The HR Function in 2021: Models & Competencies

[Excerpt] The findings of this research project are based on interviews with 57 Human Resources (HR) leaders across 44 national and international companies within 10 industries ranging from manufacturing to financial services. Interviews lasted approximately 45 minutes and strove to answer the following question: “what are the key future competencies for the HR Business Partner (HRBP) role? How should these competencies be developed?” The interviews included questions addressing the topics of future of work trends, HR operating models, the HRBP role, and HRBP career development

What Evidence is There that Mentoring Works to Retain and Promote Employees, Especially Diverse Employees, Within a Single Company?

Mentoring programs are increasingly prevalent in corporate America. Research has shown that 70% of Fortune 500 companies have some form of mentoring program. While mentoring programs can have a variety of objectives – such as promoting and improving diversity, helping new hires adjust to new roles, or developing high potential employees – it is not always clear that mentoring programs achieve their objectives, particularly those related to promotion and retention. In reviewing relevant research and company initiatives, we can see that mentorship programs – when properly implemented – do offer benefits for diverse populations. Key success factors for diversity-focused mentoring programs include (1) the seniority of the mentor, (2) whether the mentor and protégé match in certain key personality attributes and (3) whether a mentee’s direct supervisor is involved in the program

mLearning, development and delivery : creating opportunity and enterprise within the HE in FE context

This research project was funded by ESCalate in 2006-7 to support Somerset College in developing the curriculum, as well as widening participation via the use of mobile communications technologies such as mp3 players and mobile phones. The Project represents a highly topical and timely engagement with the opportunities for learning provided by the burgeoning use of mobile computing/ communications devices. Activities bring together colleagues from Teacher Education and Multimedia Computing in an innovative approach to designing for and delivering the curriculum. The Project addresses pedagogic issues and also vitally involves current and future learners, providing them with a new context for skills development and entrepreneurship. Anticipated outcomes include informed development of new HE modules and professional CPD activities which address the skills and context of this emerging approach to delivering the curriculum. The Project also intends to trial and evaluate the use of mobile technologies to support a blended learning approach to programme delivery and the development of a FD module which could be delivered via a mobile computing device. An interim report and a final project report are available as Word and PDF file

Corruption and Productivity

Corruption is suggested to have a negative impact on productivity and thus growth. Several studies have studied the relationship closely, including Hall and Jones (1999) and Lambsdorff (2003). This paper seeks to build on their foundation and specify a new and robust model by looking at the effect of corruption controls on total factor productivity through a two-stage least squares regression. Since it is through public institutions that corruption manifests, also examined are differences between `inclusive\u27 and `extractive\u27 institutions. Also important is the degree to which a state is centralized. Extraction by way of corrupt institutions differs in highly centralized states and highly disordered states. It is through this framework that the relationship between productivity and corruption is analyzed

Efficient Multi-Robot Coverage of a Known Environment

This paper addresses the complete area coverage problem of a known environment by multiple-robots. Complete area coverage is the problem of moving an end-effector over all available space while avoiding existing obstacles. In such tasks, using multiple robots can increase the efficiency of the area coverage in terms of minimizing the operational time and increase the robustness in the face of robot attrition. Unfortunately, the problem of finding an optimal solution for such an area coverage problem with multiple robots is known to be NP-complete. In this paper we present two approximation heuristics for solving the multi-robot coverage problem. The first solution presented is a direct extension of an efficient single robot area coverage algorithm, based on an exact cellular decomposition. The second algorithm is a greedy approach that divides the area into equal regions and applies an efficient single-robot coverage algorithm to each region. We present experimental results for two algorithms. Results indicate that our approaches provide good coverage distribution between robots and minimize the workload per robot, meanwhile ensuring complete coverage of the area.Comment: In proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 201

Siltation Related to Beaver Dam Decomposition in the Little Kankakee River

The Little Kankakee River (LKR) in LaPorte County, Indiana is an uncommon example of a good, cold-water fishery in northwest Indiana. However, the river has variable sedimentation levels; deep silt often covers gravel and sand, smothering invertebrates, a key food source for higher trophic organisms. The LKR contains a naturally-decomposing, abandoned beaver dam. The purpose of this study is to monitor its impact upon upstream and downstream silt levels. This research intends to identify possible sources of variability in silt levels, benefiting restoration teams in determining effects of dam removals. Furthermore, understanding the impact and pattern of silt levels could aid the monitoring of river health. Water depth, silt depth, flow rate, and a description of the river bed are measured and recorded. Flow rate fluctuations will be charted against monthly precipitation, noting changes in flow. It is predicted that the beaver dam causes fluctuating siltation by collecting silt upstream and then releasing variable amounts during dam decomposition. Preliminary results indicate the narrow sections of the river have faster water flow and less silt. The beaver dam impedes flow, widens the river, and reduces velocity, allowing fine sediment to accumulate. It is predicted that if the beaver dam decomposes rapidly, then trapped silt above the dam will percolate rapidly through the system stopping at wide sections of the river. If the beaver dam deteriorates slowly, then silt accumulations may not be measureable and leave silt in the system much longer

An Education About Education Data: Embedded Librarians, Education Students, and a Data Odyssey

Agenda • Instructor’s goals for the course & How did this collaboration get started? • First session -introduction to advanced Google searching, Google Scholar, ERIC • Subsequent research days focused on: locating local data state and district level data for Iowa locating national and state-by-state level data locating relevant research articles allowing for failure (what if our topic doesn’t work?) lots of consulting with librarian and primary professor throughout • Consulting with other experts (on campus and off) • Takeaway