Engineering social awareness in work environments

A growing interest is seen for designing intelligent environments that support personally meaningful, sociable and rich everyday experiences. In this paper we describe an intelligent, large screen display called Panorama that is aimed at supporting and enhancing social awareness within an academic work environment. Panorama is not intended to provide instrumental or other productivity related information. Rather, the goal of Panorama is to enhance social awareness by providing interpersonal and rich information related to co-workers and their everyday interactions in the department. A two-phase assessment of Panorama showed to promote curiosity and interest in exploring different activities in the environment.

Being social @ work: designing for playfully mediated social awareness in work environments

Awareness within work environments should not be seen limited to important work-related information, activities and relationships. Mediating somewhat casual and engaging encounters related to non-work issues could also lead to meaningful and pleasurable experiences. This paper explores a design approach to support playfully mediated social awareness within an academic environment. Using ethnographic exploration and understanding the current and aspired practices, we provide details of two broad (and some times overlapping) categories of interaction for supporting and enhancing playfully mediated social awareness amongst staff members: 1) Self-Reflections and 2) Casual Encounters. We implement these two categories of interaction in an intelligent, asynchronous, large screen display called Panorama, for the staff room of our computer science department. Panorama attempts to mediate non-critical, non-work related information about the staff-members in an engaging manner to enhance social awareness within the department. We particularly emphasize on the soft design issues like reflections, belonging, care, pleasure and playfulness utilized in our design approach. The result of a two-phase assessment study suggests that our conceptualization of social awareness and the Panorama application has the potential to be easily incorporated into our academic environment.

Indigenous Australian women and work : an historical context

The aim of this on-going research is to interrogate the era of colonialism in Australia (1896-1966) and the denial of paid employment of Aboriginal women. The 1897 Aborigines Protection and the Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act witnessed thousands of Aboriginal people placed on Government run reserves and missions. This resulted in all aspects of their lives being controlled through state mechanisms. Under various Acts of Parliament, Aboriginal women were sent to privately owned properties to be utilised as ‘domestic servants’ through a system of forced indentured labour, which continued until the 1970’s. This paper discusses the hidden histories of these women through the use of primary sources documents including records from the Australian Department of Native Affairs and Department of Home and Health. This social history research reveals that the practice of removing Aboriginal women from their families at the age of 12 or 13 and to white families was more common practice than not. These women were often: not paid, worked up to 15 hour days, not allowed leave and subjected to many forms of abuse. Wages that were meant to be paid were re-directed to other others, including the Government. Whilst the retrieval of these ‘stolen wages’ is now an on-going issue resulting in the Queensland Government in 2002 offering AUS $2,000 to $4,000 in compensation for a lifetime of work, Aboriginal women were also asked to waive their legal right to further compensation. There are few documented histories of these Aboriginal women as told through the archives. This hidden Aboriginal Australian women’s history needs to be revealed to better understand the experiences and depth of misappropriation of Aboriginal women as domestic workers. In doing so, it also reveals a more accurate reflection of women’s work in Australia.

Negative affectivity and responses to work stressors : an experimental study

An experiment tested the hypothesis that individuals high in negative affectivity (NA) show increased stress reactivity to stressors. There were three predictor variables: NA (measured 1 week prior to experimental participation), and two manipulated variables—demand (high/low) and behavioral control (high/low). First-year psychology students (n=256) were randomly allocated to one of the four experimental conditions. Measures obtained were initial and post-task negative mood, coping strategies, task satisfaction, and performance (subjective and objective). Participants with high levels of NA reported more post-task negative mood in response to high demand conditions, compared to participants with low NA. A similar pattern of results emerged for task satisfaction, particularly in response to high demand-low behavioral control situations. Mediation analyses suggested this was because participants with high NA used more emotion-focused coping strategies. The study provides support for the stress reactivity role of NA in the stressor-strain process.

Comparing different approach and avoidance models of learning and personality in the prediction of work, university, and leadership outcomes

Jackson (2005) developed a hybrid model of personality and learning, known as the learning styles profiler (LSP) which was designed to span biological, socio-cognitive, and experiential research foci of personality and learning research. The hybrid model argues that functional and dysfunctional learning outcomes can be best understood in terms of how cognitions and experiences control, discipline, and re-express the biologically based scale of sensation-seeking. In two studies with part-time workers undertaking tertiary education (N equals 137 and 58), established models of approach and avoidance from each of the three different research foci were compared with Jackson's hybrid model in their predictiveness of leadership, work, and university outcomes using self-report and supervisor ratings. Results showed that the hybrid model was generally optimal and, as hypothesized, that goal orientation was a mediator of sensation-seeking on outcomes (work performance, university performance, leader behaviours, and counterproductive work behaviour). Our studies suggest that the hybrid model has considerable promise as a predictor of work and educational outcomes as well as dysfunctional outcomes.

