Constructing employability as higher education practice – a reflective and reflexive account via an examination of my role as Director of the Centre for Excellence for Employability at Sheffield Hallam University, 2005-10

The theme of my context statement (CS) is ‘constructing employability as higher education (HE) practice’. The notion of ‘constructing’ is seen as pivotal. In 2005 employability was an emerging agenda in UK HE, one which many universities were deepening their engagement with. It was, however, a contested one, where scholarship and critique was expanding. For many who were sympathetic to the idea that universities should pay more attention to the notion of employability, a question often posed and encountered was: ‘what is it and how do you do it?’ This was the challenge for the Centre for Excellence for Employability (e3i) at Sheffield Hallam University between 2005-10, and for me in my role of Director of the Centre. In reflecting upon my experiences, and in reviewing my selected public works (PWs), I have found that my actions resulted in the construction of employability as a range of ideas, values, and a set of practices within the context of a specific academic and organisational culture. Employability, via my PWs, is formulated as social and cultural practice within a specific organisational and sectoral context. My roles of academic, educational developer, and Centre Director are explored reflectively and reflexively to re-construct my identity and agency as one of Academic Development Leader. My understanding is that educational developers and academic leaders in universities operate within the complex spaces and discourses constituted by the values and practices of academics as members of disciplinary subject communities, the processes of institutional strategic management, managerial decision-making and formal governance regimes. My reflection upon my PWs has created both a perspective on how to create and embed employability as a learning experience/learning outcome within a HE context, and also a re-appraisal of my identity and agency as an Academic Development Leader, with associated implications for my ongoing practice

Short-term shocks, reversion, and long-term decision-making

Many observers claim that discounted cash-flow methods lead to a neglect of long-term and strategic decision-making. Using modern asset pricing methods, we examine one possible reason for this problem. If the cash-flows being discounted have an increasing dependence on an uncertain variable that tends to revert to a long-term equilibrium path in the face of short-term shocks, and if this reversion is ignored, then the uncertainty in the cash-flows will be overestimated. If this uncertainty causes risk discounting, then the amount of risk discounting that is appropriate will also be overestimated, which will tend to result in a relative undervaluation of long-term alternatives. We examine the implications of such an error for the comparative analysis of decision alternatives, including some involving an initial timing option. We use, as examples, decisions about production projects where the output price is the reverting variable.Where applicable, we look at two measures of what is meant by long-term: the operating duration of the project and the length of an initial timing option. For the projects without options, the analysis is based on the relatively straightforward "risk discounting effect" already mentioned. Reversion tends to decrease long-term uncertainty, and, with it, long-term risk discounting, which increases the relative value of long-term alternatives. Options complicate matters. The long-term decrease in uncertainty due to reversion tends directly to decrease long-term option values. Moreover, in addition to the original risk discounting effect and this "variance effect," there can be direct "future reversion effects" if the options involve a timing component or payoffs generated by cash-flows over a period of time. The overall influence can be a complicated mixture of the three different types of effects.We use this classification scheme to analyze two sets of examples: investment timing options on an instantaneous production project (equivalent to at-the-money American options on the project output price), and "now-or-never" options, as well as investment timing options, on projects that differ in their operating lives. We find that a neglect of reversion leads to an undervaluation of at- or in-the-money options on projects with longer operating lives. This is primarily due to the risk discounting effect. Longer timing options on the same project tend to be relatively overvalued by a neglect of reversion if the operating life of the project is moderately long, and undervalued if the project is instantaneous and currently at the money. The first is primarily due to variance and future-reversion effects. The second is primarily due to risk-discounting and future-reversion effects.Because parts of the economy may be influenced by short-term shocks in the presence of long-term equilibrium, these results suggest a reexamination of those aspects of analyses in the "real options" literature that depend on the use of non-reverting models.Supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Imperial Oil University Research Grants, Interprovincial Pipeline Co., Saskoil, Exxon Corp., and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by the Central Research Fund, a Nova Faculty Fellowship, the Muir Research Fund and the Institute for Financial Research of the University of Alberta, and by the Finance, Investment and Contracts Program of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research

Project evaluation : a practical asset pricing method

This paper presents a practical approach to project evaluation using techniques of modern financial economics, with a sample application to oil development under a complex tax system. The method overcomes shortcomings of conventional DCF methods which are either imprecise about the relation between economic value and uncertainty, or are rigid and unrealistic in the required assumptions about how a project's risks (and therefore its value) are influenced by market conditions, the project physical structure, and tax and contract provisions. It is based on the formulation and estimation of an "information model" which represents the resolution over time of uncertainties underlying a project (oil prices in the examples shown). Oil prices are the underlying uncertainty in the examples shown. The project can then be valued using derivative asset valuation, which replicates the consequences of a complex asset by a traded portfolio of simpler assets (in our case, riskless bonds and future claims on oil). For ease of implementation, the method is designed to resemble current industry practice. The information model can be estimated using analysis and judgment similar to that applied in conventional evaluation. The formulation of decision alternatives, the selection of underlying uncertainties, and the design of a cash-flow model are the same as in standard DCF methods. Simulation and valuation results also can be represented in a familiar format. Restrictions must be placed on the "best" current asset pricing theory to achieve this convenient framework: the expected returns on the basic assets, which comprise the portfolios traded to replicate project cash flows, must be assumed to be known with certainty at the time of an evaluation.Supported by the MIT Center for Energy Policy Research, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Imperial Oil University Research Grants Programme, the Central Research Fund, a Nova Faculty Fellowship, the Muir Research Fund and the Institute for Financial Research of the University of Alberta

