The Scored Plant Tour: Improve Performance and Lower Turnover

Many job applicants, especially those applying for factory level jobs, take a tour of the facility. I characterize this commonly used recruiting device as an opportunity to gain useful selection information on the applicants. This paper reports content and criterion-related validity of a Scored Plant Tour used in a Southeastern manufacturing facility. The content validity part of the study shows how the Subject Matter Experts produced tasks and competencies for the job and linked them. The competencies measured by assessors on the tour were: safety awareness, interest in plant processes, comfort in a factory environment, and listening and understanding. After the content validity study was complete, scores on the plant tour were correlated with supervisors‟ ratings after one year on the job. The plant tour scale correlated significantly with four different supervisor‟s ratings. Suggestions for different ways to adapt the tour to other types of organizations are discussed

Characteristics of the Private Nuisance Wildlife Control Industry in New York

The nuisance wildlife control industry is rapidly expanding in New York State. To gain additional insight about this industry and the number of animals handled, we reviewed the 1989-90 annual logs submitted by Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators (NWCOs) to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservatlon (DEC). The specific objectives of this study were to determine: (1) the number and species of different wildlife responsible for damage incidents, (2) the cause of damage complaints, (3) the disposition of animals handled, (4) the location of damage events (i.e., urban, suburban, rural), and (5) an estimate of the economic impact of the nuisance wildlife industry in Upstate New York. The Nuisance Wildlife Logs (NWLs) were examined for 7 urban and 7 rural counties (25.5% of Upstate counties), and these data were used to estimate total NWCO activity in DEC Regions 3 through 9 (excludes Long Island). Approximately 75% of NWCOs licensed by DEC were active during 1989-90, and nearly 2,800 complaints were handled in the 14 counties sampled. More than 90% of complaints came from urban counties, and we estimated that NWCOs responded to more than 11,000 calls in Upstate New York. At a conservative estimate of $35/call, revenue generated by this industry exceeded$385,000 annually . Six wildlife species accounted for 85% of the nuisance complaints in urban and rural counties. During 1986 to 1993, the number of NWCOs licensed by DEC nearly quadrupled, and there is no indication that this trend will change in the near future

What Pedagogical Methods Impact Students' Entrepreneurial Propensity?

There is a dearth of research that investigates the effectiveness of different pedagogical methods for teaching entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on three learning design choices: experiential learning, use of teamwork, and focus on quantitative methods. The paper examines pedagogical variables that could contribute to raising student scores on constructs of change, risk taking, goal setting, feedback, and achievement as measured by our customized entrepreneurial propensity survey. Results offer moderate evidence to confirm effects of experiential learning designs for goal-setting and weak evidence for feedback. Additional findings suggest the need for rethinking the role of teamwork in entrepreneurship courses

A model of cross campus entrepreneurship and assessment

Entrepreneurship education has revolutionized all aspects of business. Entrepreneurship education has progressed from programs housed only in business schools to cross-disciplinary programs in departments across college and university campuses in the past 10 years. This blended approach that encompasses various disciplines with entrepreneurship through combined learning objectives focuses on application. However, the measurement of entrepreneurial propensity in students across the curriculum, let alone in traditional Entrepreneurship programs, is sorely needed. Learning assessment is lacking. We propose and test a measure of entrepreneurial propensity across the curriculum in a successful cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship program at a public state university. Six of the nine entrepreneurship constructs showed statistically significant gains from pre- to post-test scores. Implications for further research and application are discussed

Entrepreneurship education: Process, method, or both?

Transformative changes are happening in Higher Education Institutions worldwide in entrepreneurship education. These changes are conceptual as well as technological due to the upheaval in the global, social, political, and technological environment. We argue that the process theory of Alfred North Whitehead best explains why entrepreneurship education does not always have the same results on our students in the classroom and after they graduate. In the education of entrepreneurs, we hold that it is change that is the cornerstone of reality-our entrepreneurship students are in the process of becoming something they previously were not. Implications and comparisons of the process theory applied to entrepreneurship education are discussed

What pedagogical methods impact students’ entrepreneurial propensity?

