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1 – 10 of 695Elysa C.M. Briens, Yiwen Chiu, David Braun, Priya Verma, Gregg Fiegel, Brian Pompeii and Kylee Singh
As sustainability teaching and learning rises in importance, an increasing number of higher education institutions (HEIs) are assessing the effectiveness of their approach to…
Abstract
Purpose
As sustainability teaching and learning rises in importance, an increasing number of higher education institutions (HEIs) are assessing the effectiveness of their approach to sustainability education. However, most assessments fall short in determining the impacts of curriculum plans on learning outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to assess the impact of curricula on undergraduate sustainability knowledge and assess opportunities for improving sustainability education in HEIs.
Design/methodology/approach
A campus-wide survey deployed at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, (Cal Poly) solicited data identifying students’ sustainability knowledge score (SKS). The survey collected responses from undergraduate student groups enrolled in different curriculum plans under different academic settings.
Findings
This study reveals that Cal Poly honors students enrolled in a structured sustainability curriculum have significantly higher SKS than general students (i.e. nonhonors students) enrolled in random sustainability courses. Further, taking at least three sustainability-related courses significantly distinguishes SKS for general students. The results also show that SKS does not significantly differ across colleges, suggesting that additional sustainability education can benefit all students.
Originality/value
Findings of this study provide statistical evidence to justify institutional efforts to integrate sustainability into existing courses, with the minimum requirement of three sustainability-related courses to make an impact on SKS for the general student population. Such efforts could represent the first steps toward developing sustainability education at a HEI and improving sustainability learning outcomes.
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Though your action team may be composed of your company's executive tigers, don't try to run it with a whip and a chair. As 3M found, it takes a non‐traditional management…
Summarizes several strategic briefings, conference presentations and reports on the topic of logistics management. Covers in turn logistics in China and Japan, including a profile…
Abstract
Summarizes several strategic briefings, conference presentations and reports on the topic of logistics management. Covers in turn logistics in China and Japan, including a profile of Braun Electric; methods of improving the supply chain, highlighting new technology, the “bullwhip effect” of distorted information and a case study of Tektronix; logistics in retailing, including direct mail in Japan, home shopping and distribution networks; and applications of the Internet in the logistics field, focusing on “knowledge logistics” (electronic publishing). Concludes with a summary of research conducted by McKinsey which suggests that doing business in a world of plentiful and cheap interactions will require new skills and new ways of thinking and those who anticipate and understand the fundamental nature of the changes will be best placed to exploit the opportunities.
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What has been called “the McDonaldization of universities” (another name for top-down and strong corporate managerialism) has gained momentum as a model for governing and managing…
Abstract
Purpose
What has been called “the McDonaldization of universities” (another name for top-down and strong corporate managerialism) has gained momentum as a model for governing and managing universities. This trend exacerbates the traditional tension between academic freedom and managerial control – a major challenge for the administration of academic institutions. The ideas of Charles Darwin represent an opportunity for overcoming such a challenge. However, traditional managerial models show inadequate, pre-Darwinian assumptions for devising organizational designs. This paper aims to show not only the opportunities but also the challenges of embracing a Darwinian paradigm for designing social systems. The case of managerialism in universities is an illustrative example. The paper proposes evolutionary guidelines for designing universities capable of maintaining managerial control while warranting academic freedom.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper proposes to understand the tension between academic freedom and managerial control in universities as the same tension between freedom and control that Karl Popper identified as successfully handled by evolutionary processes. The paper uses Darwinian theory, understood as a broader theory for complex systems, as a heuristic for designing social systems – universities in this case – able to adapt to changing environmental conditions while handling equilibrium between freedom and control. The methodology articulates the Popperian model of knowledge with the Darwinian scheme proposed by David Ellerman known as “parallel experimentation” for suggesting organizational forms in which university administrators and faculty can interact for generating free innovations in pseudo-controlled organizational arrangements.
