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The Relationship between Dominant Coping Strategies and Socio-Psychological Characteristics of Personality
Get PDFCoping behavior is considered as the main variable that affects the ability to resist the negative effects of various stressors. Factors and mechanisms for choosing certain coping strategies are of particular interest. Our study aims to identify the relationship between dominant coping behavior strategies and sociopsychological characteristics of personality. In a pilot study organized by the cross-section method, a survey of 57 Ukrainian teachers selected by random sampling was conducted. In accordance with the purpose of the study, diagnostic tools were used, such as versions of the Russian-language adaptation of the test of ways to overcome R. Lazarus and S. Folkman and the test-questionnaire R. Cattell. The main hypotheses of this study were tested by correlation analysis. The close connection between the dominant strategies of coping behavior and socio-psychological characteristics of the individual is revealed. The results obtained indicate the personal determinants of coping behavior. The study of the relationship between human personality traits and coping strategies will predict the coping reactions of the subject based on the diagnosis of his personality traits, as well as a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of integrative work of the personality as a subject
Tax Aggressiveness and Accounting and Financial Irregularities in Brazil
Get PDFThis paper aimed to analyse whether tax aggressiveness increases the Company probability to incur in accounting and financial irregularities. It was used as a quantitative and descriptive methodology. To measure the aggressiveness level, it used General and Current Effective Tax Rate (ETR) and to estimate the results, Logit Regression. The population of this research were the Companies with shares on Stock Exchanges. The sample was the Brazilian Companies listed on B3 during de period 1999-2017, which corresponded to 4332 observations. Is was divided into two groups: one for treatment, and another for control. In the first one, some Companies committed irregularities which were object of an Administrative Processes Judged by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC); the second, comprising the Companies that did not commit irregularities. The Companies data were taken from Economatica. The results showed evidence that the lower the tax aggressiveness, the less likely it is to committing irregularities. In other words, the more aggressive the company, the more likely it is to commit irregularities. Additionally, for the surveyed sample, the financial irregularities are influenced most by tax aggressiveness
The Impact of Establishing Capital Market on Ethiopian Commercial Banks
Get PDFThe paper analysed the implication of establishing the capital market on commercial banks operating in Ethiopia. The study aimed to identify its potential opportunities and main challenges to banks, to see how the capital market is operating in other African countries and to show the necessary preconditions to commercial banks to prepare themselves. The research method employed in the study had both qualitative and quantitative features, and the research was conducted using a mixed research method. Primary data was collected from focus group discussions with experts that have experience in the area, and, furthermore, secondary data were collected from literature and websites. The findings of the study identified the major risk of the capital market to the economy like economic risk to investments, inflationary/deflation risk, market value risk, being too conservative and political crisis by relating with the current situation of country regulation power. The study also investigated the major opportunities of the capital market to meet the financial need for the economy and how it can work with commercial banks. Besides, the study investigated its challenges to commercial banks working with security exchange companies. Many literature analyses confirmed the reputation of capital markets comparative to banks, which cannot explain across-countries deviation in economic growth. And it is better to establish a well-functioning legal framework, which plays a vital role in creating a healthy financial system. The study recommended that commercial banks should modify their business models and create products related to the investment bank and product differentiation that captures the mode of the capital market. And it is better for the commercial banks to empower their human resource, and they shall aggressively work on technology adaptation, work highly on awareness creation for all internal and external customers. Banks’ capital increment should be made before the security market is established to minimise any risk that may come with it
Assessment Model of the Organizational Success
Get PDFEvery organization strives for success, but it is not easily definable or measurable. For many, the key success indicators mean just financial performance (e.g. turnover, profit, cost-effectiveness etc.) but, more and more often contemporary and TOP organizations are describing success through “soft factors” as organizational sustainability, employee engagement, loyalty, trust, and other people-centered indicators. There is still no universal system that allows effective assessment of an organization’s success. The aim of this article is to identify organizational success criteria, organizational measurement capabilities and outline the principles for developing a general organizational success assessment model. Using an extensive literature review, a universal model for success assessment of an organization that can easily be adapted according to the goals and specificity of the organization is developed. The theoretical model was adjusted according to the expert pool feedback, as well as due to the top-managers assessment. As a result, the model with five success metrics categories and measurement principles is proposed. The originality of the research stands in following that the model takes into account also the “soft” success metrics - bridging the literature focused on the financial factors view and on human-centered factors view on success and this research opens several possibilities for further research and practical implementations and implications
Implementation of Recommendation Algorithm based on Recommendation Sessions in E-commerce IT System
Get PDFThe aim of the paper is to present a study as the implementation of the author’s Algorithm of the Recommendation Sessions ARS in an operating e‐commerce information system and to analyse basic parameters of the recommendation system created as a result of the implementation. The first part of the study contains a synthetic description of the area of recommendation systems. The next section presents the proprietary ARS recommendation algorithm based on recommendation sessions. The third part of the paper describes the mathematical model of the recommendation session built on the basis of the theory of graphs and networks, which such model makes the input data for the algorithm in question. The next part of the publication describes the possibilities of representing graph structures and the method of implementing a G graph (constituting a set of the recommendation session) in a relational database. The implementation of the ARS algorithm, based on the SQL standard, was also presented. The implementations in question have been developed on the basis of a working information system of the e‐commerce class. As a result of the implementation of the algorithm, a fully functional recommendation system was created, which can be adapted to various e‐commerce IT systems. The positive result of the work was confirmed by the research on the parameters of the recommendation system, included in the last part of the study
Tertiary EFL Practitioners’ Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Professional Development in the Area of Assessment and Testing–An Exploratory Study
Get PDFProfessional development of teachers, the greatest strength of any educational institute, implies advancement of pedagogical, assessment and success standards. All teacher education activities whether during the pre-or/and in-service phases, should aim to bring about teacher change which refers to the procedures targeting reform in teacher beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, self-awareness, skills and practices. Since teacher beliefs and attitudes serve as an integral part of the process to comprehend how teachers conceptualise, approach and practice their work, change in teacher practices generally precede a change in teacher beliefs and attitudes. In the background of the paucity of scholarship about tertiary EFL practitioners’ beliefs and attitudes about their professional development, in general, and in assessment, testing and evaluation, in particular, the present study mainly based on interview data collected from 10 tertiary EFL teachers working in three tertiary educational institutes in Saudi Arabia aimed at exploring tertiary EFL practitioners’ philosophies and attitudes towards their PD in assessment and testing to get better insight into language teachers’ training needs. It is hoped that the findings of the study will create awareness among novice as well as experienced teachers and help their respective institutions in having better understanding about the various dynamics of teacher PD in assessment and testing. 
