Executive Education: Can it Be Too Good?

A successful business school must serve two communities: the research community on one hand; and the business community on the other. However, despite the spectacular growth of business education over the last four or five decades, there has been growing criticism of the relevance of much business school activity: The academic-practitioner divide has emerged and largely refuses to close. To bridge the gap b-schools must serve both communities concurrently. Executive education is identified as being a critical strategy in the repertoire of b-school deans through which to do so. The aim of this paper is to discuss the construct of executive education, and to challenge some of the dominant logics that executive education is simply education for executives. Executive education is reported as being distinctive from most content focused education – the tangible material that most universities teach. The successful design and delivery of a suite of non-credit executive education courses, with a focus on corporate and institutional governance, is presented. Their underpinning pedagogy, based on developing a critically reflective practitioner, is discussed. Executive education courses are found to be distinctive on the basis that responsibility for learning, and the direction of the journey being taken, rests largely with the participants themselves. The adverse reaction to a six month long not-for-credit short course, offered in-house annually for four years is then briefly described. Observations are shared as to the source of this reaction. The means of avoiding similar adversity towards effective executive education in the future is then identified

Proteinase-activated receptor-2 modulates human macrophage differentiation andeffector function

Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) was shown to influence immune regulation; however, its role in human macrophage subset development and function has not been addressed. Here, PAR-2 expression and activation was investigated on granulocyte macrophage (GM)-CSF(M1) and macrophage (M)-CSF(M2) macrophages. In both macrophages, the PAR-2-activating peptide, SLIGKV, increased PAR-2 expression and regulated TNF-α and IL-10 secretion in a manner similar to LPS. In addition, HLA-DR on M1 cells also increased. Monocytes matured to an M1 phenotype in the presence of SLIGKV had reduced cell area, and released less TNF-α after LPS challenge compared with vehicle (P < 0.05, n = 3). Cells matured to an M2 phenotype with SLIGKV also had a reduced cell area and made significantly more TNF-α after LPS exposure compared to vehicle (P < 0.05, n = 3) with reduced IL-10 secretion (P < 0.05, n = 3). Thus, PAR-2 activation on macrophage subsets regulates HLA-DR and PAR-2 surface expression, and drives cytokine production. In contrast, PAR-2 activation during M1 or M2 maturation induces altered cell morphology and skewing of phenotype, as evidenced by cytokine secretion. These data suggest a complex role for PAR-2 in macrophage biology and may have implications for macrophage-driven disease in which proteinase-rich environments can influence the immune process directly

The adoption of the HPV vaccine school-entry requirement in Puerto Rico: How practical lessons can inform future vaccine policies

Vaccine requirements are policy-level strategies used to improve population health outcomes; however, discourse politicization of vaccines may hinder adoption and implementation. An example of the complexities related to adoption of vaccine policies in the United States (US) is the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine school-entry requirement. In 2018, Puerto Rico\u27s (PR) Department of Health adopted this policy. This study assessed stakeholders\u27 recommendations for adoption of the HPV vaccine school-entry requirement that could inform future vaccine policies. Stakeholders (e.g., researchers, members of medical and non-profit organizations) were interviewed from May to August 2018. Participants (n = 20) discussed recommendations for public health professionals interested in adopting such policy. Data were analyzed using applied thematic techniques. Participants emphasized the importance of raising HPV vaccine awareness and providing education prior to the requirement. They recommended using real stories and making the problem relevant by using local data. Participants recommended considering the local culture and government bureaucracies, and promoting multisectoral collaborations to combine limited resources. The combination of education efforts, local data, and multisectoral collaborations facilitated the adoption of the HPV vaccine school-entry requirement in PR. Findings highlight the need to understand the contextual distinctions of the communities where vaccination requirements may be adopted and implemented to anticipate barriers and leverage existing resources. Consideration of the politico-cultural context may be important as political beliefs have become entrenched with vaccine policy. These practical lessons can inform public health professionals and policymakers who are seeking to adopt and implement vaccine policies in other settings to ensure equitable vaccine access

Measurement of a Sign-Changing Two-Gap Superconducting Phase in Electron-Doped Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 Single Crystals using Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy

Scanning tunneling spectroscopic studies of $Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2$ (x = 0.06, 0.12) single crystals reveal direct evidence for predominantly two-gap superconductivity. These gaps decrease with increasing temperature and vanish above the superconducting transition $T_c$. The two-gap nature and the slightly doping- and energy-dependent quasiparticle scattering interferences near the wave-vectors $(\pm \pi, 0)$ and $(0, \pm \pi)$ are consistent with sign-changing $s$-wave superconductivity. The excess zero-bias conductance and the large gap-to-$T_c$ ratios suggest dominant unitary impurity scattering.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Paper accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Contact author: Nai-Chang Yeh ([email protected]

How do Women Industrial Designers Succeed in the Workplace? Getting In and Getting On

In Australia, despite comprising half of the design student population, women remain under-represented in the design world and rarely hold senior leadership roles or win high profile design awards. This qualitative research, focussing on the workplace experience of nineteen female industrial designers, explores how these women achieve success and the facilitators and barriers. Overall, success was defined as happiness, work-life balance and enjoyment and engagement with the design process; impact was also important, with one defining success as seeing a stranger using a product she had designed. Most found the industry to be male dominated and struggled to secure their first job, explaining the challenge of learning specific software programs and then developing the confidence and courage to actively contribute design ideas. A variety of different strategies was utilised to secure their first job, contacts, mentors and role models later empowering over half to develop their own design start-ups. The decision to become an entrepreneur was a conscious choice, enabling these women to follow their design passion with more flexible, parenting-friendly hours. This qualitative research provides some nuanced insights into how these women navigated entrenched gender stereotypes and traditionally masculine workplace norms. The findings suggest the need for more radical approaches to facilitating women’s recruitment, retention, and progression