Theoretical development and social capital measurement

Chapter 4, by Sarah Hean and colleagues, highlights the importance of theory development in making the concept useful to the practice of public health. The authors present an innovative way of thinking about the different facets of social capital, describe the development of a survey instrument that attempts to make explicit the inputs and outputs of social capital and describe how these can be operationalised in a practice setting. The survey tool takes account of the dynamic nature of social capital and offers a useful way of evaluating community projects

Johtamisen haasteet ja mahdollisuudet pankki X:n organisaatiomallissa

Yritykset joutuvat ajoittain muuttamaan palvelukonseptejaan ympäristön asettamien muutospaineiden takia. Merkittävät muutokset palvelujen tarjonnassa saattavat vaatia yrityksiltä toiminta- ja johtamismallien muuttamista sekä rakenteellisia organisaatiomuutoksia. Muuttuneeseen organisaatiomalliin tulisi sopeuttaa sitä tukeva johtamistapa, jotta organisaatio toimisi mahdollisimman tuottavasti sekä liiketaloudellisin luvuin mitattaessa että käytännön tasolla. Johtamismallin muuttuminen vaikuttaa usein esimiesrakenteisiin sekä esimies-alais-suhteisiin. Opinnäytetyön toimeksiantaja pankki X on yksi Suomen finanssialan suurimmista toimijoista. Toimeksiannon lähtökohtana oli pankki X:ssä keväällä 2012 tehty rakenteellinen organisaatiomuutos, jonka seurauksesta organisaation johtamismalli muuttui. Uuden organisaatiomallin myötä pankki siirtyi konttorikeskeisestä aluejaosta tehtäväsegmentteihin perustuvaan linjamalliin, jossa henkilöasiakasliiketoiminta jakautuu kolmeen päälinjaan: myynti ja asiakkuudet, uudet asiakkaat sekä verkoston palvelu. Pankin uusi organisaatiomalli mukailee linjaorganisaatiota, mutta monijohtajuus tuo organisaatioon matriisiorganisaation piirteitä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli saada selville pankki X:ssä käytettävän johtamismallin haasteet ja mahdollisuudet esimiesten sekä työntekijöiden näkökulmista katsottuina. Työ on rajattu koskemaan pankki X:n henkilöasiakasliiketoimintaa sekä Helsingin keskusta – alueen konttoreita. Tutkimuksen tuloksien on tarkoitus edesauttaa yritystä uuden organisaatiomallin jalkauttamisessa sekä selkeyttää uuden organisaatiomallin tuomat edut ja johtamiseen liittyvät haasteet. Pankki X:ssä ei ole aikaisemmin tutkittu uuden toiminta- ja johtamismallin vaikutuksia esimiesten ja työntekijöiden näkökulmista, jonka vuoksi toimeksiantaja koki tutkittavan aiheen mielekkääksi. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin kvalitatiivista eli laadullista menetelmää. Aineisto kerättiin tekemällä esimiehille ja työntekijöille puolistrukturoidut teemahaastattelut. Sekä esimiehille että työntekijöille oli omat teema-aiheensa sekä niihin liittyvät kysymykset. Yksilöhaastattelut tapahtuivat haastateltavien työpaikoilla heille luonnollisissa olosuhteissa. Tutkimuksen kohderyhmäksi valikoitiin pankki X:n Helsingin keskusta – alueen kolme linjaesimiestä, yksi konttorinjohtaja sekä kaksitoista alueen työntekijää. Tutkimuksen tuloksista selvisi, että suurimpina uuden johtamismallin haasteina koettiin etäjohtamisen haasteet sekä monijohtajuudesta syntyvä ajoittainen epäselvyys työntekijöiden keskuudessa. Esimiesten vastauksista nousi esille muun muassa ristiriitatilanteet esimiesten vastuu- ja johtamisalueiden suhteen. Positiivisina vaikutuksina ja mahdollisuuksina johtamismallin suhteen nousi tutkimuksessa esille muun muassa toiminnan tehokkuus, kohdennettu esimiestyö sekä asiakaskohtaamisten laadun parantaminen. Kahden eri näkökulman tutkiminen toi esille osittain näkemyksien yhtäläisyyksiä, mutta myös tarkasteltavia eroavaisuuksia.Companies occasionally have to modify their service concepts due to environmental pres-sures. Significant changes in the service offering may require adjustments to the company’s business and management models, as well as structural changes in the organization. The management style should be adapted to the new organizational model so that the organization will work as productively as possible as measured in terms of the financial figures and on a practical level. The changed management model may often affect the company’s management structure as well as superior-subordinate relationships. This thesis was commissioned by bank X, which is one of Finland’s biggest companies in the financial sector. The basis for this thesis project is the structural change which took place in the bank in the spring of 2012. Because of this organizational change the bank’s management model was renewed as well. Through the new organizational model, the bank shifted its organization from an office-based regional model to a functionally -segmented line model, in which the personal customer business is divided into three main areas: sales and customers, new customers and service. The bank’s new organizational model follows the line organization, but the management model adds matrix elements to the bank’s organization. The purpose of this thesis was to identify all the challenges and opportunities of bank X’s management model from the managers’ and employees’ points of view. The study is restricted to bank X’s personal customer business and was carried out at the branches in center of Helsinki. The results of the study are intended to contribute to the company’s objective of bringing a new organization model to practice and to clarify the benefits and challenges of the new organization and management models. Bank X found the topic of this thesis to be of -interest because the effects of new business and management models have not been studied yet from the perspectives of managers and employees. A qualitative research method was used in the study. Research data was collected through semi-structured theme interviews with managers and employees. Both managers and employees had their own themes and questions. Individual interviews were conducted in the offices of the interviewees, so the conditions of interviews were as natural as possible. The target group of the study consists of three line managers, one branch manager and twelve employees from bank X branches in the Helsinki region. The study showed that the biggest challenges the new management model faced were distance management and also the occasional lack of clarity among employees due the management model. The managers’ responses revealed inter alia conflicts with regard to the managers’ responsibility and leadership areas. Among the positive effects and opportunities of the new management model were operational efficiency, focused management and improved quality of customer meetings. Examination of the two different perspectives brought out some similarities but also the differences between them

