Nicole Horton, Mike Drayton, Daniel Thomas Wilcox and Harriet Dymond
This paper aims to describe the use of an innovative resilience-building training programme delivered to NHS Safeguarding Leads and other participating professionals over a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the use of an innovative resilience-building training programme delivered to NHS Safeguarding Leads and other participating professionals over a five-month period concluding in March 2019. The developers used knowledge and expertise in both the fields of psychology and drama-based learning to promote comprehension, retention and a capacity for using and conveying these strategies to other health-care workers.
Design/methodology/approach
Attendees were given pre- and post-questionnaires to examine the effectiveness of the training in terms of understanding the stages of burnout, developing an awareness of personal risk factors that may be associated with potential burnout and their perceptions of the confidence they have in both evaluating their personal resilience and using acquired skills and coping techniques that they may apply to their personal and professional lives. A Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was administered, to assess the significance of the difference between pre- and post-training scores.
Findings
Following the training, participants reported statistically significant improvements relating to their understanding of terms, including “burnout”. They also reported an increased awareness of their personal risk factors associated with burnout and felt more resilient having completed the training. Statistically significant changes were reported in all of these areas, with the drama element of the training being commended on about one third of all feedback forms where, with the post-test results, a narrative (unscored) opportunity for feedback was sought.
Research limitations/implications
The authors note that a long-term follow-up of retention and use of this training was not undertaken, though they consider that, post-pandemic, this necessary training can be reinitiated and that, as with other professional initiatives, video-engagement technology may be, through innovative efforts, merged with these effective training techniques as an option for future training applications.
Practical implications
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this training programme was the first of its kind to use a psychologically underpinned drama-based didactic approach to build resilience and protect against burnout. The results of this paper show that this training used an effective and efficient medium for successfully meeting these primary objectives.
Social implications
It is considered that using a similar training approach would be effective in building resilience and preventing burnout in health-care professionals.
Originality/value
This paper evaluates the effectiveness of an innovative resilience-building training programme drawing upon the field of psychology and drama-based learning to support safeguarding professionals within the NHS.
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Jun Zhao, Kathleen G. Rust, William McKinley and John C. Edwards
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of three managerial ideologies on the degree of employment contract breach perceived in connection with a downsizing.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of three managerial ideologies on the degree of employment contract breach perceived in connection with a downsizing.
Design/methodology/approach
Surveys were used to collect data from southwest China. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to explore the impact of three managerial ideologies on the perceived employment contract breach in connection with downsizing.
Findings
Results suggest that a strong belief in the ideology of market competition reduces an individual's perception that downsizing constitutes a breach of the employment contract between employer and employee. By contrast, a belief in employee worth has the opposite effect, strengthening the believer's perception that downsizing constitutes an employment contract breach. Belief in the third ideology, the ideology of shareholder interest, appears to have no influence on whether respondents perceived downsizing as an employment contract breach.
Practical implications
The results are important for understanding the way employees interpret common business practices like downsizing. Given the accumulation of enough confirmatory results, findings from studies like this paper might be used to inform the practice of management, which might result in a more satisfied and better performing workforce.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literatures on organizational downsizing and business ideologies. Specifically, it investigates ideological beliefs and their effects on perceptions of downsizing in a new arena – a country that is not used to the concepts of market competition and shareholder interest, and one that has only experienced large‐scale layoffs in very recent times. The view of the western business concepts such as psychological contract within the context of traditional Chinese philosophies and value systems provides in‐depth understanding of the challenges facing today's transitional economies such as China.
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Maja Stikic, Chris Berka and Stephanie Korszen
In this chapter, we overview different neuroenhancement techniques that could be applied for accelerating the learning process in a number of tasks that are associated with…
Abstract
In this chapter, we overview different neuroenhancement techniques that could be applied for accelerating the learning process in a number of tasks that are associated with occupational roles. The techniques range from: (1) pharmaceutical and invasive methods with limited applicability to the healthy population, due to possible side effects and obtrusiveness; (2) game-based brain training that shows task-specific potential, but may not generalize; and (3) a promising new research direction in which the goal is to “train” the brain to reach an optimal cognitive state for performing a given task, and remain in this state by self-regulation. However, in order to accomplish this goal of brain training, the neurological markers that best discriminate good task performance need to be identified. We also review a number of initial studies in this chapter which have analyzed such markers in a variety of training-related applications for different occupations, such as military/security (e.g., marksmanship, deadly force judgment and decision making, submarine piloting and navigation, phishing detection), medicine (e.g., robot-assisted surgery), banking (e.g., financial traders), sports (e.g., golf, archery, and baseball), or entertainment (e.g., musicians and actors). The promising results of these early studies are fueling interest in neuroscience-based technology and methods in the rapidly developing field of organizational neuroscience (e.g., leadership research). We conclude the chapter with a discussion of future research directions.
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Heitor Hoffman Nakashima, Daielly Mantovani and Celso Machado Junior
This paper aims to investigate whether professional data analysts’ trust of black-box systems is increased by explainability artifacts.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate whether professional data analysts’ trust of black-box systems is increased by explainability artifacts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was developed in two phases. First a black-box prediction model was estimated using artificial neural networks, and local explainability artifacts were estimated using local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME) algorithms. In the second phase, the model and explainability outcomes were presented to a sample of data analysts from the financial market and their trust of the models was measured. Finally, interviews were conducted in order to understand their perceptions regarding black-box models.
