Cultural differences in the perception of critical interaction behaviors in global virtual teams

We investigated whether members of virtual teams from the U.S., India, and Belgium perceived the same interaction behaviors to be critical for team functioning as Dutch members from an earlier study. Thirteen virtual team workers from the U.S., 11 from India, and 11 from Belgium were interviewed by means of the Critical Incident Technique Flanagan [Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51, 327–358]. The total number of critical incidents from all countries was 493 and most incidents could be grouped into the same 13 categories as those found in the original Dutch study. However, the results showed that the distributions of the critical incidents from the American, Indian, and Belgian respondents differed from those of the Dutch. Indian and Belgian respondents also mentioned a new category of critical incidents: Respectfulness. The cultural differences were interpreted by means of Hofstede's [Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.: SAGE Publications] dimensions.     

党团联动建设保障条件及在高校的育人作用

党团联动建设是在新形势下做好高校党建和团建工作的积极尝试,本文基于党团联动建设存在的必要性和可行性,探析了党团联动建设的环境保障条件、信息保障条件、制度保障条件、人员组织保障条件和资金保障条件等在高校的育人作用。     

Narrative accounts of US teachers' collaborative curriculum making in a physical education department

Through the use of narrative inquiry, this research study explores the collaborative curriculum making experiences of six teachers (three males; three females) in one physical education (PE) department in an urban middle school in the U.S. Collaboration; as defined in this work, this has to do with teachers’ voluntary interactions and their shared decision making in support of common goals. Where curriculum making is concerned, it refers to interactions between and among the four commonplaces of curriculum (teacher, learner, subject matter, milieu). The paper features the perspectives of the department head (female), experienced teachers (male and female) and teachers new to the profession (male and female). The narrative accounts of the individual teachers are set against the backdrop of the PE department with which they identify and within the storied history of the school in which they work. The story constellations representational form conveys the interrelatedness of the narratives and instantiates the teachers’ experiences of collaborative curriculum making. In the final analysis, this research enterprise makes a major contribution to the study of PE as well as to education generally. To date, no inquiries have focused on the collaborative curriculum making of teachers lodged in a PE department in one school context, despite collaborative curriculum making most closely reflecting how PE teachers typically approach the teaching task due to shared classrooms/gymnasiums/fields and the communal use of equipment.     

Cross-boundary e-government systems: Determinants of performance

This study examines the performance of a cross-boundary e-government system. It draws from studies in the fields of e-government, collaborative public management, and information system success with a focus on inter-organizational information systems to develop a conceptual framework. This framework includes efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability as key performance measures; identifies technical, managerial, and inter-organizational factors for success; and develops hypotheses accordingly. Empirical investigation utilizes user-level data from an inter-organizational e-government system that provides integrated commerce and industry service. The results underscore the importance of management support, shared goals, and inter-agency trust in improving all three measures of performance. In addition, citizen-centric and innovative organizational culture enhances efficiency and accountability while administrative interdependence impacts effectiveness and accountability. The managerial and theoretical implications of these findings and future research opportunities are also explored.     

An Education Worth Having: The Aspirations and the Development of the Whole Education Network in England

The Whole Education National Network is a dynamic national not-for-profit partnership of schools and organisations that believe that all children and young people are entitled to an education that supports the development of wider skills, qualities and characteristics to enable them to thrive in life, learning and work, as well as conventional academic achievement. The article outlines the background to the development of the growing network of some 150 schools plus partner organisations and its core aims. It then considers what the Network is achieving and what it is learning about its approach as it grows. It offers and is seeking to embed and sustain an approach to school development that is ‘values-led, evidence-informed and impact-focused’. It is also predicated on a commitment to and belief in peer-to-peer collaboration, inspired and encouraged by the work of leading academics, thinkers and practitioners. Whole Education is also a response to what many observers and commentators identify as a weakness of the English and many other systems: the gap between the outcomes achieved by the more disadvantaged and other students. Part of its moral purpose is to help to narrow that gap, underpinned by a belief that focusing on immediate outcomes and test scores is not enough on its own. The Network operates in the belief that it will only be through the commitment to an entitlement to a ‘whole education for all’ that any school or system will truly narrow the gap and make a real difference to the life-chances of all young people. School leaders and schools that have gravitated towards Whole Education seek like minds to share and, more importantly, develop both their thinking and strategies employed to help achieve their goals. At the heart of the change model underpinning Whole Education is the development of effective communities of practice that develop professional capital and unleash the creativity of teachers. Creating, embedding and sustaining a national self-funded school-led network committed to achieving longer-term aspirations rather than immediate needs is both inspiring and challenging. The pressure to respond to short-term targets in terms of student outcomes and accountability pressures has meant that the energy and resource tend to be focused on the immediate rather than the medium- or longer-term needs. Whole Education provides a powerful example of how schools that share common aspirations can seize the agenda, have real impact on students and demonstrate the potential of a self-improving school system.     

