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.     

Fictive kinship as it mediates learning, resiliency, perseverance, and social learning of inner-city high school students of color in a college physics class

In this hermeneutic study we explore how fictive kinship (kin-like close personal friendship) amongst high school students of color mediated their resiliency, perseverance, and success in a college physics class. These freely chosen, processual friendships were based on emotional and material support, motivation, and caring for each other, as well as trust, common interests, and goals. Such close bonds contributed in creating a safe and supportive emotional space and allowed for friendly, cooperative competition within the physics classroom. Friends became the role models, source of support, and motivation for the fictive kinship group as well as for each other, as the group became the role model, source of support, and motivation for the individuals in it. Because of their friendships with one another, physics talk was extended and made part of their personal interactions outside the classroom. These social relationships and safe spaces helped the students cope and persevere despite their initial conflicting expectations of their success in physics. Our research thus expands on the concept of social learning by exploring student friendships and how they frame and mediate such a process.     

Partnering with school providers to codesign mental health interventions: An open trial of Act & Adapt in urban public middle schools

Schools are well positioned to provide access to youth mental health services, but implementing effective programs that promote emotional and behavioral functioning in school settings is complicated by the poor fit of interventions developed in research settings to complex school contexts. The current study formed a research–practice partnership with two urban public schools and mental health providers employed by those schools (N = 6, 100% female, 50% Black/African American, 50% White/Caucasian) in the adaptation of a depression prevention intervention, Act & Adapt. The intervention was modified by decreasing meeting time and streamlining session content, increasing flexibility, making intervention materials more similar to academic curriculum, and increasing the focus on managing disruptive behavior within group sessions. In an open trial, sixth-grade students (N = 22; 59% boys, 31% Hispanic, 22% Black/African American, 4% Asian, 30% White/Caucasian) at both schools who were identified as clinically “at risk” reported improvements from baseline to postintervention and at 1-year follow-up on measures of emotional and behavioral difficulties and coping strategies, with parallel results by caregiver report. The providers reported satisfaction with the intervention, and qualitative analyses of provider focus groups suggested both barriers and facilitators to research-practice collaborations to implement mental health interventions in schools.     

Strategies for counterresistance: Toward sociotransformative constructivism and learning to teach science for diversity and for understanding

This article reports on two types of resistance by preservice science teachers: resistance to ideological change and resistance to pedagogical change. The former has to do with the feelings of disbelief, defensiveness, guilt, and shame that Anglo-European preservice teachers experience when they are asked to confront racism and other oppressive social norms in class discussions. Resistance to pedagogical change has to do with the roles that preservice teachers feel they need to play to manage conflicting messages about what they are expected to do from their cooperating teachers (cover the curriculum and maintain class control) and from their university supervisors (implement student-centered, constructivist class activities), and about what they desire to do as emerging teachers. Although these two forms of resistance are closely linked, in the literature they are extensively reported separately. This study suggests a sociotransformative constructivist orientation as a vehicle to link multicultural education and social constructivist theoretical frameworks. By using this orientation, specific pedagogical strategies for counterresistance were found effective in helping preservice teachers learn to teach for diversity and understanding. These strategies for counterresistance were primarily drawn from the qualitative analysis of a yearlong project with secondary science preservice teachers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 589–622, 1998.     

Linking Bakhtin with feminist poststructuralism to unravel the allure of auto/biographies

By linking feminist poststructuralism with Bakhtin's concepts of voice and ventriloquation, an approach is proposed for the critical engagement with auto/biographical text. It is argued that by becoming better aware of the teller's intentionality and her/his insights gained from telling a (re)constructed version of self, the listener and the teller can engage in personal and socially transformative dialog. This dialog can assist the teller/listener to move from superficial affirmation of (re)interpreted lived experiences to more socially responsive action. An example is provided to illustrate implications of this approach for science teaching and education research.     

Conversion Anxieties in the Crown of Aragón in the Later Middle Ages

The conversion of Christians to Islam caused significant anxiety in the Crown of Aragón in the later middle ages. Some of this fear was caused by genuine concern over the eternal salvation of the convert, but there were other reasons as well. This article looks at three distinct causes that served to foster and maintain this fear of conversion. First, Christian authorities sometimes purposefully used the spectre of Christians converting to Islam to galvanise support for some of their political, diplomatic, and military initiatives. Secondly, apostates posed a significant spiritual danger to those Christians who lived as minorities in Muslim regions. Finally, converts presented a danger to the Crown of Aragón from a practical and military point of view.     

The impact of academic self‐concept,expectations and the choice of learning strategy on academic achievement: the case of business students

This study provides evidence of the impact of two critical self‐regulation components – academic self‐concept and outcome expectations – on the selection of learning strategies conducive to academic achievement in undergraduate business education. Self‐concept theory is the framework for the analysis of students’ motivations and learning behaviors. Path analysis suggests that high academic self‐concept favors engagement in complex cognitive effort, deep learning strategies and self‐reflection, as well as in the adoption of strategic learning approaches alone. However, the composite effect of deep learning through strategic approaches has the most impact on student’s academic performance. High academic expectations favor students’ selection of deep learning more than strategic approaches. Clearly, the use of surface approaches to learning is not conducive to academic achievement. Overall, these findings suggest that high students’ academic self‐concepts and unambiguous outcome expectations encourage critical thinking and reflective approaches to learning. Implications for the design of educational models and curriculum in business undergraduate education are discussed.