Bradley M. Coleman, Jonathan Orsini, J.C. Bunch and Laura L. Greenhaw
Undergraduate agricultural leadership education opportunities are prevalent and growing. However, additional attention should be placed on the quality of educational leadership…
Abstract
Undergraduate agricultural leadership education opportunities are prevalent and growing. However, additional attention should be placed on the quality of educational leadership experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore how the context of a learning experience impacts student application of team leadership skills. The findings and implications of this study are reported in three themes: (a) contextual dimensions of educational experiences, (b) agricultural disconnect, and (c) team leadership skill application. Recommendations for practitioners include providing students with real-life leadership skill application experiences, regulating assignments to have agricultural connections, and integrating opportunities for student reflection. Future research should consider questions such as: (a) what other educational leadership experiences may have considerable learning impacts? and (b) what other pedagogical methodologies are useful in teaching agricultural and team leadership education?
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron, Steven Zhou, Alec Campbell, Elizabeth Schierbeek and Kailee Kodama Muscente
The purpose of this study was to explore how variables such as student demographics, pre-college leadership activities, and perceived pre-college parenting behaviors predict…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore how variables such as student demographics, pre-college leadership activities, and perceived pre-college parenting behaviors predict students’ leader self-efficacy (i.e., individuals’ confidence in themselves to lead and belief that others will support their leadership [Hannah et al., 2008]) in college and leader emergence (i.e., college-based leadership involvements [DeRue & Ashford, 2010]) in college. Undergraduate students (n = 420) at a large, public university in the Mid-Atlantic were surveyed to examine these relationships and data were analyzed using hierarchical and logistic regression, with appropriate controls and moderators. Findings included discovery that pre-college engagement with sports team positional leadership, community service, extracurriculars, and positive parenting behaviors, such as family routine and greater quality time with parents, predicted leader self-efficacy. Further, findings noted that pre-college community service, extracurriculars, peer tutoring and perceptions of parental quality time and proactive parenting predicted leader emergence. This study suggests that students’ leadership development is influenced by myriad systems across the lifespan and demonstrates that, as educators committed to student development, we must engage the full arc of our students’ leadership journeys and provide for intentional partnerships between higher education and the K-12 community.
Oliver Crocco, Maja Stojanović, Melissa Whitley, Kimberly Davis, Michael Climek, Gina Costello, Rachel Henry, Vani’Tra Braud, Andrea Tepe, De’Jerra Bryant and Catherine Molleno
While many studies investigate student leadership development in educational contexts or curriculum-based programs, little is known about the efficacy of leadership development…
Abstract
While many studies investigate student leadership development in educational contexts or curriculum-based programs, little is known about the efficacy of leadership development programs that emerge in municipalities. This mixed methods case study explored the leadership development of participants in three nine-month youth leadership programs at a municipal-based prevention, treatment, and outreach center in the United States. Qualitative focus groups and quantitative surveys using the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (SLPI) were used to collect data at the beginning and end of the three programs along with a post-program evaluative survey. Findings from the qualitative and quantitative analyses are first presented individually and then expressed using a joint display table to visually represent the integrated results. Findings showed that the programs positively influenced participants’ perceptions, characteristics, and behaviors as youth leaders in their communities. Participants not only indicated improvements in their leadership practices according to the SLPI from pre- to post-program, but also demonstrated more complex understandings of leadership and what it means to be a leader in one’s community. These findings are useful for individuals and organizations planning student leadership development programs and should inform future research in the field.
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The purpose of this case study is to explore to what extent US university undergraduates participating in a research abroad program through US–Taiwan Partnerships for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this case study is to explore to what extent US university undergraduates participating in a research abroad program through US–Taiwan Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) developed intercultural awareness and cross-cultural adaptability skills. It also suggests additional program design features to enhance students' international experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
To better understand participants' experiences in the PIRE program, this study adopts a mixed-methods approach. Demographic questionnaires, pre- and postsurveys, observational field notes and individual interviews were conducted for data collection and analysis.
Findings
Students perceived the experience abroad to improve their intercultural awareness and skills such as openness to cultural differences, coping with challenges abroad and effectively working in diverse teams. Specifically, quantitative findings reflected group gains in the areas of flexibility/openness and perceptual acuity, whereas qualitative findings indicated growth in students' emotional resilience and personal autonomy.