Collaboration between 3- and 4-year-olds in self-initiated play on instruments

This article reports on a study of collaborative music-making on instruments among 3- and 4-year-old children. An area equipped with musical instruments was provided as a free-choice play option in an early childhood setting and a fixed camera recorded the children's play continuously during a number of visits. From the total 17 h of data five episodes of paired play were selected. Through a process of comparison across these episodes, it was established that children were coordinating their play through a repertoire of communicative and expressive behaviours. One episode of paired play considered to be representative was micro-analysed in detail.     

基于XML与PSL的电子商务信息协同交互的研究

为了解决异构系统的电子商务过程中流程信息的协同交互,本文探讨了本体论(PSL)和XML的技术特点,设计一个基于XML的流程描述元模型,在语义层次上通过PSL语义定义和映射规则来统一基于XML描述流程信息,实现了流程信息的协同交互。最后通过具体的采购过程实例,验证了该模型及实现方法的可行性。     

Collaborative management of business metadata

Legal provisions, cross-company data exchange and intra-company reporting or planning procedures require comprehensively, timely, unambiguously and understandably specified business objects (e.g. materials, customers, and suppliers). On the one hand, this business metadata has to cover miscellaneous regional peculiarities in order to enable business activities anywhere in the world. On the other hand, data structures need to be standardized throughout the entire company in order to be able to perform global spend analysis, for example. In addition, business objects should adapt to new market conditions or regulatory requirements as quickly and consistently as possible. Centrally organized corporate metadata managers (e.g. within a central IT department) are hardly able to meet all these demands. They should be supported by key users from several business divisions and regions, who contribute expert knowledge. However, despite the advantages regarding high metadata quality on a corporate level, a collaborative metadata management approach of this kind has to ensure low effort for knowledge contributors as in most cases these regional or divisional experts do not benefit from metadata quality themselves. Therefore, the paper at hand identifies requirements to be met by a business metadata repository, which is a tool that can effectively support collaborative management of business metadata. In addition, the paper presents the results of an evaluation of these requirements with business experts from various companies and of scenario tests with a wiki-based prototype at the company Bayer CropScience AG. The evaluation shows two things: First, collaboration is a success factor when it comes to establishing effective business metadata management and integrating metadata with enterprise systems, and second, semantic wikis are well suited to realizing business metadata repositories.     

Factors that influence the establishment of a network of medical libraries in the Philippines

This paper sought to identify the factors affecting the establishment of a network of medical libraries in the Philippines. This paper dealt with the following questions: What facilitates or hinders the establishment of a network of medical libraries in the Philippines? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a network? Is it feasible to establish such a network? Who will manage the network? What are the network’s functions and services? What are the requirements to join this network? What are the governing policies and guidelines? The researcher sent survey questionnaires to heads of medical libraries who are members of the Medical and Health Librarians Association of the Philippines (MAHLAP) and/or the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges (APMC). After the initial survey, the researcher conducted focus group discussions (FGD) participated by the MAHLAP 2010 Board of Officers. The researcher also interviewed networking experts and heads of medical institutions to obtain their opinion and suggestions on network establishment. Frequency analysis was used to count preferences of librarians regarding the facilitating and hindering factors affecting the establishment of a network of medical libraries. The study revealed that the key factors affecting the establishment of a network include administrative support and budget to address hindrances such as networking costs and other requirements for joining a network. Attaining these key factors directs the readiness of medical librarians and libraries to establish a medical library network. The researcher recommends that potential member libraries sit down and further discuss the establishment of a network of medical libraries. MAHLAP should take the initiative to convene its members and present to them draft policies and guidelines. Once discussed, this can be submitted to APMC for the head’s of institution review and approval. Once the invitation for membership is approved, librarians can meet to finalize the guidelines.