Eldercare demands, mental health, and work performance : the moderating role of satisfaction with eldercare tasks

Due to demographic changes, a growing number of employees provide in-home care to an elderly family member. Previous research suggested a negative relationship between employees' eldercare demands and their work performance. However, the empirical nature of this relationship and its boundary conditions and mediating mechanisms have been neglected. The goal of this multisource study was to examine a mediated-moderation model of eldercare demands, mental health, and work performance. Drawing on the theory of conservation of resources (Hobfoll, 1989), it was expected that employees' satisfaction with eldercare tasks would buffer the negative relationship between eldercare demands and work performance, and that mental health would mediate this moderating effect. Data were collected from 165 employees providing in-home eldercare, as well as from one colleague and one family member of each employee. Results of mediated-moderation analyses supported the hypothesized model. The findings suggest that interventions that aim to increase employees' satisfaction with eldercare tasks may help protect employees from the negative effects of high eldercare demands on mental health and, subsequently, on work performance.

Self-determination, control, and reactions to changes in workload : a work simulation

The objective of this experimental study is to capture the dynamic temporal processes that occur in changing work settings and to test how work control and individuals' motivational predispositions interact to predict reactions to these changes. To this aim, we examine the moderating effects of global self-determined and non-self-determined motivation, at different levels of work control, on participants' adaptation and stress reactivity to changes in workload during four trials of an inbox activity. Workload was increased or decreased at Trial 3, and adaptation to this change was examined via fluctuations in anxiety, coping, motivation, and performance. In support of the hypotheses, results revealed that, for non-self-determined individuals, low work control was stress-buffering and high work control was stress-exacerbating when predicting anxiety and intrinsic motivation. In contrast, for self-determined individuals, high work control facilitated the adaptive use of planning coping in response to a change in workload. Overall, this pattern of results demonstrates that, while high work control was anxiety-provoking and demotivating for non-self-determined individuals, self-determined individuals used high work control to implement an adaptive antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategy (i.e., planning coping) to meet situational demands. Other interactive effects of global motivation emerged on anxiety, active coping, and task performance. These results and their practical implications are discussed.

General self-efficacy influences affective task reactions during a work simulation : the temporal effects of changes in workload at different levels of control

This study investigated the effects of workload, control, and general self-efficacy on affective task reactions (i.e., demands-ability fit, active coping, and anxiety) during a work simulation. The main goals were: (1) to determine the extent general self-efficacy moderates the effects of demand and control on affective task reactions, and; (2) to determine if this varies as a function of changes in workload. Participants (N=141) completed an inbox activity under conditions of low or high control and within low and high workload conditions. The order of trials varied so that workload increased or decreased. Results revealed individuals with high general self-efficacy reported better demands-abilities fit and active coping as well as less anxiety. Three interactive effects were found. First, it was found that high control increased demands-abilities fit from trial 1 to trial 2, but only when workload decreased. Second, it was found that low efficacious individuals active coping increased in trial 2, but only under high control. Third, it was found that high control helped high efficacious individuals manage anxiety when workload decreased. However, for individuals with low general self-efficacy, neither high nor low control alleviated anxiety (i.e., whether workload increased or decreased over time).

The impacts of FOREX fluctuations on construction business performance : an organisational capabilities perspective

Construction projects are a high risk business activity. When undertaking projects in an international context, it is further complicated by the risk of fluctuations in the foreign exchange rates (FOREX). Construction business performance is affected by these fluctuations. They affect progress and cause delays, which in turn create problems for subcontractors, namely cost overruns, disputes, arbitration, total abandonment and litigation. FOREX fluctuations also cause the price of raw materials to increase, leading the cost overruns. Managing FOREX risk is critical and past research have focused on the need for adequate insurance, careful planning and management, and foreign exchange futures hedging to overcome issues that have been caused by the FOREX risk. Analysis of FOREX risk in international construction business usually focused only on issues at the project level. There is currently lack of understanding of Organisational Capabilities (OC) to manage the impacts of FOREX risk, which when examined, are seen in isolation. This paper attempts to bridge the gap by discussing the impacts of FOREX fluctuations on the international construction business. The focus is on the OC perspective and the need to develop OC framework to mitigate the risk in sustaining construction business performance.

