12th International Workshop on Termination (WST 2012) : WST 2012, February 19–23, 2012, Obergurgl, Austria / ed. by Georg Moser

This volume contains the proceedings of the 12th International Workshop on Termination (WST 2012), to be held February 19–23, 2012 in Obergurgl, Austria. The goal of the Workshop on Termination is to be a venue for presentation and discussion of all topics in and around termination. In this way, the workshop tries to bridge the gaps between different communities interested and active in research in and around termination. The 12th International Workshop on Termination in Obergurgl continues the successful workshops held in St. Andrews (1993), La Bresse (1995), Ede (1997), Dagstuhl (1999), Utrecht (2001), Valencia (2003), Aachen (2004), Seattle (2006), Paris (2007), Leipzig (2009), and Edinburgh (2010). The 12th International Workshop on Termination did welcome contributions on all aspects of termination and complexity analysis. Contributions from the imperative, constraint, functional, and logic programming communities, and papers investigating applications of complexity or termination (for example in program transformation or theorem proving) were particularly welcome. We did receive 18 submissions which all were accepted. Each paper was assigned two reviewers. In addition to these 18 contributed talks, WST 2012, hosts three invited talks by Alexander Krauss, Martin Hofmann, and Fausto Spoto

Theories on educational effectiveness and ineffectiveness

Following Snow’s (1973) description of an “inductive” process of theory formation, this article addresses the organization of the knowledge base on school effectiveness. A multilevel presentation stimulated the conceptualization of educational effectiveness as an integration of system-level, school-level, and classroom-level factors. Next steps in theory formation, based on the formation of broader constructs and eclectic use of available theories, are considered in a confrontation with different appreciations of the strength of the current knowledge base. It is concluded that a range of different interpretations of the rationality paradigm (synoptic planning, contingency theory, creating market mechanisms, and cybernetics) does rather well in explaining both positive and negative outcomes. Alternative theories like loose coupling and self-organizing enlarge the scope of potentially effectiveness-enhancing factors as well as variables and mechanisms associated with ineffectivenes

It Takes an Organization to Nurture an Educator

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) uses the transformational and behavioural leadership approaches as lens to transition an organization from the current state of inconsistent course implementation to a future state of consistency. This problem of practice is situated in an area in Canada that inhabits families with children six to twelve years of age. The relevancy of the problem affects the organizational credibility with community members and senior and middle managements’ accountability for the lack of consistency from frontline staff. Lecturers’ dispositions, positionality and experience were identified as factors that influence the ability to dislodge beliefs, make necessary changes and establish a new belief systems and processes. ADKAR and Stage Theory of Change were change management models utilized to move the organization forward and establish solutions for an improvement plan. Recruitment and selection, professional development and performance management are solutions that were explored to reinforce the consistent implementation of a child development course. Professional development was reviewed extensively to determine timelines for the change process and the organizational roles and responsibilities for oversight and progress evaluation

A Complexity-Based Plan for Evaluating Transformation

Abstract This article presents a case for more rigorous application of complexity science in our efforts to evaluate activity that seeks to bring about transformative change. It builds on the work that is already going on in the evaluation community. Three constructs from complexity science are employed – sensitive dependence, emergence, and social attractors. The paper argues that if–then logic is recommended for small-scale change within transformation efforts, but that to evaluate transformation writ large, data from if–then evaluation must be embedded in, and interpreted in terms of, complex behavior. Methodologies for evaluating within this framework are presented. The argument is linked to a definition of transformation that is multidimensional, non-linear, and measurable. The paper is built around a generic model of transformational change and shows how that model can be customized for specific transformation scenarios. It also shows how evaluation with respect to complexity can be accomplished with methodologies that are well known and well-practiced in the evaluation community

An Evaluation of Performance as it Relates to Leadership Training in the United States Coast Guard

Problem. Training programs that focus on leadership and management are becoming more prevalent in society with little regard to the training’s impact. This study’s purpose was to determine if there was a relationship between leadership training and performance in the United States Coast Guard. Method. The sequential mixed-method study examined the impact o f a 33-day resident training course on the graduate’s performance. The measurement o f performance was obtained quantitatively through annual performance evaluations and qualitatively through interviews. The performance evaluations were collected from 40 graduates of the Coast Guard C hief Petty Officer Academy and analyzed using a repeated measure analysis o f variance. The study spanned 4 years, collecting one pre-graduation evaluation and three post-graduation evaluations. For the qualitative portion of the study, four Chiefs were examined with interviews in an effort to expand on the impact o f the leadership training. Results. The results of this study indicated that leadership training significantly increased overall performance as measured through performance evaluation (p \u3c 0.01). The portions o f the performance appraisal that significantly increased were the leadership abilities and organizational responsibilities sections (p \u3c 0.01), whereas the military protocol and professionalism section showed no significant increase (p \u3e 0.05). Although leadership training positively impacted performance, the effect was found to be minimal. Conclusion. The Chief Petty Officer Academy was designed to teach newly promoted Chiefs the leadership and communication skills they need to be successful in their new position. While it was not specifically designed to improve performance, it appears that it has that effect. The Chief Petty Officer Academy could capitalize on this positive effect by focusing aspects o f its curriculum more directly on performance-enhancing training, making the program more beneficial to the United States Coast Guard