Research limitations/implications
Additional data collection methods, such as pre-/postinstruments or a longitudinal study would provide a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of education abroad on students' intercultural learning.
Social implications
Evaluation of programs and outcomes can help identify areas to maximize student learning and assess the value of education abroad.
Originality/value
This is original research and makes a contribution to education abroad programs in postsecondary education.
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Khatereh Ghasemzadeh, Octavio Escobar, Zornitsa Yordanova and Manuel Villasalero
The study examines the amplifying role of users in the e-healthcare sector and holistically show its current state and potential. The paper aims at contributing to the scientific…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examines the amplifying role of users in the e-healthcare sector and holistically show its current state and potential. The paper aims at contributing to the scientific literature with a comprehensive review of the current state of the art on the application of user innovation (UI) in the e-healthcare sector, as a solid step for discussing the potential, trends, managerial gaps and future research avenues in this field. Despite the crucial importance of the topic and increasing attention toward it in the last few years, there is a lack of comprehensive scrutiny on different angles of involving users in health technology innovations so far.
Design/methodology/approach
This study combines two methods of bibliometric analysis and extensive content analysis of 169 journal articles on Scopus and Web of Science to unfold five research questions regarding the mechanisms of involving users, innovations characteristics and the role of users throughout the innovation process.
Findings
A clear result of the applied methodology is the profiling of users involved in e-health innovations in seven categories. The results of this study shed light on the current practice of not involving users in all the stages of the innovation process of m-health, telemedicine, self-managing technologies, which is contrary to the best practices of the UI application.
Research limitations/implications
Collection of relevant studies due to lack of comprehensibility of the keywords.
Practical implications
The offered propositions can act as a roadmap to potential research opportunities as well as to organize such innovations from a managerial perspective in particular healthcare organization managers and the middle managers operating at R&D sectors and policymakers.
Originality/value
This study is the first of its kind that digs out the application of UI strategies such as user-centered design in the context of e-healthcare and provides a bibliometric and extensive content analysis of the studies conducted in this theme over the years.
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This chapter reviews recent developments in the density discontinuity approach. It is well known that agents having perfect control of the forcing variable will invalidate the…
Abstract
This chapter reviews recent developments in the density discontinuity approach. It is well known that agents having perfect control of the forcing variable will invalidate the popular regression discontinuity designs (RDDs). To detect the manipulation of the forcing variable, McCrary (2008) developed a test based on the discontinuity in the density around the threshold. Recent papers have noted that the sorting patterns around the threshold are often either the researcher’s object of interest or may relate to structural parameters such as tax elasticities through known functions. This, in turn, implies that the behavior of the distribution around the threshold is not only informative of the validity of a standard RDD; it can also be used to recover policy-relevant parameters and perform counterfactual exercises.
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Joshua Graff Zivin, Lisa B. Kahn and Matthew Neidell
In this chapter, we examine the impact of pay-for-performance incentives on learning-by-doing. We exploit personnel data on fruit pickers paid under two distinct compensation…
Abstract
In this chapter, we examine the impact of pay-for-performance incentives on learning-by-doing. We exploit personnel data on fruit pickers paid under two distinct compensation contracts: a standard piece rate plan and one with an extra one-time bonus tied to output. Under the latter, we observe bunching of performance just above the bonus threshold, suggesting workers distort their behavior in response to the discrete bonus. Such bunching behavior increases as workers gain experience. At the same time, the bonus contract induces considerable learning-by-doing for workers throughout the productivity distribution who presumably hope to one day hit the target, and these improvements significantly outweigh the losses to the firm from the bunching. In contrast, under the standard piece rate contract, we find minimal evidence of bunching and only small performance improvements at the bottom of the productivity distribution. Our results suggest that contract design can help foster learning on the job, underscoring the importance of dynamic considerations in principle-agent models.
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Vasileios Georgiadis and Lazaros Sarigiannidis
The purpose of this paper is a selective introduction of specific underlying principles of Epictetan Stoicism in change management, aiming to mitigate resistance to change and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is a selective introduction of specific underlying principles of Epictetan Stoicism in change management, aiming to mitigate resistance to change and achieve positive outcomes through redefining the perception of change by both its agents and recipients.
