Measuring return on investment and risk in training – a business training evaluation model for managers and leaders

Abstract: Organisations face productivity and efficiency challenges brought on by global pressure. To cope with the challenges, they seek to develop and enhance their human capital as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Evidence suggests that less than 10% of what is learned on training courses is applied effectively to enhance performance and business results. Research purpose: This abstract research critically examined existing training evaluation models to propose a new model. Motivation for the study: Smart investment in scarce and critical skills development by means of training is expected to enhance human capital; however, the challenge lies with the uncertainty in whether the return on these investments are measured and whether training risks are managed. Research design, approach and method: Theoretical, abstract research was conducted to understand existing measurement and evaluation models of training with regard to costs, benefits and risks. Main findings: This conceptual paper resulted in a new business model to measure training return on investment and risks. The proposed model adapted and built on the Kirkpatrick-– Phillips training evaluation model, adding a sixth, risk evaluation step and specifying measurement factors for each step..

Measurable operational risk in human capital development in the South African service sector

Abstract: The contemporary global business, political, technological and social arena is fraught with challenges, rapid development, continuous change and turbulence, which impact on all employees and the manner in which they are led and managed. Organisations in developed as well as emerging and developing economies, such as South Africa (SA), whether they offer goods or services, are especially affected by radical shifts in operational processes that often impede strategic success. Leaders and managers try to mitigate gaps in performance caused by such turbulence, via change management, organisational development and training and development interventions; however, they have to be extra vigilant of the operational risks that are associated with business operations and human capital development (HCD). Empirical research was conducted to understand and explain the perspectives of South African managers operating in the service sector on the measurable operational risks associated with their investments in HCD initiatives. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with leaders and managers who were responsible for HCD in selected organisations. Responses were analysed thematically to seek for common patterns and profound narratives. The key finding indicate that the top five risks in HCD are: poor staff retention; lack of learning transfer; misaligned training needs; disengaged trainees; and budget constraints. Risks ranked as high are: staff retention; lack of transfer; competitors; misaligned training; training aversion; limited budget; changing landscape; and training without impact. Further research is recommended to explore whether managers, HCD professionals and training providers measure specific risks, as well compare the operational effectiveness and risks of human capital development

Lean practices for efficiency in the South African hospitality sector

Abstract: Lean thinking and practices entail the reduction of waste, time, effort and cost while perfecting the quality of products and services towards improved customer satisfaction. Lean practices are regarded as global business best practice; especially in light of the recent global recession, greening of the planet initiatives and the millennial need for streamlined systems and processes. The purpose of this article is to propose a set of lean tools by exploring the advantages and difficulties of lean implementation in the South African hospitality sector. The motivation for this paper is that there is a gap in the literature with limited conceptual and empirical knowledge on lean practices in South African organisations, especially in the hospitality sector. This conceptual paper presents the intensive literature study undertaken to explore the advantages and challenges of lean thinking, implementation and practice. The implications of this paper are that the hospitality sector in South Africa and Africa may benefit by adopting the lean advantages and eliminating the lean challenges highlighted by this theoretical paper. Furthermore, leaders and managers can practically engage with the identified lean benefits and challenges and adapt it as required by the process and systems in their organisation. This paper adds theoretically and practically. Theoretically, it increases the body of knowledge on lean thinking, lean practices, advantages and challenges as applied in the South African context. The practical contribution is that it creates awareness on lean thinking and practices as hospitality operational managers may immediately be able to reduce waste, increase profit and improve product, performance and people in their line function

Regularity properties of distributions through sequences of functions

We give necessary and sufficient criteria for a distribution to be smooth or uniformly H\"{o}lder continuous in terms of approximation sequences by smooth functions; in particular, in terms of those arising as regularizations $(T\ast\phi_{n})$.Comment: 10 page

Tools to support the self assessment of the performance of Food Safety Management Systems