Findings
A salient characteristic of strong managerialism is its pre-Darwinian understanding of survival and adaptation; such an approach shows important flaws that can lead universities to unfit designs that changing environments can select for elimination. As an alternative, the philosophy behind the ideas of Charles Darwin provides guidelines for designing innovative and adaptive social systems. Evolutionary principles challenge basic tenets of strong managerialism as Darwinian designs discard the possibility of seeing managers as knowledgeable designers that allegedly can avoid mistakes by allocating resources to “one-best” solutions through ex ante exhaustive, top-down control. Instead, a Darwinian model requires considering survival as a matter of adaptability through continuous experimentation of blind trials controlled by ex post selection. The key is to organize universities as experimenting systems that try new and different things all the time and that learn and improve by making mistakes, as an adaptive system.
Research limitations/implications
Governing and managing universities require to acknowledge the uniqueness of academic institutions and demand to look for appropriate forms of organization. The proposal of this paper opens possibilities for exploring and implementing action-research initiatives and practical solutions for universities. Studies in management and administration of higher-education institutions must take into account the characteristics of this type of organizations and should consider wider spectrums of possibilities beyond the core ideas of managerialism.
Practical implications
University managers face a special challenge for achieving equilibrium between managerial control and academic freedom. Darwinian models of management invite to reconsider several management creeds, for instance, that “errors are bad things” – instead of innovation triggers and learning opportunities or that “one solution must fit all” – instead of considering bottom-up, different and adaptive solutions triggered by local academic units, each facing different environments.
Originality/value
Currently, there is no clear picture for governing universities. This paper introduces principles and guidelines for facing the current challenge that strong managerialism represents if universities are expected to maintain academic freedom and also survive in volatile environments.
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David E. Williams, Elly-Jean Nielsen, Melanie A. Morrison and Todd G. Morrison
This study aims to explore the perceptions and reactions of men, who participate in a female-dominated online consumption space. It looked at the process of men, (re)negotiating…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the perceptions and reactions of men, who participate in a female-dominated online consumption space. It looked at the process of men, (re)negotiating their digital gendered identity on Pinterest.
Design/methodology/approach
A grounded theory-light approach was taken. Data were collected through 21 one-on-one semi-structured interviews with male Pinterest users. Subsequently, data were extensively coded and analyzed for the key themes and patterns.
Findings
Three core categories emerged, which speak to the ways men account for their practices on Pinterest as autonomous online agents. These categories were: awareness of Pinterest as a feminized digital space; limited sociality due to the solitary use of Pinterest (the exception being when collaborating with an intimate partner); and performed identities (k = 4) serving to justify the men’s activities on a female-dominated social networking site.
Research limitations/implications
The findings establish a firm theoretical basis for understanding male Pinterest users as autonomous online agents. However, reflective of this relatively small, exploratory qualitative project, the process-based interview questions did not render, particularly, long or rich narratives. Future qualitative research might endeavor to ask deeper, more open-ended questions.
Originality/value
This is an original study of men’s use of Pinterest. Research on the identity projects of men entering fields traditionally occupied by women and coded as feminine is established, there is a lack of understanding of how gender identity is (re)constructed digitally, especially on social media.
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Laura Jane Hancox, David M. Gresswell and Danielle De Boos
This paper aims to address how one Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) programme contributes to the shaping of attitudes of its trainee clinical psychologists (TCPs…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address how one Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) programme contributes to the shaping of attitudes of its trainee clinical psychologists (TCPs) towards cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 28 TCPs completed an online, mixed-methods questionnaire relating to their attitudes towards CBT, what factors had influenced their attitude and how competent they felt in applying CBT to clinical practice.
Findings
The majority of respondents reported a positive attitude towards CBT. There was a statistically significant positive change at an individual level in TCPs’ views of CBT between the point at which they applied for the DClinPsy and the present day. Thematic analysis of qualitative data identified influential factors on the development of TCP attitudes towards CBT. The vast majority of TCPs reported that they felt competent applying CBT in their clinical practice.
Research limitations/implications
Overall, the DClinPsy has a positive effect on TCPs’ attitudes towards CBT. However, the influence of placements has a more mixed effect on attitudes. A small sample size reduced the reliability of these conclusions. Recommendations for further evaluation have been made.
