Programmatic Environmental Scans: A Survey Based on Program Planning and Evaluation Concepts

Within Extension, environmental scans are most commonly used to assess community or organizational issues or for strategic planning purposes. However, Extension has expanded the use of environmental scans to systematically identify “what programs exist” on a given topic or focus area. Yet, despite recent attention to the topic of environmental scanning in Extension, survey instruments used to conduct environmental scans have not been published. Given the emphasis on implementation of evidence-based practices and programs, having a ready-made survey that can be used to identify programs on a specific topic and that could subsequently lead to an evaluability assessment of those programs would be a useful resource. To encourage the use of environmental scans to identify existing evidence-based programs, this article describes a survey instrument developed for the purpose of scanning for 4-H Healthy Living programs ready for rigorous outcome evaluation and/or national replication. It focuses on the rationale for survey items, as well as provides a summary and definition of those items. The survey tool can be easily adapted for future programmatic environmental scans both within and outside Extension

Developing a Federal Research Agenda for Positive Youth Development: Identifying Gaps in the Field and an Effective Consensus Building Approach

The field of positive youth development (PYD) is at an important crossroads in terms of defining its scope and directions for future research. This paper describes an effective consensus-building process that representatives from 16 federal agencies engaged in to develop a research agenda focused on PYD and the product that resulted from using this approach. During this process, the representatives identified and refined three research domains (conceptual issues related to PYD, data sources and indicators, and program implementation and effectiveness) and key research questions that could benefit from future research. We share lessons learned from our experience to emphasize the importance of organizational systems change efforts and interagency collaborations. A major contribution of this paper is to provide specific areas for future research in PYD from the federal perspective and to describe future implications for PYD policy and interagency collaborations

Developing a Federal Research Agenda for Positive Youth Development: Identifying Gaps in the Field and an Effective Consensus Building Approach

The field of positive youth development (PYD) is at an important crossroads in terms of defining its scope and directions for future research. This paper describes an effective consensus-building process that representatives from 16 federal agencies engaged in to develop a research agenda focused on PYD and the product that resulted from using this approach. During this process, the representatives identified and refined three research domains (conceptual issues related to PYD, data sources and indicators, and program implementation and effectiveness) and key research questions that could benefit from future research. We share lessons learned from our experience to emphasize the importance of organizational systems change efforts and interagency collaborations. A major contribution of this paper is to provide specific areas for future research in PYD from the federal perspective and to describe future implications for PYD policy and interagency collaborations

Mapping the Relationship Among Political Ideology, CSR Mindset, and CSR Strategy: A Contingency Perspective Applied to Chinese Managers

The literature on antecedents of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies of firms has been predominately content driven. Informed by the managerial sense-making process perspective, we develop a contingency theoretical framework explaining how political ideology of managers affects the choice of CSR strategy for their firms through their CSR mindset. We also explain to what extent the outcome of this process is shaped by the firm’s internal institutional arrangements and external factors impacting on the firm. We develop and test several hypotheses using data collected from 129 Chinese managers. The results show that managers with a stronger socialist ideology are likely to develop a mindset favouring CSR, which induces the adoption of a proactive CSR strategy. The CSR mindset mediates the link between socialist ideology and CSR strategy. The strength of the relationship between the CSR mindset and the choice of CSR strategy is moderated by customer response to CSR, industry competition, the role of government, and CSR-related managerial incentives

Ratio-Scale Measurement with Intransitivity or Incompleteness: The Homogeneous Case

In the homogeneous case of one-dimensional objects, we show that any relation that is positive and homothetic can be represented by a ratio-scale and a unique and constant biasing factor. This factor may favor or disfavor the preference for an object over another. In the first case, preferences are complete but not transitive and an object may be preferred even when its value is lower. In the second case, preferences are asymmetric and transitive but not negatively transitive and it may not be sufficient for an object to have a greater value to be preferred. In this manner, the biasing factor reflects the extent to which preferences may depart from a maximization process. Copyright Springer 2006intransitive preferences, incomplete preferences, irrational behavior, emotional behavior, procedural concerns, ethical values, biased measurement, scale-invariance, homotheticity,

