Richard J. Pech and Katherine E. Oakley
Can managers prepare their organisations for the unexpected and unforeseeable? The purpose of this paper is to argue that organisations that endure and survive a serious…
Abstract
Purpose
Can managers prepare their organisations for the unexpected and unforeseeable? The purpose of this paper is to argue that organisations that endure and survive a serious disruption to homeostasis may as a consequence be better equipped to survive further and more devastating attacks.
Design/methodology/approach
This hypothesis is based on a naturally occurring biological survival mechanism termed hormesis. Hormesis describes a controversial biological phenomenon where the organism overcompensates and adaptation occurs after exposure to low doses of toxins. Hormesis protects the organism against subsequent repeat exposure to more lethal doses.
Findings
Hormetic effects may occur in an organisation just as it does in a biological entity following exposure to a life‐threatening disruption, inoculating it against potentially more lethal recurrences. Disruption in an organisational context may include negative environmental impacts, incidences of management incompetence, or consequences of competitive hostilities. It is argued that lessons can be applied from examples of biological hormesis, particularly lessons related to the hormetic recovery stages of overcompensation and adaptation as part of an evolutionary survival mechanism for organisations.
Practical implications
Organisational hormesis may have the potential to produce growth and advancement that would not normally occur under ordinary circumstances. Hormesis demonstrates more than a step in an organisational learning process as it conveys an adaptive response designed to prevent future disruptions. Hormesis is a healing process with foresight, “designed” with the intent of increasing organisational fitness within a rapidly changing environment. It has been “designed” with the knowledge that the environment may yet dispense an even greater challenge, still to be met. In this respect the hormetic process defies evolutionary dogma which claims that evolutionary processes are blind that evolution can only react to and compensate for past pressure rather than being able to predict and prepare for future threats. After recovery from disruption, managers may, for cost cutting and other expedient purposes, cease recovery or restructuring activities. This action may unwittingly interfere with the hormetic overcompensation stage, thereby interfering with evolutionary adaptation processes. As a consequence, the organisation's ability to repel more severe disruptions may be compromised. Some firms are prematurely liquidated or downsized before they can develop hormetic response mechanisms. As demonstrated by the Xerox example, liquidation in 2000 would have been a catastrophic mistake.
Originality/value
Provides a post‐mortem examination searching for possible explanations for organisational phenomena that have as yet been adequately explained.
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Julia E. Calabrese, Nancy Butler Songer, Holly Cordner and Daniel Kalani Aina
The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students'…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach consisted of mixed methods, including content analyses and descriptive statistics.
Findings
The curricular program successfully included all four of the US National Academies of Sciences' design features for promoting interest and motivation through scientific investigation and engineering design. During interviews, teachers and students expressed evidence of design features associated with interest and motivation. After experiencing the program, more than 60% of all students scored high on all four science and engineering meaningfulness and interest survey items.
Originality/value
A curricular program that extends science learning through the engineered design of solutions is an innovative approach to foster both conceptual knowledge development and interest and motivation in science and engineering.
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Miriam Marie Sanders, Julia E. Calabrese, Micayla Gooden and Mary Margaret Capraro
Research has shown that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) self-beliefs and enjoyment are critical factors for predicting female students’ persistence in STEM…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has shown that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) self-beliefs and enjoyment are critical factors for predicting female students’ persistence in STEM degrees and careers. Studies have shown the positive effects of informal STEM learning experiences on female students’ self-beliefs. However, with the rise of all-female STEM learning experiences, such as summer camps, considering the potential advantages and disadvantages of co-ed options is important. Further, prior STEM education research has focused on sex differences in students’ self-efficacy and STEM career interests. Our study aims to examine within sex differences in secondary, female students (n = 104) who attend either a co-ed STEM camp or a same-sex STEM camp.
Design/methodology/approach
To examine potential differences, we conducted independent sample t-tests.
Findings
Results of the study include statistically significant differences in mathematics and science self-efficacy as well as STEM career interest after participating in their respective camps.
Originality/value
Further, prior research in STEM education has focused on between sex differences in students’ self-efficacy and STEM career interest.
