When do health and well-being interventions work?:managerial commitment and context

Health and well-being interventions are increasingly assessed as complex processes rather than randomized controlled trials. In this study the health and wellbeing interventions refer to voluntary actions and are not in response to any regulatory requirement. This paper looks specifically at managerial commitment to these interventions and at the organisational context in which they occur. Ex-ante study predictions as to the effects of commitment in three organisations were made and then followed up. This commitment was positively associated with employee perceptions of health promotion campaigns. But broader impacts, such as commitment to the organisation and a sense of autonomy, were not evident. The explanation lies in wider features of the organisation of work: permanent constraints such as job design and shift systems ran against the aims of the health interventions. Relating well-intentioned interventions to such features of organisational life remains a challenge for many organisations

A review of the use of business simulation to enhance students' employability (WIP)

This paper investigates the potential use of business simulation games in enhancing employability skills of undergraduate business students in UK higher education institutions. It identifies the meaning of employability to different stakeholders in order to generate a list of skills that are considered important to various stakeholders as employers, government and academics. The benefits and learning outcomes as well as perceived limitations of business simulation games are then defined. Employability skills that can be improved using business simulation games and the importance of mapping and testing employability skills developments in simulation business environment are recognised

System Engineering for J-2X Development: The Simpler, the Better

The Ares I and Ares V Vehicles will utilize the J-2X rocket engine developed for NASA by the Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne Company (PWR) as the upper stage engine (USE). The J-2X is an improved higher power version of the original J-2 engine used for Apollo. System Engineering (SE) facilitates direct and open discussions of issues and problems. This simple idea is often overlooked in large, complex engineering development programs. Definition and distribution of requirements from the engine level to the component level is controlled by Allocation Reports which breaks down numerical design objectives (weight, reliability, etc.) into quanta goals for each component area. Linked databases of design and verification requirements help eliminate redundancy and potential mistakes inherent in separated systems. Another tool, the Architecture Design Description (ADD), is used to control J-2X system architecture and effectively communicate configuration changes to those involved in the design process. But the proof of an effective process is in successful program accomplishment. SE is the methodology being used to meet the challenge of completing J-2X engine certification 2 years ahead of any engine program ever developed at PWR. This paper describes the simple, better SE tools and techniques used to achieve this success

Testing for long-run "sustainability": Genuine Savings estimates for Britain, 1760-2000

Genuine Savings has been proposed as an economic indicator of sustainable development, and has been the focus of World Bank sustainability assessments for countries globally. However, whilst the theoretical basis for Genuine Savings is well-established (Arrow et al, 2011; Hamilton and Withagen, 2007; Pezzey, 2004), its ability to forecast long-run trends in well-being remains un-tested. In this paper, we take a first step towards such an assessment by constructing a time series of estimates for produced, natural and human capital for Britain over the period 1760-2000, and use them to derive estimates of Genuine Savings. The next step in the project will be to compare these Genuine Savings estimates with a range of well-being indicators to answer the question: does positive Genuine Savings predict improvements in average well-being

Results of an Environmental Scan to Determine the Level of Uncorrected Refractive Error in First Nations Elementary School Children in Ontario

A survey was developed and used to determine the level and quality of vision care services available to First Nations elementary school children across Ontario, and to indirectly determine the level of uncorrected refractive error in First Nations children. Overall, the total survey results showed that 1 child in 4 wore glasses. The results from the survey indicated that remote communities that had a visiting optometrist were more likely to have fewer cases of uncorrected refractive error than non-remote communities. The results suggest that in-community comprehensive eye exams delivered on a regular basis by visiting optometrists would be the most effective way of improving the vision and eye health status of First Nations children

How Environmental Pollution from Fossil Fuels can be included in measures of National Accounts and Estimates of Genuine Savings

In this paper, we examine means to incorporate the environmental effects of fossil fuel use into national accounts and genuine savings estimates. The main focus is on the rationales for the inclusion of carbon dioxide, and its appropriate price tag. We do this in the context of the pricing of historic carbon emissions in United Kingdom over the long run (from the onset of the industrial revolution to the present). Furthermore, we examine the reasonableness of taking into account other greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. The global effects of carbon dioxide are compared to the local detrimental effects of the production and consumption of coal in the UK

