2821 research outputs found
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Prioritising carbon reduction in UK public sector flood and coastal risk management
Get PDFThe UK construction industry has seen an overall increase in CO2 levels from 1990 to 2017
(Statista, 2020), with UK public sector Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) having
contributed to this increase. The establishment and development of organisational systems and
culture is well documented within current literature, along with the influence it can have upon
the embedding of new initiatives. The UK construction industry has demonstrated little
progress on embedding low carbon practices. This study investigates the prioritisation of low
carbon, in the context of UK public sector FCRM construction, through the implementation
and development of a whole life carbon planning tool (WLCPT). The research adopts a main
survey and action research activities as its research strategy within a UK public sector FCRM
organisation. The survey was undertaken within a leading government organisation, where its
role in implementing, prioritising and promoting low carbon is investigated and a number of
action research activities have been undertaken to improve practice, with the outputs from the
WLCPT utilised for analysis.
The main objectives of this study (survey) investigated whether demography of participants
(OB1); organisational change (OB2); organisational leadership (OB3); quality of training
(OB4) and organisational culture (OB5) influences low carbon prioritisation. The action
research objectives of this study investigated whether cost (OB6), quality of implementation
of a WLCPT (OB7) and type of training (OB8) influence tonne of carbon and whether low
carbon promotion influences organisational culture (OB9). The key findings infer, null
hypotheses cannot be rejected, there is no relationship for OB1, OB3, OB6, OB7 and OB8.
For OB2, OB4, OB5 and OB9, the null hypotheses are rejected; there is a relationship between
the variables within this study.
This research study has made an original contribution to knowledge, through ‘research in
action’ how a WLCPT can be implemented within a client construction organisation and its
supply chain; how continuous improvement can be undertaken; what works, what doesn’t and
the reasons why. This key contribution builds upon limited information currently available on
how to implement low carbon initiatives and tools, providing an insight on how to make the
implementation of a WLCPT more efficient, building on knowledge by promoting and sharing
a common message. The action of implementation to build up knowledge, is through the
contribution to publicly available information in terms of a WLCPT, training, case studies and
factsheet. Along with a ‘collaborative democratic partnership’ with the organisation and its supply chain is evidenced; how they were part of the cyclical process outlined; how they
engaged with the choice of research and the knowledge, becoming part of the knowledge
solution. Through the ‘sequence of events’, approach, trial and error and review to problem
solving in a complex adaptive organisation, the maturity of the organisation on the journey is
not only about evidence through outputs, but practical steps to implementation with learning
outcomes.
This thesis reflects the changing nature of low carbon solutions within UK public sector FCRM
construction and the role the author has played in its development. It offers an understanding
of challenges in implementing new systems and processes within an organisation and its supply
chain, and is directly related to wider learning across industry. The processes of thinking,
acting and making sense of author’s work, the narration of the processes and the changes that
have taken place in author’s actions, show how low carbon knowledge can support a Complex
Adaptive System (CAS), providing practical evidence to support complexity theory; this
utilises continued improvement loops of positive and negative feedback that is always being
reformulated, reworked and continually improved upon, in order to achieve the aim of the
study.
The gaps and imitations within this study challenge the thesis findings, whereby the process of
quality of implementation of WLCPT and type of training are diminished due to the
consistency in governance and compliance at both project and contract level. The action
research outputs also challenge the results for OB6 whereby the unit ‘tonne of carbon’ does not
influence cost. The basis of the test is the utilisation of the organisation’s cost data and outputs
from the WLCPT, where the initial and final cost and carbon data is analysed. The initial cost
estimate is primarily based on initial budget allocation and not a defined or formal cost
estimate, therefore the results identify no relationship. However, evidence from the WLCPT
supporting documents, utilised for knowledge sharing and training, identify through case
studies a clear correlation that low carbon does leads to low cost and therefore a relationship is
identified
The impact of Smart Data on Business efficiency and competitive advantage for durable consumer goods companies in Germany.
