Group inquiry to aid organisational learning in enterprises

This paper describes a method for surfacing and exploring ‘situated knowledge’ in medium-sized organisations, with employee groups utilising a ‘low impact’ form of group support system (GSS), based on wireless handsets. Some results of piloting this method are summarised and one intervention is presented in detail. The method encouraged organisational members to give voice to the emotions and politics of leadership and learning in organisations, and helped to articulate how situated knowledge was ignored, as well as utilised. The method is practical, and may be used by organisations for themselves to aid the development of group as well as individual reflection, to stimulate the consideration of change

Pengaruh Partisipasi dalam Penganggaran dan Peran Manajerial Pengelola Keuangan Daerah terhadap Kinerja Pemerintah Daerah (Studi Empiris pada SKPD Kabupaten Rokan Hulu)

This study aimed to examine the effect of participation in budgeting and financial management managerial roles with the object of the entire study area SKPDs Rokan Hulu district, consist of 25 SKPD. The research sample are 100 respondents consisting of 13 heads of department, 30 head of sector, 27 head subsections, and 1 hospital director in Rokan Hulu district. Data collected by distributing questionnaires. From 100 questionnaires sent, there were 74 respondents who returns the queationnaires and only 70 questionnaires that can be processed and analyzed. sampling techniques using simple random sampling. The method of data collection is by distributing questionnaires. Analysis using multiple regression. The results of this study we concluded that participation in budgeting and financial management managerial role area significantly positive effect on the performance of local government. In this study the magnitude of the effect that the R2 of 0.230 or 23% indicated that participation in budgeting and financial management managerial roles affect the performance of the local government area by 23%. The results of this study support previous studies.Keywords: Participation in Budgeting, Managerial Role of Financial Management The Local Government Performance

Evaluasi Kinerja Keuangan dan Tingkat Kesejahteraan Masyarakat pada Pemerintahan Kabupaten Bengkalis

This study aims to determine 1) the significance ofdifferences in the average financial performance of the DistrictGovernment of Bengkalis first period and second period, and 2) thesignificance of differences in the average well-being of communities inthe District Bengkalis in first period and second period. The researchwas conducted in the District Bengkalis, using secondary data, theanalytical techniques used are independent samplet-test of variablefinancial performance include : a) self-sufficiency ratio, b)effectiveness of local own-source revenue ratio, c) efficiencyexpenditure ratio, d) the ratio of expenditure harmony of and welfareof the community include an indicator variable a) HumanDevelopment Index (HDI), b) longevity, c) mean of years schooling,d) number of literacy, and e) decent live. The result of the financialperformance of the variable regions showed that : 1) self-sufficiencyratio was significant between period I and period II. 2) effectivenessof local own-source revenue ratio, efficiency expenditure ratio, theratio harmony of state apparatus expenditure and indirectexpenditure, the ratio harmony of public services expenditure anddirect expenditure was not significant between period I and period II.While the result of research on welfare variable showed that HumanDevelopment Index, longevity, mean years schooling, the number ofliteracy, and decent live was significant between period I and periodII

Resistance training leads to large improvements in strength and moderate improvements in physical function in adults who are overweight or obese: a systematic review

QuestionsWhat are the effects of resistance training on muscle strength, physical function and muscle power in adults who are overweight or obese? Which factors moderate the effects?DesignSystematic review of randomised controlled trials, with random effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions.ParticipantsAdults who are overweight or obese.InterventionResistance training lasting ≥ 4 weeks.Outcome measuresMuscle strength, muscle power and physical function.ResultsThirty trials with 1,416 participants met the eligibility criteria. Pooled analyses indicated that resistance training has a large beneficial effect on muscle strength (SMD 1.39, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.73, I2 = 85%) and a moderate effect on physical function (SMD 0.67, 95% CI 0.25 to 1.08, I2 = 71%) in adults who are overweight or obese. However, the effect of resistance training on muscle power was unclear (SMD 0.42, 95% CI −3.3 to 4.2, I2 = 46%). The effect of resistance training on strength was greatest for the upper body (versus lower/whole body: β = 0.35, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.66) and in dynamic strength tests (versus isometric/isokinetic: β = 1.20, 95% CI 0.60 to 1.81), although trials judged to have good methodological quality reported statistically smaller effects (versus poor/fair quality: β = −1.21, 95% CI −2.35 to −0.07). Concomitant calorie restriction did not modify strength gains but reduced the effect of resistance training on physical function (β = −0.79, 95% CI −1.41 to −0.17). Small study effects were evident for strength outcomes (β = 5.9, p < 0.001).ConclusionsResistance training has a large positive effect on muscle strength and a moderate effect on physical function in adults who are overweight or obese. However, the effect of resistance training on muscle power is uncertain. In addition, concomitant calorie restriction may compromise the functional adaptations to resistance training

Comparative whisper vowel space for Singapore English and British English accents

Whispered speech, as a relatively common form of communications, has received little research effort in spite of its usefulness in everyday vocal communications. Apart from a few notable studies analysing the main whispered vowels and some quite general estimations of whispered speech characteristics, a classic vowel space determination has been lacking for whispers. Aligning with the previous published work which aimed to redress this shortfall by presenting a vowel formant space for whispers, this paper studies Singapore English (SgE) from this respect. Furthermore, by comparing the shift amounts between normal and whispered vowel formants in two different English accents, British West Midlands (WM) and SgE, the study also considers the question of generalisation of shift amount and direction for two dissimilar accent groupings. It is further suggested that the shift amounts for each vowel are almost consistent for F2 while these vary for F1, showing the role of accent in proposing a general correlation between normal and whispered vowels on first formant. This paper presents the results of the formant analysis, in terms of acoustic vowel space mappings, showing differences between normal and whispered speech for SgE, and compares this to results obtained from the analysis of more standard English