Work-Unit Absenteeism: Effects of Satisfaction, Commitment, Labor Market Conditions, and Time

Prior research is limited in explaining absenteeism at the unit level and over time. We developed and tested a model of unit-level absenteeism using five waves of data collected over six years from 115 work units in a large state agency. Unit-level job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and local unemployment were modeled as time-varying predictors of absenteeism. Shared satisfaction and commitment interacted in predicting absenteeism but were not related to the rate of change in absenteeism over time. Unit-level satisfaction and commitment were more strongly related to absenteeism when units were located in areas with plentiful job alternatives

Car dependent practices: findings from a sequence pattern mining study of UK time use data

This paper identifies three main understandings of the notion of 'car dependence' in transport research: a micro-social understanding (dependence as an attribute of individuals), a macro approach (attribute of societies or local areas as whole), and a meso-level understanding, where it refers to trips – or rather to the activities that people travel to undertake. While the first two approaches have been dominant, this paper further develops the third, addressing questions as to whether and why certain activities are inherently more difficult to switch away from the car. At the theoretical level, it builds on theories of social practice to put forward the notion of ‘car dependent practices’. At the empirical level, it demonstrates that the application of sequence pattern mining techniques to time use data allows the identification of car and mobility intensive activities, arguably representing the trace of car dependent practices. Overall, the findings of this mining exercise suggest that the emphasis of existing literature on escorting children, shopping and carrying heavy goods as car dependent trip purposes is not misplaced. Our analysis adds to this knowledge by contextualising the information by providing detailed quantitative analysis of a larger, richer set of activities hitherto overlooked in transport policy. The article concludes by illustrating the policy implications of the approach adopted and the findings generated, discussing possible strategies to steer practices in a more sustainable direction by creating material alternatives to the 'cargo function' of car travel

Measuring knowledge sharing processes through social network analysis within construction organisations

The construction industry is a knowledge intensive and information dependent industry. Organisations risk losing valuable knowledge, when the employees leave them. Therefore, construction organisations need to nurture opportunities to disseminate knowledge through strengthening knowledge-sharing networks. This study aimed at evaluating the formal and informal knowledge sharing methods in social networks within Australian construction organisations and identifying how knowledge sharing could be improved. Data were collected from two estimating teams in two case studies. The collected data through semi-structured interviews were analysed using UCINET, a Social Network Analysis (SNA) tool, and SNA measures. The findings revealed that one case study consisted of influencers, while the other demonstrated an optimal knowledge sharing structure in both formal and informal knowledge sharing methods. Social networks could vary based on the organisation as well as the individuals’ behaviour. Identifying networks with specific issues and taking steps to strengthen networks will enable to achieve optimum knowledge sharing processes. This research offers knowledge sharing good practices for construction organisations to optimise their knowledge sharing processes

On the structure and internal mechanisms of business incubators: A comparative case study