Physical inactivity remains the greatest public health problem of the 21st century : evidence, improved methods and solutions using the '7 investments that work' as a framework

In 2009, BJSM's first editorial argued that ‘Physical inactivity is the greatest public health problem of the 21st century’.1 The data supporting that claim have not yet been challenged. Now, 5 years after BJSM published its first dedicated ‘Physical Activity is Medicine’ theme issue (http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/1.toc) we are pleased to highlight 23 new contributions from six countries. This issue contains an analysis of the cost of physical inactivity from the US Centre for Diseases Control.2 We also report the cost-effectiveness of one particular physical activity intervention for adults.3

Developing agency in the creative career : a design-based framework for work integrated learning

Research shows that approximately half of creative practitioners operate as embedded creatives by securing gainful employment within organisations located in the field beyond their core discipline. This foregrounds the significance of having the skills necessary to successfully cross the disciplinary boundaries in order to negotiate a professional role. The multiple implications of such reframing for emerging creative practitioners who navigate uncertain professional boundaries include developing a skill of identifying and successfully targeting the shifting professional and industry coordinates while remaining responsive to changes. A further implication involves creative practitioners engaging in a continuous cycle of re-negotiation of their professional identity making the management of multiple professional selves - along with creating and recreating a meaningful frame of references such as the language around their emerging practice - a necessary skill. This chapter presents a case study of a set of Work Integrated Learning subjects designed to develop in creative industries practitioners the skills to manage their emerging professional identities in response to the shifts in the professional world.

The impact of organisational citizenship behaviour and non-material rewards on dimensions of employee burnout : evidence from the teaching profession

In this chapter, we examine the psychological impact that organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) have on individuals performing them. OCB is discretionary employee behaviour that is not systematically rewarded by employers, but that contributes to overall organisational effectiveness (Organ, 1988). In a sample of schoolteachers, we predicted that performing OCBs would differentially impact two dimensions of psychological burnout -personal accomplishment (PA} and emotional exhaustion (EE). Due to the volitional nature of OCB, there are theoretical reasons to suppose that OCB enhances PA. However, it is also possible that certain OCBs constitute increased workload, thereby contributing to a heightened sense of EE. In addition, given prior research showing that non-material rewards such as praise and recognition, lead to positive employee outcomes, we proposed that praise and recognition would strengthen the relationship between OCB and PA, and weaken the relationship between OCB and EE.

Occupational health psychology

In this chapter, the occupational stress process and implications for the management of occupational health and safety in organisations are discussed. The chapter begins by introducing occupational stress as a process by which stressors (e.g. time pressure) result in strains (e.g. ill health). The consequences of stress, to both the individual and the organisation are discussed, and several key sources of occupational stress are also described. Theories of occupational stress that attempt to explain how stressors lead to strain and also describe different job resources (e.g. autonomy, support, and security) that can alleviate the detrimental effects of occupational stressors are then presented. The management of occupational stress at both the individual and organisational levels is also discussed. In the subsequent section, work-life balance and various ways work impacts on life and vice versa are described. The management of work-life conflict and the effectiveness of initiatives designed to address imbalance between work and life are then discussed. Finally, occupational health and safety is described with a particular focus on primary prevention as well as the legislative frameworks that guide psychosocial risk management in Australian organisations.

Changes in ocular biometrics and refraction during near work in downward gaze over time

PURPOSE To investigate changes in the characteristics of the corneal optics, total optics, anterior biometrics and axial length of the eye during a near task, in downward gaze, over 10 min. METHODS Ten emmetropes (mean - 0.14 ± 0.24 DS) and 10 myopes (mean - 2.26 ± 1.42 DS) aged from 18 to 30 years were recruited. To measure ocular biometrics and corneal topography in downward gaze, an optical biometer (Lenstar LS900) and a rotating Scheimpflug camera (Pentacam HR) were inclined on a custom built, height and tilt adjustable table. The total optics of the eye were measured in downward gaze with binocular fixation using a modified Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. Initially, subjects performed a distance viewing task at primary gaze for 10 min to provide a "wash-out" period for prior visual tasks. A distance task (watching video at 6 m) in downward gaze (25°) and a near task (watching video on a portable LCD screen with 2.5 D accommodation demand) in primary gaze and 25°downward gaze were then carried out, each for 10 min in a randomized order. During measurements, in dichoptic view, a Maltese cross was fixated with the right (untested) eye and the instrument’s fixation target was fixated with the subject’s tested left eye. Immediately after (0 min), 5 and 10 min from the commencement of each trial, measurements of ocular parameters were acquired in downward gaze. RESULTS Axial length exhibited a significant increase with downward gaze and accommodation over time (p<0.05). The greatest axial elongation was observed in downward gaze with 2.5 D accommodation after 10 min (mean change from baseline 23±3 µm). Downward gaze also caused greater changes in anterior chamber depth (ACD) and lens thickness (LT) with accommodation (ACD mean change -163±12µm at 10 min; LT mean change 173±17 µm at 10 min) compared to primary gaze with accommodation (ACD mean change -138±12µm at 10 min; LT mean change 131±15 µm at 10 min). Both corneal power and total ocular power changed by a small but significant amount with downward gaze (p<0.05), resulting in a myopic shift (~0.10 D) in the spherical power of the eye compared with primary gaze. CONCLUSION The axial length, anterior biometrics and ocular refraction change significantly with accommodation in downward gaze as a function of time. These findings provide new insights into the optical and bio-mechanical changes of the eye during typical near tasks.