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21 – 30 of 102Madeleine King, Arti Saraswat and John Widdowson
The purpose of this paper is to report research carried out by the Mixed Economy Group of colleges into the student experience of part time (PT) higher education (HE) delivered in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report research carried out by the Mixed Economy Group of colleges into the student experience of part time (PT) higher education (HE) delivered in English further education (FE) colleges.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was completed by 352 PT students. Their responses, including free comments, formed the basis of the report. The authors provide a context for the work by referring to research carried out by other national agencies.
Findings
The research illustrates the strengths of college-based HE, which largely derives from delivery by staff who are qualified teachers and, often, professionally active in their field of expertise. Whilst valuing this, students also seek recognition of the demands of work and family on their study time, as well as an identity as HE students within the greater FE environment.
Social implications
PT HE can drive regional economic growth. By addressing the issues raised by students in the research, local colleges, partner universities, employers and national government can re-build local skill bases. Promoting PT HE develops a vocational ladder to HE, thus widening participation.
Originality/value
Relatively little publically available research exists into the experiences of students pursuing PT HE in colleges. This primary research begins an evidence-based debate about how colleges can improve their offer but also reminds Government of the need to give equal weight to the needs of PT students in future changes to the delivery of HE.
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Erica Mina Okada and Eric L. Mais
Many market examples show that consumers are willing to pay a premium for “green” products and services. The purpose of this paper is to gain some insight into how consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
Many market examples show that consumers are willing to pay a premium for “green” products and services. The purpose of this paper is to gain some insight into how consumers respond to green alternatives, and examine how managers can best position their green products to maximize the premium consumers are willing to pay.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of behavioral experiments was conducted to demonstrate how the green product's characteristics are framed significantly affects the size of the “green premium” consumers are willing to pay.
Findings
The results show that positive framing (focusing on the advantages of the green product) works best for environmentally conscious consumers while negative framing (focusing on avoiding the disadvantages of the non‐green product) works best for less environmentally conscious consumers. Additionally, subtractive price framing which focuses on the discount consumers would pay for the non‐green product alternative results in a higher green premium than additive price framing which focuses on the additional price consumers would pay for the green choice, and especially so for less environmentally conscious consumers.
Research limitations/implications
Overall, the results suggest that green firms can maximize the green‐pricing premium by careful targeting of consumers and framing their products appropriately.
Originality/value
This paper explores how the difference between the green versus non‐green alternative can be framed in different ways, and interact with the consumer's level of environmental consciousness, to influence the “green premium,”, i.e. how much more consumers are willing to pay for the green alternative relative to a comparable non‐green alternative.
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Robert Thomas, Mabel Blades, Madeleine Williams and Sara Godward
This pilot study seeks to evaluate whether dietary intervention combined with an oral formulation of sodium salicylate, mineral and vitamin supplements (CV247) altered the rate of…
Abstract
Purpose
This pilot study seeks to evaluate whether dietary intervention combined with an oral formulation of sodium salicylate, mineral and vitamin supplements (CV247) altered the rate of progression in patients with malignant disease.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 37 patients were recruited from March 2001 to November 2001 and ran to September 2004. All patients had progressive malignancy at trial entry (def: at least two consecutive increases in tumour markers >10 per cent or radiological progression). Patients, were recommended a diet rich in fresh fruit, vegetables, low in saturated fats, salt and man‐made chemical supplements such as colours and preservatives together with oral CV247 (sodium salicylate, copper gluconate, manganese gluconate and ascorbic acid). Dietary compliance was monitored, from a subgroup, by monthly interviews with the trial dietitian recorded on a linear analogue scale. Quality of life was measured by monthly completion of a Rotterdam symptom check‐list questionnaire and tumour progression measured by radiological assessment and/or tumour markers.
Findings
The treatment was well tolerated and compliance with the diet was enthusiastic. Of the two patients with progressive metastatic ovarian carcinoma, one had stabilisation in the disease for five months, the other for 20 months. The 28 heavily pre‐treated patients (including those with metastatic prostate cancer) had no significant clinical response (52 per cent stabilisation for 3.5 months). Of the seven patients with early prostate cancer (no metastasis or hormonal therapy, with pre‐trial increasing PSA), six (86 per cent) had stabilisation of PSA with a mean duration of 17.2 months.
Originality/value
This study succeeded in evaluating whether dietary intervention combined with an oral formulation of sodium salicylate, mineral and vitamin supplements (CV247) altered the rate of progression in patients with malignant disease.
Kasun Gomis, Mandeep Saini, Chaminda Pathirage and Mohammed Arif
The issues in the current Built Environment Higher Education (BEHE) curricula recognise a critical need for enhancing the quality of teaching. This paper aims to identify the need…
Abstract
Purpose
The issues in the current Built Environment Higher Education (BEHE) curricula recognise a critical need for enhancing the quality of teaching. This paper aims to identify the need for a best practice in teaching within BEHE curricula and recommend a set of drivers to enhance the current teaching practices in the Built Environment (BE) education. The study focused on Section 1 of the National Student Survey (NSS) – Teaching on my course, with a core focus on improving student satisfaction, making the subject interesting, creating an intellectually stimulating environment and challenging learners.
