55,163 research outputs found
It's Very Different Here: Practice-Based Academic Staff Induction and Retention
The sociologist, Max Weber (1864-1920), suggested that few could withstand the frustrations of academic life. As the strategic management of human resources begins to differentiate higher education institutions (HEIs) in league tables, the costs of voluntary staff turnover (attrition) become more significant. In this paper, we consider links between induction (orientation) and retention for academic staff. We report on a qualitative study of thirty academic staff in five United Kingdom HEIs who were recruited on the basis of their professional experience. Their practice-based knowledge lends our participants particular insight into their HEI induction experience which, where found wanting, led in several cases to resignation. We analyse the induction experiences of our participants to glean explanations for these perceived shortcomings. Since induction interventions are thought to lead to improved retention, we recommend policy and practice changes to induction which may benefit all academic staff
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Police Knowledge Exchange: Summary Report
[Executive Summary]
This report draws on research commissioned by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the Home Office to investigate cultural aspects of knowledge sharing across the police service. The research reviews literature and police perceptions to identify the enablers and barriers to effective knowledge exchange and sharing within and between police forces and police partners, including the public. Data were collected from 11 police forces; 42 in-depth interviews/focus groups and 47 survey responses. The literature-guided analysis identified four core research themes: who, why, what and how we share. Detailed findings are presented in the full report; this summary report presents the core research findings. Recommendations from this study will inform the next phase of activity for the Board.
The research identified that cross-force, cross-organisation, national and international sharing relies on a culture supporting individuals who have an independent and reflective sharing approach.
A key enabler to police sharing is that, regardless of police rank and role, they all have a strong collaborative nature, through a deep motivation to share, that benefits the wider social community. This collaborative nature is driven by processes that reveal reciprocal benefit and safe sharing, as well as how to effectively âget the job doneâ and foster professional learning.
A key barrier to police sharing is a strong hierarchical culture that does not encourage the independent nature of sharing. Whilst police officers and staff act independently within the confines of their prescribed roles, they rarely independently share beyond this. This hierarchical culture
means that innovations in sharing are often initiated or approved top-down and tied to leadership. Hierarchical structures are seen to support a competitive culture combining concepts of risk aversion and blame. The
hierarchical culture is also perceived as providing poor clarity on what is of value to share and how to effectively share.
There are two key recommendations to overcome this barrier: one long-term and one short-term.
Long-term: âBecome independent sharersâ by changing the nature and culture of the police to encourage this independent nature, so that specific sharing barriers are effectively solved by individuals. Professionalising the police and working collaboratively with academia are steps towards this long-term goal.
Short-term: âGuide and authorise independent sharingâ by using the hierarchy to scaffold/support and direct police towards effective and approved sharing approaches. This will show the police, through the hierarchy, how and why this independent sharing nature is safe, effective and valued
La persona adecuada en el momento adecuado: los miembros del comitĂ© de auditorĂa y la calidad de la informaciĂłn financiera
We analyze some personal characteristics of the members of the audit committee of the
Spanish listed firms and the relation between these characteristics and earnings management.
We find a non-linear relation with tenure, so that long tenures can initially compromise the
directorsâ independence but, after a given threshold, longer tenures improve the expertise of
the members. Serving in too many boards has a negative influence on the ability of directors to
detect earnings management, and higher academic background and more diverse professional
background improve the directorsâ abilities.En el presente trabajo analizamos la relaciĂłn entre algunas caracterĂsticas personales de
los miembros del comitĂ© de auditorĂa de las empresas cotizadas españolas y la gestiĂłn
del resultado. Nuestros resultados muestran una relaciĂłn no lineal con la antigĂŒedad en el
consejo: mientras que en los primeros estadios una mayor duraciĂłn puede comprometer la
independencia de los consejeros, llega un punto en el que la mayor antigĂŒedad en el comitĂ©
incrementa su experiencia. Formar parte de un nĂșmero excesivo de consejos redunda en
una menor capacidad de los consejeros para detectar la gestiĂłn del resultado. Una formaciĂłn
académica mås elevada y una experiencia profesional mås diversa contribuyen a mejorar la
calidad de la informaciĂłn financiera
The construction of global management consulting - a study of consultanciesâ web presentations
Management consulting increasingly appears as a global endeavour as reflected in the increasing dominance of a few large, global management-consulting firms. However, features of the consulting service (e.g. its immaterial and interactional character) as well as aspects of management (e.g. its cultural anchoredness) highlight the locality of management consulting. In this paper we approach this tension between the global and the local by seeing consulting as involving the creation of generalised myths. More specifically, we ask the question: How do global consulting companies construct the viability and desirability of their services? Based on a view of management consultants as mythmakers, we study the argumentation on corporate web sites of four leading global consultancies in five different countries. Applying a framework based on the sociology of translation, we analyze the translation strategies used in making the service of global consultancies both viable and indispensable. We find that the need for consultants is to a large extent constructed through defining management as an expert activity, thus creating a need for external advisors possessing globally applicable expert knowledge. In this effort, the consultants ally with three widely spread rationalized managerial myths â the rationality myth, the globalization myth and the universality myth. We conclude, that global consulting firms are actively involved in creating and reinforcing the very same institutions, which are the prerequisites for their future success.management consulting; globalization; myth making
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