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1 – 10 of 317Charlotte Sullivan, Helen Lynch and Amanda Kirby
As occupational therapists embrace evidence-informed and occupation-centred practice, the use of standardised visual perceptual tests remains a strong feature of typical…
Abstract
Purpose
As occupational therapists embrace evidence-informed and occupation-centred practice, the use of standardised visual perceptual tests remains a strong feature of typical paediatric practice. Yet, the research evidence for the use of such tools is inconclusive at best. This study compared the results of the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS) with a checklist of reported functional difficulties in 30 children attending occupational therapy. The purpose of this paper was to determine the usefulness of visual perceptual testing in relation to occupation-centred practice.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive correlational study design was used. Participants were 30 primary school-age children who were on a paediatric occupational therapy caseload. An additional 30 typically developing children participated in the development of the checklist.
Findings
Correlations were found between reported functional visual skill difficulties and two subtests of the TVPS (visual memory and visual discrimination). No correlation was found between the reported functional difficulties and any of the other five subtests of the TVPS or the total score.
Originality/value
Results highlight the weak relationship that existed in this study between standardised measures of visual perception, as measured by the TVPS, and functional difficulties. Therapists are cautioned to explore both the evidence base for continued use of standardised visual perceptual measures to inform occupation-centred practice and the need to embrace a more comprehensive person-centred approach to visual perceptual assessment.
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Deborah E. Swain and Patrick Roughen
This paper aims to describe how knowledge management (KM) in planning can support the sustainability of innovation in a hybrid, joint-use facility. The case study research studies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe how knowledge management (KM) in planning can support the sustainability of innovation in a hybrid, joint-use facility. The case study research studies ImaginOn, a 15 year-old children’s library and theater for young people in Charlotte, NC.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used KM model analysis of qualitative data about tacit-explicit knowledge, intellectual capital (IC) and cognitive modes of collaboration. Both historic documents and primary data (from field study observations, interviews and a questionnaire) were analyzed for informal KM practices. Semi-structured and unstructured interview questions about innovation were used.
Findings
This study found evidence of tacit knowledge sharing, the growth of IC and the operationalization of collaboration to promote innovation. Although traditional KM terms were not used by staff, an integrated model framework demonstrates how KM practices promote innovation in planning joint-use facilities.
Practical implications
Although a study of a diverse cultural collaboration rather than two libraries, the KM practices that supported innovation and collaboration in this hybrid, joint-use facility might be applied to libraries. Future KM model research on joint-use organizations could investigate merged businesses, government programs and non-profits.
Social implications
The library and theater institutions in ImaginOn impact the lives of children and parents in meaningful ways that support community understanding, art, diversity and social interaction.
Originality/value
Research on joint-use libraries began in the 1960s. This case study provides unique model analysis of KM practices in a hybrid, joint-use facility (a library and theater). The innovative success and sustainability of ImaginOn illustrates the application of KM for strategic planning and aligning IC and business assets.
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This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005), Atomic Blonde (David Leitch, 2017) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018) – worth attention to highlight the potential and problems of the queer female hero in spy action. This chapter examines how each of these spy action films contributes to the ongoing yet uneven development of the female hero as a queer figure in post-millennial action cinema. The chapter will consider to what extent these queer female-led action films may pose a challenge to some of the dominant standards and conventions associated with the action hero, gender roles and the representation of sexuality, but also reinforce others. Some comparisons will be made to James Bond in recognition that the Bond franchise has played an important role in the spy action genre.
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This article aims to examine the manifestation of coloniality within social studies curricula and explore strategies for rejecting colonial paradigms through teaching praxis. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine the manifestation of coloniality within social studies curricula and explore strategies for rejecting colonial paradigms through teaching praxis. The author presents a curriculum that unveils the narratives of Linnentown, a local Black community, to examine the impacts of colonial legacies on people's everyday lives.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the teaching and learning cycle framework, the author demonstrates the integration of sequenced embodied and multimodal activities. Furthermore, the author utilizes the concept of critical place-based education (CPBE) to demonstrate how critical pedagogies within the context of place can cultivate transformative learning experiences.
Findings
By guiding students to critically analyze the sociopolitical conditions of Linnentown residents, CPBE, paired with multimodal activities, helps challenge dominant narratives and empowers students to become agents of change in their local communities.
