With the launch of the government’s ‘Anywhere Working’ initiative: from the perspective of remote or flexible workers/employees with perceived high self-efficacy – what might be the preferred performance target and appraisal process, as part of the performance management system?

MSc Human Resources Management: DissertationLabour markets are changing, demographics are changing; the world is becoming more global with traditional offices being superseded by 'landscapes of mobility' (Hardill & Green 2003) and workers too are changing and demanding change with subsequent rise in remote and flexible working. This study recognises that remote workers may have and demand different performance management and appraisal systems based on their levels of perceived self-efficacy; based on Bandura's (1978) social cognition theory (Bandura 1978) of self-efficacy concerns the judgement an individual makes about their ability to execute a particular behaviour and 'belief in one's capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations' (Bandura 1995). This study utilises a mixed-method of quantitative questionnaire and interpretivist qualitativism to reach a snowball sample of remote workers with perceived high self-efficacy and examines their responses to questions concerning their preferred performance management and appraisal systems and procedures; the results found in this sample including levels of autonomy, styles of communication and systems of feedback might be present in across many remote workers with perceived high self-efficacy which has implications for organisational cultures and objective setting at organisational through to individual level. Recommendation and limitations are expressed along with further ideas for future studies

Kindergarten Teachers\u27 Philosophies and Computer Use

Change and transition are words often heard and associated with the decade of the 1980\u27s. John Naisbitt (1970) forecasted ten major changes in his book, Megatrends. The first chapter of that book predicted the movement in America from an industrial to an informational society. Innovations in communications and computer technology have accelerated this movement. A key point in that chapter described how the educational system was turning out an inferior product for an informational society in terms of basic reading and writing skills. Response to criticism of this kind has been to change school curriculum

Determinants of coital frequency among married women in Central African Republic: the role of female genital cutting.

This paper examines determinants of one aspect of sexual behaviour--coital frequency--among 2,188 married women in the Central African Republic using a secondary analysis of data from the Demographic and Health Survey of 1994-95. Female genital cutting (or circumcision) is practised in the Central African Republic and self-reported circumcision status was included in the questionnaire enabling it to be examined as a possible determinant of coital frequency. Multiple logistic regression was used to find a subset of factors independently associated with coital frequency. Decreased coital frequency was found in those who had longer duration of marriage, those who were not the most recent wife in a polygamous marriage and those who had more surviving children. Coital frequency was higher in more educated women and those not contracepting because they wanted to get pregnant. After adjusting for confounders no association between female genital cutting and coital frequency was found. The extent to which women can control coital frequency in this culture is not known and fertility desires may override any negative effects of circumcision on sexual pleasure. It was therefore not possible to draw conclusions about how female genital cutting affects a woman's desire for sexual intercourse and consequently there is a need to develop research methods further to investigate this question

A Quantitative Study of the Association Between Self-Efficacy and Public Speaking Anxiety in Students

A Research Methods Project supervised by Dr. Laura Wilson (Spring 2021)

A human factors approach to analysing military command and control

This paper applies the Event Analysis for Systemic Teamwork (EAST) method to an example of military command and control. EAST offers a way to describe system level 'emergent properties' that arise from the complex interactions of system components (human and technical). These are described using an integrated methods approach and modelled using Task, Social and Knowledge networks. The current article is divided into three parts: a brief description of the military command and control context, a brief description of the EAST method, and a more in depth presentation of the analysis outcomes. Numerous findings emerge from the application of the method. These findings are compared with similar analyses undertaken in civilian domains, where Network Enabled Capability (NEC) is already in place. The emergent properties of the military scenario relate to the degree of system reconfigurability, systems level Situational Awareness (SA), team-working and the role of mediating technology. It is argued that the EAST method can be used to offer several interesting perspectives on designing and specifying NEC capability in military context

LEGAL INSTRUMENTS TO CONSIDER IN STRUCTURING PARENTING PLANS

The objective of this article is to provide the legal context of parenting plans in South Africa. The Children‟s Act 38 of 2005 (hereafter Children‟s Act) makes explicit provision for parenting plans. It is therefore important to analyse the relevant provisions in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) (hereafter Constitution) and the Children‟s Act, read together with international and regional children‟s rights instruments pertaining to parental rights and responsibilities to establish their nature and content of these plans as well as their necessity. Section 33(3) of the Children‟s Act states that a parenting plan may determine any matter in connection with parental responsibilities and rights, including (a) where and with whom the child is to live; (b) the maintenance of the child; (c) contact between the child and (i) any of the parties, and (ii) any other person; and (d) the schooling and religious upbringing of the child

Note on the hydrodynamic description of thin nematic films: strong anchoring model

We discuss the long-wave hydrodynamic model for a thin film of nematic liquid crystal in the limit of strong anchoring at the free surface and at the substrate. We rigorously clarify how the elastic energy enters the evolution equation for the film thickness in order to provide a solid basis for further investigation: several conflicting models exist in the literature that predict qualitatively different behaviour. We consolidate the various approaches and show that the long-wave model derived through an asymptotic expansion of the full nemato-hydrodynamic equations with consistent boundary conditions agrees with the model one obtains by employing a thermodynamically motivated gradient dynamics formulation based on an underlying free energy functional. As a result, we find that in the case of strong anchoring the elastic distortion energy is always stabilising. To support the discussion in the main part of the paper, an appendix gives the full derivation of the evolution equation for the film thickness via asymptotic expansion

Thomas Carlyle and the making of Frederick the Great

Thomas Carlyle’s History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick the Great was published in six volumes between 1858 and 1865 and was his last major work. Carlyle had a specific purpose in mind when he began writing Frederick. He believed that contemporary events had left Europe in disarray and the British nation fragmented. In his view, the nation needed to function as a family unit, with the older, more experienced members of the group instructing and educating the young. Carlyle’s attempt to address the situation with the publication of his Latter-Day Pamphlets in 1850 had failed, largely due to their aggressive tone. He adopted an entirely different approach when it came to writing Frederick. Chapter one explores Carlyle’s vacillation over his choice of Frederick as a suitable subject for his history and investigates his soul-searching over whether or not to proceed with the project. It examines the three-way relationship which Carlyle created between himself, Frederick and the reader and explores the various language techniques that Carlyle used to create and maintain this relationship. In chapter two, Carlyle’s style of writing in Frederick is investigated. It argues that Carlyle was engaged in the act of storytelling and explores the various literary techniques that he used to achieve this. Chapter three consists of an in-depth examination of Carlyle’s use of oral techniques in Frederick, investigating the variety of oral devices he employed in order to ‘speak’ to his readers and create a unified readership. Chapters four and five focus on Carlyle’s research methods. They examine the texts which Carlyle used for his research—original manuscripts, printed texts, letters, histories and biographies—investigating how these were incorporated into Frederick and evaluating whether or not Carlyle was true to his source material. Carlyle’s two trips to Germany in order to research material are also investigated. In Chapters six and seven, the contemporary reception of Frederick is explored. Chapter six focuses on the reaction to the first two volumes which were published together in 1858, whilst chapter seven investigates the response to the later volumes, exploring the ways in which the completed work influenced the public’s perception of Carlyle as a historian and ending by examining both Carlyle’s and Frederick’s places in posterity. Despite Carlyle’s labours on Frederick it never received the acclaim of his earlier productions but was regarded by many as a marker which signalled the end of Carlyle’s long and illustrious literary career