Global Competence: Determination of its Importance for Engineers Working in a Global Environment

We live and work in a world that is even more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. Engineers must now not only develop technical engineering competence, but must also develop additional skills and competencies including global competence to obtain success within a global engineering environment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether multinational companies considered global competence an important skill in mechanical engineering graduates when making hiring decisions. The study was an exploratory study that utilized an extensive literature review to identify eight global competencies for engineering success within a global environment and also included a survey instrument completed by Brigham Young University (BYU) mechanical engineering alumni in 48 states and 17 countries. The study focused on an evaluation of standard hiring technical engineering competencies with eight global competencies identified in the literature review. The study established that standard engineering technical competencies were the most important consideration when hiring mechanical engineers, but global competence was also considered important by a majority of all survey respondents with six of the eight global competencies rated important by 79 to 91% of respondents with an ability to communicate cross-culturally the highest-rated global competence. The importance of global competence in engineers when making hiring decisions, as considered by large companies who employed more than 10,000 employees or who had annual revenue exceeding $1 billion (US$) per year, was particularly strong. The majority of respondents (70%) indicated that companies were willing to provide training and experience to help engineers obtain success in a global engineering environment. In addition, a majority of respondents (59.9%) indicated that companies valued the efforts of higher educational engineering institutions to prepare engineers for success in a global environment with only 4.8% of respondents indicating that they did not value the efforts of higher education engineering institutions. However, only 27% of respondents agreed that colleges and universities were successful in this endeavor. Globalization is not a passing phenomenon, it is here to stay. Colleges and universities throughout the world need to recognize the importance of globalization and the interdependence and interconnectedness among the world’s population. Therefore, it is important to identify, develop, and provide opportunities for international collaboration and interaction among students and faculty throughout the world and to focus on developing global competence as an important outcome for engineering graduates.

When the Romance is Over: Follower Perspectives of Aversive Leadership

While leadership is indisputably one of the most pervasive topics in our society, the vast majority of existing research has focused on leadership as a positive force. Taking a follower- centric approach to the study of leadership, we integrate research on the Romance of Leadership and the dark side of leadership by examining followers’ perceptions of aversive leadership in the context of public high schools. Although Meindl, Ehrlich, and Dukerich (1985) demonstrated that the Romance of Leadership also includes the overattribution of negative outcomes to leaders, subsequent research has failed to explore the implications of this potentially darker side of romanticizing leaders. Specifically, we examine perceptions of principals’ aversive leadership and traditional affective, behavioral, and performance outcomes of followers in a sample of 342 dyads. Followers assessed their principals’ leadership behaviors and self-rated their levels of job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and resistance, while principals assessed their followers’ citizenship behaviors, complaining behaviors, and job performance. Results show that perceptions of aversive leadership are positively related to follower resistance and negatively related to followers’ job satisfaction. In addition, a usefulness analysis revealed that follower-rated variables were significantly related to perceptions of aversive leadership above and beyond leader-rated variables, suggesting that the relationship between negative outcomes and aversive leadership may be more constructed than real. In sum, the tendency to romanticize leadership may also lead to a proclivity to readily misattribute or overattribute blame to leadership as a convenient scapegoat for negative outcomes. Alors que le leadership est incontestablement l’un des thèmes les plus envahissants de notre société, la grande majorité des recherches existantes a porté sur le leadership en tant que force positive. En adoptant une approche centrée sur le suiveur dans l’étude du leadership, nous examinant la perception qu’ont les collaborateurs du leadership insupportable dans le contexte des lycées publics. Quoique Meindl, Ehrlich, et Dukerich (1985) aient montré que la Romance du Leadership inclut aussi la surattribution de résultats négatifs aux leaders, les recherches ultérieures ont méconnu les implications de cet aspect potentiellement plus sombre des leaders idylliques. Nous analysons en particulier sur un échantillon de 342 dyades la perception du leadership répulsif du proviseur et les résultats habituels des collaborateurs en rapport avec l’affectivité, le comportement et les performances. Les collaborateurs ont noté les comportements de leadership de leur proviseur et auto-évalué leur niveau de satisfaction au travail, d’efficience et de résistance, alors que les proviseurs appréciaient les conduites de citoyenneté et de revendication, ainsi que la performance professionnelle. Les résultats montrent que la perception du leadership répulsif est Positivement reliée à la résistance du suiveur et négativement à sa satisfaction professionnelle. En outre, une analyse des plus fructueuses a révélé que les variables évaluées par les collaborateurs étaient significativement en relation avec la perception du leadership répulsif, bien plus qu’avec les variables évaluées par les leaders, ce qui indique que la relation entre les résultats médiocres et le leadership négatif serait plus construite que réelle. Au total, le penchant à l’idéalisation du leadership peut aussi bien conduire à une propension à trop facilement condamner à tort et à travers le leadership qu’à la désignation d’un bouc émissaire tout trouvé pour expliquer de mauvais résultats.

