Enhancing apprentice-based learning of Java

Various methods have been proposed in the past to improve student learning by introducing new styles of working with assignments. These include problem-based learning, use of case studies and apprenticeship. In most courses, however, these proposals have not resulted in a widespread significant change of teaching methods. Most institutions still use a traditional lecture/lab class approach with a strong separation of tasks between them. In part, this lack of change is a consequence of the lack of easily available and appropriate tools to support the introduction of new approaches into mainstream courses.In this paper, we consider and extend these ideas and propose an approach to teaching introductory programming in Java that integrates assignments and lectures, using elements of all three approaches mentioned above. In addition, we show how the BlueJ interactive programming environment [7] (a Java development environment aimed at education) can be used to provide the type of support that has hitherto hindered the widespread take-up of these approaches. We arrive at a teaching method that is motivating, effective and relatively easy to put into practice. Our discussion includes a concrete example of such an assignment, followed by a description of guidelines for the design of this style of teaching unit

Determining the indirect value of a customer

The issue of accountability in marketing has led to a substantial and growing body of work on how to value customer relationships. Net present value methods (customer lifetime value / customer equity) have emerged as generally preferred ways to assess the financial value of customers. However, such calculations fail to take account of other important but indirect sources of value noted by previous researchers, such as advocacy. This paper examines the development and application of three processes to determine indirect value in business-to- business and business-to-consumer contexts. The research shows that indirect value has a measurable monetary impact not captured by conventional financial tools, and that understanding this changes the way in which customers are managed

Cross-collaborative supply chains. How logistics services contribute to social responsibility.

Abstract Purpose - The collaboration between profit and nonprofit entities has become a burning topic in supply chain management studies and corporate strategies. The world’s largest logistics service providers (LSPs) have been developing several practices improving social responsibility while collaborating with nonprofit actors. In particular, their core competences and offered services become extremely relevant in the context of humanitarian logistics initiatives. A key purpose of this article is to examine the projects currently undertaken by LSPs in humanitarian logistics. Methodology/Approach - This research follows a qualitative approach based on multiple case studies. Findings - The paper provides an overview of the leading LSPs’ involvement in humanitarian logistics and presents an analysis of their current “best practices” services in disaster relief with high impact in terms of social responsibility. Research Limitations/implications - There has been increased interest on the part of international academic and professional communities in humanitarian logistics. This study constitutes a platform for benchmarking analysis of logistics services to assure effective implementation of social responsibility principles. Originality/Value of paper - Humanitarian logistics is a rather new field in logistics management. This paper addresses the innovative socially responsible initiatives undertaken by the main international LSPs in the area of humanitarian logistics. Keywords - logistics services, logistics service providers, humanitarian logistics and supply chain management, disaster relief, social responsibility, profit/nonprofit collaboration Type of paper - Research pape

Enhancing the Academic Prestige of Nonprofit Studies: Can impact case studies help?

This paper describes the evolution of an evidence-based management-research case study in the UK and has the potential to enhance the profile and status of nonprofit studies in the UK and beyond. Until recently the UK’s process to evaluate the research quality of Universities relied on journal quality lists to guide their ratings. However, in recent years, these have been revised to add impact case studies. In response the authors developed a methodology and template for writing impact case studies for the nonprofit sector. The first case study using the new template was produced at the end of 2016, which described an evaluation framework for the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation ‘Place’ programme in the U.K. This complex regeneration project involved private, public and voluntary sectors and demonstrated the efficacy of the multi-dimensional collaborative approach taken to help communities regenerate after economic decline

Balancing employee needs, project requirements and organisational priorities in team deployment

The 'people and performance' model asserts that performance is a sum of employee ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO). Despite extensive evidence of this people-performance link within manufacturing and many service sectors, studies within the construction industry are limited. Thus, a recent research project set out to explore the team deployment strategies of a large construction company with the view of establishing how a balance could be achieved between organisational strategic priorities, operational project requirements and individual employee needs and preferences. The findings suggested that project priorities often took precedence over the delivery of the strategic intentions of the organisation in meeting employees' individual needs. This approach is not sustainable in the long term because of the negative implications that such a policy had in relation to employee stress and staff turnover. It is suggested that a resourcing structure that takes into account the multiple facets of AMO may provide a more effective approach for balancing organisational strategic priorities, operational project requirements and individual employee needs and preferences more appropriately in the future

