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1 – 10 of over 1000Nicholas Martin, John Capman, Anthony Boyce, Kyle Morgan, Manuel Francisco Gonzalez and Seymour Adler
Cognitive ability tests demonstrate strong relationships with job performance, but have several limitations; notably, subgroup differences based on race/ethnicity. As an…
Abstract
Purpose
Cognitive ability tests demonstrate strong relationships with job performance, but have several limitations; notably, subgroup differences based on race/ethnicity. As an alternative, the purpose of this paper is to develop a working memory assessment for personnel selection contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors describe the development of Global Adaptive Memory Evaluation (G.A.M.E.) – a working memory assessment – along with three studies focused on refining and validating G.A.M.E., including examining test-taker reactions, reliability, subgroup differences, construct and criterion-related validity, and measurement equivalence across computer and mobile devices.
Findings
Evidence suggests that G.A.M.E. is a reliable and valid tool for employee selection. G.A.M.E. exhibited convergent validity with other cognitive assessments, predicted job performance, yielded smaller subgroup differences than traditional cognitive ability tests, was engaging for test-takers, and upheld equivalent measurement across computers and mobile devices.
Research limitations/implications
Additional research is needed on the use of working memory assessments as an alternative to traditional cognitive ability testing, including its advantages and disadvantages, relative to other constructs and methods.
Practical implications
The findings illustrate working memory’s potential as an alternative to traditional cognitive ability assessments and highlight the need for cognitive ability tests that rely on modern theories of intelligence and leverage burgeoning mobile technology.
Originality/value
This paper highlights an alternative to traditional cognitive ability tests, namely, working memory assessments, and demonstrates how to design reliable, valid, engaging and mobile-compatible versions.
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Jeffrey M. Cucina, Kevin A. Byle, Nicholas R. Martin, Sharron T. Peyton and Ilene F. Gast
The purpose of this paper is to examine the presence of generational differences in items measuring workplace attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction, employee engagement).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the presence of generational differences in items measuring workplace attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction, employee engagement).
Design/methodology/approach
Data from two empirical studies were used; the first study examined generational differences in large sample, multi-organizational administrations of an employee survey at both the item and general-factor levels. The second study compared job satisfaction ratings between parents and their children from a large nationwide longitudinal survey.
Findings
Although statistically significant, most generational differences in Study 1 did not meet established cutoffs for a medium effect size. Type II error was ruled out given the large power. In Study 2, generational differences again failed to reach Cohen’s cutoff for a medium effect size. Across both studies, over 98 percent of the variance in workplace attitudes lies within groups, as opposed to between groups, and the distributions of scores on these variables overlap by over 79 percent.
Originality/value
Prior studies examining generational differences in workplace attitudes focused on scale-level constructs. The present paper focused on more specific item-level constructs and employed larger sample sizes, which reduced the effects of sampling error. In terms of workplace attitudes, it appears that generations are more similar than they are different.
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Priya Jindal and Lochan Chavan
Government organisations, small and medium-sized businesses, education, and the entertainment industries all use multimedia technology to communicate information and ideas across…
Abstract
Government organisations, small and medium-sized businesses, education, and the entertainment industries all use multimedia technology to communicate information and ideas across digital, print, catalogue, and advertising mediums. Any message delivered by businesses, whether digital or printed graphics, images, text, movies, or animation, is more likely to be accepted by the target audience. The financial sector is no exception. Multimedia technology refers to activities involving computers, software development, and online media distribution. Professionals and experts in computer or software development use multimedia technology to create a variety of mechanisms including product demos, web pages, news sites, and presentations to attract attention or convey any message to a specific audience. Multimedia technology such as multimedia software, transaction processing, electronic payments, voicemail, and networked communication required banks and the financial sector to adopt new practices for delivering banking services and making the financial system more user-friendly for consumers and the financial industry’s operation. Banks and other financial institutions are compelled to innovate as computer technologies advance to maintain competitiveness. Multimedia technology offers lower occupancy costs with a smaller staff and lower transaction processing expenses. New technologies in the financial sector are replacing traditional methods of operation because multimedia technology makes work simpler, faster, and more effective. The industry is trying to switch to a self-service model through technology by providing the same level of convenience at a lower price.
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In the beginning of the 1990s it was decided to start educating journalists at two Danish universities. This was decided in the hope that such academic journalists would carry…
Abstract
In the beginning of the 1990s it was decided to start educating journalists at two Danish universities. This was decided in the hope that such academic journalists would carry greater insight into that work. Therefore for the curricula of these students of journalism some traditional academic disciplines were introduced. One such academic discipline was information retrieval. It was clear, however, that the information retrieval course had to be designed specifically for the students of journalism, as the information needs of journalists differ from the information needs of more traditional academic disciplines. Thus, this article describes the work done in order to develop such a course for students of journalism. Firstly, it analyses the information needs of journalists on a theoretical basis. Secondly, an empirical study analyses which information retrieval resources are available to Danish journalists. Finally, it combines the theoretical and the empirical findings in arguing that it is necessary to provide students of journalism with a theoretical understanding of how online information retrieval works, and also practical experience with several information retrieval resources that they are supposed to use in their daily work.
