Fostering corporate citizenship in the South African taxi industry

The purpose of this study was to investigate and foster corporate citizenship (CC) in the SA taxi industry. The primary objective of this study was to foster corporate citizenship in the South African taxi industry by investigating the determinants that would increase CC in the SA taxi industry. The study gathered quantitative information about CC, identified which factors influence CC in the taxi industry and investigated which of these factors are the most important determinants that would increase the CC in the industry in South Africa. This study was intended to contribute to building the body of knowledge for the implementation and fostering of corporate citizenship programs. In particular, the researcher hoped that the framework provided in this study would outline the practical strategies that the taxi organisations should take in developing targeted, long-term partnerships with the communities in which they operate. Convenience sampling was used to select one hundred (100) participants. The response rate was ninety-six percent (96%). The sample was structured to include the directors, deputy directors, senior managers, managers and the drivers of the taxi organisations in twenty-three districts in the Eastern Cape. These participants were taken from the body that incorporates all the taxi associations in Eastern Cape called the Eastern Cape Bus and Business Chamber (ECBTBC). The empirical results revealed that in order to increase corporate citizenship within the SA taxi industry there should be an increase in its human resource management, operations management and the dynamic externalism of its members. The findings also revealed that the social cynicism should be decreased within this industry

UČINKOVITOST VOĐENJA U OSNOVNIM ŠKOLAMA

Promjene u školama usmjerene su na promjene organizacijskoga razvoja škole i na promjene pedagoškoga vođenja. To pretpostavlja logičan zahtjev za intenzivnom profesionalizacijom ravnatelja i njihovim kompetencijskim standardima. Jesu li sadašnji ravnatelji spremni odgovoriti tim zahtjevima i imaju li odgovarajuće kompetencije za učinkovito vođenje razvoja škole? Istraživanjem smo tražili odgovore na prethodna pitanja. U radu se istražuje kako učitelji i pedagozi percipiraju kvalitetu vođenja škola, te propituje hipoteza o povezanosti između varijabli: vođenja, školskoga ozračja, organizacijske učinkovitosti i zadovoljstva poslom. Empirijsko je istraživanje provedeno na uzorku od 265 ispitanika: 85 stručnih suradnika – pedagoga i 180 učitelja iz 48 osnovnih škola na području istočne Hrvatske. U istraživanju je primijenjen instrument koji je sadržavao četiri skale: Skalu za procjenu učinkovitosti vođenja, Skalu za procjenu školskog ozračja, Skala za procjenu organizacijske učinkovitosti škole i jedno pitanje za procjenu zadovoljstva odnosima i poslom u školi. S obzirom na dobivene rezultate, analizira se postojeći sustav osposobljavanja i usavršavanja ravnatelja i predlažu rješenja za nove modele obrazovanja u području obrazovnog i pedagoškog vođenja.Changes in schools are aimed at changes in organisational school development and in pedagogical leadership. This presupposes a logical demand for the intense professionalisation of headteachers and for their standards of competence. Are the head teachers of today ready to meet these demands and do they possess appropriate competences for effective leadership in school development? This study searches for answers to the above questions. The paper attempts to answer the question about how teachers and school counsellors perceive the quality of school leadership, and it considers the hypothesis of the relations among the variables: leadership, school atmosphere, organisational effectiveness and job satisfaction. The empirical research was conducted on a sample of 265 respondents: 85 expert associates – school counsellors, and 180 teachers from 48 primary schools in the area of eastern Croatia. An instrument was applied in the research consisting of four scales: for the evaluation of leadership effectiveness; for the evaluation of school atmosphere; for the evaluation of organisational school leadership; and one question was posed for the evaluation of satisfaction with relationships and the job at school. Considering the results, the existing qualifying system and the system for developing head teachers are analysed, and solutions for educational models in the area of educational and pedagogical leadership are suggested

ORALNO ZDRAVLJE U ANTIČKIH STANOVNIKA VINKOVACA – CIBALA U HRVATSKOJ (3.–5. STOLJEĆE)