Managing rapport in talk: using rapport sensitive incidents to explore the motivational concerns underlying the management of relations

This paper focuses on the motivational concerns that underlie the management of relations. In linguistics, the management of relations has been discussed extensively within politeness theory, and so the paper starts by identifying four key issues of controversy in politeness theory: (a) should ‘polite’ language use be explained in terms of face (e.g. Brown, Penelope, Levinson, Stephen C., 1987. Politeness. Some Universals in Language Usage, CUP, Cambridge. [Originally published as Universals in Language Usage: Politeness Phenomenon. In: Goody, Esther, (Ed.), Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social Interaction. CUP, New York, 1978), conversational maxims (e.g. Leech, Geoffrey N., 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. Longman, London), and/or conversational rights (e.g. Fraser, Bruce, 1990. Perspectives on politeness. Journal of Pragmatics 14 (2), 219–236); (b) why are speech acts such as orders interpersonally sensitive — is it because they are a threat to our autonomy (Brown and Levinson, 1987 [1978]), or because of cost–benefit concerns (Leech, 1983); (c) is Brown and Levinson's concept of negative face too individually focused, and should a social identity component be included (Matsumoto, Yoshiko, 1988. Reexamination of the universality of face: politeness phenomena in Japanese. Journal of Pragmatics 12, 403–426); and (d) is face just a personal/individual concern or can it be a group concern (Gao, Ge, 1996. Self and other: a Chinese perspective on interpersonal relationships. In: Gudykunst, W.B., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T. (Eds.), Communication in Personal Relationships Across Cultures, Sage, London. pp. 81–101.)? The paper then uses reports of authentic rapport sensitive incidents to throw light on these controversial issues and to find out the relational management concerns that people perceive in their everyday lives. It maintains that such data is important to politeness theory, because linguistic politeness needs to be studied within the situated social psychological context in which it occurs. The paper ends by presenting and arguing for a conceptual framework that draws a fundamental distinction between face and sociality rights, and that incorporates an independent/interdependent perspective, thus providing a more comprehensive framework for analysing the management of relations than is currently available

Small businesses in the new creative industries:innovation as a people management challenge

Purpose - This paper presents findings from an SME case study situated in the computer games industry, the youngest and fastest growing of the new digital industries. The study examines changing people management practices as the case company undergoes industry-typical strategic change to embark on explorative innovation and argues that maintaining an organisational context conducive to innovatin over time risks turning into a contest between management and employees as both parties interpret organisational pressures from their different perspectives. Design/methodology/approach - A single case study design is used as the appropriate methdology to generate indepth qualitative data from multiple organisational member perspectives. Findings - Findings indicate that management and worker perspectives on innovation as strategic change and the central people management practices required to support this differ significantly, resulting in tensions and organisational strain. As the company moves to the production of IP work, the need for more effective duality management arises. Research limitations/implications - The single case study has limitations in terms of generalisability. Multiple data collection and triangulation were used to migitate against the limitations. Practical implications - The study highlights the importance of building up change management capability in the small businesses typical for this sector, an as yet neglected focus in the academic iterature concerned with the industry and in support initatives. Originality/value - Few qualitative studies have examined people management practices in the industry in the context of organisational/strategic change, and few have adopted a process perspective

Structuring the unstructured data: the use of content analysis

Content analysis is a research technique used to organise large amounts of textual data into standardised formats which allows arriving at suggestions/conclusions. Content analysis can be carried out quantitatively by counting the words or qualitatively by coding. The former approach refers to counting the frequency of the keywords and the later refers to identifying similar themes or concepts from the data set. This paper discusses the use of conceptual content analysis by using computerised software to analyse data gathered from semi-structured interviews. The context of the research within which content analysis is used is to identify the influence of performance measurement towards construction research activities. The paper first explains the research methodology pertaining to this study by reasoning out the selection of case study research approach coupled with semi-structured interviews. The paper then discusses how the information gathered from semi-structured interviews is fed into the computerised software to identify and generate main concepts of the study