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1 – 10 of 103Nicholas Martin, John Capman, Anthony Boyce, Kyle Morgan, Manuel Francisco Gonzalez and Seymour Adler
Cognitive ability tests demonstrate strong relationships with job performance, but have several limitations; notably, subgroup differences based on race/ethnicity. As an…
Abstract
Purpose
Cognitive ability tests demonstrate strong relationships with job performance, but have several limitations; notably, subgroup differences based on race/ethnicity. As an alternative, the purpose of this paper is to develop a working memory assessment for personnel selection contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors describe the development of Global Adaptive Memory Evaluation (G.A.M.E.) – a working memory assessment – along with three studies focused on refining and validating G.A.M.E., including examining test-taker reactions, reliability, subgroup differences, construct and criterion-related validity, and measurement equivalence across computer and mobile devices.
Findings
Evidence suggests that G.A.M.E. is a reliable and valid tool for employee selection. G.A.M.E. exhibited convergent validity with other cognitive assessments, predicted job performance, yielded smaller subgroup differences than traditional cognitive ability tests, was engaging for test-takers, and upheld equivalent measurement across computers and mobile devices.
Research limitations/implications
Additional research is needed on the use of working memory assessments as an alternative to traditional cognitive ability testing, including its advantages and disadvantages, relative to other constructs and methods.
Practical implications
The findings illustrate working memory’s potential as an alternative to traditional cognitive ability assessments and highlight the need for cognitive ability tests that rely on modern theories of intelligence and leverage burgeoning mobile technology.
Originality/value
This paper highlights an alternative to traditional cognitive ability tests, namely, working memory assessments, and demonstrates how to design reliable, valid, engaging and mobile-compatible versions.
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This chapter focuses on how the repression of political ideologies can silence feminist voices. It examines how writings by women working with the U.S. Communist Party in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter focuses on how the repression of political ideologies can silence feminist voices. It examines how writings by women working with the U.S. Communist Party in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s have been overlooked even though they presaged important linchpins of U.S. second-wave feminist thought.
Methodology/approach
This study is based on historical and archival research.
Findings
Decades before the rise of second-wave feminism, women in the CPUSA had: (1) produced a political economy of domestic labor; (2) employed an intersectional analysis of the interlocking oppressions of race, gender, class, and nation; and (3) called for a global feminist analysis that linked these multiple oppressions to colonialism and imperialism.
Social implications
This study illustrates the costs of political repression and how the canon of feminist thought can be enhanced by resuscitating subjugated knowledges.
Originality/value
Too little attention has focused on the silencing of women because of their political ideologies. This chapter addresses this lacuna in feminist studies and calls into question the oft-repeated notion that the periods between the waves of U.S. feminism were times of movement stagnation. It shows how theory construction can flourish even when feminist activism wanes.
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Irene Kobler, Alfred Angerer and David Schwappach
Since the publication of the report “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System” by the US Institute of Medicine in 2000, much has changed with regard to patient safety. Many…
Abstract
Since the publication of the report “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System” by the US Institute of Medicine in 2000, much has changed with regard to patient safety. Many of the more recent initiatives to improve patient safety target the behavior of health care staff (e.g., training, double-checking procedures, and standard operating procedures). System-based interventions have so far received less attention, even though they produce more substantial improvements, being less dependent on individuals’ behavior. One type of system-based intervention that can benefit patient safety involves improvements to hospital design. Given that people’s working environments affect their behavior, good design at a systemic level not only enables staff to work more efficiently; it can also prevent errors and mishaps, which can have serious consequences for patients. While an increasing number of studies have demonstrated the effect of hospital design on patient safety, this knowledge is not easily accessible to clinicians, practitioners, risk managers, and other decision-makers, such as designers and architects of health care facilities. This is why the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation launched its project, “More Patient Safety by Design: Systemic Approaches for Hospitals,” which is presented in this chapter.
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Evidence accumulated over many years illustrates the benefits of work for mental health, including that of mental health service users. Despite strong evidence of the…
Abstract
Evidence accumulated over many years illustrates the benefits of work for mental health, including that of mental health service users. Despite strong evidence of the effectiveness of the individual placement and support (IPS) approach in enabling this group to find and keep paid employment, employment rates among mental health service users remain low, and IPS is not widely implemented in the UK. This paper reviews recent evidence for IPS, describes the key features of the approach and compares these with service users' accounts of the kind of support that they find helpful. The current situation regarding implementation of IPS is then considered, together with the barriers hindering implementation. It is clear that the barriers are multifaceted, and action will be required at a number of levels if mental health service users are to be enabled to achieve their employment goals.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is an expectation gap among accounting academics, accounting practitioners, and users of financial statements in the financial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is an expectation gap among accounting academics, accounting practitioners, and users of financial statements in the financial valuation fitness of auditors. Complex reporting standards and current market expectations have the potential to create differences between what third-party users consider to be the responsibilities of the auditor and what auditors believe to be their responsibilities in auditing fair value estimates.
Design/methodology/approach
This study surveys the perceptions of accounting academics, accounting practitioners, and users of financial statements and the degree to which an expectation gap exists in the financial valuation fitness of auditors. Survey respondents chose from a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
Findings
This paper proposes two hypotheses. The results for all nine survey items have provided significant evidence that there is a difference in the expectation of the financial valuation fitness of auditors between users of financial statements and accounting practitioners (H1). Additionally, the findings for all survey items present support there is a significant difference in the expectation of the financial valuation fitness of auditors between accounting academics and users of financial statements (H2).
