Can Universities Encourage Students Continued Motivation For Knowledge Sharing And How Can This Help Organizations?

Both practitioners and researchers recognize the increasing importance of knowledge sharing in organizations (Bock, Zmud, Kim, & Lee, 2005; Vera-Muz, Ho, & Chow, 2006). Knowledge sharing influences a firm\u27s knowledge creation, organizational learning, performance achievement, growth, and competitive advantage (Bartol & Srivastava, 2002; Bock & Kim, 2002; Vera-Muz et al., 2006). However, an individual\u27s natural tendency is to hoard knowledge rather than to share knowledge (Davenport, 1997; Ruggles, 1998). So, how can knowledge sharing be encouraged? Extrinsic rewards are believed to effectively motivate desired behaviors (Bartol & Locke, 2000). Under certain environmental conditions, extrinsic rewards are also believed to develop a more sustained motivation, called self-determined motivation, for these behaviors (Deci & Ryan, 1991). These ideas raise the following questions: (a) Do extrinsic rewards motivate students to share knowledge? and (b) How can universities encourage individuals to develop the self-determined motivation to take part in desired behaviors such as knowledge sharing? This study investigates the effect of extrinsic rewards on knowledge sharing in a team setting. It also examines whether universities can facilitate individuals\u27 continued or self-determined motivation to share knowledge using certain environmental conditions. To examine these questions, I perform an experiment with 113 undergraduate students from accounting and management classes who are working on team projects. Results suggest that specifically rewarding knowledge sharing can increase individuals\u27 knowledge-sharing behaviors and, in the right environment, their internalization of the motivation to share knowledge

Impact of extracurricular activities on students

Includes bibliographical references

Ecology of native bees in North Taranaki, New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Zoology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Studies are increasingly finding that native bees are important pollinators in many systems, in both natural and agricultural settings. With the possible loss of honey bees due to various reasons, it has become clear that relying on major pollinator for the world’s pollination needs is problematic. Instead, we must look to native, wild pollinators, such as solitary bees, to avoid declines in pollination rates. However, these native bees are at risk from a number of different factors worldwide including habitat destruction and degradation for agriculture, climate change, and pesticide use. It is therefore important to have a clear idea of the state of native pollinators, to assess how they are affected by these risks. This thesis gives a novel insight into the abundance and diversity of native bee species in the northern Taranaki area, New Zealand. I examined three main research questions concerning potential threats to native bees: how native bees are affected by varying land uses; how the abundances of native bees respond to different weather variables; and what the floral preferences of native bees in this region are. 572 bees from seven species were caught during the study. Overall, perhaps surprisingly, the abundance of native bees was positively associated with an increase in agricultural intensity and exotic vegetation. However, the results of this study show that species of native bees may respond differently to land use changes -the abundance of the three species of native bees that were collected frequently enough to measure preferences (L. paahaumaa, L. sordidum, and L. cognatum) all showed neutral to positive responses to an increase in agricultural intensity. Whereas, other species were caught much less frequently and may require more native habitat for persistence. This study also showed that weather has a significant impact on the likelihood of encountering native bees, specifically temperature, wind speed, and cloud cover. This study indicated that these native bees have varying levels of generalisation, and differing preferences for native or introduced plants, when it comes to their floral preferences. The results indicated that the three common species (L. paahaumaa, L. sordidum, and L. cognatum) all forage on many different plant species, including both introduced and native species. This ability to forage on both native and introduced flora may explain the ability of these bees to inhabit areas of high agricultural intensity, while others cannot. This thesis identified some of the potential threats to native bees in New Zealand and how they may impact native bee populations in North Taranaki. An understanding of these impacts is vital for future conservation management of native bees in New Zealand

"Lives overpromised" : the transition to adulthood and the 'quarter-life crisis' : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

