When James Conant visited Australia in 1951 he unwittingly entered an existing, lengthy debate about the value of university‐based knowledge in Australia. The Second World War…
Abstract
When James Conant visited Australia in 1951 he unwittingly entered an existing, lengthy debate about the value of university‐based knowledge in Australia. The Second World War, with its significant reliance on academic expertise, had suggested that if knowledge could win wars, the labour of academic staff could be considered to normally have social and economic value to the nation. In 1951 Conant had no way of foreseeing that steps made, in this light, at Federal level during and after the war, would culminate in the 1957 Review of Universities in Australia, chaired by Sir Keith Murray, and the injection of a large amount of funding into the university system. Conant’s confidential report to the Carnegie Corporation does show that he saw the system in desperate need of funding, which wasa reality that everyone agreed upon.1 The long debate included options for university funding and the potential change to the character of universities if the community, rather than the cloister, was to determine the purpose and character of knowledge. Conant’s report reflects this debate, centring (as many other participants did as well) on the value universities would gain if they were more obviously useful and relevant to industry and if their reputation was less stained by elitism and arrogance. Conant could not gather sufficient data in his visit to identify the nuances of this long discussion nor could he see the depth and spread of its influence over the decade or so preceding his visit. As a result, his particular agenda seems to obscure the perception of the threat that change provoked to some of the traditional values associated with academic work. To consider the debate and the character of academic work in the university scene that Conant fleetingly visited, we need to look back just a few years to another, but very different, visitor to the Australian system.
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Kate Lewis, Claire Massey, Mary Ashby, Alan Coetzer and Candice Harris
The purpose of this paper is to explore the business assistance realities of New Zealand small and medium enterprise (SME) owner‐managers in order to better understand those…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the business assistance realities of New Zealand small and medium enterprise (SME) owner‐managers in order to better understand those experiences in terms of their ability to identify and use what is provided.
Design/methodology/approach
Site visits were made to 51 small firms that had been recruited from a random sample of 500 New Zealand firms that employed up to 50 full‐time equivalent staff and were in the “manufacturing” or “service” sector. An interview was then carried out with the owner‐manager of the firm.
Findings
The owner‐managers of some SMEs interact with the support infrastructure regularly, while others do not. The sources of business assistance most frequently accessed where not necessarily those that were subsequently perceived as being the most useful or significant.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are limited in their generalisability due to the research methodology and research context. However, the conclusions will be of interest to researchers, policy‐makers and business assistance providers.
Originality/value
The paper addresses a gap in the knowledge base surrounding business assistance and SMEs. Typically investigations on this topic focus on supply‐side issues (i.e. how service provision can be improved) rather than those that relate to demand (i.e. investigating the needs of owner‐managers). The project was unique in the New Zealand context (both in terms of scale and research approach).
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In his report for the year ending March 31st, 1957, Mr. W. A. Davenport, Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures for Buckinghamshire, makes some shrewd comments on the effects of…
Abstract
In his report for the year ending March 31st, 1957, Mr. W. A. Davenport, Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures for Buckinghamshire, makes some shrewd comments on the effects of the growth of self‐service shops on the purchasing habits of the ordinary housewife, and draws attention, as others have done, to certain aspects of this major social change that are not always entirely to the advantage of the buyer. The following is quoted, with acknowledgements, from the report:—
Mary Elizabeth Wagner and Renee Causey-Upton
The purpose of this study is to categorize perfectionism and determine how perfectionism impacts the occupations and perceived health of students in a Bachelor of Science in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to categorize perfectionism and determine how perfectionism impacts the occupations and perceived health of students in a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Science program.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive study with a survey component was conducted. Participants were categorized as perfectionists or non-perfectionists using the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R). Time logs were collected to compare categories of time-use between groups over a one-week period. An online survey was conducted with a sub-sample of the perfectionists.
Findings
More students were categorized as perfectionists (N = 41) than non-perfectionists (N = 3). Both groups spent similar amounts of time engaged in productive, pleasurable and restorative occupations. Some perfectionists reported that perfectionism supported health, but others reported negative impacts on well-being.
Research limitations/implications
This study included a small sample size limited to one Occupational Science program in the USA.