Emerging insights from the evolving framework of structural abstraction

Only recently ‘abstraction from objects’ has attracted attention in the literature as a form of abstraction that has the potential to take account of the complexity of students’ knowing and learning processes compatible with their strategy of giving meaning. This paper draws attention to several emerging insights from the evolving framework of structural abstraction in students’ knowing and learning of the limit concept of a sequence. Particular ideas are accentuated that we need to understand from a theoretical point of view since they reveal a new way of understanding knowing and learning advanced mathematical concepts

Transformational maintenance by reuse of design histories

This thesis provides theory and procedures for modifying software artifacts implemented by a formal transformation process. Installing modifications requires knowing not only what transformations were applied (a derivation history) to construct the artifact, but also why the application sequence ensures that the artifact meets its specification. The derivation history and the justification are collectively called a design history. A Design Maintenance System (DMS), when provided with a formal change called a maintenance delta, revises a design history to guide construction of a new artifact. A DMS can be used to integrate a stream of deltas into a history, providing implementations as a side effect, leading to an incremental-evolution model for software construction.We provide a broadly applicable formal model of transformation systems in which specifications are performance predicates, subsuming the functional specifications which are traditional for transformation systems. Such performance predicates provide vocabulary used in the design history to describe the effect of applying sets of transformations.A nonprocedural, performance-goal-oriented Transformation Control Language (TCL) is defined to control navigation of the design space for a transformation system. Recording the execution of a TCL metaprogram directly provides a design history.A complete classification of, and representation for, the set of possible maintenance deltas is given in terms of the inputs defined by the transformation system model. Such deltas include not only specification changes, but also changes to implementation support technologies. Delta integration procedures for revising derivation histories given functional or support technology deltas are provided, based on rearranging the order of transformations in the design space. Building on these operations, integration procedures that revise the design history for each type of delta are described. An agenda-oriented TCL execution process dovetails smoothly with the integration procedures.Our DMS is compared to a number of other maintenance systems. By using an explicit delta and verified commutativity, our DMS often reuses transformations correctly when others fail

Advances in Pharma Business Management and Research

This open access book presents a unique collection of practical examples from the field of pharma business management and research. It covers a wide range of topics such as: 'Brexit and its Impact on pharmaceutical Law - Implications for Global Pharma Companies', 'Implementation of Measures and Sustainable Actions to Improve Employee's Engagement', 'Global Medical Clinical and Regulatory Affairs (GMCRA)', and 'A Quality Management System for R&D Project and Portfolio Management in a Pharmaceutical Company'. The chapters are summaries of master’s theses by "high potential" Pharma MBA students from the Goethe Business School, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, with 8-10 years of work experience and are based on scientific know-how and real-world experience. The authors applied their interdisciplinary knowledge gained in 22 months of studies in the MBA program to selected practical themes drawn from their daily business

To Transform a Culture: The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Army Organizational Effectiveness Program, 1970–1985

In the early 1970s, following a decade of social upheaval in the US and a traumatizing military defeat in Vietnam, a group of progressive army officers, armed with recent graduate degrees in the social and behavioral sciences, created a grass roots movement that soon led to the implementation of the largest organizational development program ever conducted. Wartime atrocities and chronic careerism in the Army officer corps, along with President Richard Nixon’s promise to create an All-Volunteer Force (AVF), opened up a window of opportunity for these progressives to promote transformational leadership theories grounded in humanistic psychology. In institutionalizing OD across the Army, these officers attempted to transform the leadership culture throughout the institution. However, various strategies employed to effect cultural change met with strong resistance from an officer corps that rejected the strong humanistic elements that characterized OD in the 1970s. Although institutionalization progressed with strong support from Army Chief of Staff (CSA) General Bernard Rogers, the program proved unsustainable once he vacated his position. By 1980, conservative views of leadership permeated the Army’s school system and its leadership doctrine. Concurrently, OD evolved in its theoretical application and shifted its emphasis from humanistic psychology to open systems. At that point, the Army OE Program was relegated to a far less priority and essentially became a process improvement mechanism. By 1985, a new CSA terminated the program. This is a history of the Army OE Program and the efforts of the progressive officers who implemented it. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/et

To Transform a Culture: The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Army Organizational Effectiveness Program, 1970–1985

In the early 1970s, following a decade of social upheaval in the US and a traumatizing military defeat in Vietnam, a group of progressive army officers, armed with recent graduate degrees in the social and behavioral sciences, created a grass roots movement that soon led to the implementation of the largest organizational development program ever conducted. Wartime atrocities and chronic careerism in the Army officer corps, along with President Richard Nixon’s promise to create an All-Volunteer Force (AVF), opened up a window of opportunity for these progressives to promote transformational leadership theories grounded in humanistic psychology. In institutionalizing OD across the Army, these officers attempted to transform the leadership culture throughout the institution. However, various strategies employed to effect cultural change met with strong resistance from an officer corps that rejected the strong humanistic elements that characterized OD in the 1970s. Although institutionalization progressed with strong support from Army Chief of Staff (CSA) General Bernard Rogers, the program proved unsustainable once he vacated his position. By 1980, conservative views of leadership permeated the Army’s school system and its leadership doctrine. Concurrently, OD evolved in its theoretical application and shifted its emphasis from humanistic psychology to open systems. At that point, the Army OE Program was relegated to a far less priority and essentially became a process improvement mechanism. By 1985, a new CSA terminated the program. This is a history of the Army OE Program and the efforts of the progressive officers who implemented it. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/et