Academic Service Learning and Society: From Individual to Institutional

This paper examines how Academic Service Learning (ASL) has gone from being an initiative by individual faculty to being institutionalized by universities as means to promote learning, pursue mission, and impact society. It outlines various uses of ASL by individual faculty and examines its progression into a university sponsored service-learning vessel of vision and mission. Its use acknowledges the interconnectedness of universities and society and emphasizes the need and obligation that universities feel, or should feel, in contributing to the betterment of the world we live in. In terms of being a university-sponsored initiative it highlights its use in the business curriculum of a large university in the northeast United States. This article recommends that ASL is an easily instituted method of teaching in many disciplines and is of benefit to multiple constituents both internally and externally to academic institutions

Extent Of Director Involvement In The Strategic Management Process: Does Occupational Background Make A Difference?

Propositions were tested with original survey data from 224 directors from nineteen hospitals to determine the extent of their involvement in the strategic management process. In most areas, board members whose occupational background is in health care tend to be less engaged than their counterparts whose background is not in health care. Significant differences were observed with respect to broad cross-functional strategic issues and overall hospital performance.  Both groups had limited involvement in setting standards for rewarding top management and evaluating their performance.  The results raise potentially important strategic and ethical dilemmas for hospitals and offer proponents of changes in board composition support for their normative suggestions.   &nbsp

EXTENT OF HOSPITAL DIRECTOR INVOLVEMENT IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: DOES TENURE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Of particular interest to researchers and practitioners is the impact of board members\u27 composition and characteristics on corporate activities. With the exception of studies focusing on the gender of board members and the inside director-outside director dichotomy, much of the research tends to treat directors as a homogeneous group. This study seeks to determine whether a relationship exists between hospital directors\u27 length of tenure and their degree of involvement in the strategic management process. The results of a survey of 240 directors from twenty-one hospitals are analyzed. A MANOVA, followed by a series of ANOVAs revealed significant differences between the long- and short-tenure directors. In most areas those with relatively short board tenure tend to be less engaged than their longer-tenured counterparts. The latter are more involved in developing strategic alternatives, providing advice and counsel in discussions outside of board/committee meetings, and setting standards for and evaluating the performance of the hospital and management. However, both groups have very limited involvement in setting standards for rewarding top management and evaluating their performance. Short-tenure directors are more concerned with the interests of major stakeholders and promoting their goodwill and support. Also, they are more actively involved in financial matters. The results raise potentially important strategic dilemmas for hospitals and offer proponents of changes in board composition support for their normative suggestions. Longer-tenured members are not as concerned with financial matters as well as stakeholders\u27 interests and support as their short-tenured counterparts. Also, although longer-tenured members were more active in setting standards for rewarding top management and assessing their performance, it is important to note the limited involvement of both groups. The results show a reluctance by both groups to set performance standards for top management and to formally evaluate their performance

Predicting Multimedia Traffic in Wireless Networks: A Performance Evaluation of Cognitive Techniques

Traffic engineering in networking is defined as the process that incorporates sophisticated methods in order to ensure optimization and high network performance. One of the most constructive tools employed by the traffic engineering concept is the traffic prediction. Having in mind the heterogeneous traffic patterns originated by various modern services and network platforms, the need of a robust, cognitive, and error-free prediction technique becomes even more pressing. This work focuses on the prediction concept as an autonomous, functional, and efficient process, where multiple cutting-edge methods are presented, modeled, and thoroughly assessed. To this purpose, real traffic traces have been captured, including multiple multimedia traffic flows, so as to comparatively assess widely used methods in terms of accuracy

Predicting Multimedia Traffic in Wireless Networks: A Performance Evaluation of Cognitive Techniques

Traffic engineering in networking is defined as the process that incorporates sophisticated methods in order to ensure optimization and high network performance. One of the most constructive tools employed by the traffic engineering concept is the traffic prediction. Having in mind the heterogeneous traffic patterns originated by various modern services and network platforms, the need of a robust, cognitive, and error-free prediction technique becomes even more pressing. This work focuses on the prediction concept as an autonomous, functional, and efficient process, where multiple cutting-edge methods are presented, modeled, and thoroughly assessed. To this purpose, real traffic traces have been captured, including multiple multimedia traffic flows, so as to comparatively assess widely used methods in terms of accuracy

Consumer Attitude Towards Shellfish In The Greek Market: A Pilot Study

During the last decade, the Greek shellfish industry has experienced significant changes affecting both the market demand and the availability of the end products. Although, shellfish and seafood in general have been promoted as healthy food by marketing boards and private seafood companies in many countries all over the world, no attention has been paid so far to analysing the Greek consumer’s purchasing behaviour and attitudes towards the shellfish market. This paper presents the results of the first survey in this field of research, which was carried out in northern Greece (area of Katerini and Greater Thessaloniki) from January to March 2002. A randomly selected sample of 400 consumers filled in a questionnaire, which covered basic marketing aspects of shellfish consumption such as choice, purchase, reasons for consuming shellfish, confidence in shellfish hygiene certification, media influence, etc. Data analysis includes descriptive statistics, as well as chi-square (― 2 ) tests (crosstabulation) to examine possible relations between consumers’ demographic and socio-economic characteristics and shellfish marketing aspects. Analyses of the results have shown that the majority of Greek consumers prefer the exploitable to cultured shellfish and in general do not eat shellfish often. They prefer the traditional fish shops for purchasing shellfish and consume them mainly in summer. The strongest reason to buy shellfish is their taste, while freshness is considered as the most important criterion when deciding to buy shellfish. Moreover, the vast majority of the consumers prefer a certification of quality, trust the confirmation provided by the veterinary authorities, but do not prefer ready-to-eat shellfish. Results revealed that consumers’ behaviour and attitudes vary considerably according to their demographic and socio-economic characteristics. The results of this study could prove to be helpful for decision makers towards a more rational planning of production and improvement of distributing roots, which in turn would improve product quality and promote shellfish consumption