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1 – 10 of 420Johannes C. Cronje and T.‐H. Joubert
This is a follow‐up study of a multimedia program developed as a student project by high school pupils. The initial study sought to determine what learners would gain from…
Abstract
This is a follow‐up study of a multimedia program developed as a student project by high school pupils. The initial study sought to determine what learners would gain from constructing multimedia programs for their peers. “Multimax” is a multimeter skills fixation simulation. The students who designed it acquired subject skills, multimedia authoring and teamwork skills that would benefit them in the context of lifelong learning. To investigate the usefulness of the product this follow‐up seeks to determine what the peers of the design team learnt when using the program. A formal, summative and dynamic evaluation of the program was designed and executed to determine its suitability for teaching multimeter skills to university engineering students. Both empirical and interpretive evaluation methods were used in a way to answer evaluation questions using both the quantitative and qualitative paradigms. It may be concluded that the objectives and outcomes of the learning opportunity are successfully reached. A number of content errors are a matter for concern, while the technical implementation requires a great deal of reconstruction.
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Barney Jordaan and Gawie Cillié
The case is supported with a teaching note, discussion questions and suggested responses to those as well as verbatim transcripts from interviews conducted with managers and…
Abstract
Supplementary materials
The case is supported with a teaching note, discussion questions and suggested responses to those as well as verbatim transcripts from interviews conducted with managers and others for purposes of a research project after the strike had ended. Teaching Notes are available for educators only.
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes are as follows: students will be able to critique the approach to collective bargaining of both the company and the union in the case and suggest alternative approaches; identify the steps the company could take to both deal with the aftermath of the strike and develop preventive measures for the future; and advise the company on a series of questions it needs advice on.
Case overview/synopsis
A violent strike erupted after failed wage negotiations. It laid bare deep divisions between African and non-African employees and between permanent employees and those appointed as temporary employees only. It also revealed the mindsets of people on both sides of the conflict, as well as several errors made by management in the manner in which they viewed the role of the union and failed to build strong relations with employees on the shop floor.
Complexity academic level
The case is suitable for students at honours or masters level in conflict studies, dispute resolution, employment relations, human resource management and negotiation.
Subject code
CSS 6: Human resource management.
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Long Thanh Cung, Nam Hoang Nguyen, Pierre Yves Joubert, Eric Vourch and Pascal Larzabal
The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach, which is easy to implement, for estimating the thickness of the air layer that may separate metallic parts in some…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach, which is easy to implement, for estimating the thickness of the air layer that may separate metallic parts in some aeronautical assemblies, by using the eddy current method.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an experimental study of the coupling of a magnetic cup core coil sensor with a metallic layered structure (consisting of first metal layer/air layer/second metal layer), which is confirmed by finite element modelling simulations, an inversion technique relying on a polynomial forward model of the coupling is proposed to estimate the air layer thickness. The least squares and the nonnegative least squares algorithms are applied and analysed to obtain the estimation results.
Findings
The choice of an appropriate inversion technique to optimize the estimation results is dependent on the signal-to-noise ratio of measured data. The obtained estimation error is smaller than a few percent, for both simulated and experimental data. The proposed approach can be used to estimate both the air layer thickness and the second metal layer thickness simultaneously/separately.
Originality/value
This model-based approach is easy to implement and available to all types of eddy current sensors.
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Merel M.S. Kats, I.J. Hetty Van Emmerik, John Blenkinsopp and Svetlana N. Khapova
The conceptual framework developed in the present study aims to highlight the importance of human resource (HR) practices as a mediator between national culture and employees'…
Abstract
Purpose
The conceptual framework developed in the present study aims to highlight the importance of human resource (HR) practices as a mediator between national culture and employees' careers.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken is a literature review and the development of a conceptual model.
Findings
The paper contributes to the literature by focusing on how culture via HR practices might influence career success. Drawing on Hofstede's cultural dimensions, five propositions are developed regarding the impact of culture on career‐relevant HR practices, and how these practices are likely to influence employee career success.
