Implementation Of Interactive Planning

This capstone describes how Interactive Planning, a methodology of Systems Thinking, was implemented to address complex organizational problems. The paper focuses on how a group of scholars from the graduate program of Organizational Dynamics in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania addressed the systemic problems of the International House of Philadelphia through the process of Situational Analysis, an activity of Idealization, which is part of Interactive Planning. Specifically, this capstone describes how the scholars analyzed the systemic environment of the International House of Philadelphia through eleven activities in order to address its challenges and synthesize a compelling argument for organizational change

Interactive Planning: An Applied Systems Thinking Approach from the Perspective of a Participant-Observer

The systems approach to thinking is at a precipice. Our world is composed of systems and sub-systems so intrinsically linked that any attempt to make changes can upset system interdependencies. Systems thinking is a mindset and method of thinking and seeing things as “wholes,” patterns, interconnections, and interdependencies rather than analyzed parts and sub-parts. The systems approach and the methodologies informed by this approach offer an improved understanding of organizational performance. The systems methodology of interactive planning involves organizational stakeholders as the key ingredient to idealize creative outcomes for organizational problems. The interactive planning process involves carrying out a mess formulation to understand a problematic situation’s current reality and an idealized design to create an innovative reality that dissolves problems and promotes sustainable growth and development (Ackoff, 1981). This proposed study examined the interactive planning process’s effectiveness from the perspectives of a participant-observer. The areas of opportunity included integration into interactive planning with other complementary methodologies and theoretical frameworks that aid in its execution. Another area of investigation in this study was identifying the facilitator skill sets needed for improved idealized design engagement. The experiential knowledge from the researcher as a participant-observer with design session participants provided insight into this methodological approach, adding to the body of knowledge of interactive planning and idealized design creations. The researcher concludes that an effective idealized design outcome results from the effectiveness of a facilitator and facilitation. The effectiveness is contingent on a consistent and delicate balance of mindset, adeptness, experience, understanding of the interactive planning methodology’s application, and skill sets that hinge on coaching tenets, brainstorming techniques, and virtual technology platforms. vi

A Methodological Framework for Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Masonry School Buildings: Application to Nepal

Due to the high seismic risk posed by the school infrastructure in developing countries and the lack of technical quantitative tools for risk assessment and strengthening prioritization, this study aims to develop a seismic vulnerability assessment methodology recognizing the high variability in the seismic performance of different masonry typologies. The expectation is that such framework should be applicable to countries in the Himalayan belt and possibly further afield. To this end, the Nepalese school portfolio is used to develop as well as validate the framework. A first step in this study is to classify a number of masonry typologies of school buildings, differentiated by construction materials, building height and seismic design level. Although these parameters are sufficient to qualitatively rank the vulnerability of a typology, other construction features such as diaphragm type or wall panel length are critical to quantitatively determine its expected seismic response and fragility, as proven by the vulnerability results in this study. The identification of these relevant parameters underpins a globally applicable taxonomy. The applied element method is employed for the analysis so as to accurately represent the seismic capacity and failure mechanism of different masonry typologies. For the typologies lacking box-like behaviour, a tailored pushover analysis approach is developed, allowing computation of in-plane and out-of-plane capacity and fragility separately, then combined to derive a mean global vulnerability function. The vulnerability results for distinct typologies better inform effective risk reduction policies, by allowing prioritised and incremental strengthening strategies. In the Nepalese context, the results show that most of the masonry school typologies are in need of immediate strengthening while traditional seismic safety measures such as horizontal bands prove to be effective in order to comply with the life safety performance level under seismic hazard and also to ensure adequate functionality requirements

Modernization of the Raw Material Base for the Russian Meat Production Subcomplex in the Conditions of Improving the Production Innovativeness

We set a goal for the study to explore the issues on the development of the beef stock farming sector in the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation in the context of comprehensive modernization and increasing the innovativeness level of the industry segment. Being based on modern research methods (analysis, idealization, abstraction, synthesis and concretization), we have found that the category of "innovation" determines the practical application of qualitatively new scientific and technological, organizational and economic, manufacturing and/or other solutions, which provide breakthrough development and/or qualitative and quantitative changes of high intensity for a process and/or phenomenon (positive synergy). It was found by us that the key problems of beef stock farming are: high physical deterioration and obsolescence of durable equipment; low provision of complete feed; lack of qualified personnel; low commitment to innovative solutions; dependence of technical and technological support on imports; low availability of financial resources, especially for small businesses; lack of genetic selection work; underdevelopment of cooperation processes; high resource consumption rates. During the study, issues of information support for the modernization of beef stock farming on the basis of a single information resource of CALS-technologies and SLBE-tools have been explored, as well as ways to reduce labour costs, increase conversion, and weight gain rates and safety of farm animals in meat industry enterprises were suggested.