Roman city Cibalae (Vinkovci) – the birthplace of Roman emperors Valentinian I and Valens was a very well developed urban ares in the late antique what was evidenced by numerous archaeological findings. The aim of this paper is to get insight in dental health of antique population of Cibalae. One hundred individuals with 2041 teeth dated to 3rd – 5th century AD have been analyzed for caries, antemortem tooth loss, periapical diseases and tooth wear. Prevalence of antemortem tooth loss was 4.3% in males, 5.2% in females. Prevalence of caries per tooth was 8.4% in males, 7.0% in females. Compared to other Croatian antique sites, ancient inhabitants of Roman Cibalae had rather good dental health with low caries prevalence and no gender differences. Statistically significant difference was found between males in females in the prevalence of periapical lesions and degree of tooth wear. Periapical lesions were found only in males.Rimsko naselje Cibale (Vinkovci) – rodno mjesto rimskih careva Valentinijana I. i njegova brata Valena – bilo je veoma razvijeno urbano središte u kasnoantičkom razdoblju, što je potvrđeno brojnim arheološkim nalazima. Svrha je ovog rada steći uvid u oralno zdravlje antičkih stanovnika Cibala i dobivene podatke usporediti s drugim hrvatskim antičkim lokalitetima. Pregledano je 100 osoba s 2041 zubom koji su datirani u razdoblje 3. do 5. stoljeće prije Krista. Analizirani su zubni karijes, prijesmrtni gubitak zuba, periapikalne bolesti i trošenje zuba. Prevalencija prijesmrtnog gubitka zuba bila je 4,3% u muškaraca i 5,2% u žena. Prevalencija karijesa po zubu bila je 8,4% u muškaraca i 7,0% u žena. U usporedbi s drugim hrvatskim antičkim lokalitetima, drevni stanovnici rimskih Cibala imali su relativno dobro oralno zdravlje s niskom učestalosti karijesa i bez spolnih razlika. Statistički značajna razlika između muškaraca i žena pronađena je u prevalenciji periapikalnih lezija i stupnja potrošenosti zuba. Periapikalne lezije pronađene su samo u muškaraca

