Provides snapshots of several research and development actions aimed at addressing the question of what characterizes competent command of a fire ground incident. Looks at two…
Abstract
Provides snapshots of several research and development actions aimed at addressing the question of what characterizes competent command of a fire ground incident. Looks at two aspects of this question: how to describe fire ground command (what is it that fire ground commanders do?) and what qualities should be looked for in prospective fire ground commanders (what are the underlying aptitudes or competences required for effective fire ground command?). Brings together data drawn from cognitive task analysis, teamwork analysis, a recent model of incident command developed for the London Fire Brigade (LFB), job analysis focusing on aptitude requirements for fire ground commanders, and assessment centres designed for selecting fire crew commanders and senior LFB officers.
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Eugene Burke and Charles Hendry
The critical decision method (CDM) is a technique for obtaining data on real decision making in natural settings. It has been applied in a number of civilian and military…
Abstract
The critical decision method (CDM) is a technique for obtaining data on real decision making in natural settings. It has been applied in a number of civilian and military settings, and generates data that are rich in content (what happened?), context (when and where did it happen?) and process (why did it happen?). The application described is part of a larger research and development project concerned with developing and maintaining the competence of London Fire Brigade officers. Uses a case study of one recent incident to provide an example of the data generated by CDM, and discusses further steps in exploiting this data for the purpose of simulation‐based assessment.
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John E.G. Bateson, Jochen Wirtz, Eugene Burke and Carly Vaughan
Service employees in subordinate service roles are crucial for operational efficiency and service quality. However, the stressful nature of these roles, inappropriate hire…
Abstract
Purpose
Service employees in subordinate service roles are crucial for operational efficiency and service quality. However, the stressful nature of these roles, inappropriate hire selection, and the proliferation of job boards have created massive recruitment problems for HR departments. The purpose of this paper is to highlights the growing costs of recruiting the right candidates for service roles while offering an alternative approach to recruitment that is more efficient and effective than the traditional approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The study offers empirical evidence of five instances in which the use of psychometric sifting procedures reduced recruitment costs, while improving the quality of the resultant hires.
Findings
By standing the traditional recruitment process “on its head” and using psychometric tests at the start of the selection process, the recruitment process can be significantly improved. Such tests efficiently weed out unsuitable candidates before they even enter the recruitment process, leaving a smaller, better-qualified pool for possible recruitment.
Practical implications
Firms can safely use the psychometric sifts to select applicants according to their operational efficiency, customer orientation, and overall performance. This paper illustrates the use of both traditional questionnaire measures and situational judgment tests to remove unsuitable applicants at the start of the selection process. A real-life case study suggests that such an approach increases the hiring success rate from 6:1 to 2:1. In the opening of a new supermarket by a UK group, this process saved 73,000 hours of managers’ time, representing $1.8 million savings in opening costs.
Originality/value
The paper offers a viable cost-saving alternative to a growing problem for HR departments in service firms and provides directions for further research.
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The purpose of this paper was to conduct a critical analysis of the origins and implementation of problem‐based learning in educational administration as a window into the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to conduct a critical analysis of the origins and implementation of problem‐based learning in educational administration as a window into the limitations of this approach and more generally administrator preparation.
Design/methodology/approach
The author reviewed the published work of the originator from 1970‐2009, as well as his preparation program for principals, and evaluated his approach primarily in light of two perspectives, emotional labor and positive emotions. The paper probes the utility of using these sociological and psychological perspectives in studying and understanding the emotional side of administration through interviews with principals.
Findings
The major finding of this analysis was to question whether sufficient attention is being paid to the emotional aspects of administration in problem‐based learning in particular and administrator preparation programs more generally. The analysis reveals several areas where more attention should be paid, and provides some insight into the nature of mental and emotional labor of principals.
Originality/value
The paper combines two theoretical approaches in a novel way to raise a series of questions that can be used to evaluate programs for preparing administrators in terms of a critical, but for the most part neglected, area – the emotional side of administration. For those who choose to incorporate this facet of administration into their preparation program, the author describes an approach that might be used.