It is an established economic development paradigm that entrepreneurship promotes innovation and encourages the creation of high quality jobs. In order to enhance entrepreneurial activity, the focus in Ireland to date has been on public-sector venture creation programmes. Of such programmes, business incubators, over the years, politically and in terms of public funding, have received perhaps the highest level of attention. Thus, incubators in Ireland have become important policy instruments for promoting early stage entrepreneurship. The research project outlined in this thesis to investigate this important phenomenon began with an extensive review of the incubator-incubation literature. This review showed that given the importance attributed to incubators, surprisingly little is known about how they function, or, the internal process of incubation. In other words, what is not understood completely are the dynamics of an incubator’s internal processes, normative environment and structural properties which enable human activity. Researching these aspects is important due to their important link with incubation “success”. A more sophisticated understanding of how incubators incubate will allow us to exercise more control over the quality of incubation programs, thereby, influencing the likelihood of incubated firms surviving after the incubation period. In order to investigate the incubation process and incubators’ normative environment and structural properties, a qualitative, multi-site case study approach was utilised. A pragmatist-interpretivist philosophy and the social mechanisms literature informed the research’s meta-theoretical lens. Data was collected during 2009-2010 at two different types of incubation facilities in Dublin; a ‘community enterprise centre’ and a ‘university campus-based hightech incubator’. The research’s most significant finding is that incubation is primarily relational in nature, and the process is co-produced by both the incubator manager (IM) and a specific client in independent dyads. A number of factors influence the development of IM-Client, Client-Client, Client-IM-Client and Client-Third Party relationships, chief of which are the leadership style of the IM, the physical design of the incubator facility, the incubator’s client mix and the incubation ethos. It was also determined that the scale, scope, intensity, frequency and thus the quality of incubation is dependent on, what has been termed, an incubation click. This is a bond based on the understanding that incubation assistance can be competently provided, and that such mentoring, coaching or developmental assistance is also proactively sought. Incubation is triggered in a sophisticated normative environment under the prevalence of ground rules, subtle signals, the interplay of personal histories, hidden agendas, perceptions of value and human biases. As a result of this research our knowledge of various aspects of incubators’ structure and their status as complex hybrid organisations has also increased. Incubators’ structural attributes such as de-coupling, mis-alignment of managerial incentives and sources of internal coordination and control uncertainty suggest why it continues to be difficult to evaluate their performance and socio-economic impact. Overall, the research has raised the profile of incubation research in the incubator-incubation discourse. Although modelling the incubation process is difficult due to high levels of randomness inherent in the internal incubator environment, the increased understanding of process variables, normative patterns and structural properties developed as a result of this research will allow the introduction of efficiencies to improve the chances of incubation “success”

Sustainability-oriented housing innovation: Using the Solar Decathlon as a knowledge source

The Solar Decathlon competition started in 2002. Since then, Solar Decathlon has acted as a showcase and source of innovation in the field of sustainability for housing and for the construction industry at large. This thesis has utilised data from Solar Decathlon competitions to understand the nature of innovations involved with progressively building and refining the technology required for sustainable housing. As such, the focus and drive of this thesis is to present an image of the Solar Decathlon competition as openly creating and synthesising new knowledge about sustainability-oriented innovation. It can be stated that understanding the precise factors that make innovation happen can be convoluted in nature. The Solar Decathlon portrays these characteristics, is internationally recognised as the premier competition for prototyping sustainability-oriented innovation, and demonstrates the human features involved with progress in the field of sustainable housing. The thesis is original in that it is the first that addresses innovation and its management through human-centred design, and describes its processes, that can be henceforth taken up by the building industry. Utilising the experience of the Innovations Coordinator of Team UOW (University of Wollongong), this thesis describes and analyses the nature of innovation involved with the Desert Rose house (UOW Solar Decathlon entry), including knowledge of how innovation happened in real time during its construction. This thesis asks the question: What is the nature of innovation involved with sustainable housing? The answer to this question is not resolved simply through experiencing the construction of the Desert Rose, or through an objective analysis of the available Solar Decathlon data sets. Rather, this thesis proposes that the answer can be obtained through comprehensive multi-disciplinary research, including: (i) analysis of available innovation related Solar Decathlon data sets from leading houses, (ii) the development of an innovations management framework for sustainability-oriented technology, (iii) a case study of the Desert Rose Solar Decathlon entry in 2018 in the broader context of design, construction, innovation and sustainability, and (iv) tracing innovation through development of a specific sustainability-oriented technology from Desert Rose

MICROCREDIT AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA: THE CASE OF MFI FINANCE ENTERPRISES

This paper investigates the impact of microcredit loan on business performance of Microfinance Institutions (MFI) finance microenterprises in Nigeria. A microenterprise refers to an individual business that consists of less than five employees and is generally organized as a sole proprietorship or family business. The objective of the study was to examine the effects of micro credit on several business performance criteria of MFI clients. Data for the study was derived from both primary and secondary sources. First, a survey of MFI and entrepreneur – clients were undertaken using simple random sampling technique to select our respondent, this was linked to data extracted from the records of MFI to form a panel data. The data obtained was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The finding reveals a positive relation between microcredit and profit of the microenterprise. The study recommends a wider coverage of microfinance through effective implementation of micro-fund scheme and mandatory business related training for all micro entrepreneurs