Search results

This paper examines the issues and barriers that inhibit faculty from using technology in instruction. It uses the diffusion and adoption theory as a means to understand and explain how individuals and organisations react when an innovation is introduced into their environment. The framework proposed combines the empirical data from research using concept mapping with the theoretical factors identified from the literature to create a structured process that identifies the priority issues and barriers to technology adoption. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis were used to analyse the data gathered from the brainstorming session. A barrier definition and classification scheme was created and used to connect issues to barriers of adoption. Descriptive mixed methods approach was also used to develop a pictorial multivariate conceptual framework for understanding the relationships between issues and barriers to adopting instructional technology. Findings suggest that as a higher education institution in the early adoption phase of using instructional technology approaches critical mass of faculty users, it must address the issues of the critical mass, in order for the mainstream faculty to see the utility in the use of instructional technology in the classroom. This research lays the foundation for further research into the development of a systematic process or approach for managing the diffusion and adoption of technology in instruction at an institute of higher education.

A scholarly collaborative partnership is a capability that develops over time. Its quality is an outcome of the collaborative context, the alignment of purpose, development of work and learning processes, development of shared language and success stories. In this chapter, the authors engage in a metalogue where their shared reflection on the formation and development of their collaborative scholarship in the field of organization development and change is itself an instance of a process of shared scholarship. By adopting the format of a metalogue, they provide the voices of their individual thinking and their reflective conversation so as to offer an expression of the process of theorizing to scholars who wish to embark upon or study shared scholarship.

The widespread adoption of online purchasing has prompted increasing concerns about product safety, and regulators are beginning to hold e-commerce sites accountable for dangerous product defects. For online consumers, understanding the many inherent safety risks among the extensive array of products they browse is a formidable task. The authors attempt to address this problem via a client-side software artifact that warns shoppers about potential product safety hazards at the point of sale.

In this study, the authors built four candidate designs and assessed their effectiveness by means of a large randomized controlled experiment (n = 466). The authors define effectiveness as significant changes in dependent variables associated with health behaviors and technology adoption.

The authors find that all of the designs score high on adoption likelihood, that designs incorporating highlighting and scoring are better at increasing safety knowledge and that simpler designs are better at enhancing safety awareness.

These findings will inform the design of safety information dissemination systems and open new areas of safety awareness enhancement research. More generally, the authors introduce a novel method of testing text visualization variations and their impact on behavioral decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to study the use and value of practical work in the secondary school science classroom. Informed by the findings of a large survey of students from a wide variety of schools, a case study of pupils in the middle secondary range sought to investigate the precise role of practical work in the learning of a specific topic over a series of lessons.

Qualitative and quantitative assessment of academic progress of two classes of pupils revealed that students who undertook practical tasks made greater gains in knowledge and understanding than those who undertook non-practical alternatives. In order to explore students’ views about the practical tasks and whether they found them to be an affective and effective aid for their learning, data were collected using questionnaires, lesson observations and interviews of focus groups.

The data suggest three reasons why practical work supported pupils’ learning. First, practical work supported their visualisation of abstract concepts and provided a stimulus for the recall of key facts later. Second, it provided a distinctive opportunity for pupils to work collaboratively, with associated gains. Finally, hands-on tasks promoted a classroom atmosphere rich in variety, semi-autonomous learning and self-discovery, which pupils found intrinsically motivational.

This study, which responds to the criticism practical work has received in recent years, sheds some light on the mechanisms through which the strategy supports learning in certain contexts. Moreover it argues that practical work needs to be effectively planned to maximise the learning gains made by pupils.

Recounts how medieval English Jewry began when Jews were invited to immigrate by William I and ended with their expulsion by Edward I in 1290. The Jewish community was important and for most of its existence it was prosperous, owing to its particular social function – being the bankers, moneylenders and financiers of the time. Concentrates on a relatively little known aspect of the medieval Jewish community: the role played by its women. Jewish women played a significant part in business, not just as the wives or widows of businessmen, but as entrepreneurs on their own account. This was in sharp contrast to the position of women in wider English society. Using contemporary documents, the article examines the scale and nature of the business activities of Jewish women in medieval England, sketches the activities of some of these female entrepreneurs, and attempts to investigate the factors which enabled them to play such a prominent role.