Aktives Lernen im Unterricht

The competence-based approach to teaching emphasizes the importance of active learning, which creates a high level of autonomy, self-monitoring, and the application of various cognitive strategies to differentiate between important and unimportant information, analyse and compare, construct new knowledge on the previous experiences and think critically. The aim of the research presented in this paper was to find out whether contemporary classrooms serve as a context for active learning intended to develop students’ competences. A study was conducted with the students in grade 4 and 8. The intention was to explore the presence of active learning strategies and their frequency in the subject Croatian language. The differences in active learning strategies based on school type and students’ age were also looked into. The results suggest that the Croatian language lessons are characterised by pleasant emotions, cooperative learning, students’ initiative, along with firm teacher’s authority, but also critical thinking and diverse teaching and learning activities. There is a statistically significant difference between younger and older students suggesting that active learning strategies are more present among the fourth-graders than the eight-graders, especially in the schools where pre-service teachers go to practice their teaching skills with their teacher-mentors (partner schools).Zahtjeve suvremenog obrazovanja nije moguće ostvariti u odgojno-obrazovnom sustavu koji prenaglašava proces poučavanja, a ne uvažava učenje u nastavi. U nastavi se pomiče težište s paradigme poučavanje - učenje prema koncepciji usmjerenoj aktivnom učenju. Aktivnim učenjem nazivamo ono učenje u kojem se postiže visok stupanj samostalnosti i samoregulacije, primjenjuju se raznovrsne misaone strategije i specifične kognitivne vještine koje omogućuju uočavanje bitnog, raščlanjivanje i usporedbu informacija, njihovo povezivanje s postojećim znanjima i kritičku prosudbu njihova značenja, to je ujedno i ono učenje koje omogućuje dugoročno pamćenje. Strategije aktivnog učenja podupiru stvaranje nastavnih situacija koje omogućavaju učenicima konstruiranje znanja. Konstruktivistički model obrazovanja karakterizira promjena odnosa učitelja i učenika, pribavljanje bogatih izvora znanja te kurikulum učenja temeljen na aktivnosti. Rad je usmjeren upravo tim dimenzijama osnovnoškolske nastave. Najčešće se istražuje aktivno učenje koje se ostvaruje sa starijim učenicima i posebice studentskom populacijom, dok niži razredi osnovne škole ostaju zanemareni, iako je aktivno učenje moguće, i nužno, na svim obrazovnim razinama. Cilj je stoga bio istražiti je li suvremena nastava kontekst unutar kojeg se odvija aktivno učenje koje se temelji na kompetencijskome pristupu nastavi. U tu je svrhu provedeno istraživanje s 306 učenika četvrtih i osmih razreda. Namjera je bila anketnim upitnikom ispitati zastupljenost pojedinih strategija aktivnog učenja te utvrditi moguće razlike u procjenama sudionika istraživanja temeljene na dobi i školi koju polaze. Upitnik se odnosio na nastavu Hrvatskog jezika. Analizom podataka utvrđen je jedan faktor koji opisuje aktivno učenje, a uključuje 28 čestica upitnika. Pokazalo se da nastavu Hrvatskog jezika najčešće karakteriziraju ugodne emocije u razredu, suradnička kultura, učenička inicijativa uz zamjetan učiteljski autoritet, ali i razvijanje kritičkog promišljanja uz raznovrsne nastavne aktivnosti. Utvrđene su razlike u nastavi Hrvatskog jezika između mlađih i starijih učenika pri čemu je u četvrtim razredima više zastupljeno aktivno učenje nego u osmima. To je u suprotnosti s pretpostavkom da je sa starijim učenicima lakše ostvararivati kognitivno zahtjevnije zadatke uz samostalnost i kritičku prosudbu (zbog čega je bilo očekivano da se u toj populaciji aktivno učenje više provodi). Statistički je značajna i razlika dobivana u rezultatima koji se odnose na nastavu u školama koje su vježbaonice Učiteljskog fakulteta i školama koje nisu vježbaonice. Ta se razlika objašnjava naglašenijim profesionalnim usavršavanjem učitelja koji su mentori. Dobiveni rezultati pružaju kontekst za raspravu o rezultatima PISA istraživanja, prema kojem postoji značajan prostor za poboljšanje razine pismenosti hrvatskih učenika.Es ist nicht möglich, die Anforderungen der modernen Bildung im Bildungssystem zu realisieren, das den Lehrprozess überbewertet und das Lernen im Unterricht nicht beachtet. Im Unterricht verschiebt sich der Schwerpunkt vom Lehrparadigma zum Lernkonzept des aktiven Lernens. Als aktives Lernen bezeichnet man das Lernen, bei dem ein hohes Maß an Autonomie und Selbstkontrolle erreicht wird, bei dem eine Vielzahl von Denkstrategien und spezifischen kognitiven Fähigkeiten angewendet werden, die die Identifizierung des Wesentlichen, die Analyse und den Informationsvergleich ermöglichen. Weiter wird deren Verknüpfung mit vorhandenen Kenntnissen und kritischer Beurteilung ihrer Bedeutung ermöglicht. Es ist auch gleichzeitig dasjenige Lernen, das das Langzeitgedächtnis ermöglicht. Die Strategien des aktiven Lernens unterstützen die Schaffung von Lernsituationen, die den Schülern die Wissenskonstruktion ermöglichen. Das konstruktivistische Modell der Bildung wird durch Veränderungen in der Beziehung von Lehrern und Schülern, durch Sicherung von ergiebigen Wissensquellen und durch aktivitätsbasiertes Lerncurriculum charakterisiert. In dieser Studie liegt der Fokus genau auf diesen Dimensionen des Grundschulunterrichts. Am häufigsten wird das aktive Lernen untersucht, das mit älteren Schülern und vor allem Studenten realisiert wird, während niedrigere Grundschulklassen vernachlässigt bleiben, obwohl das aktive Lernen möglich und notwendig auf allen Bildungsstufen ist. Das Ziel war daher festzustellen, ob der moderne Unterricht den Kontext darstellt, in dem auf fachlichen Unterrichtsansatz basierendes aktives Lernen stattfindet. Zu diesem Zweck wurde eine Studie mit 306 Viert- und Achtklässlern durchgeführt. Damit sollte mit Hilfe des Fragebogens die Prävalenz der einzelnen Strategien des aktiven Lernens geprüft und die möglichen Unterschiede bei den Einschätzungen der Umfrageteilnehmer festgestellt werden, die auf Alter und der besuchten Schule basieren. Die Umfrage bezog sich auf den Kroatisch-Unterricht. Mit Hilfe der Datenanalyse wurde ein Faktor festgestellt, der aktives Lernen beschreibt und 28 Fragen beinhaltet. Es stellte sich heraus, dass der Kroatisch-Unterricht meist durch angenehme Emotionen in der Klasse, kooperative Kultur, Schülerinitiative mit signifikanter Lehrerautorität, aber auch durch Entwicklung von kritischem Denken mit einer Vielzahl von Lernaktivitäten charakterisiert wird. Es wurden auch Unterschiede im Kroatisch-Unterricht zwischen jüngeren und älteren Schülern festgestellt, wobei in den vierten Klassen das aktive Lernen häufiger als in den achten Klassen vorkommt. Dies steht im Gegensatz zu der Annahme, dass mit älteren Schülern leichter kognitiv anspruchsvollere Aufgaben zu realisieren sind, selbstständig und mit kritischer Beurteilung (deshalb war zu erwarten, dass bei dieser Population das aktive Lernen häufiger vorkommt). Statistisch signifikant ist auch der Unterschied, der bei den Ergebnissen festzustellen ist, die sich auf den Unterricht an Schulen beziehen, wo die Studenten der Fakultät für Lehrerbildung hospitieren und an Schulen, wo keine Hospitationen stattfinden. Dieser Unterschied wird durch die ausführliche professionelle Weiterbildung der Lehrkräfte erklärt, die als Mentoren fungieren. Die erhaltenen Ergebnisse bieten uns einen Rahmen für die Diskussion über die Ergebnisse der PISA-Studie, wonach ein beträchtlicher Spielraum zur Verbesserung der Schreibfertigkeit der kroatischen Schüler existiert