The effect of topic selection on writing fluency among Japanese high school students

Written fluency and fluency building activities have been shown to promote linguistic choice and student voice development, increased ability to express ideas using complex grammatical structures and greater intrinsic motivation in English language learners. Since the 1970’s, process-oriented writing has been emphasized, yielding an amplified focus on meaning of student content over linguistic form precision. Current research of writing fluency must delve deeper into questions of student ownership of topic and the outcomes for low-risk activities that support fluency practice and encourage confidence building in students. The purpose of this replication study is to further explore previous findings on the effects of topic selection on writing fluency for high school English as foreign language learners. Building off of the work of Bonzo (2008), this study focused on a timed, non-graded writing activity administered to groups of Japanese engineering students in three departments: mechanical, electrical, and global engineering. The six subsequent samples for each participating student were analyzed using online text-analysis for total and unique word counts, providing data used to perform a t-test. Responses to bi-lingual student questionnaires, with prompts on self-perceived written English ability, self-efficacy and strategies for success while writing, provided additional insight into the facets of fluency. The results of these writing sessions offer both confirmation of and contrast to Bonzo’s original work, demonstrate increased student meaning making, and support the use of free writing activities in English language classrooms as a means by which student written fluency may be improved

Basis independent tomography of complex vectorial light fields by Stokes projections

Complex vectorial light fields, non-separable in their polarization and spatial degree of freedom, are of relevance in a wide variety of fields encompassing microscopy, metrology, communication and topological studies. Controversially, they have been suggested as analogues to quantum entanglement, raising fundamental questions on the relation between non-separability in classical systems, and entanglement in quantum systems. Here we propose and demonstrate basis-independent tomography of arbitrary vectorial light fields by relating their concurrence to spatially resolved Stokes projections. We generate vector fields with controllable non-separability using a novel compact interferometer that incorporates a digital micro-mirror device (DMD), thus offering a holistic toolbox for the generation and quantitative analysis of arbitrary vectorial light fields

Understanding how to support university student wellbeing.

In 2022 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reported that between 2016/17 in the UK over 120,000 students were recorded with a mental health condition. This was exacerbated by COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown. Many students do not access support. The aim of this study was to explore student views on the current provision of wellbeing support, the barriers to accessing support and the implementation of an opt-in emergency contact scheme. A qualitative approach was employed using thematic analysis to code free-text responses on current support and opinions on an emergency contact scheme via a Jisc online survey

The M-C-M' cycle and social capital.

Social capital has become a popular term over the past two decades amongst researchers, policy makers and practitioners from varied disciplines. This popularity, however, has resulted in a great deal of confusion over the nature and application of social capital in different contexts. This confusion has made it difficult to identify and measure social capital within the evaluation of specific social and health programmes, one of the aims of which may be to stimulate social capital. This paper identifies a theoretical model that seeks to capture the dynamic nature of social capital to assist in the development of research methods that will facilitate its measurement and exploration within such programmes. The model reported in the paper identifies the key components of social capital and expresses the relationship between those components in a dynamic system based on Marx's description of the process of capital (economic) exchanges expressed in the M-C-M' cycle. The M-C-M' cycle is the transformation of money (M) into commodities (C), and the change of commodities back again into money (M') of altered value. The emphasis within the paper is on the capital element of the concept and its transactional nature with the aim of avoiding the pitfall of attributing social capital in relation to social behaviours in isolation of context and interaction. Importantly, the paper seeks to distinguish the central elements of social capital from some of the antecedent factors and outcomes often attributed to and confused with social capital adding to the problem of providing valid measurement. The model is presented as the basis for the measurement of social capital within a transactional process involving the investment of social resources in a cyclical process, which may result in net gains or losses. This process is described as the R-C-R' cycle following Marx's model of economic capital, with the focus being on the transfer of social resources (R) rather than money (M). R represents an internal resource held by individuals, C the external resource or commodity they obtain from the network and the R' the internal resource of altered value. The possibilities of the model in assisting in the measurement of social capital specifically in assessing formal networks are explored

When and how to involve trusted contacts if serious concerns are raised about a student's wellbeing.