There is a dearth of research that investigates the effectiveness of different pedagogical methods for teaching entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on three learning design choices: experiential learning, use of teamwork, and focus on quantitative methods. The paper examines pedagogical variables that could contribute to raising student scores on constructs of change, risk taking, goal setting, feedback, and achievement as measured by our customized entrepreneurial propensity survey. Results offer moderate evidence to confirm effects of experiential learning designs for goal-setting and weak evidence for feedback. Additional findings suggest the need for rethinking the role of teamwork in entrepreneurship courses

Reciprocal associations between depression, anxiety and work-related injury

OBJECTIVE: To examine the reciprocal longitudinal associations between depression or anxiety with work-related injury (WRI) at a large employer in the southwestern United States. METHOD: Three administrative datasets (2011–2013) were merged: employee eligibility, medical and prescription claims, and workers’ compensation claims. The sample contained 69 066 active employees. Depression and anxiety were defined as episodes of medical visits care (ie, claims) with corresponding ICD-9-CM codes. For an individual’s consecutive claims, a new case of depression or anxiety was defined if more than 8 weeks have passed since the prior episode. The presence of a workers’ compensation injury claim was used to identify WRI. Three-wave (health plan years 2011 or T1, 2012 or T2, and 2013 or T3) autoregressive cross-lagged models were used to estimate whether depression or anxiety predicted WRI, also if WRI predicted depression or anxiety in the following year(s). RESULTS: Depression predicted injury from T1 to T2 (β=0.127, p<0.001) and from T2 to T3 (β=0.092, p=0.001). Injury predicted depression from T1 to T3 (β=0.418, p<0.001). Effects of anxiety on WRI were small and inconsistent, from T1 to T2 (β=0.013, p=0.622) and from T2 to T3 (β=−0.043, p=0.031). T1 injury had a protective effect on T3 anxiety (β=−0.273, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of reciprocal effects for depression with WRI after adjustment for prior injuries and depression. The evidence for the relationship between anxiety and WRI is less clear. WRI prevention and management programmes should incorporate depression prevention and management

Reality check: changes in business students' psychological resources as they move towards graduation

This study examines the trajectory of student psychological resources over the course of business education. Business education should equip students with positive psychological resources so that they can succeed. Most business school programs focus on the development of skills in communication, critical thinking, and quantitative, technological, and functional knowledge, while omitting training that affects students' psychological resources to succeed in business. This study employs the psychological capital (PsyCap) instrument to measure psychological resources. Comparisons of freshmen and seniors showed that freshman scored higher on four of the five PsyCap dimensions. Business students followed for two years showed significant drops in need for achievement and need for feedback. To counter reduced psychological resources, business schools should explore the implementation of training interventions. Future research should replicate longitudinal measures of business student psychological resources that have profound implications for business education

Making sense of the market: An exploration of apparel consumption practices of the Russian consumer

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine and interpret post-socialist consumer experiences in relation to clothing consumption practices when consumers shop, acquire, and wear clothing and other fashion-related products. Design/methodology/approach: The in-depth interview was the primary data collection tool. Data collection was conducted during summer 2004 in St Petersburg, Russia. College students formed the sample for the study. In total, 17 students (four males and 13 females) were interviewed. The hermeneutic approach was used to interpret the meanings of the participant lived experiences. Findings: In comparison to consumers in an established market-based economy, consumers in this post-socialist market have unique perceptions of clothing attributes (quality, brand name, country of origin, retail channel) critical for buying decisions. Overall, appearance and clothing play a special role in the emerging Russian market as they help construct and communicate new identities more than any other product category. Research implications/implications: Identified challenges of the Russian apparel market indicate opportunities for domestic and foreign apparel businesses. The meanings Russian consumers attach to clothing attributes can be used to develop product positioning and promotional strategies. Discussed implications of the research findings can be extended to other post-socialist emerging markets. Originality/value: This study explored how Russian consumers have adjusted to the new economic reality after almost fifteen years of transition from a socialist to a capitalist society from the perspective of the consumer. Whereas previous research findings were confirmed, the present study provides rationale for perceived importance of quality and unimportance of brand name in the Russian apparel market

Straight from the horse’s mouth: Justifications and prevention strategies provided by free riders on global virtual teams

The study investigates the reasons for and ways to deal with free riding on Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) based on interviews with 77 documented “free-riders” themselves. Our unique sample, in contrast with more commonly-studied accounts from active team members or project managers, provides direct insights into the thinking of free-riders. Taken together, our interview data suggest that free riders (1) emerge in the early stages of team development, (2) due to several distinct reasons, of which lack of time, team coordination, and communication methods/channels are most common, (3) when confronted with unimpeachable evidence of their guilt, tend to attribute their failure to contribute to external forces, (4) often fall victim to subtle cultural differences and forces, and (5) could have been saved by prevention strategies that would target the different reasons for free-riding. From these conclusions, we synthesize and discuss implications for management education and training across national borders