Internationalization of Canadian Agriculture: Policy and Governing Paradigms

Abstract

Purpose: To identify various organizational climatic factors responsible for role performances of veterinary officers in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Design/methodology/approach: Study was conducted in 11 selected districts. Data were collected from 220 respondents through a pretested interview schedule and subjected to correlation and multiple regression to draw valid inferences. Organizational climate was measured by using the index specially prepared for the study.

Findings: Around 76% of the respondents perceived that the organizational climate prevailing in the department of animal husbandry was favorable. Leadership, teamwork and trust had significant contribution towards perception of organizational climate. The respondents were least satisfied with motivation, decision-making and goal setting components of the organizational climate. The model with seven variables out of 16 independent variables was a good fit with R square of 85.59%. Work motivation, persistence disposition, participativeness, job satisfaction, physical facilities availability and timeliness of availability of facilities were found to have significant positive influence while job stress had significant negative influence on perceived organizational climate.

Practical implications: This investigation has an organizational and social significance for development of livestock organizations not only in India, but also to other SAARC countries as well.

Originality/value: No empirical evidence on inter-relation between organizational climate and job performance of veterinarians is available at present in Andhra Pradesh.     

Status of Job Motivation and Job Performance of Field Level Extension Agents in Ogun State: Implications for Agricultural Development

Abstract

The field level extension agents (FLEAs) are the lifeline of the agricultural extension system in Nigeria. Their motivation and job performance are therefore important to achieving faster agricultural development in Nigeria. The study identified the factors motivating the FLEAs working with Ogun State Agricultural development programme (OGADEP) and associates the motivation factors with their job performance level. Eighty of the 126 FLEAs working with OGADEP were selected randomly. The study reveals that financial incentives, remuneration and salary and mobility of staff were the factors rated as the most important motivation factors. The rating also revealed a general low status of FLEAs motivation and job performance. Of the 14 factors identified, boss–subordinate interaction was the only significant predictor of job performance. None of the FLEAs personal factors related significantly with job performance. Policy action needs to consider the adequacy of financing of agricultural extension work in Nigeria in order to achieve sustainable agricultural development over time.     

中小学教师教育技术能力培训迁移动机现状分析——以辽宁省中小学教师教育技术能力培训为例

教师参加教育技术能力培训后能否将培训所学迁移至实际工作中,是决定培训效益的关键。迁移动机在这一过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。针对辽宁省中小学教师教育技术能力培训项目,通过问卷调查,分析培训后受训教师在工作中应用培训所学的情况、迁移动机的水平与类型,以及他们对几种可能影响其迁移动机的因素的重要程度的看法。     

Teachers’ first year in the profession: the power of high-quality support

ABSTRACT

In research on teacher induction, scholars have pointed at the pivotal role of collegial support to overcome the challenges inherent to the first years of teaching. In this quantitative study, we extend current work by using a social network perspective to examine characteristics (i.e. network size, frequency and perceived usefulness) of professional, emotional, and social collegial support networks. Moreover, we explore the extent to which these characteristics explain key factors affecting teacher retention, namely job satisfaction, intrinsic motivation to teach, and self-efficacy. An online survey was completed by 292 beginning primary school teachers in Flanders (Belgium). Social network data showed that, on average, they receive professional, emotional and social support from six colleagues each week and found this mostly useful. Regression analyses demonstrated that network size and perceived usefulness of professional, emotional, and social collegial support networks were positively related to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation to teach, thus confirming the importance of collegial support in teacher induction. Frequency of support was not significant. Finally, no substantial relationship was found between collegial support and teachers’ self-efficacy. Implications of these findings for practice and policy are discussed.     

高等技职跨校合作之项目绩效影响因素之研究

学校是一个由菁英培育另一批菁英,以及强调彼此精进成长的场所;其中,需要人与人之间有所互动的环境,在人际互动之过程中,冲突的发生无法避免。当冲突发生时,情绪必然跟着浮上台面,此时一个人情绪智力的高低扮演了一个很重要的关键。但并不是所有的冲突都是有害且必须避免,当冲突之发生与工作内容及目标有关时,对组织绩效有所帮助。此外,情绪智力亦可预测成员在组织中之工作行为表现,文章研究主旨在探讨情绪智力、冲突、知识分享和工作绩效四者之关系。采用问卷调查方式搜集数据,调查对象为执行跨校合作项目的教授们,包含台湾中部地区20所学校,共回收178份有效问卷;并采用净最小平方法（PLS）为研究分析工具。研究结果显示：（1）知识分享和情绪智力对工作绩效有显著正向影响;（2）团队冲突对工作绩效有显著负向的影响。     