The mental wellbeing of university students is of growing concern. HESA (2022) reported 122,530 students with a recorded mental health condition in the UK in 2016/17, whilst the Office for National Statistics reported 319 suicide deaths amongst HE students between 2017 and 2020. Evidence suggests people with mental health issues recover better with social support and most students appear to approve of a university emergency contact scheme (ECS); however many universities have not implemented an ECS. Recent guidance from PAPYRUS 2022, however, is urging universities to develop clear policies on the involvement of trusted contacts when serious concerns are raised about a student's health or safety. This study aims to investigate the relationship between student well-being and social support, and to explore student perspectives on the introduction of an ECS. Students from the Robert Gordon University School of Applied Social Studies (n=113) were recruited via opportunistic sampling and asked to complete a Jisc online survey including the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List shortened version (Cohen et al. 1985), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (Tennant et al. 2007) and questions about an ECS. Findings indicated a significant positive correlation between mental wellbeing and social support. Most students (96%) supported an ECS, and of those opposed, there were concerns over a loss of agency, worries about identifying a potential contact, or the contact worsening the situation. In terms of the scheme's format, the preferred name was 'Named Trusted Person' (NTP) Scheme, the preferred NTP was parent/guardian or partner, and the preferred contact was Personal Tutor via text/call to mobile phone. Students felt contact should be made after a period of 14 days of disengagement and when there were serious concerns about their mental health, physical health, or personal safety. To conclude, universities should seriously consider the implementation of NTPS to support student wellbeing

When, how and why should we involve trusted contacts when serious concerns are raised about a student's well-being?

This study investigates the relationship between mental well-being (MWB) and social support (SS) whilst addressing the paucity of research on students' support for emergency contact schemes (ECSs) and their views on how and when such schemes should be implemented. In total, 113 students recruited via opportunistic sampling completed an online survey including the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List - shortened version (Cohen et al. 1985), Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (Tennant et al. 2007) and questions about ECS. A correlational design used the Pearson product-moment correlation to explore the relationship between MWB and SS. A between-subjects design using independent measures t-test investigated differences in SS and MWB between those with and without a "trusted person" (TP). The preferred name was "Named Trusted Person Scheme" (NTPS), the preferred TP was parent/guardian or partner, and the preferred means of contact was Personal Tutor to mobile phone. Most students (96%) supported the use of an NTPS when serious concerns were raised about mental or physical health, personal safety or student engagement. Those opposed were concerned about a loss of agency, identifying a TP or the TP worsening the situation. MWB was positively correlated with SS, and those with a TP had higher levels of MWB and SS than those without. This study addresses the under-explored area of students' support for ECS, whilst enhancing our understanding of the relationship between MWB and SS especially amongst those without a person they can trust. This research provides valuable insights for universities looking to implement or refine such schemes, with the potential to improve students' MWB, academic achievement and retention by enhancing support

Attenuated Virulence and Biofilm Formation in Staphylococcus aureus following Sublethal Exposure to Triclosan

Sub-effective exposure of Staphylococcus aureus to the biocide triclosan can reportedly induce a small colony variant (SCV) phenotype in Staphylococcus aureus. S. aureus SCVs are characterised by slow growth rates, reduced pigmentation and lowered antimicrobial susceptibility. Whilst they may exhibit enhanced intracellular survival, there are conflicting reports regarding their pathogenicity. The current study reports the characteristics of a SCV-like strain of S. aureus, created by repeated passage on sub-lethal triclosan concentrations. S. aureus ATCC 6538 (P0) was serially exposed ten times to concentration gradients of triclosan to generate strain P10. This strain was then further passaged ten times on triclosan-free medium (designated x10). The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of triclosan for P0, P10 and x10 were determined and growth rates measured in biofilm and planktonic culture. Haemolysin, DNAse and coagulase activities were measured and virulence determined using a Galleria mellonella pathogenicity model. Strain P10 exhibited decreased susceptibility to triclosan and characteristics of a SCV phenotype, including considerably reduced growth rate and the formation of pinpoint colonies. However, this strain also had delayed coagulase production, impaired haemolysis (p<0.01), was defective in biofilm formation and DNAase activity, and displayed significantly attenuated virulence. Colony size, haemolysis, coagulase activity and virulence were only partially restored in strain x10, whereas planktonic growth rate was fully restored. However, x10 was at least as defective in biofilm formation and DNAse production as P10. These data suggest that although repeated exposure to triclosan may result in a SCV-like phenotype, this is not necessarily associated with increased virulence, and adapted bacteria may exhibit other functional deficiencies