Board and Top Management Changes over the Decades: Responses to Governance and CSR Issues

This paper is a broad review of how boards of directors and top management teams have made changes over the decades in response to corporate social responsibility pressures and expectations. These changes have taken place in several areas: 1) in the organization, composition and structure of these groups, 2) in changing reporting relationships between the management, the board, and other stakeholders, and 3) in various initiatives that facilitate the interaction of internal and external stakeholders. I conclude that while over the decades boards have developed infrastructures to actively embrace their responsibilities to their stakeholders, they are still challenged with managing their relationships with the CEO and the top management team through cycles of social, economic and political turbulence. Board members react differently than management to the pressures of performance, and inevitably the monitoring portion of the directors’ duties gets lost in the fray. Additionally, an examination of board/TMT changes shows the possibility of a temporal pattern of reaction to governance and CSR pressures, as boards and TMTs change first composition and then structure before addressing their relationships. I begin with a review of board level changes over the decades, and then proceed to the executive level

Lived Clinical Education Experiences of Professional Master’s Athletic Training Program Graduates

Purpose: Clinical education has been identified as a key aspect in the professional preparation of athletic trainers. The literature, however, has focused on clinical education at the undergraduate level rather than the graduate level, which is the future population of all CAATE-accredited athletic training programs. This study sought to describe the experiences of those who have completed athletic training clinical education at the master’s level, specifically focusing on the type of learning experiences they were granted and what influence the preceptor and the setting played in the overall experience. Method: This was a phenomenology study. Twelve graduates of CAATE-accredited professional master’s athletic training programs served as participants. All participants graduated after Spring 2014 and completed clinical education as a degree requirement. Three methods of data collection were utilized, including semi-structured interviews, prompted journaling and asynchronous online focus group discussion boards. Data was analyzed using a phenomenological reduction approach. Credibility of the data was confirmed with member checking, peer review and data triangulation. Results: Clinical education was determined to be a significant contributor to professional preparation of professional master’s athletic training students. Hands on-experiences, active preceptors and variety in clinical setting and opportunity were all cited as contributors to the success of clinical education. Participants described their experience as a significant commitment but valuable. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that clinical education should continue to be a requirement at the graduate level and that the clinical education curriculum should be designed to encourage hands-on learning and variety

The Design of a Cognitive Apprenticeship to Facilitate Storytime Programming for Librarians

The majority of research that has been conducted on structuring mentorship programs has been on career support in terms of transferring tacit and explicit knowledge from the supervisor to the protégé. While the instructional design literature touts that cognitive apprenticeships provide a great framework for constructivist and situated learning environments, little research has been done examining how much time should be allocated to the various phases of the apprenticeship framework. The purpose of this study was to explore whether the use of a cognitive apprenticeship framework could be used to mentor new librarians. Data was collected and analyzed in three phases. Phase 1 consisted of a needs assessment to determine the skills necessary for programmers to deliver a curriculum based storytime. Phase 2 data collected during the implementation of the cognitive apprenticeship included observation and reflective journals. Data collected during Phase 3 consisted of participant interviews immediately following the implementation of the cognitive apprenticeship, and three months after the conclusion of the study. All data was coded and analyzed using a phenemonological approach. The researchers found the need for flexibility when utilizing a cognitive apprenticeship model, based on participant prior knowledge and experience, the importance of the modeling and coaching stages of the model, participant desire for working with other programmers being trained

Examining Strategic Information Technology in Relationship to the Need for Technology Modernization

Strategic planning can be a critical business process for today’s organizations, especially for IT organizations that are facing continually changes in technology. This research was designed to investigate IT organizations’ use of strategic planning and determine if the organization uses their strategic plan to set project priorities. The second part of this research was to determine if the IT strategic plans are aligned with the overall organization’s strategic plan. This research was conducted using a mail-type survey to IT Executives from organizations with sales/revenues under 100 million dollars, a maximum of 5000 employees, and SIC codes of 201 thru 399. The selected organizations were mailed a survey packet followed by a phone call for all non-responding organizations. The findings that resulted from this research showed that there is statistical evidence to support that organizations do perform the business process of developing a strategic plan. This research also showed that IT organizations do develop an IT strategic plan. However, there is not a high correlation between the organization’s strategic plan and the IT strategic planning process. If the IT organization has a strategic plan, then the plan is reviewed on a regular basis, referenced for project prioritization, and the IT employees are familiar with the plan

Personality Perception Accuracy Development within Newly Acquainted Groups

The present research sought to investigate the effect of acquaintance on the accuracy of personality judgments and extend results to groups resembling families. Participants were college students ranging from 18 to 54 years of age enrolled in a ten week long "Psychological Assessment" research practicum. The study was designed to assess the ability of individuals to accurately judge the distribution of group members on each of the big five traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness at three different time periods. During the first week participants made a first impression personality trait rating and then engaged in a getting-acquainted conversation with each target and made an additional rating. They then spent nine weeks interacting with targets in activities designed to represent interpersonal contexts that would traditionally occur in a family setting and made final personality ratings at the end of the ten week period. At zero acquaintance participants were able to accurately rank the targets on the traits of extraversion, openness, and neuroticism. After ten weeks of acquaintance-inducing activities participants were able to accurately assess the distribution of group members on each of the big five traits. There was a significant linear trend for increasing accuracy with further acquaintance for all traits with the exception of neuroticism. Implications for relationship development in families are discussed

