Managing personal human capital for professional excellence: an attempt to design a practical methodology

Within the context of the knowledge-based economy, individuals increasingly control their own development, careers and destinies, rather than the organisations that employ them. Work drawing on the new career orientations has been mostly conceptual rather than empirical. The existing literature focuses mainly on explaining the conditions under which new career orientations emerge and the changes these can bring to the lives of individuals. However, we found that there is no practical methodology to help individuals face the challenges of the future in a proactive manner. The aim of this paper is to develop a practical methodology (the PHCN – Personal Human Capital Navigator) that helps individuals to systematically manage their personal human capital so they can achieve their strategic objectives and outstanding results.     

Adequate Policies and Unintended Effects in Spanish Higher Education

Recent developments in Spanish higher education have been very positive.Universities have become autonomous and are more in tune to regionalneeds, their internal structure has become flexible, the whole systemhas become open and accessible, funds have been poured into the system as never before and market forces have started to play a relevant role.Nevertheless, some perverse effects have begun to emerge. We will focus on some of these negative aspects that deserve deeper consideration: the inadequate adaptation to a mass higher education system, and the negativeconsequences of the collegial model for governing universities and ofregionalization.     

Physical activity and school recess time: differences between the sexes and the relationship between children's playground physical activity and habitual physical activity

The aims of this study were: (1) to observe participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during school recess periods; (2) to determine the relative importance of physical activity during recesses to overall daily physical activity; and (3) to examine differences in physical activity between the sexes during unstructured recess periods. The participants were 22 school children (10 boys, 12 girls) aged 8 - 10 years (mean = 8.9, s = 0.7) in the third and fourth grades. Daily totals for the physical activity variables were calculated by summing the values for each hour of 14 h of physical activity measurements (08:00 to 22:00 h). Recess times (minutes) were as follows: morning 10:30 to 11:00 h and afternoon 15:30 to 16:00 h. We did not differences between boys and girls in daily total accelerometer counts or the overall time spent in MVPA. However, girls were significantly (P < 0.05) more involved (38%) in MVPA during recess time than boys (31%). Participation in MVPA during recess contributes significantly more (P < 0.05) for girls (19%) than boys (15%) to the total amount of physical activity suggested by international health-related physical activity guidelines, while the percentage of time engaged in MVPA during recess time at school accounts for a small amount of the daily MVPA (6% for boys and 8% for girls). The results of this study suggest that school recess time is an important setting to promote MVPA and contributes to daily physical activity in young children, especially in girls.     

Preferences need no inferences, once again: germinal elements in the public perceptions of genetically modified foods in Colombia

This paper explores the public perceptions of genetically modified foods in Colombia in a phase considered germinal: the topic was too novel at the time of research. The analysis covers media, informal conversations, and the word associations made by a sample of residents in the city of Bogotá. The results show that the public capability of associating with the topic, even intuitively, is due to the availability of culture themes, the primary categories that help conceptual elaborations, and the construction of common-sense theories. Three themes are proposed: natural/artificial, tradition/change, and health/disease. It is argued that cultural themes are not only cognitive, but also affectively laden entities, which explains the evaluative force expressed by social beliefs. Acknowledging the relevance of the non-attitude thesis, the author suggests that people associate novel objects with latent cultural meanings, explaining why words, images, and metaphors are readily available in elaborating social knowledge.     

Contingent Valuation and Semiparametric Methods: A Case Study of the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladolid, Spain

Research on cultural economics is very interested in the economic valuation of non-market goods, particularly in the field ofcultural heritage where contingent valuation techniques are currently being used with both parametric and non-parametric statistical methods to estimate the willingness to pay for cultural goods. In the literature analysed, the number of studies using semiparametric methods, however, is very limited. Our analysis is intended to help fill this gap by offering a parametric, non-parametric and semiparametric economic valuation of the National Museum of Sculpture (Museo Nacional de Escultura), located in Valladolid,Spain. In addition, we also gain insight on a controversial issue affecting most European museums, particularly those located in Latin countries: the role voluntary donations might play in the funding of public museums.     

Call for Papers - International Conference on Copyright and the Cultural Industries Economics, Law and Management

Call for Papers

Call for Papers - International Conference on Copyright and the Cultural Industries Economics, Law and Management