Search results

Describes how investing almost £500,000 in training its 100 employees helped Chess Telecom to prepare for growth.

Details how the training was devised and delivered, in an award‐winning partnership with training provider TWF.

Explains that, since the training was delivered, the Chess customer base has increased by 157 percent, turnover has risen by 112 percent, profit is up by 51 percent and the number of employees has increased by 25 percent.

Reveals how the training helped to change attitudes to learning and self‐development in the organization.

Examines some of the attitudes and approaches that can help organizations and individuals to cope with the fast pace of change.

Explains, from an “insider” perspective, the workings of a successful training partnership.

This Chapter provides an overview of the field of digital humanities and examines the arguments that are helping to shape it in a variety of ways. This chapter explores the unique difference in perspective between the “code” as the basis of understanding the humanities in general and digital humanities more specifically and the focus of pedagogues, who believe that it is indeed the examination and expression of the humanities that help shape the code, thus giving the code meaning. There are also those who focus more on research within the field and are not conversant on how various tools work but instead why they are chosen in the first place. This chapter also explores how the work of students, as user of that which we in the field code, teach and research, impacts the discipline.

This paper aims to describe the relationship between functional health literacy level and smoking cessation outcomes.

Participants in an inpatient smoking cessation program in a mid‐western city in the USA were enrolled and the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults was administered while the participant was still admitted. A follow‐up telephone call was made three months after the intervention in order to assess self‐reported smoking cessation.

A total of 30 participants were enrolled. At the three‐month follow‐up, 22 patients were currently smoking and eight had quit smoking. Chi‐square analysis indicated that there was no difference in the incidence of successful smoking cessation based on level of functional health literacy. The results of a stepwise logistic regression analysis suggest that predicting whether a study participant will quit smoking or not appears to be a function of the participant's environment, since the only variable that contributed significantly to the equation was environmental factors.

The results of this study suggest that the participants had a relatively high level of functional health literacy. Participants with all levels of functional health literacy were able to quit smoking, as the incidence of smoking cessation was no different across levels of functional health literacy. A participant's ability to quit smoking did not appear to be a function of their functional health literacy, but instead appeared to be a function of their environment.

Health educators and smoking cessation counselors need to consider all factors that have an impact on people's ability to quit smoking, but environmental factors may deserve additional consideration.

An agenda for a social constructionist perspective on corporate communication. It seeks to do so by focusing on the mission statement as an aspect of corporate communications. Previously unpublished research on mission statement design and use in the UK is used as a basis for an analysis of the theoretical assumptions which are often presupposed in corporate communications. It is suggested that these assumptions represent one (cognitivist) model of communication meaning‐making. The alternative model of socially constituted meaning‐making is developed in the context of mission statement use. Some further, more general suggestions are made concerning the implications of social constructionism for corporate communications.

Building on an ethnographic study of ethical consumption discourses and practices among activists and entrepreneurs in Hungary this chapter looks at how actors reflect critically on the current state of the Hungarian society by contrasting it to an image of Western Europe as a locus of consumer consciousness, civic activism, and sustainable economic practices. Such an opposition allows for the expression of various hopes, desires, and frustrations about the seemingly never ending process of post-socialist transition and at once provide a chance to mediate the contradictions inherent in contemporary practices of ethical consumption. While ethical consumption might offer itself as a global phenomenon, it is always practiced in local contexts with their particular struggles, histories, and trajectories. This chapter tries to contribute to the literature on ethical consumption by tracing the various meanings and values that are being attached to it in a “newly born consumer society.”

Country‐specific information on risk management is increasingly important, not only for investors and decision makers in international markets but also, for those in national and regional markets. This study reports the results of a cross‐sectional survey of risk management practice and derivatives use by a sample of Australian firms. Overall, the results suggest that firm‐specific factors appear to have some influence on risk management practice with the industry of the respondent being the most important, while the degree of international exposure has the least. Larger and more internationally exposed firms are likely to have more frequent reporting of derivatives use, and are more likely to use swaps and options to manage risks than other types of firms. Issues and implications for international firms are discussed.

Forget the railroad wars. The next wave of consolidation in the freight‐hauling industry will be across borders and transportation modes, thanks to growing global trade and customer demand for efficiency.

Sets out US and Californian law on religious discrimination, setting out the protection this gives employees from being discriminated against in either employment, training or compensation for employment because of the religious beliefs. Also points out that the law requires employees to make reasonable accommodation to enable employees participate in religious observances. Lists the steps that employees must take to prove that there has been religious discrimination. Looks at California and US case law and finds that they give similar religious rights in the workplace. Sets out what these rights are as they relate to employment, membership of a trade union, and access to training. Assesses the impact of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 1993, indicating the extra rights this gives church and other religious organizations. Summarizes the President’s Guidelines on Religious Exercise and Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace, issued by the White House in 1997. Points out that some groups object to these rights on the grounds that they might infringe other groups’ rights to protection from harassment.

We explore how K-8 student scholars experience culturally relevant texts provided during Freedom Schools summer camps, discuss ways Freedom Schools can be a vehicle for youth to become advocates for social change, and consider opportunities created by Freedom Schools for community engagement and partnerships. Mixed methods were used to investigate the experiences of 38 scholars at two different Freedom Schools sites (one rural and one mid-sized urban) in the southeastern U.S. The majority of scholars identified as African American and lived in low-income households. Primary data sources included scholar surveys and reading assessments, camp observations, and interviews with scholars, as well as our own personal reflections as the Research Director (Alysia Roehrig) and Co-Executive Directors (Kristal M. Clemons and Keely Norris) for the sites. We triangulated descriptive statistics from surveys with qualitative data, primarily from interviews, which we analyzed using open coding and axial coding to develop themes (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The majority of scholars, who participated in the 2016 North Florida Freedom Schools, reported being able to identify with specific characters and situations in the books included in the culturally relevant reading summer program, and they expressed positive thoughts and feelings about the books. Most scholars (74%) maintained or gained in instructional reading levels and did not experience summer learning loss. Children’s confidence that they could act prosocially also increased significantly during the summer camps, which children characterized as different from regular school. Freedom Schools can offer a valuable forum for diverse community members to learn about one another, focus on their strengths, and become agents for social change. We provide suggestions for how other communities can implement the Freedom Schools model.

Eric Bourne, Inspector for Further Education, ILEA, looks at the way general studies are taught in colleges of further education. He suggests that there are two chief streams of thought running through mural studies teaching — an instrumental approach, in which attention is paid to preparing the student for a range of economic problems, and an expository approach involving topic teaching aimed at the exposition of controversial issues. Planned projects, prepared by the entire general studies staff of a college, may help to provide a balanced and effective approach to general studies. The ideas expressed in this article are the personal views of the author.