Academic leadership and work-related attitude

At a global level, changes in the higher education environment - such as changing funding mechanisms, regulations and audit processes, increasing customer demands, competition and internationalization, and ongoing reduction in state resources for funding Higher Education has resulted in increased interest by academics and practitioners on leadership in the higher education sector. Recent studies have noted that there has been very limited research conducted on the question of which forms of academic leadership are associated with individual academic performance. Globalisation of higher education environment can bring many benefits to higher education organisations, but it can also expose them to a number of risks and challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore how leaders in the higher education sector are using their leadership abilities and skills to bring about enhanced academic performance from their academic colleagues and subordinates’. Therefore, in this research aims to identify which specific aspects of academic leadership skill-set have the maximum impact on academics’ performance. This research used six measures; namely visionary, adaptable to change, competency, effective leadership, transformational style and charisma, for quantifying academic leadership. Individual academic performance was measured by the construct titled work-related attitude (i.e. work-related attitude was considered to be a proxy for individual academic performance). Work-related attitude was quantified by three measures; namely job satisfaction, career satisfaction and organizational commitment. Both academic leadership landscape and academics’ work-related attitude were modelled as latent constructs.Based on data from fifteen interviews and a survey of faculty members of 261 academic staff from twenty Malaysian public universities, factor analyses was used to explore four groups of academic leadership constructs; namely innovative, effective, executive and adaptive. Similarly, factor analyses were used to establish four groups of work-related attitude constructs; namely organizational commitment, career satisfaction, job satisfaction and job skills. Regression analyses suggest that academic leadership was positively associated with work-related attitude. Further, multiple regression analyses suggests executive and innovative academic leadership behavioural traits were positively associated with organizational commitment, career satisfaction, job satisfaction and job skills of work-related attitude. Unfortunately, behavioural traits titled “effective” and "adaptive" had no association with any work-related attitude (i.e. academic performance).The implications of the results for theory and practice are significant. This research provides empirical evidence for the development of a theoretical model for academic leadership grounded in self-leadership theory. Further, this study also proposes a general definition of academic leadership according to faculty members’ perspectives and a diagnostic instrument for measurement of academic leadership and work-related attitude. The study gives a new perspective on factors that contribute toward academic leadership and work-related attitude. This study revealed which contributing factors of academic leadership and work-related attitude have significant impact on professional leadership in academia. Empirically, the study reveals the underpinning factors that influence the faculty members in understanding and exploring academic leadership and work-related attitudes. This study can assist faculty members of public universities in Malaysia in dealing with the challenges and demands in academia. University administrators (especially the vice chancellors), may urge their human resources departments to encourage their faculty members toward demonstrating executive and innovative behavioural traits in pursuing their academic life. Finally, this study contributes towards testing a model, instrument and research process that is based in the US in an Asian country – Malaysia. Moreover, the proposed model has the potential to be replicated in other countries.The main originality and value of this study is that it has addressed a research gap concerning academic leadership approaches to assessing and enhancing individual academic performance in a global context. The paper has identified which forms of academic leadership are associated with enhanced individual academic performance. In this context, this study proposes a new categorisation for measuring which specific aspects of academic leadership skill-set have the maximum impact on academics’ performance, and offers a characterisation of academic leadership skill-set on academics’ performance

Community Development Evaluation Storymap and Legend

Community based organizations, funders, and intermediary organizations working in the community development field have a shared interest in building stronger organizations and stronger communities. Through evaluation these organizations can learn how their programs and activities contribute to the achievement of these goals, and how to improve their effectiveness and the well-being of their communities. Yet, evaluation is rarely seen as part of a non-judgemental organizational learning process. Instead, the term "evaluation" has often generated anxiety and confusion. The Community Development Storymap project is a response to those concerns.Illustrations found in this document were produced by Grove Consultants

Data Science Solution for User Authentication

User authentication is considered a key factor in almost any software system and is often the first layer of security in the digital world. Authentication methods utilize one, or a combination of up to two, of the following factors: something you know, something you have and something you are. To prevent serious data breaches that have occurred using the traditional authentication methods, a fourth factor, something you do, that is being discussed among researchers; unfortunately, methods that rely on this fourth factor have problems of their own. This thesis addresses the issues of the fourth authentication factor and proposes a data science solution for user authentication. The new solution is based on something you do and relies on analytic techniques to transfer Big data characteristics (volume, velocity and variety) into relevant security user profiles. Users’ information will be analyzed to create behavioral profiles. Just-in-time challenging questions are generated by these behavioral profiles, allowing an authentication on demand feature to be obtained. The proposed model assumes that the data is received from different sources. This data is analyzed using collaborative filtering (CF), a learning technique, that builds up knowledge by aggregating the collected users’ transaction data to identify information of security potential. Four use case scenarios were evaluated regarding the proposed model’s proof of concept. Additionally, a web based case study using MovieLens public dataset was implemented. Results show that the proposed model is successful as a proof of concept. The experiment confirms the potential of applying the proposed approach in real life as a new authentication method, leveraging the characteristics of Big data: volume, velocity and variety

Health systems strengthening to arrest the global disability burden: Empirical development of prioritised components for a global strategy for improving musculoskeletal health

