Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model: Contemporary support for an established theory

This study was an effort to add to the body of research surrounding Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model (BEM). The model was tested to determine its ability to explain factor relationships of organizational safety culture in a high‐risk work environment. Three contextual variables were measured: communication, resource availability, and incentives; and the impact of contextual variables on safety motivation were evaluated. The study produced three outcomes: (1) data and the BEM model demonstrated good fit, (2) communication and resource availability were indirectly related to safety motivation, and (3) incentives mediated the indirect effects of communication and resource availability with motivation. Research findings serve to inform the practice of human performance technology, as Gilbert's model is a primary performance diagnostic tool, adaptable to essentially any workplace context.     

What Should High–Risk Operations Evaluate Relative To Safety And Safety Training

This article presents a concise argument for strategic planning for training effectiveness evaluation for high–risk operations including nuclear power training. The article looks at external criteria for such evaluation including considerations of: (1) the safety of the general population, (2) the safety of employees, and (3) the cost–effective delivery of the organization's products and services (e.g., the delivery of energy).     

The People Capability Maturity Model

The People Capability Maturity Model® (People CMM®) advocates a staged approach to organizational change. Developed by the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, this model seeks to bring discipline to the people side of management by promoting a structured, repeatable, and predictable approach for improving an organization's workforce‐related processes. A system of best practice processes, and associated practices, holds potential for changing an organization's culture from that of an “ad‐hoc”racy to one pursuing workforce excellence. This article introduces Human Performance Technology professionals to the model, its approach, and its potential to improve workforce performance.     

The role of mediating organizations for school reform: independent agents or district dependents?

This paper examines the role of mediating organizations in helping schools engage in whole school change as part of a school district's reform agenda. Specifically, it examines the Learning Community Program in Los Angeles, a programme designed by an external school reform organization, to assist schools in planning and implementing LEARN (Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now). The programme's success is shaped by the district and school contexts in which it operates. As mediating agent, the Learning Community Program must balance the challenges facing the schools ‐‐ particularly their readiness to engage in reform ‐‐ with the demands of the district for scale, accountability and resources. As it does so, it faces the challenges of maintaining program flexibility, building sustainable changes, and preserving its organizational independence. These pressures generate three central dilemmas and threaten to undermine the success of the district's reform and the Learning Community Program ‐‐ scale versus sustainability, district mandates versus site autonomy, and organizational independence versus survival. It concludes that mediating agencies can be constrained by their dependence on policymakers for critical resources.     

Using Performance Analysis for Training in an Organization Implementing Integrated Manufacturings A Case Study

Focused efforts to improve organizational and individual performance begin with analysis of the needs. However, the theory and practice of performance analysis are not well connected. This case study examined the use of a theory-based model, the Performance Analysis for Training (PAT) Model, for assessing performance needs within an organization that was integrating its manufacturing processes. The results showed that the PAT Model was a useful guide for assessing performance needs. This research also showed that the process and product of the performance analysis were influenced by the organization's characteristics, the decision maker's characteristics, and the analyst's characteristics. In practice, the PAT model and the actual process of performance analysis were similar. However, the analyst noted three adaptations of the model. These adaptations suggest that performance analysis in some instances may be more an iterative than a linear process.     

A tale of two technical cultures: Foreign language teaching

In broad terms this study investigated how the social organization of schools affects and is affected by the structures within which teachers find themselves: in essence how teachers shaped their reality. In particular this investigation was concerned with high school foreign language (FL) teachers' perceptions of their work environment; specifically how FL teachers in differing school contexts defined FL instruction and the manner in which these contextual definitions associated with their classroom behavior. Many previous investigations have focused on the relationship of teachers' classroom behavior and student outcomes. This study instead asked what the organizational antecedents for teachers' classroom practices are by documenting high school FL teachers' technical cultures—the processes designed to accomplish an organization's goals (Lortie, 1975; Rosenholtz, 1989).     

Evaluating the evaluator: A case study illustrating three critical mistakes no evaluator should make

Most employees do not like to be evaluated because they fear the process and people involved. Although optimal performance evaluators can minimize people's anxieties about being assessed, actual performance evaluators can perpetuate employees' fears and, worse, lower their job performances and morale. A case study illustrates the actions of an actual performance evaluator and highlights the process he carries out and the report he writes. A debrief follows to show how to correct the mistakes he makes.     

Measuring the ROI on Knowledge Management Systems

Illustrating the return‐on‐investment (ROI) for a portal solution or knowledge management (KM) system has proven an elusive target. This paper will demonstrate that ROI can be found for portals and KM systems in measuring the ROI on improved processes and increased economic value of employee performance. Thus, rather than employing traditional notions of value and assets as noted in standard accounting practices, KM solutions are tools managers should use to support opportunities for process improvement and redesign. ROI that measures value from this perspective creates new areas of value from an organization's existing, undervalued assets. A well‐developed measurement methodology for implementing a KM system may illustrate ROI, justify expenditures for implementing the system, and provide a format to ensure that process improvement occurs. A well‐thought‐out KM system has the capability of becoming the “digital nervous system” of an organization, tying all areas to the strategic goals of an organization.     