Originality/value
Results demonstrated positive and negative health impacts because of perfectionism. The majority of participants were identified as perfectionists; rigorous academic programs may attract students with perfectionistic qualities. Findings are relevant for Occupational Therapy, as these students will become future occupational therapists after completing a Master’s program in Occupational Therapy and may be susceptible to negative outcomes associated with perfectionism such as workaholism and poor health.
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Technology‐based new ventures (TNVs) – which rely on entrepreneurial activities based on science and technology applications in newly created organizations to be successful – are…
Abstract
Purpose
Technology‐based new ventures (TNVs) – which rely on entrepreneurial activities based on science and technology applications in newly created organizations to be successful – are important to current economic growth and innovation. Past research has looked at the importance of networks and social capital to TNV performance. Yet these studies rarely provide theoretical predictions of the attributes of network ties. This paper aims to bring TNV theory up to date with respect to twenty‐first century adaptation and complexity conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on new developments in complexity science (specifically scalability and scale‐free theories) and long‐standing first principles of efficacious adaptation to develop TNV‐relevant theory offering an alternative perspective on the impact of network ties on the performance of TNV.
Findings
It is argued that TNVs can achieve superior performance by developing and building moderate numbers of short‐term (and thereby weak) network ties. The theorizing calls for a new research agenda pertaining to TNVs, which are delineated. The paper also develops four propositions as part of setting forth an agenda for future research.
Originality/value
The paper updates the entrepreneurship and social network literatures by reshaping them with respect to the nonlinear order‐creation dynamics of complexity theory and scale‐free dynamics of econophysics. It focuses on the aspects of network theory that are especially likely to set in motion the complex adaptive systems dynamics essential to TNV performance. Therefore, the conceptual framework contributes to TNVs as a guide to achieving higher performance, effectiveness, and longevity in a rapidly changing world.
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In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still…
Abstract
In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.
Ross P. D. Johnston, Mohammed Sonebi, James B. P. Lim, Cecil G. Armstrong, Andrzej M. Wrzesien, Gasser Abdelal and Ying Hu
This paper describes the results of non-linear elasto-plastic implicit dynamic finite element analyses that are used to predict the collapse behaviour of cold-formed steel portal…
Abstract
This paper describes the results of non-linear elasto-plastic implicit dynamic finite element analyses that are used to predict the collapse behaviour of cold-formed steel portal frames at elevated temperatures. The collapse behaviour of a simple rigid-jointed beam idealisation and a more accurate semi-rigid jointed shell element idealisation are compared for two different fire scenarios. For the case of the shell element idealisation, the semi-rigidity of the cold-formed steel joints is explicitly taken into account through modelling of the bolt-hole elongation stiffness. In addition, the shell element idealisation is able to capture buckling of the cold-formed steel sections in the vicinity of the joints. The shell element idealisation is validated at ambient temperature against the results of full-scale tests reported in the literature. The behaviour at elevated temperatures is then considered for both the semi-rigid jointed shell and rigid-jointed beam idealisations. The inclusion of accurate joint rigidity and geometric non-linearity (second order analysis) are shown to affect the collapse behaviour at elevated temperatures. For each fire scenario considered, the importance of base fixity in preventing an undesirable outwards collapse mechanism is demonstrated. The results demonstrate that joint rigidity and varying fire scenarios should be considered in order to allow for conservative design.