An Investigation of Iranian EFL Teachers’ Enthusiasm to Teaching: The Case of the Level of their Reflective Practice
Get PDFThe current study is an endeavour to explore Iranian EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching and their level of reflection. This study investigates the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching and their reflective practices during teaching in the classroom. The other aim of the study was to find out whether EFL teachers’ level of enthusiasm is a significant predictor of the degree of their reflective practice. The participants consisted of 170 Iranian male and female EFL teachers. The researcher used The Reflective Teaching Instrument and Teachers Enthusiasm Scale to gather the required data. The first questionnaire was used to assess the participants’ level of reflection, and the second one was used to investigate their teaching enthusiasm. The results of data analysis using the Pearson Correlation test indicate that there was a significant correlation between the Iranian EFL teachers’ reflection and their teaching enthusiasm. The findings showed that the two variables of the study had a significant effect on each other and, accordingly, marking teachers’ enthusiasm as a predictor for their reflective practice
Effects of Bilingual Biology Teaching at Middle Schools
Get PDFThis classroom-based study investigates the relative effectiveness of content and language integrated learning in Biology for students with limited knowledge of English. The sample comprised 252 German-speaking learners of English taking intermediate English courses (3rd year of English learning) at a special secondary school (German “Mittelschule), who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: lesson being conducted in English, the lesson being conducted in German, and a control group. A teaching unit about the topic “breathing” served as intervention. To determine the effects of the two instructional methods, the participants’ prior knowledge about the topic and their motivation based on general interest in the subject, specific interest in the topic and the level of self-efficacy experienced was measured beforehand with pre-tests. An immediate post-test about content knowledge and motivation was taken right after the lesson, a post-test after one month should show long term consolidation or change in motivation. Even though most other studies show negative effects of bilingual teaching for students with a low level of language skills, the results here indicate that neither knowledge nor motivation in classes with relatively little knowledge of English was significantly different in both groups, students with multilingual background seemed to even benefit from the bilingual instruction provided that specially prepared lessons were used serving the learning needs of the students
Editorial: Future Perspectives and Challenges of ESP/EAP. In Honor of Helen Basturkmen’s Contribution to ESP/EAP Research
Get PDFDr. Helen Louise Basturkmen is a leading researcher and a respected academic in Applied Linguistics, particularly in the fields of English for Specific and Academic Purposes (ESP/EAP). During the early 1990s, she worked as a lecturer and teacher educator at Bilkent University (Turkey) and Kuwait University (the Middle East). In 1998 she moved to the University of Auckland (New Zealand), where she has been working in Applied Language Studies and Linguistics since then and is currently an Associate Professor. She has published extensively, supervised students and led a number of research projects. Her books on ESP linguistic descriptions, learning, teaching and course design (Routledge 2006, and Palgrave Macmillan 2010) are today among the most influential titles in ESP-related research and a must-read for both experienced and novice ESP practitioners and researchers. Also, her 4-volume edited collection English for Academic Purposes: Critical Concepts in Linguistics (Routledge, 2015) is a useful resource for delving into those key issues that have impacted the field over the last 35 years. Her recently published book Linguistic Description in English for Academic Purposes (Taylor and Francis – Routledge, 2021) provides a concise overview of the kinds of descriptions of academic English that have resulted from the increased use of English as a lingua franca and research in EAP. This special issue of Language Teaching Research Quarterly is a token of gratitude to Professor Helen Basturkmen for her past and present work in the fields of ESP and EAP and her bibliographical legacy. It contains six articles that were submitted to the journal in
Online Shopping Tendency and Customer Trust in Nigerian Service Sector
Get PDFConventional shopping affords the customer the convenience of not losing their monies to hackers and scammers and carrying out a transaction in a familiar shop environment, irrespective of the shop location. The unprecedented development in telecommunication/Information Communications Technology (ICT) has made direct purchase and sale of goods and services possible worldwide using the Internet, an online shopping website in Nigeria. For example, many customers and prospects engage in multi-billion Naira transactions daily in Jumia.com.ng and konga.com. The essence of trust in this platform becomes inevitable, based on the virtual nature of all transactions. This study aims to examine the effect of customer trust and purchase decisions on online shopping in Nigeria. The study clarifies that internet hoppingcould flourish easily where there is less risk factor, proof of effective service quality delivery, and unbridled evidence of trust in the service providers' ability to deliver. The descriptive methodology was adopted for the study, and 277 questionnaires were administered to respondents, mainly online customers of jumia.com.ng. Correlation analysis was used to analyze the underlying variables of the study. The results revealed that there is a positive interrelationship between online shopping and trust in Nigerian. The study concludes that online service providers need to entrench trust amongst customers and exclude all risk factors that could be inimical to the growth and development of online hopping in Nigeri