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Eugene Sivadas and Jamie L. Baker‐Prewitt
Using a national random telephone survey of 542 shoppers, examines the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and store loyalty within the retail department…
Abstract
Using a national random telephone survey of 542 shoppers, examines the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and store loyalty within the retail department store context. Tests two complementary models that examine this interrelationship. Empirically examines the relative attitude construct put forth by Dick and Basu. The results indicate that service quality influences relative attitude and satisfaction with department stores. Satisfaction influences relative attitude, repurchase, and recommendation but has no direct effect on store loyalty. Fostering favorable relative attitude and getting customers to recommend the product or service holds key to fostering store loyalty. Results also indicate support for Oliver’s four‐stage cognitive‐affective‐conative‐action model of loyalty.
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Summary of Content Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler (1925–1926), is in two parts, “Eine Abrechung” (A Reckoning) and “Die National‐Sozialistische Bewegung” (The National Socialist…
Abstract
Summary of Content Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler (1925–1926), is in two parts, “Eine Abrechung” (A Reckoning) and “Die National‐Sozialistische Bewegung” (The National Socialist Movement). Written at different times, they originally appeared separately.
Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
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Chinese began to arrive in Florida at the turn of the 20th century. Currently there are more than fifty thousand Chinese living in Florida. This article provides information…
Abstract
Chinese began to arrive in Florida at the turn of the 20th century. Currently there are more than fifty thousand Chinese living in Florida. This article provides information resources for scholars and students of Chinese studies, and for people interested in the history of Chinese Americans and Southeast regional studies. It consists of archive papers, books, journal and newspaper articles and Internet resources containing information on Florida and China. The list is arranged by authors’ last names when available.
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Sara N. Brownmiller and Donald C. Dickinson
Librarians find the search for information on dance topics time‐consuming and difficult. There are few reference works devoted specifically to dance, and a number of those that do…
Abstract
Librarians find the search for information on dance topics time‐consuming and difficult. There are few reference works devoted specifically to dance, and a number of those that do exist are outdated and need revision. Further, because the field is so diverse, a search for dance information will frequently lead the investigator into a variety of related subject areas, each with its own complicated access problems. Reference librarians faced with dance inquiries may in the course of an hour find it necessary to consult sources in music, education, aesthetics, theatre, or physiology. On a more specific level, questions may call for information on such subtopics as ballet, folk dance, dance therapy, choreography, tap dance, and movement technique. College students may need information on famous dancers of the past; theatergoers may want an up‐to‐date evaluation of a performance of a specific ballet company; and dancers may often need information on technique and conditioning.
Eugene A. Paoline III and Jacinta M. Gau
The purpose of the current study was to augment the police culture and stress literature by empirically examining the impact of features of the internal and external work…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the current study was to augment the police culture and stress literature by empirically examining the impact of features of the internal and external work environment, as well as officer characteristics, on police officer stress.
Design/methodology/approach
The current empirical inquiry utilized survey data collected from street-level officers in a mid-sized urban police department in a southern region of the United States (n = 349).
Findings
This study revealed that perceived danger, suspicion of citizens and cynicism toward the public increased police occupational stress, while support from supervisors mitigated it. In addition, Black and Latinx officers reported significantly less stress than their White counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
While this study demonstrates that patrol officers' perceptions of the external and internal work environments (and race/ethnicity) matter in terms of occupational stress, it is not without limitations. One limitation related to the generalizability of the findings, as results are gleaned from a single large agency serving a metropolitan jurisdiction in the Southeast. Second, this study focused on cultural attitudes and stress, although exact connections to behaviors are more speculative. Finally, the survey took place prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the killing of George Floyd (and others), which radically shook police–community relationships nationwide.
Practical implications
Police administrators should be cognizant of the importance that views of them have for patrol officer stress levels. Moreover, police trainers and supervisors concerned with occupational stress of their subordinates should work toward altering assignments and socialization patterns so that officers are exposed to a variety of patrol areas, in avoiding prolonged assignments of high social distress.
Originality/value
The study augmented the police culture and stress literature by empirically uncovering the individual-level sources of patrol officers' job-related stress. This study builds off of Paoline and Gau's (2018) research using data collected some 15 years ago by examining a more contemporary, post–Ferguson, context.