Omaha Agri-Business Club Leadership Award Presentation

It is a real pleasure to present the 2006 Omaha Agri- Business Club Leadership Award this evening during National Agriculture Week. I commend the Omaha Agri-Business Club for establishing this fine award. We always need to celebrate the accomplishments of individuals whose leadership efforts contribute to our agricultural industry which is the backbone of Nebraska and our nation.

Carl Albin Spader Leadership Luncheon

In the past two years you've had a number of opportunities to explore and strengthen your own, personal leadership abilities. You've also been able to observe and study the leadership styles of people working at the state, national, and international levels.

Is production the core competence for the internationalization of emerging country firms?

The rise of new multinationals in countries like Brazil provides an opportunity to revisit and carefully construct theories of how firms internationalize, a topic on which extant theory is weak. Brazilian firms are "infant multinationals", unlike developed country firms that are "mature multinationals". They are also internationalizing in a very different global context, and can do so on the basis of different competitive advantages than multinationals that came before. Therefore, this study aims at creating subsidies for theory building about early-stage internationalization. Emerging country firms have Production competences as main competitive asset to internationalize, what reflects their competitive positioning in home markets and their entry strategy in international markets. In the case of early-entrants - Western multinationals in the 1950s and Japanese in the 1980s - the Production competence played a key role for successful internationalization. Thus, the focus of the study is the role that the Production competence plays in the internationalization of late-entrants, the emerging country multinationals. The research design considers not only the position of the headquarters but also the initiatives of the subsidiaries and the dynamic interplay between both. The paper allows a better understanding of internationalization processes and the role of Production, when firms start building their own international networks. It brings relevant insights about the paths that are being followed by emerging country multinationals, the difficulties they find, the solutions they develop. These are important inputs not only for new theory building but also for managerial practice. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differential gene expression and developmental competence in in vitro produced bovine embryos

The embryonic developmental block occurs at the 8-cell stage in cattle and is characterized by a lengthening of the cell cycle and an increased number of embryos that stop development. The maternal-embryonic transition arises at the same stage resulting in the transcription of many genes. Gene expression studies during this stage may contribute to the understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved in the maternal-embryonic transition. Herein we identified genes differentially expressed between embryos with high or low developmental competence to reach the blastocyst stage using differential display PCR. Embryos were analysed according to developmental kinetics: fast cleavage embryos showing 8 cells at 48 h post insemination (hpi) with high potential of development (F8), and embryos with slow cleavage presenting 4 cells at 48 hpi (54) and 8 cells at 90 hpi (S8), both with reduced rates of development to blastocyst. The fluorescence DDPCR method was applied and allowed the recovery of 176 differentially expressed bands with similar proportion between high and low development potential groups (52% to F8 and 48% in S4 and S8 groups). A total of 27 isolated fragments were cloned and sequenced, confirming the expected primer sequences and allowing the identification of 27 gene transcripts. PI3KCA and ITM2B were chosen for relative quantification of mRNA using real-time PCR and showed a kinetic and a time-related pattern of expression respectively. The observed results suggest the existence of two different embryonic genome activation mechanisms: fast-developing embryos activate genes related to embryonic development, and slow-developing embryos activate genes related to cellular survival and/or death.

The Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum cv. Micro-Tom) Natural Genetic Variation Rg1 and the DELLA Mutant Procera Control the Competence Necessary to Form Adventitious Roots and Shoots

Despite the wide use of plant regeneration for biotechnological purposes, the signals that allow cells to become competent to assume different fates remain largely unknown. Here, it is demonstrated that the Regeneration1 (Rg1) allele, a natural genetic variation from the tomato wild relative Solanum peruvianum, increases the capacity to form both roots and shoots in vitro; and that the gibberellin constitutive mutant procera (pro) presented the opposite phenotype, reducing organogenesis on either root-inducing medium (RIM) or shoot-inducing medium (SIM). Mutants showing alterations in the formation of specific organs in vitro were the auxin low-sensitivity diageotropica (dgt), the lateral suppresser (ls), and the KNOX-overexpressing Mouse ears (Me). dgt failed to form roots on RIM, Me increased shoot formation on SIM, and the high capacity for in vitro shoot formation of ls contrasted with its recalcitrance to form axillary meristems. Interestingly, Rg1 rescued the in vitro organ formation capacity in proRg1 and dgtRg1 double mutants and the ex vitro low lateral shoot formation in pro and ls. Such epistatic interactions were also confirmed in gene expression and histological analyses conducted in the single and double mutants. Although Me phenocopied the high shoot formation of Rg1 on SIM, it failed to increase rooting on RIM and to rescue the non-branching phenotype of ls. Taken together, these results suggest REGENERATION1 and the DELLA mutant PROCERA as controlling a common competence to assume distinct cell fates, rather than the specific induction of adventitious roots or shoots, which is controlled by DIAGEOTROPICA and MOUSE EARS, respectively.