Comprehensive investment and future well-being in the USA, 1869-2000

This paper reports long-run tests of how comprehensive investment (CI) predicts future well-being in the USA. Theory suggests that a country with a positive level of CI should experience non-declining future utility. Despite the widespread uptake of CI, previous tests of its predictive power are for short time intervals. We assemble data for increasingly-comprehensive measures of US capital back to 1869 which are used to predict future consumption per capita. Our results show that with the inclusion of natural and human capital, CI can predict changes in future well-being reasonably well over 20 years into the future. Extending CI, to include measures of intangible or social capital, yield results that closely predict consumption over 20-50 years horizons

SEDP-2014-03-Oxley-Hanley-Greasley-Blum-McLaughlin-Kunnas-Warde

Genuine Savings has emerged as a widely-used indicator of sustainable development. In this paper, we use long-term data stretching back to 1870 to undertake empirical tests of the relationship between Genuine Savings (GS) and future well-being for three countries: Britain, the USA and Germany. Our tests are based on an underlying theoretical relationship between GS and changes in the present value of future consumption. Based on both single country and panel results, we find evidence supporting the existence of a cointegrating (long run equilibrium) relationship between GS and future well-being, and fail to reject the basic theoretical result on the relationship between these two macroeconomic variables. This provides some support for the GS measure of weak sustainability. We also show the effects of modelling shocks, such as World War Two and the Great Depression

How do strategic actors think about the value of talent management?:Moving from talent practice to the practice of talent

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of strategic actors in multinational organisations and to contribute to our understanding of how multinational companies articulate and define talent management and how – or what – they perceive its value to be. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on an empirical research study in which data were collected through 50 in-depth interviews across five multinational companies, conducted at a regional level across ten countries. Participants in the study were strategic actors representing two groups of managers/leaders (HR and talent management system designers and business leaders who are directly involved in the implementation of talent management). Findings The absence of a formal talent management definition led to the emergence of different views and interpretations of what it is. It was viewed as a bundle, or set, of management ideologies manifested in all HR-related practices across four key areas: hiring the right talent, performance management, succession planning and development and retention. Performance management acted as the cornerstone. Talent management strategies displayed little participation for both system designers and implementers and distinct patterns of mystification, technologization and concretisation. The language of value was uncommonly used but provoked different ways of thinking about the role and meaning of talent management. Practical implications The strategic actors in the talent system continue to see talent management in narrow functional and HR process terms. However, by bundling these HR functions and processes together, it is evident that they can be encouraged to recast their activity in a broader strategic narrative. Borrowing the notions and theories of value and value creation, and investigating talent management through this lens, should help to surface interesting insights into how talent management might be defined in practice, and how the language of value may in future be used to understand what talent management really is. Originality/value The global study underpinning this paper attempts to deconstruct the understanding that strategic actors have about talent management from an empirical base. It contributes to the conceptual development of the talent management discourse by revealing the logics being pursued and address the definitional problem currently evidenced in the literature. It also provides direction for future research

Résultats d’une analyse du milieu visant à déterminer le niveau d’erreur de réfraction non corrigée chez les enfants des écoles primaires des Premières nations de l’Ontario

Un sondage a été élaboré et utilisé pour déterminer le niveau et la qualité des services de soins de la vue offerts aux enfants des écoles primaires des Premières nations de l’Ontario et déterminer indirectement le niveau d’erreurs de réfraction non corrigées chez les enfants des Premières nations. Dans l’ensemble, les résultats du sondage ont révélé que 1 enfant sur 4 portait des lunettes. Les résultats du sondage indiquent que les collectivités éloignées qui reçoivent la visite d’un optométriste sont plus susceptibles d’avoir moins de cas d’erreurs de réfraction non corrigées que les collectivités non éloignées. Les résultats portent à croire que les examens oculaires complets effectués par des optométristes en visite dans la collectivité seraient le moyen le plus efficace d’améliorer la vision et l’état de sante oculaire des enfants des Premières nations