O CONCEITO MODERNO DE EDUCAÇÃO DE ADULTOS NA UCRÂNIA

The intensity of transformation processes and the significant pace of globalization in social relations development are increasingly creating new challenges for the educational system. As a result, they define the role of education as a crucial area that shapes the effectiveness of social and economic progress. Today, special attention is paid to adult education. It can be described by personalization of direction in development, close interconnection with other socio-political institutions, and the ability to increase Ukraine's competitiveness in all spheres (science, politics, economy, social sphere, etc.). The article aims to identify the peculiarities and key trends of adult education in Ukraine. Research goals also include identifying key factors of adult education in contemporary society, the fundamental principles of the development of this sphere, and the problems of adult education development as a structural element of the modern education system. During the research, descriptive, comparative, and analytical-bibliographic methods were applied to study the scientific literature on adult education issues. Systemic-structural, comparative, logical-linguistic methods, abstraction, and idealization were used to analyze and process data in the research area.A intensidade dos processos de transformação e o ritmo significativo da globalização no desenvolvimento das relações sociais criam cada vez mais novos desafios para o sistema educativo. Como resultado, definem o papel da educação como uma área crucial que molda a eficácia do progresso social e económico. Hoje, é dada especial atenção à educação de adultos. Pode ser descrito pela personalização da direção do desenvolvimento, pela estreita interligação com outras instituições sociopolíticas e pela capacidade de aumentar a competitividade da Ucrânia em todas as esferas (ciência, política, economia, esfera social, etc.). O artigo visa identificar as peculiaridades e as principais tendências da educação de adultos na Ucrânia. Os objectivos da investigação incluem também a identificação dos factores-chave da educação de adultos na sociedade contemporânea, os princípios fundamentais do desenvolvimento desta esfera e os problemas do desenvolvimento da educação de adultos como um elemento estrutural do sistema educativo moderno. Durante a pesquisa foram aplicados métodos descritivos, comparativos e analítico-bibliográficos para estudar a produção científica sobre questões de educação de adultos. Métodos sistêmico-estruturais, comparativos, lógico-linguísticos, abstração e idealização foram utilizados para análise e processamento dos dados da área de pesquisa

Constructing an imagined path to peace during conflict: a critical discourse analysis of human rights education in Gaza, Palestine

Human Rights Education (HRE) for Palestinian refugees in Gaza Strip is integrated in a context where history, culture and collective memory are priorities in the local discourses of right-hood and justice. Palestinian learners are citizens of a non-recognized imagined community, existing through the processes of collective remembering, and the local discourses on rights. This study examines UNRWA’s special HRE curriculum for Palestinian refugees in Gaza Strip. I analyse UNRWA’s HRE policy and a sample of secondary level textbooks. This results in forming my original contribution to the field of human rights and HRE in a context of conflict. That is giving voice to a “collective” counter-hegemonic response to UNRWA’s model of HRE, which marginalizes the local discourse of right-hood. Collective, not in the sense of generalization, but in recognition of Palestinians’ legal and political status, which is a major obstacle for human rights and HRE in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For this, I use qualitative document analysis and a dialectical-relational approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine the materials in relation to the wider geo-political and socio-cultural context. The research outcomes reveal that UNRWA promotes a discourse of Human Rights, Conflict Resolution and Tolerance (HRCRT) through a model of HRE which promotes a standardized culture of human rights. The study suggests that, at the level of conflict resolution, UNRWA’s discourse of HRCRT overlooks vital political and legal issues that hinder HRE in Gaza Strip. The curriculum is highly de-politicized and knowledge-based that it prescribes a de-contextualized curriculum, which represents the world as it “ought to be” rather than what “it is”. Therefore, the study argues that the way forward for HRE resides in directly addressing the complex components of the conflict and acknowledging the importance of the local discourses and collective memory for HRE for Palestinian

The Value to the Organization of an Adaptive Approach to a Technologically Disruptive Environment

The purpose of this Capstone is to explore the possible roles Information Technology (IT) could play in the success of the organization as it transforms into a workplace capable of adapting to the disruptive nature of digital technology. This is accomplished by identifying the positive value to the organization provided by digital technology and social business tools; describing the disruptive nature of this new technology and the tools associated with it and its impact on the organization-as-a-whole; presenting some of the tensions and possibly evolving paradigm shifts within the organization as a result of the disruptive nature of digital technology and social business tools; evaluating predominant near-term operational models being considered by IT leadership and their responsiveness to this disruptive technology environment; and recommending a course of action that will provide an organization with the necessary tools required for continuously adapting to the uncontrollable and disruptive nature presented by the heavily digital technological environment that will most likely persist throughout the first quarter of this 21st century

Models of collaboration between psychologist and family doctor: a systematic review of primary care psychology

open2noThe prevalence of psychological suffering is greater than the actual request for clinical consultation in Europe (Alonso et al., 2004). In Italy, no more than 5.5% of the population requested psychological assistance during lifetime (Miglioretti et al., 2008). There are different obstacles that prevent the access to mental health services, such as economic restrictions (Mulder et al., 2011), cultural prejudice (Kim et al., 2010), and lack of knowledge about the service providers that can answer to the patient’s psychological needs (Molinari et al., 2012). Therefore, the psychologist is often consulted as a last resort, only after everything else has failed, when problems have become severe, and thus requiring longer, more intensive, and expensive treatments. The introduction of the Primary Care Psychologist, a professional who works together with the family doctor, allows to overcome the above-mentioned problems and intercept unexpressed needs for psychological assistance. This professional role is operating in many countries since several years. In this study, current literature concerning different models of collaboration between physician and psychologist, in Europe and in Italy, was reviewed. A systematic search of Web of Science (ISI), Pubmed, Scopus, and PsychINFO was conducted using the initial search terms Primary Care Psychologist, Family Doctor, Primary Care, Collaborative Practice, and several relevant papers were identified. The review has shown the improved quality of care when mental health care is integrated into primary. Analyzing how different programs are implemented, results indicated that the more efficacious models of Primary Care Psychology are those tailored on the environment’s needs.The results of our systematic review stress the importance of the Primary Care Psychologist implementation also in Italy, to intercept unexpressed psychological needs and enhance clients’ quality of life.openFrancesca, Bianco; Enrico, BenelliBianco, Francesca; Benelli, Enric