Ethical Differentiation and Market Behavior: An Experimental Approach

Rapporten är ett resultat av ett examensarbete inom Maskinteknik, inriktning Industriell Ekonomi och Produktion, vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, institutionen för Hållbar produktionsutveckling. Projektet har utförts för försvarsföretaget BAE Systems Hägglunds AB i Örnsköldsvik. Studenten har utfört arbetet på plats vilket har varit en grundförutsättning för att kunna genomföra studien. Uppdragsbeskrivningen, dess mål samt avgränsningar har tilldelats av enheten för Prototyp och Skrov (P & S). Målen inkluderar att kartlägga de feleffekter som uppstår när beredda operations- och ställtider inte överensstämmer med verklig tid i verkstaden, att ge förslag på arbetsmetodik för att återkoppla och uppdatera dessa tider samt arbetsmetodik för beräkning av inkörningstid för samtliga artiklar. Enheten för P & S tillverkar ingående artiklar och levererar färdiga skrov av företagets fordonsfamiljer till resterande avdelningar i verkstaden. Fordonen utvecklas kontinuerligt mot kunders krav varför avdelningens förmåga att snabbt kunna leverera prototypartiklar till utvecklingsavdelningen är viktig för hela företagets långsiktiga lönsamhet. Verksamheten saknar i viss utsträckning standardiserat underlag för beredning samt återkoppling på beredningstider. Detta resulterar i att artiklar blir sena, dyrare än projekterat samt ett ständigt prioriteringsarbete vilket riskerar att förstärka problematiken. Berörd personal litar inte på verksamhetens förmåga och anpassar därför arbetssätt på en lokal nivå vilket leder till suboptimeringar. Studien resulterar i en kartläggning över de feleffekter som uppstår, som till stor del beror på saknandet av standardiserade arbetsmetodiker. NC-programmeringen infö rmaskinbearbetningen beskrivs som en flaskhals. Studien föreslår därför att programmering sker innan produktionsorder i form av arbetskort bereds och frisläpps mot avdelningen för maskinbearbetning. Verksamhetens målbild är att beräkna inkörningstiden för samtliga artiklar då tillverkning av första exemplar tar längre tid. Varpå studien föreslår ökad kommunikation mellan avdelningar.This report is the result of a bachelor thesis within the area of mechanical engineering, management and production at the Royal Institute of Technology. The study was conducted at the defense and security company BAE Systems Hägglunds AB in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The study has been conducted on location which has been essential for the feasibility of the study. The assignment and the goals of which it should accomplish, as well as within which boundaries has been assigned by the section for Prototype and Hulls (Swedish P & S). Set goals include mapping the fault effects which occurs when process times doesn’t match that of which has been planned and assigned for specific work orders, methods for feedback between the workshop and ERP-systemfor more accurate future processes. As well as methods for calculation of process times for all components in a batch since the first ones tend to require more time. The section of Prototype and Hulls produce and delivers hull components for all of BAE Systems Hägglunds families of vehicles. It’s necessary for the vehicles to continuously being developed due to customers’ demands for them to be able to compete on the global market. As a result the manufacturing of prototype components is essential for the company’s ability to gain customers, which is why it’s up most important to beingable to deliver prototype components for R & D rapidly. The section for Prototype and Hulls lacks standardized methods for the production preparing and planning. This results in components that are too expensive and late. In a long term this means that employees doesn’t trust the ability of the business and in some cases, develops local improvements, putting the company at risk of developing sub optimizations. The study discusses the fault effects discovered by the mapping process, which is being described as a result of not using standard methods. The study recommends BAE Systems Hägglunds to implement a standardized method towards the NC-programming where the programming is conducted before the preparer creates a work order. Since BAE Systems Hägglunds wants to calculate the required time for all componentsin a work order the study recommends intercommunication between different sections to exchange experience and work methods with each other

Ethical differentiation and market behavior: An experimental approach

Does ethical differentiation of products affect market behavior? We examined this issue in triopolistic experimental markets where producers set prices. One producer's costs were higher than the others. In two treatments, the additional costs were attributed to compliance with ethical guidelines. In the third, no justification was provided. Many consumers reduced their experimental gains by purchasing the ethically differentiated products at higher prices. Individual differences were important (business/economics students paid smaller premia). Finally, we speculate about the observed "demand function" for ethics and emphasize using experimental methodology to complement empirical studies in assessing markets for ethically differentiated products.