A two-method solution to the investment timing option

Within the realm of derivative asset valuation, two types of methods are available for solving the investment timing option, each with a serious limitation for practical projects. Methods that use Monte Carlo simulation of risk-adjusted probability measures allow consideration of the complicated cash flow models typical of real projects, in the face of prespecified operating policies, but they do not provide an adequate way to determine what the optimal policy is. Formulation of the problem as an American option in the vein of Black-Scholes and Merton permits calculation of an optimal start policy, but only in situations with drastically simplified cash flow models. The solution to this dilemma is the development of an approach which applies the two methods in tandem. The rights to explore and develop an oil field are used as an example, and Monte Carlo simulation is used to calculate the value of these rights as a function of start time and contemporaneous oil price. This payoff function is then input to a Black-Scholes-Merton option calculation. The resulting optimal start policy is then reinserted to the Monte Carlo model for further analysis of project and individual cash-flow magnitudes and risks. Also, possible bias because of numerical-analysis errors are checked by direct search of start policies in the vicinity of the calculated optimum.Supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Imperial Oil and various research funds of the University of Alberta and the M.I.T. Center for Energy Policy Research

High-Temperature Dynamics of Spin Glasses

We develop a systematic expansion method of physical quantities for the SK model and the finite-dimensional $\pm J$ model of spin glasses in non-equilibrium states. The dynamical probability distribution function is derived from the master equation using a high temperature expansion. We calculate the expectation values of physical quantities from the dynamical probability distribution function. The theoretical curves show satisfactory agreement with Monte Carlo simulation results in the appropriate temperature and time regions. A comparison is made with the results of a dynamics theory by Coolen, Laughton and Sherrington.Comment: 24 pages, figures available on request, LaTeX, uses jpsj.sty, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 66 No. 7 (1997

Resource Management: Guidelines For Managing In A Crisis

In times of economic adversity, organizations have multiple courses of action to consider.  This paper synthesizes the existing literature from two perspectives – cost cutting and investment for growth.  Conditions to consider for each choice are explained, overall recommendations for moving forward are provided, and potential research areas are identified

Dynamical replica theoretic analysis of CDMA detection dynamics

We investigate the detection dynamics of the Gibbs sampler for code-division multiple access (CDMA) multiuser detection. Our approach is based upon dynamical replica theory which allows an analytic approximation to the dynamics. We use this tool to investigate the basins of attraction when phase coexistence occurs and examine its efficacy via comparison with Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure

After the storm, solar comes out : a new service model for children and adolescent mental health

Aim: Existing children and adolescent mental health services in the United Kingdom have many gaps, such as reduced access to community‐based services, and a lack of early intervention, prevention, and 24/7 crisis care. These gaps prevent timely access to appropriate levels of care, decrease children and young people's engagement with providers, and lead to increased pressures on urgent and emergency care. In this paper, we outline a newly created 0‐19 model and its crisis service, which have been transformed into a fully integrated, “joint partnership” service, in line with the recommendations from the recent UK policies that aim to meet the aforementioned challenges. Method: The “Solar” service is described as a case study of a 0‐19 service model. We cover the national and local contexts of the service, in addition to its rationale, aims, organizational structure, strengths and limitations. Results: The presented model is a fully integrated and innovative example of a service model that operates without tiers, and helps to create an inclusive, compassionate, stigma‐free and youth‐friendly environment. Additionally, the model aims to prioritize recovery, early intervention, prevention and the development of resilience. Conclusion: The 0‐19 model is a result of the recent transformation of children and youth mental health services in the United Kingdom. The ongoing evaluation of the 0‐19 model and its crisis component will investigate the model's effectiveness, accessibility and acceptability, as well as understanding the potential of the model to contribute towards solving numerous gaps in the existing mental health service provision within the United Kingdom

Dynamical Replica Theory for Disordered Spin Systems

We present a new method to solve the dynamics of disordered spin systems on finite time-scales. It involves a closed driven diffusion equation for the joint spin-field distribution, with time-dependent coefficients described by a dynamical replica theory which, in the case of detailed balance, incorporates equilibrium replica theory as a stationary state. The theory is exact in various limits. We apply our theory to both the symmetric- and the non-symmetric Sherrington-Kirkpatrick spin-glass, and show that it describes the (numerical) experiments very well.Comment: 7 pages RevTex, 4 figures, for PR