Changes in food supply chains, health and demographic situations, lifestyle and social situations, environmental conditions, and increased legislative requirements have led to significant efforts in the development of quality and safety management systems in agribusiness and food industry worldwide (Ropkins and Beck, 2000; Efstratiadis, Karirti, and Arvanitoyannis, 2000; Jacxsens, et al, 2009a, Luning and Marcelis, 2009a). Nowadays, companies have implemented various quality assurance (QA) guidelines and standards, such as GMP and HACCP guidelines (like General Principles of food hygiene (Codex Alimentarius 2003), GFSI guidance document (GFSI (2007), and quality assurance standards (like ISO 9001:2008 (2008), ISO22000:2005 (2005), BRC (2008), and IFS (2007) into their company own food safety management system. The performance of such systems in practice is, however, still variable. Moreover, the continuous pressure on food safety management system (FSMS) performance and the dynamic environment wherein the systems operate (such as emerging pathogens, changing consumer demands, developments in preservation techniques) require that they can be systematically analysed to determine opportunities for improvement (Wallace, et al, 2005; Manning et al, 2006; Van der Spiegel et al, 2006; Cornier et al, 2007; Luning et al, 2009a). Within the European project entitled ‘PathogenCombat- EU FOOD-CT-2005-007081’ various tools have been developed to support food companies and establishments in systematically analysing and judging their food safety management system and its microbiological performance as basis for strategic choices on interventions to improve the FSMS performance. This chapter describes briefly principles of the major tools that have been developed and some others, which are still under still under construction

Measurable Operational Risk in Human Capital Development in the South African Service Sector.

The contemporary global business, political, technological and social arena is fraught with challenges, rapid development, continuous change and turbulence, which impact on all employees and the manner in which they are led and managed. Organisations in developed as well as emerging and developing economies, such as South Africa (SA), whether they offer goods or services, are especially affected by radical shifts in operational processes that often impede strategic success. Leaders and managers try to mitigate gaps in performance caused by such turbulence, via change management, organisational development and training and development interventions; however, they have to be extra vigilant of the operational risks that are associated with business operations and human capital development (HCD). Empirical research was conducted to understand and explain the perspectives of South African managers operating in the service sector on the measurable operational risks associated with their investments in HCD initiatives. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with leaders and managers who were responsible for HCD in selected organisations. Responses were analysed thematically to seek for common patterns and profound narratives. The key finding indicate that the top five risks in HCD are: poor staff retention; lack of learning transfer; misaligned training needs; disengaged trainees; and budget constraints. Risks ranked as high are: staff retention; lack of transfer; competitors; misaligned training; training aversion; limited budget; changing landscape; and training without impact. Further research is recommended to explore whether managers, HCD professionals and training providers measure specific risks, as well compare the operational effectiveness and risks of human capital development

HOMOSSEXUALIDADE E O CONTEXTO EDUCACIONAL PARAENSE: A IMPORTÂNCIA DE POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS ESPECÍFICAS

Por meio deste paper, se discute a importância da criação e implementaçãode uma coordenadoria para tratar da educação de GLBT no âmbito da Secretaria de Educação do Estado do Pará. Especialmente no âmbito político, sabe-se que nesse estado os GLBT pouco persistem na educação formal, o que os fragiliza enquanto indivíduos e cidadãos. Realizou-se pesquisa documental e bibliográfica (envolvendo principalmente legislação, políticas públicas e movimentos sociais), bem como incorporou-se no trabalho materiais de pesquisas anteriores dos autores efetivados no Pará e na Amazônia. Assim, evidenciou-se não só a necessidade de uma política pública paraense afirmativa quanto aos GLBT, o que é essencial para o fortalecimento desses cidadãos frente a si mesmos, à sociedade e ao Estado.Palavras-chave: Homossexualidade. Política educacional. Pará