In recent years there has been a lot of speculation and (often negative) stereotyping about 'Generation Y'. Many witty labels have emerged to describe the generation from an outside perspective, but few have explored the perspective of these young people as they enter the 'real world' and embark upon their 'adult' lives. Whilst the generation has had limited attention from the academic world, the concept of a 'quarter-life crisis' has emerged through the popular media, proposed by journalists Robbins and Wilner (2001). Although such a concept may be readily dismissed as media hype, or a fabrication of spoiled, whining 'Gen Y'ers, there is much evidence to suggest that the transition to adulthood today is much more complex and turbulent than that experienced by previous generations. Through six focus group discussions involving 26 members of Generation Y going through the 'quarter-life' (or 'emerging adulthood') stage, this study sought to explore how the transition to adulthood is experienced by young people in New Zealand, including the highs and lows, challenges and pitfalls; whether these years represented a time of personal 'crisis'; and how they felt about their future looking forward. Participants' stories suggested that many felt ill-prepared for the demands and decisions of the 'real world', which sat at odds with what they had been conditioned to expect. While not all of the participants experienced this phase as a 'crisis' in the true sense of the word, many found themselves disappointed with how life in the 'real world' was turning out, unsettled by the disintegration of their initial plans and dreams, and overwhelmed by the complexity of this life stage. Nonetheless, they clung to hopes that the "good life" and the "happily ever after" that they had long-expected would eventually materialise - that fate would intervene and deliver the destiny they felt they deserved. The findings highlight the mismatch between how young people are prepared for the transition to adulthood and how they experience it. The implications of this situation and recommendations for addressing it are discussed

Remember the Fillmore: The Lingering History of Urban Renewal in Black San Francisco

In the summer of 2008, I moved to San Francisco, California. I lived in the city for three months. As a researcher, my objective was to learn more about Mayor Gavin Newsome’s African-American Out-Migration Task Force. The Task Force convened in 2007 and met eight times from August to December. In 2009, the Mayor\u27s office released a final report on the Redevelopment Agency\u27s website that summarized the history of blacks in the city and outlined several recommendations for reversing their flight. The final report found that the political, economic, and social conditions of African-Americans are disproportionately more dire than any other group in San Francisco. During our conversations, some task force members suggested that this dire condition could be due to the lack of a black middle-class, which could act as a “connective tissue” between San Francisco’s poor black community and the city’s decision makers. The Task Force reported that although blacks had been in San Francisco for decades, many African-Americans, especially poor blacks, often felt disconnected from much of the city life. That finding resonated with what I heard during my interviews with the middle- to upper-middle class African-American members of the Task Force and with my observations of how residents and visitors shared public space in the Fillmore neighborhood, one of the city’s historically black neighborhoods. [excerpt

Cross-cultural representations of musical shape

In cross-cultural research involving performers from distinct cultural backgrounds (U.K., Japan, Papua New Guinea), we examined 75 musicians' associations between musical sound and shape, and saw pronounced differences between groups. Participants heard short stimuli varying in pitch contour and were asked to represent these visually on paper, with the instruction that if another community member saw the marks they should be able to connect them with the sounds. Participants from the U.K. group produced consistent symbolic representations, which involved depicting the passage of time from left-to-right. Japanese participants unfamiliar with English language and western standard notation provided responses comparable to the U.K. group's. The majority opted to use a horizontal timeline, whilst a minority of traditional Japanese musicians produced unique responses with time represented vertically. The last group, a non-literate Papua New Guinean tribe known as BenaBena, produced a majority of iconic responses which did not follow the time versus pitch contour model, but highlighted musical qualities other than the parameters intentionally varied in the investigation, focusing on hue and loudness. The participants' responses point to profoundly different 'norms' of musical shape association, which may be linked to literacy and to the functional role of music in a community

Driving Value in Medicaid Primary Care: The Role of Shared Support Networks for Physician Practices

Examines the challenges of transforming small primary care practices under healthcare reform and options for Medicaid to drive changes through practice supports to help implement and sustain new models of care or catalyze investments in new systems