Research limitations/implications
Culture's effect should not be overstated. Looking at the propositions, it is possible that the influence of HR practices on career success is more pronounced than the direct effects of culture on career success. Future work is needed to measure and compare the relative strength of different associations as well as the possibility that other HR dimensions relevant to the study of career success may exist.
Originality/value
At a general level, there is ample evidence of the impact of culture on the effectiveness of a variety of individual outcomes. The paper focused on the mediating role of HR practices as opposed to advancing hypotheses about direct relationships between culture and career success.
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Temidayo Oluwasola Osunsanmi, Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa, Wellington Didibhuku Thwala and Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke
The idea of implementing supply chain management (SCM) principles for the construction industry was embraced by construction stakeholders to enhance the sector's performance. The…
Abstract
The idea of implementing supply chain management (SCM) principles for the construction industry was embraced by construction stakeholders to enhance the sector's performance. The analysis from the literature revealed that the implementation of SCM in the construction industry enhances the industry's value in terms of cost-saving, time savings, material management, risk management and others. The construction supply chain (CSC) can be managed using the pull or push system. This chapter also discusses the origin and proliferation of SCM into the construction industry. The chapter revealed that the concept of SCM has passed through five different eras: the creation era, the use of ERP, globalisation stage, specialisation stage and electronic stage. The findings from the literature revealed that we are presently in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era. At this stage, the SCM witnesses the adoption of technologies and principles driven by the 4IR. This chapter also revealed that the practice of SCM in the construction industry is centred around integration, collaboration, communication and the structure of the supply chain (SC). The forms and challenges hindering the adoption of these practices were also discussed extensively in this chapter.
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Tarek Mohamed Ali, Joseph Amankwah-Amoah and Bassant Adel Mostafa
This study seeks to examine the mediating role of mental health issues in the workplace (MHIW) in explaining the complex relationship between person-organization-fit (P.O-fit…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the mediating role of mental health issues in the workplace (MHIW) in explaining the complex relationship between person-organization-fit (P.O-fit) dimensions and workers' productivity (WP) variance during COVID-19 in the Egyptian soap and detergents industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a cross-sectional survey, the authors collected data from 373 frontline workers and supervisors working at ARMA soap and detergents (ASD) factories. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 production-lines and quality-control supervisors. The hypothesized model was analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling technique.
Findings
The authors found a significant, high P.O-fit level among ASD workers. The need-supplies-fit and supplementary-fit controlled MHIW. The need-supplies-fit and supplementary-fit alongside MHIW explained the growth in WP during COVID-19. The MHIW mediated the relationship between P.O-fit dimensions and WP during the pandemic.
Research limitations/implications
Limited attention was paid to investigating how the P.O-fit dimensions enable frontline workers to remain productive despite the MHIW associated with COVID-19. This study bridges the aforementioned research gap by elucidating how the supplementary-fit, demand-abilities-fit and need-supplies-fit manipulate MHIW and maintain WP growth during the pandemic.
Practical implications
The findings provide clear guidelines for the first-line supervisors to foster the P.O-fit dimensions, control MHIW and sustain WP growth during COVID-19.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to add significant information on how MHIW (as mediator) explains the relationship between P.O-fit and WP growth during the pandemic.
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Mohamed Omri and Nicolas Galanis
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the capacity of two equation turbulence models to reproduce mean and fluctuating quantities in the case of both natural convection and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the capacity of two equation turbulence models to reproduce mean and fluctuating quantities in the case of both natural convection and isothermal flows.
Design/methodology/approach
Numerical predictions of mean velocity profiles, air and wall temperatures as well as turbulent kinetic energy by three different two equation models (standard k‐ε, renormalisation group k‐ε and shear‐stress transport‐k‐ω) are compared with corresponding experimental values.
Findings
The prediction of mean velocities and temperatures is in all cases satisfactory. On the other hand, the prediction of turbulent quantities is less precise.
Originality/value
The three models under consideration in this paper can be used for engineering applications such as HVAC calculations.
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