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of the current study, as an inherent attribute with survey research, is non-response bias. The only way to evaluate this was to test late responses to earlier results. There were no significant results in these analyses. According to Fink (2003), if there are no significant differences in this indicator the likelihood of non-response bias is extremely low. Hence, this limitation did not have serious implications on the current study.
Practical implications
The implications of this study affect the accounting academic community as they prepare students in response to the evolving market expectations (Pan and Perera, 2012). Previous research has pointed toward the sluggish reaction for change in the accounting curriculum relative to external demands (Harvey, 2004; Pan and Perera, 2012). The results of this study also have resonating effects for accounting practitioners. The marketplace expects accountants to be “knowledge professionals” (Carnegie and Napier, 2010). Regulators continue to ask auditors to find more fraud and understand financial valuation (Pan and Perera, 2012).
Social implications
Contemporary accounting practice is moving beyond the scope of quantitative recording of historical financial information. Ignoring integral market transformations could result in lower quality audits with corresponding increased litigation against auditors for negligence (Pearson, 2011).
Originality/value
This study is important for several reasons. First, users of financial statements have expressed the necessity for auditors to acquire financial valuation skills (Christensen et al. (2012). Therefore, the evidence obtained from users of financial statements in this research will be critical guidance to reconcile expectations. Second, accounting educators have not provided a significant response to teaching fair value concepts in the university curriculum (Carlino, 2012; Hanson, 2013). This research presents a clarion call to accounting educators to align university curriculum toward market expectations (Christensen et al., 2012). Third, the practitioner community has also been criticized for audit deficiencies in fair value. It is critical to understand if additional training in financial valuation is necessary to improve the fair value judgments of practitioners and meet stakeholder’s expectations. Accordingly, the study provides a contribution to practice. Finally, this paper answers the call by Christensen et al. (2012) for future research on the topic of fair value: to “mirror the categories of recommendations of regulators and standard setters.”
Erel Avineri and Eran Ben-Elia
This chapter explores Prospect Theory — a descriptive model of modelling individual choice making under risk and uncertainty, and its applications to a range of travel behaviour…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter explores Prospect Theory — a descriptive model of modelling individual choice making under risk and uncertainty, and its applications to a range of travel behaviour contexts.
Theory
The chapter provides background on Prospect Theory, its basic assumptions and formulations, and summarises some of its theoretical developments, applications and evidence in the field of transport research.
Findings
A body of empirical evidence has accumulated showing that the principle of maximisation of expected utility provides limited explanation of travel choices under risk and uncertainty. Prospect Theory can be seen as an alternative and promising framework for travel choice modelling (although not without theoretical and practical controversy). These findings are supported by empirical observations reported in the literature reviewed in this chapter.
Originality and value
The chapter provides a detailed account of the design and results of accumulated research in travel behaviour research that is based on Prospect Theory’s observations, insights and formulations. The potential of Prospect Theory for particular decision-making in travel behaviour research is articulated, main findings are presented and discussed, and limitations are identified, leading to further research needs.
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Leadership coaching has received increased popularity over the past decade; however, there is a paucity of research that has examined its impact on leader behaviors within…
Abstract
Purpose
Leadership coaching has received increased popularity over the past decade; however, there is a paucity of research that has examined its impact on leader behaviors within organizations. Drawing upon transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this paper is to understand the benefits provided to followers when leaders experience leadership coaching.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study collected data from 75 mid- to senior-level organizational leaders and 188 followers.
Findings
The results of this study reveal that leadership coaching is positively associated with leaders engaging in individualized consideration toward their followers, and in turn, leaders engage in constructive leadership behaviors (i.e. more delegation and less close supervision).
Research limitations/implications
While this study contributes to our understanding of leadership coaching for organizational leaders, it, however, focuses on a specific set of leadership behaviors and does not examine the practices embedded in the coaching process.
Practical implications
Leadership coaching facilitates the leader’s aspiration to provide their followers with more individual support. Organizations, in turn, need to promote more opportunities and practices for this interaction to continue.
Originality/value
This is the first study to empirically demonstrate the relationship between leadership coaching and constructive leadership behaviors.
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Samantha A. Conroy and John W. Morton
Organizational scholars studying compensation often place an emphasis on certain employee groups (e.g., executives). Missing from this discussion is research on the compensation…
Abstract
Organizational scholars studying compensation often place an emphasis on certain employee groups (e.g., executives). Missing from this discussion is research on the compensation systems for low-wage jobs. In this review, the authors argue that workers in low-wage jobs represent a unique employment group in their understanding of rent allocation in organizations. The authors address the design of compensation strategies in organizations that lead to different outcomes for workers in low-wage jobs versus other workers. Drawing on and integrating human resource management (HRM), inequality, and worker literatures with compensation literature, the authors describe and explain compensation systems for low-wage work. The authors start by examining workers in low-wage work to identify aspects of these workers’ jobs and lives that can influence their health, performance, and other organizationally relevant outcomes. Next, the authors explore the compensation systems common for this type of work, building on the compensation literature, by identifying the low-wage work compensation designs, proposing the likely explanations for why organizations craft these designs, and describing the worker and organizational outcomes of these designs. The authors conclude with suggestions for future research in this growing field and explore how organizations may benefit by rethinking their approach to compensation for low-wage work. In sum, the authors hope that this review will be a foundational work for those interested in investigating organizational compensation issues at the intersection of inequality and worker and organizational outcomes.
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