Managing knowledge for capability engineering

The enterprises that deliver capability are trying to evolve into through-life businesses by shifting away from the traditional pattern of designing and manufacturing successive generations of products, towards a new paradigm centred on support, sustainability and the incremental enhancements of existing capabilities from technology insertions and changes to process. The provision of seamless through-life customer solutions depends heavily on management of information and knowledge between, and within the different parts of the supply chain enterprise. This research characterised and described Capability Engineering (CE) as applied in the defence enterprise and identified to BAE Systems important considerations for managing knowledge within that context. The terms Capability Engineering and Through Life Capability Management (TLCM), used synonymously in this thesis, denote a complex evolving domain that requires new approaches to better understand the different viewpoints, models and practices. The findings and novelty of this research is demonstrated through the following achievements: Defined the problem space that Requirements Engineers can use in through-life management projects. Made a contribution to the development of models for Systems Architects to enable them to incorporate ‘soft’ systems within their consideration. Independently developed a TLCM activity model against which BAE Systems validated the BAE Systems TLCM activity model, which is now used by UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). Developed, and published within INCOSE1, the INCOSE Capability Engineering ontology. Through the novel analysis of a directly applicable case study, highlighted to Functional Delivery Managers the significance of avoiding the decoupling of information and knowledge in the context of TLCM. Through experimentation and knowledge gained within this research, identified inadequacies in the TechniCall (rapid access to experts) service which led to the generation of requirements for an improved service which is now being implemented by BAE Systems. The results showed that managing knowledge is distinct when compared to information management. Over-reliance on information management in the absence of tacit knowledge can lead to a loss in the value of the information, which can result in unintended consequences. Capability is realised through a combination of component systems and Capability Engineering is equivalent to a holistic perspective of Systems Engineering. A sector-independent Capability Engineering ontology is developed to enable semantic interoperability between different domains i.e. defence, rail and information technology. This helped to better understand the dependencies of contributing component systems within defence, and supported collaboration across different domains. Although the evaluation of the ontology through expert review has been accomplished; the ontology, KM analysis framework and soft systems transitioning approach developed still need to undergo independent verification and validation. This requires application to other case studies to check and exploit their suitability. This Engineering Doctorate research has been disseminated through a number of peer reviewed publications

Gender and corruption in Nigerian politics

This article explores the relationships, or the lack thereof, between gender and grand corruption in Nigeria. Methodologically, Butler’s theory of subject formation/performativity, and Kothari’s critique of participation, was used to interrogate selected Nigerian grand corruption literature and public indictment records. The objective was to tease-out and explain under-emphasized influences on grand corruption, such as the roles of godfathers, women’s political socialization and self-interests. Findings indicate that powerful political, cultural, military and industrial godfathers and mothers regulate aspirants’ selection, electoral funding, appointments and extraconstitutional protection from prosecution when they engage in grand corruption. Godfathers regulate political participation in a manner that encourage protégées fantasies about, and imitative adoption of their patrons’ corrupt worldviews and practices. Consequently, godfather political socialization, extra-constitutional pressures on office holders, and crass materialist accumulation interests of indicted female leaders seem to matter more than the gender binary.Keywords: Nigeria; Godfathers; Subjection; Gender; Corruptio

Social Maintenance of Oppressive Structures

This study intends to explore the ways in which religiously based parenting may serve as a vehicle for shaping personal attitudes about sexuality. As a result of their belief systems, increasingly religious parents are likely to adopt different parenting strategies than non-religious parents. When a combination of authoritarian values and a particular adherence to conservative theology characterizes parenting, this may be responsible for the construction of distinct mindsets in young individuals. Parents that score high in fundamentalism and authoritarianism could exhibit a greater chance of raising children with beliefs similar to their own. Through use of quantitative measures, this study sets out to verify the proposed hypothesis by determining if there are significant differences in the level of sexual orientation prejudice among young adults who were raised in highly religious or non-religious contexts

Of sea anemones and clownfish: exploring a mutually beneficial approach to educational development through soft systems methodology.

This report presents a large scale exploration of the roles, practice and influence of members of staff in a central educational development department working alongside academic discipline-based teaching staff in a UK University. The project uses Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) for this exploration. The concept modelled within this doctoral project is one of developmental mentoring embedded in the management and design of an externally funded project – the Pathfinder Project. This includes using the characteristics of developmental mentoring and the five phases of the mentoring relationship. The concept model is compared to and discussed in a real-world situation of discipline-based teaching and learning. This activity takes place throughout the life span of the Pathfinder Project during the academic year 2007-08. This doctoral project heavily influenced the design and delivery of the Pathfinder Project although Pathfinder remains an entity in its own right. The doctoral project and the Pathfinder Project shared data however the analysis, findings, conclusions and recommendations are different. The work-based research questions which this doctoral project seeks to address are concerned with the means to develop ways for a central department to work most effectively with discipline-based teaching staff. The project outcomes offer a model for staff development that helps build staff capability and capacity. From a practitioner/researcher point of view, outcomes also suggest how the experiences and findings of this project can inform the work-based context for educational developers. This project report integrates project outcomes with a reflective critical commentary written in the first person. The project report includes original images throughout the text as could be expected from a user of SSM