Introduction Despite the profound burden of disease, a strategic global response to optimise musculoskeletal (MSK) health and guide national-level health systems strengthening priorities remains absent. Auspiced by the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health (G-MUSC), we aimed to empirically derive requisite priorities and components of a strategic response to guide global and national-level action on MSK health. Methods Design: mixed-methods, three-phase design. Phase 1: qualitative study with international key informants (KIs), including patient representatives and people with lived experience. KIs characterised the contemporary landscape for MSK health and priorities for a global strategic response. Phase 2: scoping review of national health policies to identify contemporary MSK policy trends and foci. Phase 3: informed by phases 1-2, was a global eDelphi where multisectoral panellists rated and iterated a framework of priorities and detailed components/actions. Results Phase 1: 31 KIs representing 25 organisations were sampled from 20 countries (40% low and middle income (LMIC)). Inductively derived themes were used to construct a logic model to underpin latter phases, consisting of five guiding principles, eight strategic priority areas and seven accelerators for action. Phase 2: of the 165 documents identified, 41 (24.8%) from 22 countries (88% high-income countries) and 2 regions met the inclusion criteria. Eight overarching policy themes, supported by 47 subthemes, were derived, aligning closely with the logic model. Phase 3: 674 panellists from 72 countries (46% LMICs) participated in round 1 and 439 (65%) in round 2 of the eDelphi. Fifty-nine components were retained with 10 (17%) identified as essential for health systems. 97.6% and 94.8% agreed or strongly agreed the framework was valuable and credible, respectively, for health systems strengthening. Conclusion An empirically derived framework, co-designed and strongly supported by multisectoral stakeholders, can now be used as a blueprint for global and country-level responses to improve MSK health and prioritise system strengthening initiatives

The New Normal

Flip the calendar back to March 2020. Economic activity went to zero and the country experienced a shutdown. Unemployment rose and people stayed home and didn’t go about their normal routine of buying things. To try and rebound the economy, the Federal Reserve issued several rounds of stimulus checks. “The economic decisions that we saw in March 2020 were driven completely by the fact that we were shut down,” said Eric Higgins, research director and the von Waaden Chair of Investment Management in the College of Business Administration. “Once the country opened back up, those issues began to go away and the economy came back.” Fast forward two-plus years. Every day we hear about inflation, unemployment and the volatile market. The economy is experiencing an increased labor shortage because of retirements or decisions not to return to the workforce, Higgins said. But Higgins wanted to know: Is the economy really bad or are we still experiencing the aftereffects of March 2020? Higgins and several collaborators tried to find the answers by analyzing and comparing 2020 to the 2008 Great Recession. Their research shows that 2020 was not a repeat recession, but was the result of financial issues and decisions directly correlated to the pandemic. As businesses began to reopen and people left their houses, we began to see increased growth and demand for products. “If there is a shortage of labor and people want to purchase things, that means the price of labor is going to go up and the price of stuff is going to go up,” Higgins said. “The economy isn’t bad. I think the economy has rebounded, but it hasn’t normalized in terms of what the new normal looks like and that might take a while.

The Effect of Customers’ Attitudes Towards Chatbots on their Experience and Behavioural Intention in Turkey

Chatbots are a recent technology that brands and companies adopt to provide 24/7 customer service. However, some customers have several concerns regarding technology, and therefore, prefer talking to humans rather than chatbots. Brands must improve their chatbots based on customer experience because customers satisfied with chatbots are more likely to use them to contact brands/companies. Therefore, this article investigated the effect of perceived ease of use, usefulness, enjoyment, and risk factors on customer experience and behavioral intention regarding chatbots. The study also looked into the impact of customer experience on behavioral intention. The sample consisted of 211 chatbot users of Turkish recruited using non-probability convenience sampling. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and SmartPLS3. The results showed that perceived ease of use and usefulness affected behavioral intention, but perceived risk had no impact on customer experience and behavioral intention regarding chatbots. Perceived enjoyment affected only customer experience. Lastly, customer experience affected behavioral intention

Asessment of Vehicle Maintenance Culture and Its Cost Effectiveness: Case of University for Development Studies

The study assessed the maintenance culture of vehicles and the associated costs in the University for Development Studies at the Central Administration, Tamale Campus in order to provide solutions to maintenance problems facing the University with the associated high cost of maintenance. The study considered all 55 vehicles and drivers at the Central Administration used by various offices, directorates and general use (pool). However, data on 34 vehicles were available which is far more than the needed representation. Ten drivers were sampled to participate in the study using the simple random sampling approach. Face-to-face interviews with one-on-one respondents were conducted with the selected drivers. The researcher used open ended questions to gather relevant data from the respondents. The secondary data was obtained from mechanics and technicians who had presented their bills for payment at the Transport Office. Both the qualitative and quantitative methods were used in analyzing the data collected. The Grounded Theory and excel sheets were employed for the data analysis. The study revealed that that the poor maintenance culture is as a result of poor funding, delay in the release of funds for maintenance, inflation of the cost of spare parts, design errors, use of sub-standard materials, age of vehicles, insufficient knowledge and skills of mechanics and technicians were factors identified as those contributing to problems of effective maintenance culture. It is therefore recommended that a formalized maintenance department should be established with well qualified and experienced personnel with practical knowledge and skills in vehicle maintenance and with a well-equipped workshop with the necessary tools and spare parts.  This will allow fast and quick response to vehicle maintenance issues