Professional competences of nurse to work in Intensive Care Units: an integrative review

This study aimed to identify and analyze nurses' competences to work at Intensive Care Units-ICU. An integrative review method was used, and data were collected in LILACS, SciELO and BDENF, from August to October 2010. Ten articles were identified, published in the last 12 years. Data grouping permitted the construction of thematic units related to nurses' competences: nursing care management, high-complexity nursing care delivery, decision making, leadership, communication, continuing/permanent education, human resource management, material resource management. The professional competences identified can support the outline of guidelines to constitute the profile of nursing working in intensive care units and drive/mobilize the improvement of nursing care practices.

Sustentabilidade na educação corporativa e o desenvolvimento de competências societais

Em sua dimensão político-societal, competência começa a fazer parte da agenda dos modelos de desenvolvimento de pessoas nas organizações, sobretudo, sob o mote da sustentabilidade. Partindo dessa premissa, este artigo investiga se há conteúdo relevante por trás dessas propostas educativas ou se elas, simplesmente, tornam os pressupostos da sustentabilidade funcionais ao sistema corporativo sem que alguma mudança substancial esteja de fato em curso. Mais especificamente, este estudo se apoia em dois eixos: primeiro, procura discutir o conceito de competência societal; segundo, busca analisar uma experiência de educação executiva de desenvolvimento de gestores em questões relacionadas à sustentabilidade, o Programa de Desenvolvimento de Líderes para Sustentabilidade (PDLS). O estudo, de natureza qualitativa, foi conduzido em uma instituição financeira que se tornou destaque na mídia e passou a ser reconhecida como ator social destacado, por levar à frente a ideia de inserir a sustentabilidade na prática dos negócios. Os resultados revelam um programa impactante que se, por um lado, permitiu que o discurso dos gestores se tornasse competente, por outro, nem sempre correspondeu a uma ação que atingisse o mesmo patamar de excelência. Os gestores participantes adquiriram conhecimento e visão crítica, mas, ainda, enfrentam dificuldades para harmonizar os objetivos do negócio com princípios de sustentabilidade. Mesmo com formação avançada sobre o tema, os paradoxos da ação permanecem presentes quando se trata de dar vida a esta ideia força chamada sustentabilidade.

Vad man ska kunna och hur man ska vara : En studie om enhetschefers och vårdbiträdens yrkeskompetens inom äldreomsorgens särskilda boendeformer

The dissertation What to do and how to be reflects upon the professional skills needed by unit managers and nursing staff within the institutions of eldercare. Throughout the study, three conceptions are essential: formal education and training, professional skills, and individual competence. In order to understand the professional skills within its proper context, an activity perspective has been applied. The study is based on empirical materials, historical and present national and municipal documents, interviews with and observations of unit managers as well as questionnaires filled in by nursing staff members. A main result is the stress the respondents put on the importance of individual competence among unit managers and nursing staff members. “How to be” is more important than formal training and professional skills. To work with – and develop – individual competence therefore becomes momentous both to job activities and to education. The result shows a discrepancy between the way professional skills are discussed and the actual work performance. A lot of tasks carried out by unit managers and nursing stuff are never mentioned in connection with professional skills. The unit manager’s task is to lead both unit operations and staff work. Such responsibilities demand basic knowledge in social sciences, an overall understanding of the work activities from political management, job conditions and duties of the nursing staff. The professional skills given priority are those present in organisations and leadership. Problematic are economic and budget tasks which may sometimes cause unit managers to give up their economic responsibility, favouring client – directed over economy – directed care. The main task of the nursing staff is the care of elderly. It calls for social, caring, medical and housekeeping skills. For this one needs an upper secondary level education supplying the students with solid knowledge within social science as well as basic medicine and an overall understanding of the situation and needs of the elderly. Throughout the study, knowledge of the demented and of other mental disorders is emphasized as well as treatment of elderly persons suffering from those disorders. Units still have a long way to go before reaching the goal that every nursing staff member be given a formal education. Some municipalities already offer employees shorter nursing staff training. As to the rest, the educational development is neglected.

Age-Group differences in perception of competence, goal orientatiom attitudes, and practice of pshysical activity of girls who attend military schools

[EN]This study analysed the differences in self-perception, goal orientation and participation in physical activity (PA) in girls (N= 244) attending military schools. Girls had moderately higher levels of perceived competence, and there were no significant differences between age-groups. The figure for task-orientation was higher than ego-orientation. Girls expressed a positive attitude toward school and PE. Most girls did not practiced PA outside school, but 63,9% were involved in school sports. It seems that the military educational institutions are being successful in helping students to adopt physically active lifestyles. The development of perception of competence, task-orientation, and favourable attitudes seem to be important factors to enhance the levels of PA among students.