Design/methodology/approach
The applied methodology included locating, distilling and extracting selected philosophical fragments, coherent in terms of contextualisation with the field of management and paralleling their content with organisational, strategic and wider social and political objectives, to provide an interdisciplinary enriched perspective on managing resistance to change in any area.
Findings
The selective combination of Epictetus’ Stoic philosophy with change management literature, focusing on resistance to change, contributes as a beneficial strategic choice, multiplying the available alternatives, not only in managing resistance to change but also in a more general sense.
Practical implications
Selectively introducing Epictetan Stoic philosophical ideas into the behavioural response of resistance to change could clarify and improve communication to avoid crises and conflicts, as well as extend Epictetan Stoic wisdom to the wider community, beyond organisations and institutions. Although the hyper-competitive, globalised market seems to contradict the tempered Stoic philosophy, from which they radically differ, this research highlights strong points of relational relevance that could facilitate overcoming resistance to change with a much wider impact.
Originality/value
Epictetus’ Stoic philosophy is already widely deployed in management, but in this project, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is selectively cross-discussed for the first time with the theory and practice of resistance to change as a pilot intellectual platform, identifying personal perception and distinction as the primary cognitive compass in the organisational and managerial realm, so that the upcoming change projects would mitigate resistance to change.
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Mukul Tiwari, Manish Kumar Srivastava, A.S. Suresh, Vinod Sharma and Yogesh Mahajan
This study aims to further the understanding of employees’ engagement by explaining their organizational commitment through their perception of the availability of work-life…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to further the understanding of employees’ engagement by explaining their organizational commitment through their perception of the availability of work-life benefits in the organization. This study also investigates the mediating role of job satisfaction in this context.
Design/methodology/approach
The model was tested on the primary data collected in two phases from 270 teaching professionals in higher education institutes in Northern India. Barren and Kenny’s algorithm and hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results reveal that employees’ perception of work-life benefits strongly influences their organizational commitment. Also, the results support that employees’ job satisfaction mediates the above-mentioned relationship.
Research limitations/implications
Self-reported data could be considered as a key limitation of this study and for more accurate results supervisors’ (line managers) perspective could also be included in future studies. Also, in addition to perceived work-life benefits, supervisors’ support could also have an impact on employees’ commitment, thus its inclusion in the model could draw a clearer picture.
Originality/value
This research has two key contributions: first, it adds to the limited literature examining the employees’ engagement issues in the academic sector. Second, this research is one of, if not the first, to investigate perceived work-life benefits among third-level teaching staff in India to explain employees’ commitment to their organizations.
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Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to figure out whether the pool testing method of SARS-CoV-2 for COVID-19 is effective and the optimal sample size is in one bunch. Additionally, since the infection rate was unknown at the beginning, this research aims to propose a multiple sampling approach that enables the pool testing method to be utilized successfully.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors verify that the pool testing method of SARS-CoV-2 for COVID-19 is effective under the situation of the shortage of nucleic acid detection kits based on probabilistic modeling. In this method, the testing is performed on several samples of the cases together as a bunch. If the test result of the bunch is negative, then it is shown that none of the cases in the bunch has been infected with the novel coronavirus. On the contrary, if the test result of the bunch is positive, then the samples are tested one by one to confirm which cases are infected.
Findings
If the infection rate is extremely low, while the same number of detection kits is used, the expected number of cases that can be tested by the pool testing method is far more than that by the one-by-one testing method. The pool testing method is effective only when the infection rate is less than 0.3078. The higher the infection rate, the smaller the optimal sample size in one bunch. If N samples are tested by the pool testing method, while the sample size in one bunch is G, the number of detection kits required is in the interval (N/G, N).
Originality/value
This research proves that the pool testing method is not only suitable for the situation of the shortage of detection kits but also the situation of the overall or sampling detection for a large population. More importantly, it calculates the optimal sample size in one bunch corresponding to different infection rates. Additionally, a multiple sampling approach is proposed. In this approach, the whole testing process is divided into several rounds in which the sample sizes in one bunch are different. The actual infection rate is estimated gradually precisely by sampling inspection in each round.