SPIRITUAL MENTORING DURING EMERGING ADULTHOOD: A DYADIC PERSPECTIVE

Mentoring relationships have long been identified as a valuable means for supporting identity development in young adults and assisting these individuals in navigating life transitions. The guidance and stability afforded by mentoring relationships can be particularly beneficial to individuals undergoing transitions in their personal or professional lives, or both, and are thus well-suited to play a meaningful role in the lives of emerging adults. Emerging adults are also in a unique developmental stage in which they experience increased freedom and opportunity for exploration away from parents and guardians. While this freedom often results in increased risky behavior, it also allows for exploration and evaluation of moral systems and religious beliefs- a process that is at times accomplished alongside a mentor. However, existing mentoring research is largely directed towards three types of mentoring relationships (adolescent, academic, and vocational) and the spiritual mentoring of emerging adults is infrequently addressed. It is even more rare to find research on the influence of spiritual mentors and the ways mentors may be impacted by spiritual mentoring. Guided by the broader mentoring literature and Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, the current quantitative study aims to better understand spiritual mentoring relationships and their reciprocal influence on mentors and mentees through the actor-partner interdependence model. The study was conducted using data gleaned from 189 spiritual mentoring pairs. Respondents were obtained through convenience and snowball sampling methods that consistent of contacting colleges, campus organizations, and college ministries across the country that help facilitate spiritual mentoring relationships. Overall, numerous factors from both mentee and mentors’ perspectives that were associated with higher levels of mentee relationship quality, instrumental support, psychosocial support, and mentor relationship quality are detailed. Additionally, a preliminary investigation of the impact of mentee perceptions of psychosocial support, instrumental support, and mentor and mentee relationship quality on mentor and mentee outcomes revealed potential improvements in spirituality, intrinsic religiosity, religious commitment, spiritual modeling self-efficacy, and forms of well-being. Consistencies with, and deviations from, findings in the larger mentoring literature are discussed and examined in light of the distinctiveness of spiritual mentoring relationships. This study serves as an initial and unique investigation into the dyadic nature of spiritual mentoring relationships and highlights numerous factors that may enhance relationship quality, instrumental support, and psychosocial support. Although much of the mentoring literature emphasizes mentee perspectives and outcomes, this study corroborates existing evidence that both mentees and mentors stand to benefit in meaningful ways from engaging in spiritual mentoring relationships. The necessity of considering both mentee and mentor perspectives is also underscored by the numerous partner effects uncovered in the current work, and the reciprocal dynamics likely underlying the relationships that were explored. Theoretically relevant, but less-studied factors like mentee and mentor perceptions of the other’s motivation and credibility-enhancing displays were demonstrated to be important considerations in spiritual mentoring relationship research. Additional implications of these findings include improved insight for spiritual mentees and mentors, preliminary evidence of the impact of spiritual mentoring relationships, and potential guidance and direction for facilitators of spiritual mentoring relationships

Professional development relationships for counselor educators: The relationship between ethnic identity, advocacy, empowerment, and cultural empathy on faculty mentoring alliances

Mentoring programs are viewed as effective recruiting and retention tools that orient faculty members into the professoriate and provide opportunities to integrate cultural diversity into university ideology. However, empirical research about faculty mentoring is sparse, and disparate findings exist regarding the benefits and barriers of cross-cultural and homogenous mentoring relationships. This study describes mentoring relationships among a national sample of 226 counselor education faculty. Multiple regression and multivariate analysis of variance were employed to examine the relationships between working alliance and ethnic identity, advocacy, empowerment, and cultural empathy among cross-cultural and homogenous mentoring relationships. Strong positive relationships were found between the predictor variables of advocacy, empowerment, and cultural empathy and the outcome variable of working alliance, accounting for over half of the variance. Ethnic identity predicted the working alliance accounting for an additional 1% of variance. Significant differences were found between cross-cultural and homogenous mentor types. Ethnic identity was significantly higher among cross-cultural mentor relationships than for homogenous mentor relationships; however, the variance accounted for was slight. This paper describes the background for the study, methodology, and results. Implications are discussed along with future research directions

L\u27Envers de l\u27histoire de Jacques Collin: On a New Approach to Balzac\u27s Most Infamous Criminal Mastermind

Scholarship has failed to explore adequately how Honoré de Balzac evokes the human condition’s universal elements through his most infamous criminal mastermind: Jacques Collin, alias Vautrin. Unlike analyses of Collin that I have encountered, this thesis takes all three novels and the obscure play in which Collin appears into account, challenges the transparency of his statements and the narration’s descriptions of him, explores the conservative position framing Balzac’s critique of early nineteenth-century Paris, and actively focuses on evidence of Collin’s typical subjectivity (i.e. his insatiable desire and fallibility). Consequently, this reading does not evaluate Collin’s significance solely through his apparent exceptionality and dominance and/or the particular environment that produced him; it shows how Balzac’s nuanced way of attracting readers to Collin, associating Collin with paradoxical symbolism, and revealing patterns structuring Collin’s experience allows the author to reveal the connection between his controversial political thought, his opaque and inconsistent style, and the underlying themes and moral purpose uniting his works—that is, a profound understanding of the human mind anticipating that of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Exploring contradictions between standing approaches to Collin and Balzac and Lacan’s shared ideas about the inescapable limitations characterizing the human condition, the introduction proposes that Balzac establishes Collin as a figure of mastery and then subtly subverts that façade as a means of indirectly exposing Collin’s and readers’ inability to transcend blindness and suffering completely. Examining how the novels construct Collin’s appearance of mastery, the second chapter explores how Balzac’s presentation of Collin motivates readers to deny or ignore evidence of Collin’s subjectivity. The third chapter emphasizes how Balzac undermines Collin’s powerful appeal by presenting how the play clarifies the connection between Collin’s repetitive behavior and his initial, traumatic arrest as well as how Collin’s story therefore illustrates Lacan’s theories on the mind’s development and functioning. Finally, by comparing Collin and Balzac’s use of their respective influence as mentor and author, the conclusion juxtaposes Balzac’s textual strategy with Lacan’s psychoanalytic ethics as similar means of promoting readers’ or patients’ self-awareness and briefly considers these methods’ relevance to the modern morality crisis that their works illuminate