Un approccio gestionale per lo sviluppo della competitività della PMI: i network italiani di benchmarking

Nella realtà economica odierna nessuna organizzazione può contare di crescere e stare davanti ai concorrenti basandosi solo sulla propria efficienza e sulle idee autogenerate dal proprio management, tanto meno le PMI, i processi di globalizzazione in atto, abbattono i confini dei mercati, le aree di attività protette che non espongono alla concorrenza sono sempre meno, ed aumentano i competitors capaci di operare con l’agilità dei piccoli ma di godere delle risorse finanziarie e delle competenze manageriali dei grandi. Il benchmarking si propone come lo strumento in grado di migliorare il sistema azienda per renderlo idoneo alle nuove sfide della concorrenza. Il lavoro propone l’analisi del benchmarking sia nei suoi aspetti teorici che sotto il profilo più strettamente operativo, evidenziando un approccio gestionale idoneo a migliorare la competitività delle PMI mediante l'approfondimento di alcuni degli aspetti critici legati al suo utilizzo in tali ambiti, come le tecniche di mappatura dei processi gestionali, l’utilizzo di indicatori di natura fisico – tecnici e di parametri – obiettivo diversi dai tradizionali indici economico finanziari per la misurazione ed il controllo dei processi, lo studio delle implementazioni di prassi eccellenti necessarie per conseguire l’obiettivo di migliorare per confronto la performance aziendale. Le premesse di analisi sono confermate dalle esperienze maturate da aziende che interessate al benchmarking si sono rivolte a degli indispensabili network italiani di benchmarking, si fa riferimento nel presente lavoro all’operato di The Benchmarking Club emanazione di Business International S.r.l. e Benchmarking for Success emanazione di Ecipar S.c.r.l., per la realizzazione di studi di benchmarking idonei ad indicare ed evidenziare il percorso intrapreso dalle aziende confrontate verso l’eccellenza imprenditoriale

Chinese Voices in a Canadian Secondary School Landscape

In this article, I describe the adjustment experiences of 23 Chinese-speaking, foreign-born high-school students in Vancouver, where they are members of the largest school cultural group. During interviews, participants suggested their large numbers enabled them to reproduce their home community in Canada. Students chose behaviours that hindered their adjustment and adaptation. They did not form Canadian friendships, learn English easily, make cross-cultural adaptations, or excel in school. Students’ responses raise questions about the direction of Canadian education, the evolution of Canada’s pluralistic society, and the obligation of the education system to familiarize students with Canadian democratic life. L’étude porte sur les problèmes d’adaptation de 23 élèves sinophones, nés à l’étranger et fréquentant une école secondaire de Vancouver. Invoquant le fait qu’ils constituent le groupe culturel le plus important, ils se disent en droit de reproduire au Canada leur communauté d’origine et refusent de s’intégrer, soit socialement, soit en apprenant l’anglais. Leurs réponses suscitent des questions au sujet de l’orientation de l’enseignement, de l’évolution du pluralisme et de l’obligation du système d’éducation de familiariser les élèves avec la vie démocratique canadienne

Emotion Regulation and Coping as Mediators of the Association between Perfectionism and Self-Esteem in Athletes Compared to Non-athletes and Honors Students

Increased levels of perfectionism have been shown to be associated with increased levels of burnout, feelings of depression, heightened levels of anxiety, decreased self-esteem, and hindered overall performance. The current study aimed to investigate whether coping mechanisms and emotion regulation mediate the association between perfectionism and self-esteem in athletes compared to non-athletes and honors students. Four hundred ninety-three primarily white (n = 60.0 %), female (n = 83.0 %), psychology major, participants aged 18-49, completed a series of questionnaires including: the Self-Esteem Implicit Association Test (Greenwald et al., 2002), the Self-liking and Self-Competence Scale (Tafarodi & Swann Jr, 1995), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski & Kraaij, 2006), the Coping Function Questionnaire (Kowalski & Crocker, 2001), and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt et al., 1991). If participants engaged in competitive athletics, they answered questions from the Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Dunn et al., 2006). An ANOVA examined mean differences in all scales between groups, which indicated significant differences in self-oriented perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, and adaptive coping mechanisms. Athletes scored significantly lower than honors students in self-oriented perfectionism (p = .019, d = .30). Additionally, non-athletes scored significantly lower than honors students in self-oriented perfectionism (p = .030, d = .31). Athletes scored significantly lower than honors students in socially prescribed perfectionism (p = .014, d = .29). Further, athletes scored significantly higher than both non-athletes (p = .040, d =.24), and honors students (p = .015, d = .32) in adaptive coping. There were no other significant group differences. Model 4 mediation in PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to examine the relationship between perfectionism and self-esteem. Greater self-oriented perfectionism predicted lower self-liking and self-competence through maladaptive emotion regulation techniques, -.145, 95% CI [-.031, -.012], -.008, 95% CI [-.011, -.004]. Greater socially prescribed perfectionism also predicted lower self-liking and self-competence through maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation techniques, -.021, 95% CI [-.029, -.013], -.-.008, 95% CI [-.011, -.005], -.004, 95% CI [-.007, -.001], -.001, 95% CI [-.003, -.000]. No other pathways from socially prescribed or self-oriented perfectionism to implicit self-esteem were significant. Given that many individuals have participated in high-stress activities like athletics or academics, the lasting impacts of prolonged pressure can lead to negative self-views and should be further researched

Chinese Voices in a Canadian Secondary School Landscape

In this article, I describe the adjustment experiences of 23 Chinese-speaking, foreign-born high-school students in Vancouver, where they are members of the largest school cultural group. During interviews, participants suggested their large numbers enabled them to reproduce their home community in Canada. Students chose behaviours that hindered their adjustment and adaptation. They did not form Canadian friendships, learn English easily, make cross-cultural adaptations, or excel in school. Students’ responses raise questions about the direction of Canadian education, the evolution of Canada’s pluralistic society, and the obligation of the education system to familiarize students with Canadian democratic life. L’étude porte sur les problèmes d’adaptation de 23 élèves sinophones, nés à l’étranger et fréquentant une école secondaire de Vancouver. Invoquant le fait qu’ils constituent le groupe culturel le plus important, ils se disent en droit de reproduire au Canada leur communauté d’origine et refusent de s’intégrer, soit socialement, soit en apprenant l’anglais. Leurs réponses suscitent des questions au sujet de l’orientation de l’enseignement, de l’évolution du pluralisme et de l’obligation du système d’éducation de familiariser les élèves avec la vie démocratique canadienne

Uncovering freedom: a story of empowerment

This article tells the story of a woman suffering from food anxiety and unintentional weight loss and how shifting to an empowerment-based model of care led her onto a path of health and healing

Employee stock ownership: options, purchase and thrift plans for executives and workers

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universit

Finding My Voice in Residency: Reflections on Integrative Family Medicine

The author discusses how self awareness and healing play a key role within the evolving field of integrative family medicine