Design/methodology/approach
The research method used in this study is the mixed method, a document analysis consisting of feedback from undergraduate students and a closed-ended questionnaire to the academics in the BEHE context. More than 375 student feedback were analysed to understand the teaching practices in BE and fed forward to developing the closed-ended questionnaire for 23 academics, including a Head of School, a Principal Lecturer, Subject Leads and Lecturers. The data was collected from Architecture, Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Quantity Surveying and Building surveying disciplines representing BE context. The data obtained from both instruments were analysed with content analysis to develop 24 drivers to enhance the quality of teaching. These drivers were then modelled using the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) method to identify their correlation and criticality to NSS Section 1 themes.
Findings
The study revealed 10 independent, 11 dependent and three autonomous drivers, facilitating the best teaching practices in BEHE. The study further recommends that the drivers be implemented as illustrated in the level partitioning diagrams under each NSS Section 1 to enhance the quality of teaching in BEHE.
Practical implications
The recommended set of drivers and the level partitioning can be set as a guideline for academics and other academic institutions to enhance the quality of teaching. This could be further used to improve student satisfaction and overall NSS results to increase the rankings of academic institutions.
Originality/value
New knowledge can be recognised with the ISM analysis and level partitioning diagrams of the recommended drivers to assist academics and academic institutions in developing the quality of teaching.
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Jodi Gabelmann and Judith L. Glick-Smith
“Being second” refers to a state of mind, an acceptance of circumstance, being content knowing that you are living your life, and not relying on others to dictate what your “best…
Abstract
“Being second” refers to a state of mind, an acceptance of circumstance, being content knowing that you are living your life, and not relying on others to dictate what your “best life” should look like. Sometimes, it takes a lifetime to make this journey. This chapter recounts Battalion Chief Jodi Gabelmann’s journey to peace and pride in a well-lived career in the male-dominated, family-centric world of fire and emergency medical services. Dr Judith Glick-Smith ties Chief Gabelmann’s story to the theoretical underpinnings of her story.
Leaders in the public service are continually challenged with the requirement to enhance citizen-centered services while decreasing the cost to provide them. Administrative…
Abstract
Leaders in the public service are continually challenged with the requirement to enhance citizen-centered services while decreasing the cost to provide them. Administrative processes and approvals require significant lead-up time to engage the public, discuss proposals and changes with numerous staff levels, public advisory committees, and finally, Council. Implementation is a whole other process. Often issues are cross-sectoral and require multidisciplinary actions to be effective. The labyrinth of achieving success and better outcomes is exciting and requires courage, innovation, and a certain nimbleness. This chapter speaks to the experiences of a senior level public servant who has the way. Concepts such as leadership styles, value-driven teams, appreciative inquiry, pride, and alignment, managing change, and self-care are discussed.
As the social scientists of modern society, sociologists find themselves in a peculiar situation. Human civilization appears on the brink of collapse; the ravages of global…
Abstract
As the social scientists of modern society, sociologists find themselves in a peculiar situation. Human civilization appears on the brink of collapse; the ravages of global capitalism are turning natural and social orders upside down. Some theorists are declaring the “end of history,” while others wonder if humans will soon become extinct. People find themselves increasingly shouldering burdens on their own, strangers to themselves and others. Struggles for recognition and identity are forged in harsh landscapes of social dislocation and inequality. The relationship of the individual to the state atrophies as governmental power becomes at once more remote and absolutely terrifying. How are we as sociologists expected to theorize under such circumstances? What implications result for the mission of sociology as a discipline and area of study? What political initiatives, if any, can counter these trends?
This chapter provides an immanent critique of sociology as a profession, vocation, and critical practice. Sociology today (in the US and around the globe) faces fierce social, economic, and political headwinds. The discipline continues to be a perilous choice as a vocation for independent researchers as much as the shrinking professoriate. Yet while the traditional functions of sociology are thrown into doubt, there has been an increase in critical practices on the part of some sociologists. As institutional norms, values, and traditions continue to be challenged, there will be passionate debates about the production of social worlds and the validity claims involved in such creation. Sociologists must play an active role in such discourse. Sociology is needed today as a mode of intervention as much as occupational status system or method of inquiry.
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Today’s business leaders face a global environment that is marked by increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) conditions. Design thinking offers a proven…
Abstract
Today’s business leaders face a global environment that is marked by increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) conditions. Design thinking offers a proven way to navigate in a VUCA environment. I used this approach while serving as a military officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. This chapter focuses on what I learned from applying design thinking to our operations as well as on insights from businesses that have also successfully integrated design thinking. I use the framework “inspire, ideate, and implement” to describe how I utilized design thinking. I finish the chapter with key factors for successfully employing a design methodology to VUCA problems.
Design thinking empowers organizations to tackle successfully VUCA challenges. Inspiration allows designers to frame relevant problems that clients care about. With the pressing challenge in hand, designers immerse themselves in the context of a problem to empathize with a customer’s concerns. They synthesize input from a variety of diverse sources, and meet experts who can give meaning to their collected data. With this comprehensive picture in hand, design teams brainstorm new possibilities as they move into ideation. Taking their ideas out for a test run, they iterate the most promising ways to move into action. They conduct pilot projects, adapt to what works best, and share their learning from the process. Leaders with a design mindset, aligned with a collaborative organizational culture and congruent support systems, can build an innovative enterprise that is primed to thrive in a VUCA world.