Digital Communication Tools Used by Those 65 and Older: The Benefits and Barriers of Use

Utilizing the technology acceptance model theory (TAM), this study focuses on current digital communication tools used by those who are 65 and older, and the benefits and barriers of use. Using a mixed methods approach, individual interviews were conducted with those in this age demographic. The interviews captured older individuals’ preferences of digital communication tools, their primary uses of these tools, and any barriers that hinder their use and acceptance. A survey of caregivers was conducted to gain their perspective on the benefits and barriers they see older people face when using digital technology media. The survey was sent to caregivers in their places of work, community groups, and educational learning centers who provide services to older adults. The survey provided information from the caregivers, which is lacking in the current research available. The results based on 30 interviews (N = 30) showed that the people in this age group use a variety of communication devices and rely on them. Their concerns and barriers were primarily with security and the continued training that was needed. They reported a lack of understanding about the inner workings of their equipment, and the need for a place or persons to aid in their training. There was also some discussion of physical limitations that they incur when using their devices, and trusting the internet with their personal information. There was also a correlation of level of education and use of these tools

Church on Sunday, Work on Monday: The Challenge of Fusing Christian Values with Business Life (Book Review)

Reviewed Title: Church on Sunday, Work on Monday: The Challenge of Fusing Christian Values with Business Life, by Laura Nash and Scotty McLennan (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001). xxxi, 316 pp. Hardback $23.95. ISBN 0-7879-5698-8

Organizational spiritual normativity as an influence on organizational culture and performance in Fortune 500 firms

The topic of spirituality in the workplace has exploded onto the contemporary business scene over the last 12 years. It is perhaps at once the most compelling and least understood force driving organizational theory and practice today. Previous studies have done little to codify what exactly spirituality in the workplace is, particularly as applied to aggregate organizational contexts. This is ostensibly due to the impossibility of defining a universally embraceable construct of organizational spirituality. Similarly, previous studies have made no attempt to investigate empirically the relationship between organizational spirituality and organizational performance. Theses two gaps in the current theory served as the catalyst for this study, and led to its two driving questions. First, can a universally applicable construct for codifying and measuring organizational spirituality be developed? And secondly, what relationship exists between this measure of organizational spirituality and organizational performance?;The study was conducted with the Fortune 500 as the organizational population. Just over 14% of the firms participated in the study. Data were gathered via a researcher-developed direct-mail survey of the top five senior executives in each of the Fortune 500 firms, and then analyzed to compute an Organizational Spirituality Score (OSS) for each respondent organization. This measure represents each firm\u27s observed Organizational Spiritual Normativity, or the degree to which each firm\u27s overall business activities, individual employee behaviors and beliefs, and commonly employed interventions, practices, and policies reflect congruence with widely-held spiritual norms or standards. The relationship that exists between the Organizational Spirituality Score and long-term revenue growth and profitability was then investigated.;Results support the conclusion that congruence with the construct of Organizational Spiritual Normativity leads to stronger organizational performance. In short, those organizations that are more spiritually normative in their activities are also more profitable. Specifically, the study results showed that those organizations that demonstrate moderate to strong Organizational Spiritual Normativity achieved significantly higher long-term rates of net income growth and return on assets. The study findings did not support the conclusion of a similarly significant relationship existing between Organizational Spiritual Normativity and long-term revenue growth. Further investigation of the relationship between organizational spirituality and organizational performance is warranted, and specific recommendations are offered to this end for both practitioners and researchers

A critical analysis of the influence of media reporting on xenophobic behaviours among students in selected South African universities

A number of theoretical and empirically proven studies have shown that the media exert varying degree of influence on audience members. The South African media framing and coverage of foreign nationals is a good example of this. Media critics and scholars hold that the way and manner foreign nationals are represented in South African media landscape contributes to the endemic xenophobic outbreaks in the country. (Endong, 2018; George & Aidoo, 2017). This study aims to critically analyse the influence of media reporting on xenophobic behaviours among students in selected South African universities. Part of its aim is to assert if there exist xenophobic behaviours among students learning in South African universities, which are influenced by the manner in which media reports have stigmatised foreign nationals. Therefore, this study looked at three South African universities, namely the University of Fort Hare, Alice campus, the University of KwaZulu Natal, Howard college campus and the University of Johannesburg, Soweto campus. Data for the study were collected using the qualitative methods, particularly the focus groups discussions and in-depth interviews. The findings of this study have revealed that xenophobic behaviours were evident among students, in lecture-rooms, as well as student residences. The participants also confirmed that the media’s focus and reliance on negative stereotypes and generalized information when representing foreign nationals were the main contributing factors to xenophobic behaviours, including its previous adopting of the words like Amakwerekwere, Aliens and Amagrigamba. In an attempt to discourage xenophobic behaviours, this study has therefore recommended peace journalism and Ubuntu journalism as alternative models for reporting xenophobic violence and conflict