Get PDFSmart Data is defined as data that has been transformed into information for decision making and action cycle. This suggests that Smart Data is related to information, which
enable the companies to act and decide rather than to be overwhelmed with a large
volume of data.
As the volume of available data has significantly increased during the recent years,
discussions about how data can be used efficiently for business has attracted the
attention of business community and marketers to exploit business potentials based
on data knowledge. The available data can provide companies to develop further
understanding and knowledge of key factors that have an impact on business
performance such as the market trends, consumer behaviour, trade partners and
suppliers, and competition. In fact, the majority of companies are overwhelmed with
data and finding it challenging to efficiently use the same for meeting business
objectives. However, the existent frameworks do not cover a strategic approach
towards Smart Data which is the research gap. Based on a survey of 4000 (N=406) professionals working in the durable consumer
good and ten semi structured interviews with various professionals from the industry
in Germany, the study found that, whilst the data is now considered as a business
asset, companies are keen to benefit from the opportunities provided by accurate,
reliable and timely data, however, they are not fully aware of the importance and
contribution of Smart Data. The process of this study started with and extensive
literature review on which base the Conceptual framework was designed and
developed. As a next step, the quantitative study was carried out which was followed
by the qualitative study. On the basis of all those findings, the Smart Data framework
has been developed. This framework has been verified by five Data Analytics experts
and five professionals of the industry.
The aim of the study is the design and development of a Smart Data framework for
durable consumer goods companies in Germany. The design and development of this
framework contributes to knowledge and practice
Positive psychology: kindness and its role within mental health nursing
No full textThis is the seventh article in a series that explores the meaning of positive psychology and the importance of applying the latest related research findings for the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. It will focus on positive psychology interventions that consider how we can carry out more acts of kindness to others while experiencing their uplifting effect through contemporary use in the field of mental health nursing. It will explain what the terms mean and report on neurological changes when they are practised. Finally, it emphasises the importance of effective leadership in how the application of kindness can benefit the individual, the organisation and the client. The practical tasks provided in the boxes throughout the article will help the reader identify what kindness means for them and understand how to further develop their transferability through evidence–based, user-friendly exercises
Building castles in the Cloud: an exploration of EU Small Medium Enterprise's (SME) challenges in the Digital era.
No full textThe Hummingbird Project: A Positive Psychology Intervention for Secondary School Students
Get PDFMental health in schools has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) in secondary schools have been shown to improve mental health outcomes for students. Previous PPIs have tended to be delivered by trained Psychology specialists or have tended to focus on a single aspect of Positive Psychology such as Mindfulness. The current study involved 2 phases. Phase 1 was a pilot PPI, delivered by current university students in Psychology, which educated secondary school students (N = 90) in a variety of Positive Psychology concepts. Phase 2 involved delivering the PPI to secondary school students (N = 1,054). This PPI, the Hummingbird Project, led to improvements in student well-being, as measured by the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5). The intervention also led to improvements in student resilience, as measured by the Bolton Uni-Stride Scale (BUSS), and hope, as measured by the Children’s Hope Scale (CHS). Results are discussed in the context of their implications for the future of psychological intervention in secondary school settings
Effects of Culture on Women Entrepreneurs’ Success: A Cross-Country Study
No full textMost entrepreneurs define success as business growth. However, for women entrepreneurs, success incorporates various aspects and meanings. Thus, success is by far one of the most complex concepts in the field of entrepreneurship. Because women entrepreneurs’ success is a multifaceted concept, it has, therefore, multiple interpretations. Moreover, researchers across the world provided various definitions correlated to qualitative or quantitative approaches to this phenomenon. In the meantime, cross-country studies revealed multiple factors affecting women entrepreneurs’ success. A crucial factor affecting the success of women entrepreneurs across the world is the culture. Thus, studies conducted across the globe revealed various types and dimensions of culture and indicated different effects of culture on women entrepreneurs’ success. The authors discovered the significance of gender for interpretation of success and culture. The purpose of the study is to examine various effects of culture on women entrepreneurs’ success in a cross-country context and to design an integrative, holistic theoretical framework that enhances our understanding of success for women entrepreneurs from a gender perspective and explains the effects of culture. The value of designing such theoretical framework is the increase in knowledge with regard to cultural impact on women entrepreneurs’ success and the request for viable solutions to be designed by policy makers, which can help women entrepreneurship to grow
