Modular designs and integrating practices: Managing collaboration through coordination and cooperation

Collaboration in large-scale projects introduces challenges involving both coordination (the ability to collaborate) as well as cooperation (the willingness to do so). Existing research has shown how modular designs can improve coordination by locating interdependencies within rather than between different modules. Based on an in-depth case study of collaboration in a large-scale infrastructure project, our study highlights an effect of modularity on collaboration that previously has been overlooked. Specifically, we show that while modular designs may help overcome coordination challenges by reducing interdependencies between modules, they can in turn hamper collaboration by emphasizing specialization within modules. Therefore, though existing work typically perceives modularity and integration as opposites, we clarify how they can also act as complements. In particular, we show how firms need to complement modular designs with integrating practices that stimulate cooperation. Overall, we contribute to the literature on collaboration and modularity by explaining when and how organizations can combine modularity and integration.     

Defining'science-based targets'

The 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2℃above pre-industrial levels and aim towards limiting warming to 1.5℃marked a wa-tershed in planetar...     

Analysis of teaching physical education to second-grade students using sport education

The purpose of this article was to provide an account of second-grade students and teachers, as well as a non-participant observer, after they participated in a season of Sport Education. For a total of 12 lessons, students participated in a season of developing throwing and catching and kicking skills. Interviews were conducted at the conclusion of the season to collect data from students and teachers regarding their experience. Field notes from the non-participant observer were also recorded. Although Sport Education is commonly introduced to students no earlier than the fourth grade, results revealed that there is the potential for introducing Sport Education to students as early as the second grade, a year in which the children typically turn eight years old. It is suggested that future studies of Sport Education with second-grade students could potentially enhance the learning experience of physical education students at the beginning of their school career.     

An exploration of Outward Bound New Zealand’s organisational culture

This article examines the key factors of organisational culture (artefacts, values and beliefs, and core assumptions) that have led to the development of Outward Bound New Zealand (OBNZ) over the past 50 years. Primary data for this case study were obtained through the use of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with past and present school and executive directors. A key finding is that OBNZ, founded on the beliefs of the German educator Kurt Hahn, has reviewed its values and formalised these into the ‘fundamentals’ of greatness, compassion, responsibility and integrity. Important visible symbols of the OBNZ brand are the badge, the logo with ‘to serve, to strive and not to yield’ and the cutter. The core assumption is still focused on self-discovery and the Outward Bound motto ‘there’s more to you than you think’. Internationally, Outward Bound course length has declined to just 4 days compared with OBNZ’s average of 14 days. In contrast, OBNZ has remained true to Hahn’s original belief, the ‘fundamental’ values, core assumptions and the Standard/Classic (three-week) course. These findings have implications for the development of outdoor adventure education and business organisations’ culture and leadership.     

Assessing Model Similarity in Structural Equation Modeling

Two models can be nonequivalent, but fit very similarly across a wide range of data sets. These near-equivalent models, like equivalent models, should be considered rival explanations for results of a study if they represent plausible explanations for the phenomenon of interest. Prior to conducting a study, researchers should evaluate plausible models that are alternatives to those hypothesized to evaluate whether they are near-equivalent or equivalent and, in so doing, address the adequacy of the study’s methodology. To assess the extent to which alternative models for a study are empirically distinguishable, we propose 5 indexes that quantify the degree of similarity in fit between 2 models across a specified universe of data sets. These indexes compare either the maximum likelihood fit function values or the residual covariance matrices of models. Illustrations are provided to support interpretations of these similarity indexes.     

世界著名沉船事件之一玛丽号

1545年“玛丽·罗斯”号在海港沉没。然而, 50年前,她却是亨利八世舰队的骄傲。     

Math-gender stereotypes in elementary school children

A total of 247 American children between 6 and 10 years of age (126 girls and 121 boys) completed Implicit Association Tests and explicit self-report measures assessing the association of (a) me with male (gender identity), (b) male with math (math-gender stereotype), and (c) me with math (math self-concept). Two findings emerged. First, as early as second grade, the children demonstrated the American cultural stereotype that math is for boys on both implicit and explicit measures. Second, elementary school boys identified with math more strongly than did girls on both implicit and self-report measures. The findings suggest that the math-gender stereotype is acquired early and influences emerging math self-concepts prior to ages at which there are actual differences in math achievement.     

Explaining Estimated Economies of Scale and Scope in Higher Education: A Meta-Regression Analysis

Numerous studies have investigated economies of scale and scope in higher education as a means of providing public and private providers of college and university teaching, research and other services and their stakeholders with knowledge of the cost structures that underpin provision in this economically and socially important sector. However, debate continues on the precise nature of the economies of scale and scope in higher education given the mixed findings, largely because of significant institutional and other differences across studies. To address this, we employ meta-regression analysis to explore not only the overall level of scale and scope economies across more than 40 international studies conducted in Australia, the US, the UK, Italy, China, and elsewhere since the early 1980s, but also those factors that potentially affect their presence in the higher education sector. Our findings suggest that functional form and allowances for managerial efficiency have a significant impact on the estimated scale economies. In contrast, for scope economies, the key discriminating factors appear to be when the analysis was conducted, the diversity of the sample, and the national level of economic development.     

Australian Postgraduate Students' Perceptions,Preferences and Mobility

Postgraduate students' choice of university, and related mobility issues, have been of interest to Australian university researchers, supervisors and administrators for some time. However, with the release of the Commonwealth Government's 1999 Green Paper on research and research training, which proposes greater portability of research student funding, a sense of urgency regarding these issues has developed. This paper reports on students' choice of a particular university for postgraduate research and on what information they made those decisions. A survey was conducted in 1997 of 938 applicants for Postgraduate Research Scholarships to Flinders University, Macquarie University and the Universities of Western Australia, Adelaide and Melbourne. The survey sought to identify respondents' choices and possible movement to undertake research awards. Questions dealt with a wide range of issues with a particular focus on sources used to access information on higher degrees, preference(s) for where they wished to study, factors leading to their preferred choice, and influences on the decision to move or not move to another institution. Approximately 50% of respondents were younger than 25 years and only 27% were living with their parents. An Honour's degree was the most common prior qualification for students (73%), but only 61% were enrolling directly from their previous degree. Thirty-six per cent reported that they regularly read their main local paper for information related to postgraduate research opportunities and 39% of respondents did not regularly access any source of media for postgraduate information. Forty-two per cent of students did not explore any opportunities at other universities prior to making their decision about enrolment. Almost all students who were planning to enrol at the same university were remaining in the same department. Commensurate with this, 73% reported that their Honour's supervisor or academic staff in their original university were their major source of information on study destinations. These results provide baseline data, which can be used to approach the issue of postgraduate mobility more strategically.