Pengaruh volume pembiayaan bagi hasil dan pembiayaan murabahah terhadap kinerja keuangan Bank Umum Syariah periode 2015-2020

This study aims to determine the effect of profit-sharing volume and murabahah financing on the performance of Islamic commercial banks for the 2015-2020 period. This research uses ECM (Error Correction Model) analysis with Eviews 8 software. The sample used in this study is 13 Islamic commercial banks that have been registered with the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK). The sampling technique used the purposive sampling method because researchers needed certain criteria, namely Islamic commercial banks that have published financial ratios. The data used in this study are secondary data with documentary data collection techniques and literature studies. The results of this study indicate that the R square value is 0.0362370 indicating that 36% of changes in the ROA variable can be explained by independent variables and 64% are explained by other factors outside the model.

An evaluation of intercultural communication challenges and their impacts on academic performance of the University of Fort Hare students

This study aims to evaluate intercultural communication challenges and their impact on the academic performance of University of Fort Hare students. Intercultural communication has been an issue ever since nations started to link together, particularly in trading and job market. However, people have been looking at ways of fitting in and being able to meet halfway with regards to accommodating one another’s culture during the process of intercultural communication. Many scholars have given explicit definitions on intercultural communication, but some are not deep enough to make it clearer and more understandable. Scholars like Pinto (2000) define intercultural communication as communication between individuals or groups from distinctive cultures.Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 201

An evaluation of intercultural communication challenges and their impacts on academic performance of the University of Fort Hare students

This study aims to evaluate intercultural communication challenges and their impact on the academic performance of University of Fort Hare students. Intercultural communication has been an issue ever since nations started to link together, particularly in trading and job market. However, people have been looking at ways of fitting in and being able to meet halfway with regards to accommodating one another’s culture during the process of intercultural communication. Many scholars have given explicit definitions on intercultural communication, but some are not deep enough to make it clearer and more understandable. Scholars like Pinto (2000) define intercultural communication as communication between individuals or groups from distinctive cultures.Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 201

Management learning at the speed of life:Designing reflective, creative, and collaborative spaces for millenials

This paper introduces the concept of "management learning at the speed of life" as a metaphor to inspire millenials. Millenials may face three major problems in relation to management learning: lack of concentration, lack of engagement, and lack of socialization. Management learning at the speed of life addresses these potential problems through three dimensions: reflective, creative, and collaborative learning. This paper illustrates the benefits of reflective, creative, and collaborative spaces for millenials using practices from leadership and personal development courses that were offered over seven years in Canada, Turkey, and the UK. These courses incorporated the latest technology that brought the course activities up to the speed of life

Combining a leadership course and multi-source feedback has no effect on leadership skills of leaders in postgraduate medical education. An intervention study with a control group

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leadership courses and multi-source feedback are widely used developmental tools for leaders in health care. On this background we aimed to study the additional effect of a leadership course following a multi-source feedback procedure compared to multi-source feedback alone especially regarding development of leadership skills over time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study participants were consultants responsible for postgraduate medical education at clinical departments. Study design: pre-post measures with an intervention and control group. The intervention was participation in a seven-day leadership course. Scores of multi-source feedback from the consultants responsible for education and respondents (heads of department, consultants and doctors in specialist training) were collected before and one year after the intervention and analysed using Mann-Whitney's U-test and Multivariate analysis of variances.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no differences in multi-source feedback scores at one year follow up compared to baseline measurements, either in the intervention or in the control group (p = 0.149).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study indicates that a leadership course following a MSF procedure compared to MSF alone does not improve leadership skills of consultants responsible for education in clinical departments. Developing leadership skills takes time and the time frame of one year might have been too short to show improvement in leadership skills of consultants responsible for education. Further studies are needed to investigate if other combination of initiatives to develop leadership might have more impact in the clinical setting.</p