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Ana Marta M. Flores, Inês Amaral and Rita Basílio de Simões
The influence of digital media and mobile technologies on the interpersonal dynamics of young individuals across various aspects of their daily lives underscores the significant…
Abstract
The influence of digital media and mobile technologies on the interpersonal dynamics of young individuals across various aspects of their daily lives underscores the significant role of digital media in shaping their experiences. Research exploring how individuals engage with mobile applications (m-apps) has revealed the constraining effects of platform norms and politics on users' expressive identities. This chapter examines the evolving landscape of media consumption, engagement and civic participation amidst the proliferation of new media modalities, focussing on m-apps. The authors highlight the pervasive adoption of mobile apps across diverse categories and the escalating temporal investment individuals allocate to these platforms for fostering interpersonal connections. Drawing from a feminist and intersectional perspective, the authors explore how young adults navigate the technicity and imaginaries of m-apps, incorporating them into their daily routines and (re)negotiating their gender and sexual identities. Through the MyGender project, the authors investigate the relationship between m-apps and power dynamics, examining the construction and reconstruction of gender and sexuality across platforms. The findings underscore the need for critical engagement with digital technologies as sociocultural products actively reshaping gender relations and sexual practices. The text ends with an overview of the book, briefly presenting the remaining nine chapters.
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Inês Amaral, Ana Marta M. Flores and Eduardo Antunes
As younger generations navigate a blended reality, their interaction with digital content and apps is marked by multitasking. Gender intersects with media and individual…
Abstract
As younger generations navigate a blended reality, their interaction with digital content and apps is marked by multitasking. Gender intersects with media and individual preferences, shaping how people navigate digital realms. This chapter investigates how young adults perceive personal digital experiences, analysing them based on various socio-demographic factors. Using a quantitative approach, a survey was conducted with 1,500 young adults in Portugal in October 2021. The sample was representative of the population distribution by sex, age and region. Statistical analysis revealed correlations between digital behaviours and socio-demographic factors such as gender, sexual orientation and parenthood status. Results indicated significant differences in agreement levels among different groups, highlighting areas such as online harassment, content creation, social interaction and digital intimacy. The findings challenge assumptions of homogeneity in generational technology usage and underscore the importance of considering diverse demographic perspectives in digital research. This chapter sheds light on the interplay between technology, identity and social connections, emphasising the relevance of gender in digital platform studies.
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Eduardo Antunes and Frederico Fonseca
Digital technologies have impacted our culture by expanding into every interstice of everyday life. Mobile gadgets for communications, work and leisure, social media, apps and…
Abstract
Digital technologies have impacted our culture by expanding into every interstice of everyday life. Mobile gadgets for communications, work and leisure, social media, apps and platforms – the diverse array of items that we usually refer to as digital media and that keep people permanently connected – are at the core of a wider change that goes beyond the use of technology. These technologies provide the material structure for the complex and constant fluxes of information that permeate people's lives, originating new dynamics that impact people's relations, beliefs, practices, representations and identities, bodies or creative and political expressions. Understanding technology as a producer of meanings, subjectivities and agency that are shaped by power relations is central to the MyGender project. Hence, technology is not seen as neutral but as a place of political power. This chapter places young adults at the centre of the changing environment as main cultural and media producers and traces their practices, discourses and representations. By integrating diverse theoretical and empirical contributions that focus on the most relevant aspects of this changing environment, analysing significances, practices and negotiations related to digital cultures and young adults, this chapter proposes a narrative critical literature review that aims to provide a solid framework for the remaining chapters, within the theoretical horizon of the MyGender project.
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Raffaella Calabrese and Johan A. Elkink
The most used spatial regression models for binary-dependent variable consider a symmetric link function, such as the logistic or the probit models. When the dependent variable…
Abstract
The most used spatial regression models for binary-dependent variable consider a symmetric link function, such as the logistic or the probit models. When the dependent variable represents a rare event, a symmetric link function can underestimate the probability that the rare event occurs. Following Calabrese and Osmetti (2013), we suggest the quantile function of the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution as link function in a spatial generalized linear model and we call this model the spatial GEV (SGEV) regression model. To estimate the parameters of such model, a modified version of the Gibbs sampling method of Wang and Dey (2010) is proposed. We analyze the performance of our model by Monte Carlo simulations and evaluate the prediction accuracy in empirical data on state failure.
