Why Less Informed Managers May Be Better Leaders

Unlike the textbook model of a top manager being an omniscient planner, coordinator and monitor, the real life managers suffer from discontinuity, lack of systematic information collection and limited time for analysis and re?ection. Why do not business leaders set up their organizations in the way that would allow themselves to make informed choices based on thorough analysis? We argue that in some situations top managers may benefit from being less informed. In our model, additional information raises ex post flexibility of the decision-makers which may undermine the ex ante incentives of their subordinates to make specific investments. The subordinates expect less informed leaders to be more committed to the original strategy which increases the returns to the strategy-specific investments. We show that this effect is more likely to take place in more predictable environments; we also discuss how this effect depends on the hierarchical structure of the organization.leadership, commitment, organizational structure

Consumers who don\u27t want to look for information

A model to identify and classify consumers with high resistance to searching for information (HRSI) was developed and tested. We found that individuals with high levels of confidence about a purchase but who also ascribed low levels of personal importance to the transaction were significantly (p=.004) more likely to be HRSI. Using Multiple Discriminant Analysis, our model classified and predicted HRSI consumers well (p=.004, 57% above chance) but not low-resistance consumers (p=.6, 26.4% below chance).<br /

Investigating conversational agents in healthcare: Application of a technical-oriented taxonomy

Conversational agents (CA) are increasingly applied to realize health applications that collect patient data, provide information or even deliver health interventions. We developed a taxonomy focusing on technical characteristics of health CA with the purpose of creating a reporting guideline towards health CA and of building technical-oriented archetypes. The taxonomy comprises 18 dimensions which can be grouped into four perspectives. In this work, we wanted to find out whether the taxonomy is complete and can be applied appropriately by researcher to describe the technical characteristics of their health CA. Through a literature review, we identified 103 unique health CA for which publications have been published in 2021 and 2022. We contacted the corresponding or first authors of those papers asking for providing the information along our taxonomy for the CA described in their paper. For this purpose, our taxonomy was transformed into a questionnaire. To study applicability and understandability of the taxonomy, we also extracted the requested information from the papers using the taxonomy and compared the results to those of the participants. 95 E-Mails could be delivered. 26 persons out of 95 replied to our request resulting in a return rate of 27.3%. Results show that the majority of CA is simple in terms of CA personality; visualized as avatar or without embodiment. Systems are mainly rule-based, domain-specific and support one language. We recognized several differences between replies given by the participants and what has been extracted from the publications on the CA by us. We conclude that in order to apply the taxonomy as reporting guideline clear definitions must be given for the single characteristics. Some additional characteristics have to be added

Exploring the out-of-school writing practices of three children aged 9 - 10 years old and how these practices travel across and within the domains of home and school

This study explores the writing practices of children aged 9-10 years across the settings of home and school. It examines the nature of the out-of-school writing practices of three case study children, within and across these domains. Additionally, it seeks to understand the children’s relationship with writing and considers if and how their writing practices travel across both domains. In examining home and school writing practices, the study took a sociocultural perspective underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory framework. A review of the relevant literature led to the utilisation of a multimodal definition of writing and the framing of the research as a qualitative, bounded case study within an interpretive, iterative enquiry. The principal research methods were the collation of the children’s writing artefacts, together with video and photographic footage of in-action practices in home settings, school observations and writing conversations. The findings reveal the ways in which these developing young writers engaged and interacted with writing differently in both settings. The trajectory of writing practices across home and school are seen to be in a recursive relationship through the transformation of writing events from one setting to another. Three key themes developed and are presented as metaphors of travel: Places, spaces and local customs; Text souvenirs and local decisions; and Domain exchange and transaction. These themes indicate the range and versatility of the children’s home writing practices. They highlight the complexity in characterising a shared definition of writing across domains. On the basis of the data, the study argues for teachers to be more aware and welcoming of children’s home writing practices in classroom activities. In so doing, teachers would be better able to build on these experiences, leading to new and shared ways of conceptualising writing in English primary classrooms. Finally, the study considers avenues for future research

“Searching ……”

The Internet is a global collection of computer networks that in collaboration provides a powerful communications service and a comprehensive hierarchy of accessible information to millions of users worldwide. The Internet is used as an information retrieval mechanism by millions of different people across the globe. On submitting a request for information, a user can be overwhelmed by thousands of results that may have some relevance but may not be valuable to the user. The process of information retrieval on the Internet is a computing subject of interest to the general public

Islamic Charitable Giving in the UK : A ‘Radical’ Economic Alternative?

Acknowledgments Many thanks to the blind reviews for their constructive critique and suggestions and all remaining errors are my own. The author extends sincere gratitude to all those who participated in this research for their gift of sadaqah. Enormous gratitude to all those who participated in this research. Indebtedness is extended to all who have offered comment and critique on this piece. All remaining errors are entirely my own.Peer reviewedPostprin

Cultural Socialization Process of Effective Educators of Students of Color in an Elementary School District

The purpose of this life history study was to identify the experiences that influence the cultural socialization process of teachers and the factors that contribute to the effective instruction of students of color. Six female teachers who are currently assigned to third, fourth, or fifth grade students in elementary schools participated in this research project. Their experiences range from the second year in the classroom to thirteen years of teaching, and they have all had assignments as language arts teachers. Data for this qualitative research was collected from two face-to-face interviews, principals’ written descriptions about classroom environments, and participant observations. The interviews were transcribed from audio cassettes and the data was analyzed using Burke’s Pentadic Analysis, Linde’s Creation of Coherence and features from Spradley’s Participant Observation. Each teacher claimed unique lived experiences, but there were similar threads of high teacher expectation, meeting the needs of students and affirming the cultural differences of the students of colors that were sewn together in all their narratives. The cultural socialization process of the participants was connected to pivotal events that were linked to creation of coherence in their lives. These epiphanies were identified in their earliest recollection and continued into their instructional practices. The findings of this study indicate that there are deep layers that can emerge when teachers reflect on the events that influence their effectiveness with students of color. The conclusions are that effective teachers of students of color are guided by an agenda that includes the multiple roles that they have to assume in order to achieve the goal of success for all their students. Recommendations for further research and implications for theory and practice were also discussed