Originality/value
This curriculum fosters a nuanced understanding of structural oppression, empowers students to develop critical awareness and social agency and guides youth in confronting settler colonialism within and beyond their communities.
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Khaled Medath Aldossari, Brian C. Lines, Jake B. Smithwick, Kristen C. Hurtado and Kenneth T. Sullivan
Although numerous studies have examined alternative project delivery methods (APDMs), most of these studies have focused on the relationship between these methods and improved…
Abstract
Purpose
Although numerous studies have examined alternative project delivery methods (APDMs), most of these studies have focused on the relationship between these methods and improved project performance. Limited research identifies how to successfully add these methods within architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) organizations. The purpose of this paper is to identifying organizational change management (OCM) practices that, when effectively executed, lead to increased success rates of adopting APDMs in owner AEC organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven OCM practices were identified through a comprehensive literature review. Then, through a survey of 140 individuals at 98 AEC organizations, the relationships between OCM practices and organizational adoption of APDMs were established.
Findings
The findings indicate that OCM practices with the strongest relationship to successful APDM adoption are realistic timeframe, effective change agents, workloads adjustments, senior-leadership commitment and sufficient change-related training.
Practical implications
Adopting APDMs can be extremely difficult and requires significant organizational change efforts to ensure the change is a success. Organizations that are implementing APDMs for the first time should consider applying the OCM practices that this study identifies as most related to successful APDM adoption.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by identifying the OCM practices that are most significantly associated with successfully adopting APDMs.
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Drew Polly, Robert Algozzine, Christie Sullivan Martin and Maryann Mraz
In the USA, school districts are funding mathematics coaching positions to provide school-level support to teachers. The purpose of this paper is to survey school personnel whose…
Abstract
Purpose
In the USA, school districts are funding mathematics coaching positions to provide school-level support to teachers. The purpose of this paper is to survey school personnel whose job responsibilities included mathematics coaching in order to examine their job responsibilities and what they felt that their job responsibilities should be.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 67 elementary school mathematics coaches completed a survey that included 30 aspects of the job of elementary school mathematics leaders.
Findings
Quantitative analyses indicated that there were statistically significant differences between their actual roles and their preferred roles on 24 of the 30 items. This means that coaches reported that the aspects of their current role did not align to what they thought their job should be.
Research limitations/implications
The findings indicate a need to collect further information in a longitudinal study, potentially from a combination of surveys, interviews, and observations, about elementary mathematics coaches’ job responsibilities and the impact that coaches have on both teachers and students.
Practical implications
The findings indicate a need for school leaders, mathematics leaders (coaches), and classroom teachers to work together to utilize mathematics leaders more effectively so as to best support teachers’ instruction and students’ learning.
Originality/value
While some research has been published on literacy coaching, the research base on mathematics coaching is scant. This study contributes to the knowledge base about the roles and duties of coaches in elementary school settings.
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Steven Call, Jake Smithwick and Kenneth Sullivan
The purpose of this paper is to organize and compare benchmark information gathered during the development of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to organize and compare benchmark information gathered during the development of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) consensus report Facilities Staffing Requirements for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) – Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future and other publicly available facility engineering staffing benchmarks and rules-of-thumb information.
Design/methodology/approach
Presentations and transcripts were reviewed to identify pertinent facility engineering staffing benchmarks discussed in meetings and workshops held by the Committee on Facilities Staffing Requirements for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) while developing the NASEM consensus report: Facilities Staffing Requirements for VHA – Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Researchers also collected and reviewed sources not evaluated in the NASEM consensus report.
Findings
Compared to publicly available benchmarks for FE staffing, the VHA’s FE staffing levels are slightly higher. However, caution should be used when referencing these public benchmarks for the purpose of implementing a staffing model at the VHA. It is difficult to fairly compare VHA and publicly available FE staffing benchmarks because there can be large differences even between public benchmarks regarding similar work units. Other factors, such as average facility size, age and department structure can also vary, making it problematic to assume that these benchmarks are appropriate for the VHA’s unique facility conditions.
Originality/value
The findings can be used as a point of reference by VHA and other health-care systems for implementing staff modeling for the built environment workforce to support workforce planning and benchmarking.
