specific goal orientation was measured prior to each of a total of thirty trials. Results revealed an effect of task practice such that individuals’ task-specific learning orientation decreased over time while their task-specific prove orientation increased over time. The results also showed that individuals’ personality can influence their task-specific goal orientation and further, that this relationship can be mediated by global goal orientation. Specifically, the positive relationship between openness to experience and task-specific prove orientation was mediated by global prove orientation. Similarly, the positive relationship between neuroticism and task-specific avoid orientation was mediated by global avoid orientation. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered.

The digital divide and ICT learning in rural communities:examples of good practice service delivery

This article aims to gain a greater understanding of relevant and successful methods of stimulating an ICT culture and skills development in rural areas. The paper distils good practice activities, utilizing criteria derived from a review of the rural dimensions of ICT learning, from a range of relevant initiatives and programmes. These good practice activities cover: community resource centres providing opportunities for ‘tasting’ ICTs; video games and Internet Cafe´s as tools removing ‘entry barriers’; emphasis on ‘user management’ as a means of creating ownership; service delivery beyond fixed locations; use of ICT capacities in the delivery of general services; and selected use of financial support.

Reliability management of machine tool technology: a case study of current practice

Considerable attention has been given in the literature to identifying and describing the effective elements which positively affect the improvement of product reliability. These have been perceived by many as the 'state of the art' in the manufacturing industry. The applicability, diffusion and effectiveness of such methods and philosophies, as a means of systematically improving the reliability of a product, come in the main from case studies and single and infra-industry empirical studies. These studies have both been carried out within the wider context of quality assurance and management, and taking reliability as a discipline in its own right. However, it is somewhat of a surprise that there are no recently published findings or research studies on the adoption of these methods by the machine tool industry. This may lead one to construct several hypothesised paradigms: (a) that machine tool manufacturers compared to other industries, are slow to respond to propositions given in the literature by theorists or (b) this may indicate that a large proportion of the manufacturers make little use of the reliability improvement techniques as described in the literature, with the overall perception that they will not lead to any significant improvements? On the other hand, it is evident that hypothetical verification of the operational and engineering methods of reliability achievement and improvement adopted in the machine tool industry is less widely researched. Therefore, research into this area is needed in order to explore the 'state of the art' practice in the machine tool industry. This is in terms of the status, structure and activities of the operation of the reliability function. This paper outlines a research programme being conducted with the co-operation of a leading machine tool manufacturer, whose UK manufacturing plant produces in the main Vertical Machining Centres (VMCs) and is continuously undergoing incremental transitions in product reliability improvement.