Toward a Strategic Human Resource Management Model of High Reliability Organization Performance

In this article, we extend strategic human resource management (SHRM) thinking to theory and research on high reliability organizations (HROs) using a behavioral approach. After considering the viability of reliability as an organizational performance indicator, we identify a set of eight reliability-oriented employee behaviors (ROEBs) likely to foster organizational reliability and suggest that they are especially valuable to reliability seeking organizations that operate under “trying conditions”. We then develop a reliability-enhancing human resource strategy (REHRS) likely to facilitate the manifestation of these ROEBs. We conclude that the behavioral approach offers SHRM scholars an opportunity to explain how people contribute to specific organizational goals in specific contexts and, in turn, to identify human resource strategies that extend the general high performance human resource strategy (HPHRS) in new and important ways

Visual Communications on the Road in Arkansas: Analysis of Secondary Students Videos

In the summer of 2010, the Visual Communications on the Road in Arkansas: Creative Photo and Video Projects to Promote Agriculture program was initiated. The program consisted of a two-week agricultural communications curriculum that would be taught by agricultural science teachers in Arkansas. The curriculum was composed of lessons about photography, writing, and videography, and the program introduced students to digital photography and videography equipment and the proper uses of equipment. Once the curriculum was taught in secondary schools, a mobile classroom unit—consisting of a travel trailer, photography and videography equipment, and laptop computers equipped with editing software—would visit the school to assist students with the creation of short promotional videos about agriculture. The student-created videos were used as a hands-on extension of the curriculum learned in the classroom. Completed videos were posted to YouTube and then analyzed to assess student application of competencies taught in the curriculum. The researchers created a coding sheet to systematically assess all posted videos and inter- and intrarater reliability was maintained. An analysis of data gathered from the video assessment showed that secondary students were able to effectively apply many of the techniques taught in the curriculum through the agricultural videos created. Additional findings and recommendations for application and future research are presented

Taking the learning beyond the individual:how reflection informs change in practice

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this research was to explore the value of reflection and its application to practice through the implementation of educational modules within a new Diabetes Care and Education Master Degree Programme in Kuwait, and to realise how this teaching intervention informs changes in practice. METHODS: A small exploratory case study was conducted within the Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait. A qualitative approach using focus group interviews was carried out with seventeen participants all of whom are studying on the Diabetes Care and Education Master Degree Programme in Kuwait. An inductive approach to thematic analysis, which focused on examining themes within data, was performed. RESULTS: The results indicate that participants value the opportunity to study through organised, structured and assessed reflection. The learning provides useful information and support to the participant by highlighting the role which reflection plays to enhance personal and professional development, the value of educational theory, continuing professional development, collaboration and enhancing patient education and practice. CONCLUSIONS: The significance of reflection is often seen in the literature as an important aspect of professional competence. This research has highlighted the value of reflection as a key component within a new educational programme

Toward a Systematic Evidence-Base for Science in Out-of-School Time: The Role of Assessment

Analyzes the tools used in assessments of afterschool and summer science programs, explores the need for comprehensive tools for comparisons across programs, and discusses the most effective structure and format for such a tool. Includes recommendations