Improving patient education about tobacco withdrawal and nicotine gum use by registered nurses in inpatient psychiatry: A feasibility study

IntroductionTobacco use is prohibited in most psychiatric facilities in the United States, yet many psychiatric inpatients are tobacco users. Psychiatric nurses have reported inadequate education about best practices for managing tobacco dependence.AimTo explore the feasibility of an educational intervention for psychiatric nurses designed to improve their ability to educate patients about best practices for managing tobacco dependence, as well as effective use of nicotine gum.MethodFourteen nurses on a psychiatric inpatient unit at a community hospital were educated about the targeted topics. Chart reviews of nonequivalent pre‐intervention and post‐intervention patient groups were conducted to explore the outcomes of the intervention.ResultsPatients received more teaching, and used nicotine gum more often, following the intervention. However, no statistically significant differences between the pre‐intervention and post‐intervention patient groups were found.DiscussionEducating nurses about best practices for managing tobacco withdrawal symptoms may have positive outcomes. Existing research suggests that such interventions may be most effective when support and structure are provided to ensure long‐term practice changes.Implications for practiceThis feasibility study demonstrates that a brief nurse education intervention has the potential to improve the experience of tobacco withdrawal for psychiatric inpatients. Future research that expands upon the current project is warranted.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146317/1/jpm12495.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146317/2/jpm12495_am.pd

Perceiving Big Five Traits Accurately at True Zero Acquaintance

This research focused on the accuracy of trait judgments at zero acquaintance and after five minutes of interaction. Thirty-five undergraduates judged the neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness of four to six others whom they did not know. Participants then interacted in one-on-one conversations with each target for five minutes. It was hypothesized that extraversion and conscientiousness would be more accurately judged at zero acquaintance than neuroticism, openness, or agreeableness. It was also predicted that all traits would be more accurately judged after five minutes and that the NEO PI-R, a validated personality assessment, would be a more accurate measure of the criterion than a brief self report consisting of ten items. Contrary to expectations, significant accuracy was found at zero acquaintance for only the trait of neuroticism. Extraversion accuracy did not appear until after the five minute conversation

A Positive Relationship Between Religious Faith and Forgiveness: Faith in the Absence of Data?

Religious faith and beliefs appear to play an important role in the lives of many individuals and are the topic of much research. The present study investigated the relationship between religious faith and forgiveness in a sample (n = 196) of college students. Students were asked to complete the Heartland Forgiveness Scale and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. Analyses of scores on both measures revealed a positive, significant correlation between these constructs, suggesting that there is a meaningful relationship between religious faith and the tendency to forgive. Implications and directions for further research are discussed

Further Expansion of Nested E-Modules to Address Anatomical Knowledge Retention in Medical Students entering the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinical Rotation

Previous work has shown that a curriculum that included computer-based teaching modules (“e-modules”) improved retention of preclinical concepts of gross anatomy, as medical students transitioned to the third-year OBGYN clerkship. However, data showed that deficiencies still remained in areas not addressed by the curriculum. Two of these areas were microscopic anatomy and embryology, where retention scores were 4% and 38%, respectively (Jurjus et al., unpublished). Based on this research, an expanded series of e-modules will be created to target these anatomical topics that still require improvement, specifically in microscopic anatomy and embryology: 1) Ultrasound in Pregnancy using Embryological Knowledge 2) Pregnancy Timeline and the Embryo and 3) The Cervix in Health and Disease. The learning objectives correlate clinical medicine and anatomical categories. Once finalized, these e-modules will be live on the Himmelfarb Library website. By further expanding the number of e-modules available to students, we hope to improve retention of clinically relevant anatomical knowledge in adult learners. Funding: GW Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, Spring 2013 Grants for High Impact Teaching and Learning Practices

Improving Anatomical Knowledge Through Interactive Modules on the OB/GYN Clinical Clerkship

The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of a newly designed interactive method of teaching clinically relevant anatomy to medical students on the OB/GYN clerkship. A 20-question multiple-choice exam was administered to 143 consenting third-year medical students at the beginning and end of each OB/GYN rotation. Students participated in a skills lab with preparatory e-modules that linked anatomy to clinical applications during each rotation. Topics included perineal muscle anatomy (laceration), anterior abdominal wall anatomy (cesarean section), vulvovaginal and uterine anatomy (IUD), and pelvic organ, vasculature, and neural anatomy (hysterectomy). Mean scores improved significantly after the nesting of interactive modules, increasing from 55.1% to 67.4% (p\u3c0.001). In comparing mean scores from questions that were covered in the e-modules (intervention) and questions that were not covered in the e-modules (non-intervention), students improved significantly after receiving an intervention (9.4% difference; p\u3c0.001). Therefore, completing the clerkship without an intervention did not yield significant improvement in relevant anatomical knowledge, compared to intervention. Thus, nesting anatomical science into the clinical curriculum through preparatory e-modules and hands-on anatomy lab sessions may improve clinically-significant anatomy knowledge. This data may be used to increase longitudinal integration of the various disciplines across the undergraduate medical curriculum