On the order of summability of the Fourier inversion formula

In this article we show that the order of the point value, in the sense of Łojasiewicz, of a tempered distribution and the order of summability of the pointwise Fourier inversion formula are closely related. Assuming that the order of the point values and certain order of growth at infinity are given for a tempered distribution, we estimate the order of summability of the Fourier inversion formula. For Fourier series, and in other cases, it is shown that if the distribution has a distributional point value of order k, then its Fourier series is e.v. Cesàro summable to the distributional point value of order k+1. Conversely, we also show that if the pointwise Fourier inversion formula is e.v. Cesàro summable of order k, then the distribution is the (k+1)-th derivative of a locally integrable function, and the distribution has a distributional point value of order k+2. We also establish connections between orders of summability and local behavior for other Fourier inversion problems

Epidemiología molecular y análisis filogenético de la infección por el virus del papiloma humano en mujeres con lesiones cervicales y cáncer en la región litoral del Ecuador

The aim of the present study was to gather information regarding the molecular epidemiology of Human papillomavirus (HPV) and related risk factors in a group of women with low- and high-grade cervical lesions and cancer from the coastal region of Ecuador. In addition, we studied the evolution of HPV variants from the most prevalent types and provided a temporal framework for their emergence, which may help to trace the source of dissemination within the region. We analyzed 166 samples, including 57 CIN1, 95 CIN2/3 and 14 cancer cases. HPV detection and typing was done by PCR-sequencing (MY09/MY11). HPV variants and estimation of the time to most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) was assessed through phylogeny and coalescence analysis. HPV DNA was found in 54.4% of CIN1, 74.7% of CIN2/3 and 78.6% of cancer samples. HPV16 (38.9%) and HPV58 (19.5%) were the most prevalent types. Risk factors for the development of cervical lesions/cancer were the following: three or more pregnancies (OR = 4.3), HPV infection (OR = 3.7 for high-risk types; OR = 3.5 for HPV16), among others. With regard to HPV evolution, HPV16 isolates belonged to lineages A (69%) and D (31%) whereas HPV58 isolates belonged only to lineage A. The period of emergence of HPV16 was in association with human populations (tMRCA = 91. 052 years for HPV16A and 27. 000 years for HPV16D), whereas HPV58A preceded Homo sapiens evolution (322. 257 years). This study provides novel data on HPV epidemiology and evolution in Ecuador, which will be fundamental in the vaccine era.Fil: Bedoya Pilozo, Cesar H.. Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral; Ecuador. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Medina Magües, Lex G.. Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral; EcuadorFil: Espinosa García, Maylen. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Sánchez, Martha. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Parrales Valdiviezo, Johanna V.. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Molina, Denisse. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Ibarra, María A.. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Quimis Ponce, María. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: España, Karool. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Párraga Macias, Karla E.. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Cajas Flores, Nancy V.. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Solon, Orlando A.. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; Ecuador. Universidad Agraria del Ecuador; EcuadorFil: Robalino Penaherrera, Jorge A.. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Pública; EcuadorFil: Chedraui, Peter. Hospital Gineco-Obstétrico Enrique C. Sotomayor; EcuadorFil: Escobar, Saul. Universidad Católica de Guayaquil; EcuadorFil: Loja Chango, Rita D.. Universidad Católica de Guayaquil; EcuadorFil: Ramirez Morán, Cecibel. Universidad Católica de Guayaquil; EcuadorFil: Espinoza Caicedo, Jasson. Universidad Católica de Guayaquil; EcuadorFil: Sánchez Giler, Sunny. Universidad Especialidades Espíritu Santo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; EcuadorFil: Limia, Celia M.. Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kouri; CubaFil: Alemán, Yoan. Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kouri; CubaFil: Soto, Yudira. Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kouri; CubaFil: Kouri, Vivian. Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kouri; CubaFil: Culasso, Andrés Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Badano, Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste; Argentina. Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación; Ecuador. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales. Laboratorio de Biología Molecular Aplicada; Argentin