Teacher participation in the decision‐making process: reality and repercussions in Indian higher education

The study reported here focused on comparing teachers’ actual and desired participation in different decision‐making situations and examined how participation in decision making differs in Indian higher educational institutions. The paper provides a comparison of findings with similar studies conducted in Western settings regarding the relationship of participative decision making (PDM) with some selected organizational variables: teachers’ job satisfaction, organizational goal commitment, role ambiguity, and role conflict. Data were gathered through a survey of 281 faculty members of Banaras Hindu University, India. Results indicate that in the Indian context, teachers’ actual and desired participation was highest in institutional decisions and lowest in technical decisions. Among the personal variables, age, designation, teaching experience and span of service in present institution were found to be significantly related with decisional participation of university teachers. It is recommended that administrators evolve a mechanism for inviting participation of teachers in different decisional domains, based on the findings of this study.     

The Role of Department Head in Australian Universities: changes and challenges

The role of the academic departmental head in Australian universities has been little explored. This article reports a study of the role by comparing key demographic data with a similar American‐based study, and examining the role in terms of personal, professional, and organisational variables, and their relationships with the generic measures of role‐conflict and role‐ambiguity. Results indicate differences in the role classified by gender, type of initial appointment, age and willingness to serve (among other variables), and on such dimensions as job satisfaction, work stress, role‐conflict and ambiguity, and publications record. Findings indicate a job where stress appears manageable, satisfaction is in short supply and maintaining an appropriate publications record is an ongoing pressure.     

Management,Entrepreneurship and Private Service Orientation: A Framework for Undergraduate Veterinary Education

Abstract

The changing nature of livestock outreach service delivery, manpower requirements and opportunities in the private sector provide both push and pull dynamics for veterinary graduates to engage in managerial, entrepreneurial, public and private service activities. The veterinary schools should support this transition by integrating Managerial, Entrepreneurship and Service (MES) orientation in the curriculum. This transition is a quite challenging task, as the core content of the Veterinary Council of India curriculum consists of basic, productive, para-clinical and clinical subjects with little emphasis on MES aspects. Merely introducing a one-off intervention such as a semester course may not be sufficient. What is proposed with 730 class hours is a two- pronged integrative approach: i) introduce the functional management disciplines into the veterinary undergraduate curriculum; and ii) integrate the entrepreneurial, public and private service philosophy into each of the production, para-clinical and clinical courses with a curriculum for public and private service as electives. This integrative approach is expected to produce graduates as job givers rather than job seekers by mastering both the science of veterinary and animal husbandry and the art of management and entrepreneurship.     

国有企业员工工作-家庭冲突及其与工作倦怠的关系

为揭示国企员工工作-家庭冲突状况及其与工作倦怠的关系,本文采用工作倦怠问卷、工作-家庭冲突问卷对某集团648名国企员工进行调查。结果表明：男性员工家庭侵扰工作的得分,显著高于女性员工;国企员工的家庭侵扰工作,在性别和职务上存在显著交互作用;工作-家庭冲突与工作倦怠相关,在控制了人口学变量对工作倦怠的影响后,工作-家庭冲突对工作倦怠的具体表现做出了有效预测。实施员工援助计划,可以缓解工作-家庭冲突,预防工作倦怠的发生。     

Academic failure of first-year engineering and technological students in India and assessment of motivation factors – a case study

This study has been conducted to show that there is a recent trend in engineering colleges in India that students who are considered to be highly intelligent show poor academic performance during their 1st year. This article is proposed to examine the role of motivation factors such as teaching methods and learning material in the academic performance of engineering and technological students in India. A test was carried out among engineering students. A total of 200 male and female students participated in this test. A 2-group discriminator analysis was done to analyse the data. The results showed that there was a significant correlation (p = 0.000) between motivation factors and academic performance of engineering students. The higher the rating of these factors by the students, the higher their performance.     