The impact of domestic violence on mothers and children
Get PDFOver the last few decades, domestic violence (DV) has been an intense area that profoundly affects numerous life domains for the people involved. Evidence suggests that children and women who experience DV are at increased risk of adverse mental and physical health difficulties. In addition, women and children's health are strongly linked, particularly in the presence of DV. However there is little knowledge about the impact of DV on both women and children. This study, therefore, sought to bring forth knowledge on the topic, examine and explore the effects and impact of DV on mothers and children. A literature review is used to gain a broader understanding on DV. This project also used a library-based approach using qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodology to critically evaluate the findings. Furthermore, within this study a thematic analysis is used for pinpointing, examining and interpreting various aspects within a research topic. The findings indicated that DV had an impact on both women and children. Studies demonstrated that children may become resilient to the exposure of DV however, many studies showed consistent results that children internalise and externalise behaviour. Moreover, the findings of several studies presented women to experience mental difficulties and parental practice problems during and after DV. Furthermore research indicated that DV can impact all races however, stated that BME, Latinos and Hispanic women have higher levels of experiencing DV compared to white women. Finally, these findings have a potential to increase awareness on DV and its impact on women and children and the importance of healthcare professionals acknowledging the signs of DV
Online peer to peer support: Qualitative analysis of UK and US open mental health Facebook groups
Get PDFObjective: This research aimed to gain further understanding of how open Facebook groups are used for online peer to peer
support and identify any similarities and/or differences between UK and US groups.
Method: A systematic search of mental health related open Facebook groups was conducted using relevant key words. The
posts from 14 UK and 11 US groups were acquired over a three month period and content thematically analysed using
Nvivo.
Results: Findings support previous research which evidences that online peer to peer support is beneficial for users seeking
mental health information. Said support can increase feelings of connectedness, reduce feelings of isolation, and provide a
platform for comparison of perspectives relating to personal experiences. Group membership may offer hope and increase
feelings of empowerment in those using Facebook groups as a support mechanism. There was similar discourse seen
throughout both UK and US posts in regards to gender inequality, lack of awareness and stigmatisation.
Conclusions: The study highlights the positive impact of shared personal experiences, and offers a greater understanding of
the benefits of online peer to peer support for mental health and wellbeing. There is evidence that, whilst mental health is
becoming a more widely discussed topic, in both the UK and US, it remains negatively perceived. Questions are posed for
group administrators and health professionals relating to their utilisation and moderation of such online peer to peer
support networks
Video for (micro) teaching, an opportunity or a challenge? (A mixed methods case study)
Get PDFThis paper reports on a small-scale practitioner-led initiative that responds to some of the problems that have been linked to the task of microteaching and the use of video in university-led Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes at a university in the north west of England.
Though there have been many studies about the use of video for teacher development, few have been conducted in the context of ITE for vocational, further education sector (14+) in the UK. This study addresses this gap.
The focus of the study is on the viewing of a specifically designed in-house developed video of microteaching, as a resource to support trainee teachers for their micro-teach task in the initial stages of the course. It investigates how and to what extent the video supports trainees in their understanding of the task as a whole. It also examines reasons for trainees' reluctance to have their micro-teach filmed and to use the footage to analyse and reflect on it. It also explores trainees’ attitudes and beliefs about the use of video analysis of their teaching in practice.
A mixed methods research design is adopted, consisting of an online questionnaire for trainee teachers (n=82); an online questionnaire for teacher educators (n=8); and three focus groups of trainees.
The data indicates that viewing a specifically edited video resource enhanced trainees’ levels of confidence in their preparedness for microteaching and many trainees would appreciate the incorporation of video analysis into their course. Some trainees, however, expressed strong reservations against being videoed