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Matthew Valasik and Matthew Phillips
The purpose of this paper is to use nearly a century’s worth of gang research to inform us about modern terrorist groups, specifically the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use nearly a century’s worth of gang research to inform us about modern terrorist groups, specifically the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach is employed, comparing and contrasting the competing theoretical frameworks of gangs and terrorist organisations to understand group structure, demographics, patterns of behaviour (e.g. territoriality, strategic, and instrumental violence), goals, and membership patterns of ISIS.
Findings
The qualitative differences of ISIS make them more comparable to street gangs than other terrorist groups.
Practical implications
ISIS, while being qualitatively different from other terrorist groups, actually has many similarities with street gangs allowing for the adaptation of effective gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. This paper highlights how the expansive literature on street gangs is able to inform practical interventions to directly target ISIS and deradicalise potential recruits. By introducing a gang-terror nexus on the crime-terror continuum, this paper provides a useful perspective on the decentralised but dynamic nature of modern era insurgencies. This paper urges similar case studies of terrorist organisations to determine the extent to which they conform to street gang characteristics.
Originality/value
Terrorist groups are often compared to street gangs, yet it has not been until the last few years that gang researchers (Curry, 2011; Decker and Pyrooz, 2011, 2015a, b) have begun to compare and contrast these two deviant group archetypes. The goal of this paper is to use nearly a hundred years of gang research to better equip scholars and practitioners with a broader understanding of terrorism and insurgency in the era of globalisation by presenting a case study of ISIS using a street gang perspective.
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Manzur Rahman and Claudio Carpano
In this paper, the authors aim to look at the relationship between divergent national corporate social policies as embedded in corporate governance regimes and the development of…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors aim to look at the relationship between divergent national corporate social policies as embedded in corporate governance regimes and the development of the firm’s organizational capabilities. More specifically, the authors illustrate how the different systems of corporate governance developed in the USA and Germany are major resource-based factors on the decision to develop production-related organizational capabilities. The authors develop an integrative framework, drawing on both the corporate governance, as well as strategic management literatures, to explain idiosyncrasies and commonalities in capability development. In the aggregate, this would lead to differential corporate social and economic performance between Germany and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper that develops a framework to link national corporate social policy as embedded in governance systems to corporate social and economic performance.
Findings
Corporate governance systems – embodying divergent corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientations vis-à-vis the firm’s stakeholders – can be viewed as determinants of group-specific resources that will not be transferable across different nation-states, leading to divergent corporate social and economic performance.
Originality/value
The analysis emphasizes that CSR is an essential element of corporate governance. The authors highlight that regulatory, normative and cognitive institutional structures and orientations help to utilize and configure important firm-specific, industry-specific and country-specific resources and capabilities. This framework also contributes to recent developments in the corporate governance and management literatures that position CSR as a central element of corporate governance institutions.
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Rebecca Kassa, Ibilola Ogundare, Brian Lines, Jake B. Smithwick, Nancy J. Kepple and Kenneth T. Sullivan
Construction organizations' investment in effective talent-development programs is a key strategy in attracting, developing and retaining staff. Such programs are especially…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction organizations' investment in effective talent-development programs is a key strategy in attracting, developing and retaining staff. Such programs are especially important given the current challenges in the construction workforce, including labor shortages, an aging workforce, generational differences in the workforce, supply chain disruptions and the need to effectively train staff in the skills that are essential in a constrained labor environment. To address these challenges, this study proposes a performance measurement strategy that construction companies can use as input to design their talent development programs.
Design/methodology/approach
The strategy intends to assess the performance of project managers and develop criteria that define categories of their performance, including the top performers' category. This enables construction organizations to provide each project manager with individualized training that addresses areas of weakness and in turn, develops the skills that correspond with being top performers. The proposed strategy was developed and tested by surveying the immediate supervisors of 187 project managers working for general and specialty contractors in the United States. Principal component analysis was used to develop a single performance construct from seven performance criteria.
Findings
This construct was used to organize the project managers into the categories of top, above-average and below-average performers. According to the findings, top-performing project managers have well-rounded skills in the areas of leadership, communication, technical proficiency and overall job knowledge.
Practical implications
The outcomes of this study can help construction organizations focus their talent-development programs on the skills most associated with PMs being top performers.
Originality/value
This study provides construction organizations with a comprehensive performance-measuring construct to focus their talent-development programs on the skills most associated with top-performing project managers. Researchers can use this study as a foundation for further understanding how performance is related to various construction professions.
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