员工工作激励与工作满意度关系的研究

酒店是中国旅游业的重要组成部分,对促进旅游业的快速发展发挥着极其重要的作用,但是,由于传统经营体制等方面的原因,人浮于事,效率低下以及人事构成复杂等现象仍然存在,特别是员工的工作激励,是酒店人事管理亟待解决的重要问题。本文的研究目的就是借助于一些管理理论和研究方法,分析和了解国有酒店员工对工作激励重要性及满意度的看法,了解对提高国有酒店员工工作满意度产生较大影响的主要激励因素是什么,据此,为国有酒店员工激励提出合理化建议。     

Teaching Online: Applying Need Theory to the Work–Family Interface

Using Warner and Hausdorf’s (2009) framework, the authors empirically examined work–life balance and work outcomes among collegiate faculty teaching courses online. Quantitative and qualitative results from 138 online instructors demonstrated that basic psychological need satisfaction was related to higher levels of work–family enrichment, job satisfaction, performance, and intention to teach online courses again and lower levels of work–family conflict and stress. Work support was also related to job satisfaction, performance, and stress but was not related to work–family balance. These findings are important as universities are seeking ways to promote involvement with online education.     

资金投入是内蒙古畜牧业经济发展的关键

经济发展的初级阶段资金投入比技术进步更为重要,处于粗放型经营阶段的草原畜牧业也不例外。资金投入对于目前的草原“三化”问题、基础设施落后、抵御自然灾害弱、畜牧业产业结构调整、牧区人力资源的开发等问题的解决具有很重要的作用。因此,我们在草原畜牧业可持续发展中应争取国家财政的有力支持、金融机构的有力支持,同时继续做好招商引资工作,以获取更多的资金投入,促进内蒙古畜牧业整体水平的提高。     

Applying the Job Demands-Resources Model to exploring predictors of innovative teaching among university teachers

This study proposed a conceptual model examining innovative teaching as the outcome. The model included both dual processes (the health impairment and motivation processes) and mediation and moderation perspectives. Results from testing the model among university teachers indicated that teaching-research conflict (job demands) positively predicted exhaustion. Teacher self-efficacy (personal resources) negatively predicted exhaustion and indirectly related to innovative teaching via teaching motivation. Job insecurity was revealed as a moderator that strengthened the positive relationship between teaching-research conflict and exhaustion, and weakened the negative relationship between teaching-research conflict and teaching motivation and the positive relationship between teacher self-efficacy and teaching motivation.     

Predicting Motivation to Learn and Motivation to Transfer Learning Back to the Job in a Service Organization: A New Systemic Model for Training Effectiveness

This exploratory study attempted to identify key predictors of motivation to learn and motivation to transfer as well as examine the relationship between the two variables. Organizational commitment, task cues, and co‐worker commitment to quality work were found to be the strongest predictors of motivation to learn. Motivation to learn, a motivating job, and being expected to use the newly learned skills and knowledge on the job were found to be the most important predictors of motivation to transfer.     

Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession: Relations with school context, feeling of belonging, and emotional exhaustion

This study examines the relations between school context variables and teachers’ feeling of belonging, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and motivation to leave the teaching profession. Six aspects of the school context were measured: value consonance, supervisory support, relations with colleagues, relations with parents, time pressure, and discipline problems. The participants were 2569 Norwegian teachers in elementary school and middle school. The data were analyzed by means of SEM analyses. All six school context variables were related to job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession. These relations were primarily indirect, mediated through feelings of belonging and emotional exhaustion.     

Assessment policies and academic performance within a single course: the role of motivation and self-regulation

Abstract

Despite the frequently reported association of characteristics of assessment policies with academic performance, the mechanisms through which these policies affect performance are largely unknown. Therefore, the current research investigated performance, motivation and self-regulation for two groups of students following the same statistics course, but under two assessment policies: education and child studies (ECS) students studied under an assessment policy with relatively higher stakes, a higher performance standard and a lower resit standard, compared with Psychology students. Results show similar initial performance, but more use of resits and higher final performance (post-resit) under the ECS policy compared with the psychology policy. In terms of motivation and self-regulation, under the ECS policy significantly higher minimum grade goals, performance self-efficacy, task value, time and study environment management, and test anxiety were observed, but there were no significant differences in aimed grade goals, academic self-efficacy and effort regulation. The relations of motivational and self-regulatory factors with academic performance were similar between both assessment policies. Thus, educators should be keenly aware of how characteristics of assessment policies are related to students’ motivation, self-regulation and academic performance.     

高校辅导员胜任特征结构模型的实证研究

高校辅导员胜任特征是其履行工作职责的关键要素。基于辅导员工作岗位职责和高校组织环境特征,高校辅导员胜任特征在知识、技能、社会角色、动机和特质五个方面都有特殊的要求。根据职责-素质匹配的研究思路和高校辅导员的内隐观调查发现,高校辅导员胜任特征由职业态度与品质、专业知识、人际沟通与协调、自我调节、问题解决能力、外倾性六个因素所构成。