Findings
The data suggest that users’ trust of black-box systems is high and explainability artifacts do not influence this behavior. The interviews reveal that the nature and complexity of the problem a black-box model addresses influences the users’ perceptions, trust being reduced in situations that represent a threat (e.g. autonomous cars). Concerns about the models’ ethics were also mentioned by the interviewees.
Research limitations/implications
The study considered a small sample of professional analysts from the financial market, which traditionally employs data analysis techniques for credit and risk analysis. Research with personnel in other sectors might reveal different perceptions.
Originality/value
Other studies regarding trust in black-box models and explainability artifacts have focused on ordinary users, with little or no knowledge of data analysis. The present research focuses on expert users, which provides a different perspective and shows that, for them, trust is related to the quality of data and the nature of the problem being solved, as well as the practical consequences. Explanation of the algorithm mechanics itself is not significantly relevant.
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1. Conway, H. McKinley and Linda R. Liston, eds. The Weather Handbook. Atlanta, Conway Research Inc., 1974. 255p. This Handbook pulls together weather information for over 250…
Abstract
1. Conway, H. McKinley and Linda R. Liston, eds. The Weather Handbook. Atlanta, Conway Research Inc., 1974. 255p. This Handbook pulls together weather information for over 250 U.S. cities and for about 325 cities in other countries. A revision of the 1963 edition, it contains new data for most of the reporting stations and includes data for a number of new stations not included in the earlier edition. The first edition and this revision is a result of the editor's continuing interest in flying and his need for weather data for flight planning. This work as, Mr. Conway states, attempts to put this information in a form that is more convenient, practical and easier to use.
Jessie L. Tucker and Sheila R. Adams
This study investigates the apparent methodological shortcomings of the current literature that considers patients’ evaluations of their care. In an effort to resolve the evident…
Abstract
This study investigates the apparent methodological shortcomings of the current literature that considers patients’ evaluations of their care. In an effort to resolve the evident discrepancies between stated assertions and empirical evidence, integrates the two prominent streams of research to produce a more comprehensive model. Results suggest that just two distinct dimensions of the care experience were found to capture 74 per cent of the variance in satisfaction‐quality, with patients’ sociodemographic differences accounting for only 1 per cent.
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Davood Askarany and Malcolm Smith
Size is one of the most controversial influencing factors in the diffusion literature. This paper seeks to shed light on this controversy by examining the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
Size is one of the most controversial influencing factors in the diffusion literature. This paper seeks to shed light on this controversy by examining the relationship between business size and the diffusion of both technological innovation and activity‐based costing (ABC) as an administrative innovation. The findings are expected to provide some guidelines for managers in helping them to determine how to facilitate the diffusion of innovations in their organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a longitudinal survey method to examine practices within the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association, which is the pre‐eminent national body representing Australia's fourth largest manufacturing sector.
Findings
The study suggests a significant positive relationship between business size and both technological innovation and the implementation of ABC.
Originality/value
Knowledge of the impact of size on diffusion of innovation has been complicated by the mixed results of extant studies; the paper significantly contributes to this debate.
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In spite of escalating efforts to curb abuse, fraud, and corruption in Congress, members of Congress persist in violating the norms, rules, and laws that aim to ensure they behave…
Abstract
In spite of escalating efforts to curb abuse, fraud, and corruption in Congress, members of Congress persist in violating the norms, rules, and laws that aim to ensure they behave ethically. This chapter combines qualitative and quantitative analysis to describe congressional corruption in the modern era. Case studies illustrate consequential financial scandals while also differentiating four categories of corrupt financial practices.
Existing datasets on congressional scandals span the time period from 1972 to 2010, and this chapter extends the dataset to 2018. The analysis next uses the dataset to answer important questions empirically. Which types of scandals occur more often? Have these scandals grown more common or less common over time? What are the consequences of financial scandals for representatives' careers as public servants?
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Ron Langevin, Mara Langevin, Suzanne Curnoe and Jerald Bain
The prevalence of thyroid abnormalities among 831 sexual, violent, and non‐violent non‐sex offenders was found to be greater than found in the general population. Thyroid…
Abstract
The prevalence of thyroid abnormalities among 831 sexual, violent, and non‐violent non‐sex offenders was found to be greater than found in the general population. Thyroid abnormalities were most common among violent offenders and among sex offenders who victimized children. Thyroid disorders were associated with psychotic diagnoses, delusions, mania, suicidal thoughts, and showed a trend to more suicide attempts. These disorders were undiagnosed in 49.1% of the cases prior to the present clinical assessment. Of these, 59.3% faced their first criminal charges, and the undiagnosed thyroid abnormalities may be important in the offenders’ treatment and may be possible legal mitigating factors in some offenses. Results indicate that a routine endocrine evaluation with blood tests would be a valuable addition to the assessment of violent and sexual offenders.
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Howard S. Rasheed and Michelle Howard-Vital
In 2001, the Elementary and Secondary Act legislation was reauthorized in the U.S. as The Leave No Child Behind Act (NCLB) to place special emphasis on the importance of basing…
Abstract
In 2001, the Elementary and Secondary Act legislation was reauthorized in the U.S. as The Leave No Child Behind Act (NCLB) to place special emphasis on the importance of basing educational practice on empirical research. The reauthorization also required that America's public school systems become more accountable for the learning of students, for improving the educational achievement of all students, and for closing the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged segments of the student population.