Strategic Plan for a Processed Foods Company Using Megaplanning and Balanced Scorecard

This article presents a case study for a strategic plan developed using a megaplanning model approach, as well as the balanced scorecard proposal, for a company that produces processed foods in the southern state of Sonora in Mexico. The strategic planning process began with the ratification of the business mission and vision in an internal analysis of the company with the help of its employees in a dynamic participatory workshop in which they discussed perceived strengths and weaknesses. The next step was to perform the external analysis of the environment surrounding the company. Both analyses of the SWOT matrix immediately identified strategic objectives and strategies, as well as the scorecard, and concluded with a project proposal. The most significant results fall under the scope of two key strategies. The first regards innovation in business models; and the second, the expansion into new markets, which, along with the organization's philosophy, guides the future of the company. The main lessons learned are presented in the developmental stages of this case study, so it is important to emphasize that a special development in the results section, which can be useful for similar studies using the proposed methodology, be carried out. Finally, a strategic planning–oriented approach focusing on megaplanning represents a vision on how to add value to society, seeking to create interest among stakeholders to meet performance indicators that have a positive impact on the communities where the company is located.     

Modified team‐based learning strategy to improve human anatomy learning: A pilot study at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla,Colombia

As part of an institutional program sponsored by the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia, we developed an educational research study on two sessions of human anatomy in which we combined team‐based learning (TBL) and the use of iPads. Study data included the TBL, assessments applied during the course, student's grades on mid‐term examinations and students' perceptions of their experiences. Students reported a positive attitude toward the use of the TBL sessions, and the results showed a significant improvement in their learning between the first and second sessions. Significantly positive correlations (P < 0.05) were obtained between (a) the individual students' readiness test performance 1 and mid‐term examination 1, (b) the individual readiness test performances from Session 1 to Session 2, and (c) the group readiness test performances from the first and second sessions. These results point to positive learning experiences for these students. Analyses of the students' reflections on their activities also pointed toward future challenges. Anat Sci Educ 7: 399–405. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.     

Concurrent Evaluation of Customer Relationship Management and Organizational Excellence: An Empirical Study

This article concurrently studies customer relationship management (CRM ) and organizational excellence (OE ) by pursuing three goals. First, it investigates the relationship between CRM and OE ; second, it conducts a performance assessment from CRM and OE viewpoints; and third, it analyzes how each factor of CRM and each criterion of OE affects an organization's performance. To achieve the first goal, a number of hypotheses about potential relationships between CRM factors and OE criteria are proposed with the cooperation of experts and using fuzzy DEMATEL . These hypotheses are then examined using the path analysis method to find out which one is supported and which one must be rejected. Subsequently, the data envelopment analysis (DEA ) approach is employed to accomplish the second goal. Finally, a t‐test is used to achieve the third goal. To implement the research in the real world, two major international airports of Iran are considered as our survey cases.     

Integrating Mindfulness Meditation Within a University Counseling Center Setting

Abstract

This paper documents the development of a mindfulness meditation component within a University Counseling Center setting. The specific focus is upon the inclusion of meditation as it pertains to both organizational structure and psychotherapy training. The integration of a meditation practice into any organization is a slow process that poses complex questions. We argue that the benefits provide a counterpoint to the complexities inherent when incorporating such training into an organization's structure and a psychology internship program.     

Reflections of an Evaluator

Using as a case study a major project he directed which evaluated student services in Australian higher education, the author discusses the approach and the methodology adopted. Some difficulties and inadequacies are identified and explained, and the criticisms made by some Victims' of the evaluation are presented. Finally, the paper discusses some issues emerging from the experience of this project in such areas as the politics and climate of evaluation, consultation with and education of the evaluated, the credibility of evaluators, self‐evaluation and the use of external evaluators; and points to some lessons which might be learned.     

Getting a Read on Ready To Learn Media: A Meta-analytic Review of Effects on Literacy

Most U.S. preschoolers have consumed media created with funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Ready To Learn (RTL) initiative, which was established to promote school readiness among children ages 2–8. Synthesizing data from 45 evaluations (N = 24,624 unique child participants), this meta-analysis examined the effects of RTL media exposure on young children's literacy skills. Results indicate positive effects of RTL media exposure on children's literacy outcomes, especially vocabulary and phonological concepts. These effects are equivalent to about one-and-a-half months of literacy learning above and beyond typical growth. Findings are robust across a variety of research designs and for exposure to both television and new media. These results are discussed in terms of accountability evidence for RTL and larger debates in scholarly understanding of educational media effects.     

Supporting project teams: A framework used in a university‐community collaborative initiative

As commonplace as teams are in today's organizations, so too are the frustrations reported by members of many teams. Some of this frustration may be attributed to the lack of organizational support for team efforts. In this article, we draw on Kolb's components of clear direction and accountability, appropriate staffing and training, adequate information and resources, and rewards for team effort to describe and discuss a framework that was developed to support a series of 29 project teams. We use case study methodology to examine a university‐community initiative designed to increase collaboration between members of a university community and stakeholders external to the university. This design resulted in a continuous learning and feedback cycle that encouraged reflective thinking and improvement in procedures and outcomes. The focus is on the framework that was developed and executed to select, support, and evaluate these teams.     

变革型领导对员工工作绩效的影响机理研究——基于员工变革准备的中介作用

文章以员工变革准备为中介变量,以变革合法性、员工情绪智力为调节变量,探讨变革型领导对员工工作绩效的影响机理。运用层级回归方法对问卷调查结果进行实证检验并得出结论：(1)变革型领导正向影响员工工作绩效;(2)员工变革准备在变革型领导和员工工作绩效路径中起部分中介作用;(3)员工情绪智力在变革型领导和员工工作绩效路径中起调节作用;(4)变革合法性在变革型领导和员工变革准备路径中起调节作用。因此,企业管理者应当重视员工变革准备和员工情绪智力的培育及变革合法性的积累,从而提高员工工作绩效。