Adaptive Enterprises: Interweaving People Process and Technology

Today’s world is a complex interconnected environment where interconnected enterprises participate in global business. The global business world is characterised by rapid and unpredictable change that results in enterprises being challenged at all levels. Customers, employees, partners, investors and society are all sources of uncertainty. Traditional deliberate strategies based on cycles of stability and predictability are no longer relevant for today\u27s business environments. Emergent strategies have been advocated by many as the solution. However the thesis of this research is that enterprises need to interweave the deliberate with the emergent. A review of current research and industry literature suggests large gaps exist in terms of strategies, processes, structures, and information systems that intrinsically, fundamentally, and seamlessly interweave the deliberate and emergent aspects to support adaptive enterprises. In this thesis we investigate and propose how this interweaving of the deliberate with the emergent could be conceived and realised in terms of strategy, business processes, organisational structures, and information systems. The research is interdisciplinary in nature and spans management, operations, and information systems

Enterprise Architecture Maturity: A Crucial Link in Business and IT Alignment

Misalignment between the business and IT function is an inhibitor in the achievement of competitive advantage. Enterprise Architecture (EA) promises organizational benefits including a closer alignment between IT and business. There is some argument about the true value that EA can provide. Some organizations credit their EA with creating significant value while other EA programmes fail. In response to this we explore whether EA fulfil their purpose in reducing the gap between IT and business. We conducted a case study of five companies that had EA functions. While we found that EA does not make alignment between IT and business more difficult, we did identify that many businesses do not achieve the purported benefits of EA because of poorly executed EA. We propose a four-stage maturity model for EA that encompasses the characteristics of EA, the ‘soft skills’ needed, and the business benefits available at each stage of maturity

An Identification of Non-Technical Issues in SOEA Implementation

Today’s business environment pushes organizations to be adaptive and collaborative. This push drives the development of service-oriented enterprise architecture (SOEA) in support of the organization. To realise the advantages offered by SOEA, research on avoiding SOEA implementation failure is of considerable merit. In the review of literature on SOEA implementation failure, two research problems were identified: first, there is a paucity of research on non-technical issues (NTIs) in SOEA implementation; and second, the definition of an NTI in the Information Systems (IS) field remains implicit, incomplete, and incongruent. Addressing these two research problems therefore becomes the research objective of this paper. The overarching research design framework is qualitative, mixed-method research. Under the guidance of this framework, literature reviews, semi-structured interviews, and an online survey were conducted. The key findings are a clarified scope for NTIs in the field of IS and the identification of the critical NTIs in SOEA implementation

Integrated Marketing Communication in Project Activities

The paper deals with integrated marketing applied in project activities. The reason for this is the fact that such activities should refine their offer with a supplement in the project documentation but in the means of a different approach to the market. The amendment addresses recommendations to investors for the future construction and maintenance of facilities, and Lean and BIM in the design, construction and maintenance of facilities. That is why, during market processing, investors are offered an offer that solves the project task, includes design with visualization, and construction supervision, but already at this stage also includes certain maintenance solutions. This is only possible if the customers are approached comprehensively. For this there is an integrated marketing activity or process, where already in the market research, customers are informed about a kit containing everything from design, through construction to maintenance of the facility. Successful application of this process requires appropriate hardware and software support, as well as trained personnel for marketing. In scientific terms, a new method of integrating marketing activities in the business process of project activities is proposed. In application terms, a business process organization model integrated with marketing is presented, which enables the project company to connect with the market more dynamically and efficiently