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Zbigniew Smoreda, Ana-Maria Olteanu-Raimond and Thomas Couronné
Purpose — In this chapter, we will review several alternative methods of collecting data from mobile phones for human mobility analysis. We propose considering cellular network…
Abstract
Purpose — In this chapter, we will review several alternative methods of collecting data from mobile phones for human mobility analysis. We propose considering cellular network location data as a useful complementary source for human mobility research and provide case studies to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
Methodology/approach — We briefly describe cellular phone network architecture and the location data it can provide, and discuss two types of data collection: active and passive localization. Active localization is something like a personal travel diary. It provides a tool for recording positioning data on a survey sample over a long period of time. Passive localization, on the other hand, is based on phone network data that are automatically recorded for technical or billing purposes. It offers the advantage of access to very large user populations for mobility flow analysis of a broad area.
Findings — We review several alternative methods of collecting data from mobile phone for human mobility analysis to show that cellular network data, although limited in terms of location precision and recording frequency, offer two major advantages for studying human mobility. First, very large user samples – covering broad geographical areas – can be followed over a long period of time. Second, this type of data allows researchers to choose a specific data collection methodology (active or passive), depending on the objectives of their study. The big mobile phone localization datasets have provided a new impulse for the interdisciplinary research in human mobility.
Originality/value of chapter — We propose considering cellular network location data as a useful complementary source for transportation research and provide case studies to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed method. Mobile phones have become a kind of “personal sensor” offering an ever-increasing amount of location data on mobile phone users over long time periods. These data can thus provide a framework for a comprehensive and longitudinal study of temporal dynamics, and can be used to capture ephemeral events and fluctuations in day-to-day mobility behavior offering powerful tools to transportation research, urban planning, or even real-time city monitoring.
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Kamini Vasudev, Anna Mead, Karine Macritchie and Allan H. Young
This audit was conducted on acute psychiatric in‐patient wards with the aim of establishing if valproate prescribing in acute mania followed evidence‐based guidelines with…
Abstract
Purpose
This audit was conducted on acute psychiatric in‐patient wards with the aim of establishing if valproate prescribing in acute mania followed evidence‐based guidelines with particular emphasis on formulations used and whether accelerated valproate dosing was employed.
Design/methodology/approach
Case notes from 43 (42 percent male) patients admitted with mania and subsequently discharged on valproate were reviewed. Valproate formulation, weight measurement (necessary for dose‐calculation in accelerated dosing), initial valproate dose and increments, serum valproate monitoring and other prescribed psychotropic agents were noted.
Findings
Most (95 percent) patients received sodium valproate (epilim chrono/generic), the remaining received valproate semi‐sodium (depakote). All but one patient received antipsychotic medication in combination. Weight was recorded in only four (9 percent) patients. The mean valproate daily dose after the first week was 1,027 mg (sd=408). It took 29 (sd=42) days to reach the maximum daily dose (1,426 mg sd=467) from valproate initiation. Serum levels were monitored in 34 (79 percent) cases, but the mean period between valproate initiation to the first serum level test was 38 (sd=47) days. A significant positive correlation was found between days taken to reach maximum dose and hospital stay (Spearman's rho=0.41, n=43, p=0.006, two‐tailed).
Practical implications
Accelerated valproate dosing was not common practice, which may have resulted in suboptimal efficacy, probably leading to combination treatment.
Originality/value
This study highlights the need for adequate initial dosing and dose increments when treating manic patients and suggests current practice is not evidence‐based. Local prescribing policy and national guidelines' influence on practice are discussed.
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Purpose — To assess how cell phone technology might impact the collection of travel data in the future.Design/methodology/approach — Two different types of cell phone enabled…
Abstract
Purpose — To assess how cell phone technology might impact the collection of travel data in the future.
Design/methodology/approach — Two different types of cell phone enabled studies are considered. First, we examine how the text feature of phones can be used for person-to-person surveys, and second, we explore an aggregate level survey enabled by an anonymous and passive GPS trace.
Findings — This study explores the types of travel information that are likely to be inferred from text surveys and cell phone traces. It recognizes that a passive GPS trace might change the level of measurement and the inferences we make about travel behaviors.
Research limitations/implications — The study is prospective. It anticipates that over the next 10–15 years cell phone tracking technology will improve, as well as the speed and capability of algorithms for post-processing the information.
Practical implications — Cell phone enabled studies may provide a new tool and new level of measurement, as traditional survey response rates decline, and it becomes more difficult and expensive to conduct conventional travel surveys. The capacity of cell phones for travel survey work is improving, but it is not fully realizable today (2012).
Originality/value — This study provides a context to understand how the technology of the cell phone might be integrated with more traditional travel surveys to streamline data collection, and produce new types of spatial detection, measurement, and tracking.