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Helen Martin and David Nicholas
Journalists at The Guardian have had access to online databases for some ten years now and many of them have taken to searching the databases themselves. This paper examines…
Abstract
Journalists at The Guardian have had access to online databases for some ten years now and many of them have taken to searching the databases themselves. This paper examines, through the results of a questionnaire survey, why journalists choose to search themselves, what kind of searches they conduct and what problems they experience in carrying out their searches. The survey's major findings are that journalists are generally high‐volume online users (although female journalists lag behind their male colleagues); their searching tends to be of the ‘quick and dirty type’ (probably through lack of training and the pressures of work), though most journalists are reasonably satisfied with the product of their searches; they are not particularly interested in viewing an electronic facsimile of the cutting; and they are generally happy to delegate the online search to the librarians.
Archaeological evidence from the prehistoric Spondylus industry of coastal Ecuador is analyzed here to clarify how craft production was structured and the role that it played in…
Abstract
Archaeological evidence from the prehistoric Spondylus industry of coastal Ecuador is analyzed here to clarify how craft production was structured and the role that it played in the rise of social complexity. Many models of social development propose that elite cooption of specialized craft production can be a useful avenue through which aspiring elites can gain differential status. Contrary to the expectations of these models, data from coastal Ecuador indicates that craft production of sumptuary goods was an activity primarily carried out by household units for the benefit of the domestic economy. Increased trafficking with northern Peruvian states at ca. 750 seems to have promoted local social stratification by attracting large numbers of households to the restricted locales where they could exploit these resources, which in turn prompted a strengthening of the kinds of political conditions that facilitate orderly interaction and minimize internal social conflict.
Pete Williams and Barrie Gunter
The aim of this paper is to outline a triangulated methodology for studying usage of electronic health information systems which combines the quantitative data accrued from…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to outline a triangulated methodology for studying usage of electronic health information systems which combines the quantitative data accrued from computer logs with qualitative data from in‐depth interviews and observation.
Design/methodology/approach
The appropriate methods and inherent issues are reviewed from the literature, with an emphasis on qualitative research. The work of the authors is then highlighted, showing how qualitative methods can inform log analysis.
Findings
The paper suggests from the review that it is not only possible but also extremely fruitful to combine quantitative and qualitative data to interpret user behaviour.
Originality/value
The methods used by the group, known as “deep log analysis”, are innovative, and the attempt both to discuss these and to provide concrete examples from this research provides its originality.
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Peter Williams and David Nicholas
Discloses the preliminary findings from an investigation into how the Internet is impacting on the information environment in the news room. Outlines previous studies into…
Abstract
Discloses the preliminary findings from an investigation into how the Internet is impacting on the information environment in the news room. Outlines previous studies into journalists’ use of online services and of the US phenomenon of computer‐assisted reporting. The fieldwork, in the form of in‐depth interview, indicates that new librarians are much more positive about the Internet than their journalist colleagues but are also more aware of the problems, such as that of the authenticity or validity of retrieved data. There is no evidence to suggest that the Internet has exacerbated the problem of information “overload”, although fear of this may account for a partial reluctance to embrace e‐mail. Finally there are grounds for suggesting that the Internet, despite being considered an end‐user tool, will create new and important roles for information professionals in the future, including the possibility of involvement in more primary sourced investigative work.
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Nicholas Alexander, Mark Rhodes and Hayley Myers
The increasingly important role of international retail companies in the distribution and marketing of goods highlights important gaps in the literature. One of these gaps…
Abstract
Purpose
The increasingly important role of international retail companies in the distribution and marketing of goods highlights important gaps in the literature. One of these gaps concerns a scientifically based understanding of the key, underlying drivers in the market selection process of such companies. The purpose of this paper is to establish a more robust understanding of international retailers' market selection process.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper econometrically tests hypotheses derived from recent literature and models the international actions of retailers based in 13 home and ten host markets.
Findings
The results highlight the importance of host market characteristics and the importance of understanding host market selections in the context of home market retail structural development and, by implication, the relative lack of importance of secondary managerial input factors.
Research limitations/implications
The model presented here fundamentally challenges assumptions concerning the role of managers in market selection decisions in the light of sustainable patterns of international activity.
Practical implications
These findings suggest that managers responsible for international market selection decisions do not have the freedom of action implied in the marketing literature and that their actions are constrained by structural market conditions.
Originality/value
The relationships identified explain six‐ to seven‐tenths of the pattern of expansion in the markets considered. This would suggest that managerial input is important in the process of marketing activity but that it is important within a broader framework.
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Martin A. Sims and Nicholas O’Regan
Technology is defined by Krajewski and Ritzman (2000, p. 17) as ‘the know-how, physical things, and procedures used to produce products and services’. Over the past two decades…
Abstract
Technology is defined by Krajewski and Ritzman (2000, p. 17) as ‘the know-how, physical things, and procedures used to produce products and services’. Over the past two decades, the development of high-technology-based firms has been actively encouraged by governments and development agencies (Westhead & Storey, 1994) as a source of competitive advantage. In many cases, small high-technology-based firms have effectively exploited market opportunities. This has been helped by the emergence of generic technologies, most notably information technology that is knowledge intensive rather than capital and labour intensive (Rothwell, 1994, p. 12). Such technologies have been effectively used to open up new market niches for small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs). Accordingly, high-technology firms have become well established as sources of both competitiveness and employment creation (Oakey, 1991).