Organizational ethics and related issues.

Graduate course on Strategic Human Resource Management and specialization courses in Banking.

This case details the account of a human resources (HR) manager of a multinational bank in India who “used” his position to bring on board his cronies to secure his position and utilize the inherent powers in the position to further his own ends. The case elaborates how the Manager HR went about his job soon after taking over and the consequences this had on the Indian operations and the morale of officers. The case requires the students to analyze and suggest ways in which this organization can prevent such occurrences in future.

The primary learning objective is to help the student understand the significance of organizational ethics values and react to issues arising from dealing with unethical practices. It will also make them aware of what can happen if systems are deliberately flouted and reporting protocol relating to information flows are ignored. Specifically, it will help them to select the right people, who are aware of the culture of the organization and what this culture implies in terms of working ethically. Communicate the working standards expected of its employees, especially newly trained ones. Analyze the challenges an employee can face when he or she tries to do things in the organization which are not ethical. Evaluate the different ways in which errant employees should be handled.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Although there is a lack of research on instruction that aims at facilitating students’ use of questioning with peers, many early childhood social studies textbooks and resources, include activities and lessons recommending students conduct interviews with an explicit assumption that young students are capable of formulating and using questions in the context of an interview. In these instances, no suggestions or ideas are given to teachers regarding instruction that will encourage and facilitate students’ questioning. The purpose of this study was to determine if the levels of social studies interview questions second graders formulate and use can be increased with questioning instruction in terms of quality, which is defined as depth of response, and in terms of quantity. This study generated research hypotheses that could be investigated in future research on instruction aimed at increasing young children’s questioning abilities as demonstrated in social studies.

Acculturation profiles based on the self‐oriented, others‐oriented, and perceptual dimensions of acculturative adjustment were derived for MNC employees of American, Canadian, Indian, Japanese, Latin American, Carribean and Nigerian origin. Our finding of significant, target‐specific, intercultural differences is of paramount importance in delineating areas of predeparture expatriate training and development.

To understand the motivations for adopting RI practices for institutional investors and asset managers; to understand the different RI strategies available to institutional investors; to understand the impediments to adoption of RI at an organisational level; to debate how financial institutions can drive the growth and adoption of RI among the investment community; and to illustrate the complexities of organisational change and the strategies that institutional entrepreneurs can use to overcome resistance to change from key stakeholders.

The case is set in October 2017 against the backdrop of the pending unbundling of Old Mutual plc into four new independent businesses, and the subsequent relisting of Old Mutual Ltd on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa. The head of responsible investment at Old Mutual Investment Group and the main protagonist of the case, Jon Duncan, is considering what the subsequent relisting will mean for the responsible investing programmes that he has set up over the past six years. The case goes on to describe how responsible investment principles were supported through the implementation of ESG integration and active ownership strategies. It also examines recent developments in ESG product innovations and demonstrates another technique available to responsible investment practitioners in the form of best-in-class ESG screening. The case ends with Duncan contemplating the strategic priorities of the RI team moving forward, and how the managed separation might impact on the RI agenda. It provides prompts for students to discuss and formulate a strategy for advancing the aims of responsible investing.

The case is aimed at postgraduate-level students enrolled in a management-related degree programme such as an MBA, and covers both sustainable and responsible finance and institutional entrepreneurship theory.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance

Volume 19 of Research in Organizational Change and Development includes chapters by an international diverse set of authors including Michael Beer, Victor J. Friedman, Luis Felipe Gómez and Dawna I. Ballard, Ethan S. Bernstein and Frank J. Barrett, Karen J. Jansen and David A. Hofmann, Guido Maes and Geert Van Hootegem, Tobias Fredberg, Flemming Norrgren and Abraham B. (Rami) Shani, and William A. Pasmore. The ideas expressed by these authors are as diverse as their backgrounds.