Originality/value
This paper evaluates the effect of a DClinPsy programme on TCPs’ attitudes towards CBT. The value is that it establishes which components of the course have different effects on trainee attitudes.
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David Egan and Natalie Claire Haynes
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions that managers have of the value and reliability of using big data to make hotel revenue management and pricing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions that managers have of the value and reliability of using big data to make hotel revenue management and pricing decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-stage iterative thematic analysis technique based on the approaches of Braun and Clarke (2006) and Nowell et al. (2017) and using different research instruments to collect and analyse qualitative data at each stage was used to develop an explanatory framework.
Findings
Whilst big data-driven automated revenue systems are technically capable of making pricing and inventory decisions without user input, the findings here show that the reality is that managers still interact with every stage of the revenue and pricing process from data collection to the implementation of price changes. They believe that their personal insights are as valid as big data in increasing the reliability of the decision-making process. This is driven primarily by a lack of trust on the behalf of managers in the ability of the big data systems to understand and interpret local market and customer dynamics.
Practical implications
The less a manager believes in the ability of those systems to interpret these data, the more they perceive gut instinct to increase the reliability of their decision making and the less they conduct an analysis of the statistical data provided by the systems. This provides a clear message that there appears to be a need for automated revenue systems to be flexible enough for managers to import the local data, information and knowledge that they believe leads to revenue growth.
Originality/value
There is currently little research explicitly investigating the role of big data in decision making within hotel revenue management and certainly even less focussing on decision making at property level and the perceptions of managers of the value of big data in increasing the reliability of revenue and pricing decision making.
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Shows that the UK subsidiary of health‐care company B Braun Medical Ltd has increased sales in one of its divisions by more than a third after launching new products and…
Abstract
Purpose
Shows that the UK subsidiary of health‐care company B Braun Medical Ltd has increased sales in one of its divisions by more than a third after launching new products and introducing a new training program for its sales force.
Design/methodology/approach
Describes the development of a “consultative” approach, where sales personnel act as partners to the customers, adding value to their business and offering appropriate solutions.
Findings
Reveals that the division has increased business by 36 percent over three years. Representatives are more motivated and focused and the success of the team has secured investment and ensured the long‐term viability of the business.
Practical implications
Highlights the role of training in changing organizational culture.
Originality/value
Provides a useful example of the turn‐around that can be achieved by companies operating in declining markets where margins are being squeezed.
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Charlotte L. Hassett, David M. Gresswell and Sarah V. Wilde
This paper aims to explore whether a United Kingdom (UK) clinical psychology training programme (the programme) was effective in producing graduates who are confident in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore whether a United Kingdom (UK) clinical psychology training programme (the programme) was effective in producing graduates who are confident in leadership, within the context of the National Health Service and reflecting the British Psychological Society’s views of leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods design surveys were administered to prospective-, current- and alumni trainee clinical psychologists on the programme, enquiring about their view of leadership, motivation to lead (MtL) and aspects of the course that are helpful and which need further development. Data collected from 92 individuals were analysed using content and thematic analysis (TA).
Findings
From the TA, three themes were identified concerning the meaning of leadership as follows: professional identity, Improving the quality of services (team; organisations and wider context), professional skills. Overall, participants thought leadership was important to the role of a clinical psychologist, with prospective trainees reporting that the desire to develop as leaders influenced their decision to apply to the programme. Moreover, participants felt confident in leadership skills and that the training programme helped develop their leadership skills, with the alumni participants demonstrating a greater MtL. Placements, group study and specific modules were identified as contributing to the development of their leadership skills, but participants felt more teaching on leadership is needed. Recommendations have been suggested to improve the development of leadership skills on the programme.
Research limitations/implications
The research was undertaken on a small cohort of trainees based in the UK.
Practical implications
Participants were motivated to become clinical leaders but this motivation needed to be nurtured and developed particularly through structured placement and teaching experience.
Originality/value
This service evaluation is the only audit of the leadership of the programme and the findings will contribute to the existing body of reviews in this area.
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