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DO children know a good book when they see it? This question was debated at the Brighton Conference during the session on Work with Young People. Some delegates said “yes…
Abstract
DO children know a good book when they see it? This question was debated at the Brighton Conference during the session on Work with Young People. Some delegates said “yes, children choose the best,” but others said “no” and instanced the craze for certain ephemeral authors. To some extent both sides were right, for much depends on the literary foundations laid in early days. Children who had good books in their homes, and had guidance at school and in the public library will pick out the best (with occasional lapses), while others often enough go for the second‐rate every time. Librarians are alive to this and accordingly provide the best picture and easy reading books from the presses and, incidentally, there seems to be a wider choice in this class of literature than for any other age group. On the informative side Harrap's have just published Hippo and Patches, attractively told and illustrated tales of a hippopotamus and her baby, and of a young giraffe, both written and illustrated by Joel Stolper (5/‐ each). Margaret M. Pearson's The Story of Australia (Harrap, 6/‐) gives the main facts of the discovery, early settlement and development of the continent in the form of a brightly illustrated story suitable for reading to the five‐to‐eight year olds. Mishka and the white Reindeer is a charmingly illustrated fairy tale by Alfred Wood (Dent, 6/‐) about a wood‐cutter whose friends were the creatures of the wild. The story is simply told and of the kind that children will read until they know it by heart. Mary Shillabeer's At First (Museum Press, 7/6) is an educational picture book designed to introduce children to the differences of sex by means of brightly coloured lithographs of animals and their offspring. They will love the gay pictures but whether they will lead “to the natural conclusion of the child's own relation to its parents” seems a bit doubtful considering the tender years the book is designed for. Other animal stories which will appeal to the youngest readers are Hester Wag‐staff's The Story of Fuzzy Wuzzy and Woolly Wonder (H. Hamilton, 6/‐), about two engaging bob tailed sheep dogs who play their part in the life of the town and win prizes in the Salvage Drive. The new method of illustration by colour photographs is used in The Friendly Adventures of Button and Mac, by Ursula Hourihane (O.U.P., 8/6), and the teddy bear and Scotch terrier heroes, their bedroom, their picnic with luncheon baskets, crockery, biscuits and all the minute detail children love, are attractively designed in colour, and in line drawings. The stories are designed for the six‐to‐ten year olds. The same age group and probably those a little older will enjoy the fancy in Frank Batchelor's Golden Journey (Newnes, 6/‐) in which a lean tabby, a musical hedgehog and an unaccomplished frog set off to find some money to comfort them in their old age, and the lesson they learn thereby. Another imaginative tale is The Flying House, written and illustrated by C. W. Hodges, about an inventor whose house is suddenly carried away by a balloon while he is showing it to two children. High up in the sky they come to a rocky island, encounter a witch and other strange things, but all ends well. For those who missed Walter de la Mare's The Dutch Cheese, The Scarecrow, and other stories there is now available his Collected Stories for Children (Faber, 10/6) containing these and many other tales, all illustrated by Irene Hawkins. The Brownie Scouts is a Polish children's classic by the late Mary Konopnicka, poetess, novelist and traveller; it is published by the Riverside Press at 10/6. It is in the old tradition of fairy tales with plenty of difficulties to overcome and with lively conversation giving it a modern touch. The brownie people depicted are a likeable lot and should become favourites.
Nancy C. Patterson, Ashley G. Lucas and Michael Kithinji
There is a tacit understanding among social studies teachers and educators that incorporating primary source documents in planning and teaching is desirable for many reasons, most…
Abstract
There is a tacit understanding among social studies teachers and educators that incorporating primary source documents in planning and teaching is desirable for many reasons, most prominent among them the ways in which it challenges students to think at higher levels. This study is a descriptive study of public school teachers’ uses of primary source documents in social studies planning, in which we review lesson activities of various grade level teachers to evaluate their use of primary documents for higher order cognitive purposes. Given the salient theme of critical thinking in the literature, we established a baseline continuum of uses that served as our framework for evaluating these activities. We asked the following questions: When history teachers incorporate the use of primary source documents in their planning, to what degree do they promote development of higher level critical thinking? What might a planned activity look like when they do? We found that the majority of the activities examined here employ primary source documents for lower order purposes but held the promise of easy transition to higher order uses.
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This paper explores the history of Stafford Beer's work in management cybernetics, from his early conception and simulation of an adaptive automatic factory and associated…
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This paper explores the history of Stafford Beer's work in management cybernetics, from his early conception and simulation of an adaptive automatic factory and associated experimentation in biological computing, through the development of the Viable System Model and the Team Syntegrity technique for discussion and planning. It also pursues Beer into the fields of micro‐ and macropolitics and spirituality. The aim is to show that all of Beer's projects can be understood as specific instantiations and workings out of a cybernetic ontology of unknowability and becoming: a stance that recognises that the world can always surprise us and that we can never dominate it through knowledge. The thrust of Beer's work was, thus, to construct systems that could adapt performatively to environments they could not fully control.