1,013 research outputs found
Richard Dawkins in conversation with Robyn Williams
No full textDawkins and Williams discuss the intricacies, the fascinating patterns and the anomalies produced by the process of evolution on earth.
At the Melbourne Town Hall, presented by the Melbourne Writers Festival, outspoken and influential author and scientist Richard Dawkins speaks to Robyn Williams (ABC RN) about the ideas underpinning his new book, The Greatest Show on Earth. They discuss the intricacies, the fascinating patterns and the anomalies produced by the process of evolution on earth. Dawkins then takes further questions from the audience about the theory of evolution, genetic determinism, the climate change denial movement and the place of religion in the world of science. Melbourne, March 2010.
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Lessons of Corporate Entrepreneurship for Motivating Public Sector Employees
No full textThis paper aims to contribute to the field of public entrepreneurship by addressing the question of what can public sector organizations learn from corporate entrepreneurship to create a more motivating work environment. The study develops a scale developed to measure key organizational work environment factors that influence employee discretionary work effort behaviours in public organizations. In doing so, it uses concepts from Morris & Douglas (2005; 2004) and expands on the work of Eisenhauer (1995) and Douglas & Shepherd (2000) by further unpacking the perceived psychic benefits and costs of working conditions associated with employment. \ud
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While the relevance of corporate entrepreneurship to the public sector has been questioned (Terry, 1993; Frederickson, 1997 for example), the need for public organizations to be more entrepreneurial is also strongly espoused (Bellone & Goerl, 1992; Osborne & Gaebler, 1994; Morris & Jones, 1999). Today public institutions are perhaps in greater need of corporate renewal than many large established private sector firms. In the face of tight fiscal constraints, rising public demands and tight labour market conditions, new ways of acquiring revenues, combining resources, retaining talented employees and achieving better outcomes within statutory constraints are needed. This study supports the view that valuable lessons can be learned from corporate entrepreneurship in assisting public organizations to be more responsive and to provide higher quality public services. \ud
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To find ways of doing business better public organizations need to not only foster entrepreneurial behaviours amongst their employees but also more generally motivate greater discretionary work effort, that is voluntary effort above and beyond what is minimally required for the benefit of the organization. The importance of contextual factors in influencing entrepreneurial behaviour at both the organizational and individual levels is well documented in the entrepreneurship literature (e.g. Hornsby, Kuratko & Zahra, 2002; Amabile, 1996; Zahra, 1993; Covin & Slevin, 1991; Kuratko, Montagno & Hornsby, 1990; Kant, 1988). The study focuses on how to create an internal environment to better motivate employees to contribute greater levels of discretionary effort, which includes initiative and proactive behaviours. As its emphasis is on individual level behaviour within organisations, this study follows the approach to corporate entrepreneurship used by Kuratko, Hornby and others (1990, 1993, 2002) which uses the ''initiative from below'' definition of corporate entrepreneurship (Vesper, 1984) to develop a measure for an effective internal entrepreneurial corporate environment
Employee work motivation and discretionary work effort
No full textThe focus of this thesis is discretionary work effort, that is, work effort that is voluntary, is above and beyond what is minimally required or normally expected to avoid reprimand or dismissal, and is organisationally functional. Discretionary work effort is an important construct because it is known to affect individual performance as well as organisational efficiency and effectiveness. To optimise organisational performance and ensure their long term competitiveness and sustainability, firms need to be able to induce their employees to work at or near their peak level. To work at or near their peak level, individuals must be willing to supply discretionary work effort. Thus, managers need to understand the determinants of discretionary work effort. Nonetheless, despite many years of scholarly investigation across multiple disciplines, considerable debate still exists concerning why some individuals supply only minimal work effort whilst others expend effort well above and beyond what is minimally required of them (Le. they supply discretionary work effort). Even though it is well recognised that discretionary work effort is important for promoting organisational performance and effectiveness, many authors claim that too little is being done by managers to increase the discretionary work effort of their employees. In this research, I have adopted a multi-disciplinary approach towards investigating the role of monetary and non-monetary work environment characteristics in determining discretionary work effort. My central research questions were "What non-monetary work environment characteristics do employees perceive as perks (perquisites) and irks (irksome work environment characteristics)?" and "How do perks, irks and monetary rewards relate to an employee's level of discretionary work effort?" My research took a unique approach in addressing these research questions. By bringing together the economics and organisational behaviour (OB) literatures, I identified problems with the current definition and conceptualisations of the discretionary work effort construct. I then developed and empirically tested a more concise and theoretically-based definition and conceptualisation of this construct. In doing so, I disaggregated discretionary work effort to include three facets - time, intensity and direction - and empirically assessed if different classes of work environment characteristics have a differential pattern of relationships with these facets. This analysis involved a new application of a multi-disciplinary framework of human behaviour as a tool for classifying work environment characteristics and the facets of discretionary work effort. To test my model of discretionary work effort, I used a public sector context in which there has been limited systematic empirical research into work motivation. The program of research undertaken involved three separate but interrelated studies using mixed methods. Data on perks, irks, monetary rewards and discretionary work effort were gathered from employees in 12 organisations in the local government sector in Western Australia. Non-monetary work environment characteristics that should be associated with discretionary work effort were initially identified through a review of the literature. Then, a qualitative study explored what work behaviours public sector employees perceive as discretionary and what perks and irks were associated with high and low levels of discretionary work effort. Next, a quantitative study developed measures of these perks and irks. A Q-sorttype procedure and exploratory factor analysis were used to develop the perks and irks measures. Finally, a second quantitative study tested the relationships amongst perks, irks, monetary rewards and discretionary work effort. Confirmatory factor analysis was firstly used to confirm the factor structure of the measurement models. Correlation analysis, regression analysis and effect-size correlation analysis were used to test the hypothesised relationships in the proposed model of discretionary work effort. The findings confirmed five hypothesised non-monetary work environment characteristics as common perks and two of three hypothesised non-monetary work environment characteristics as common irks. Importantly, they showed that perks, irks and monetary rewards are differentially related to the different facets of discretionary work effort. The convergent and discriminant validities of the perks and irks constructs as well as the time, intensity and direction facets of discretionary work effort were generally confirmed by the research findings. This research advances the literature in several ways: (i) it draws on the Economics and OB literatures to redefine and reconceptualise the discretionary work effort construct to provide greater definitional clarity and a more complete conceptualisation of this important construct; (ii) it builds on prior research to create a more comprehensive set of perks and irks for which measures are developed; (iii) it develops and empirically tests a new motivational model of discretionary work effort that enhances our understanding of the nature and functioning of perks and irks and advances our ability to predict discretionary work effort; and (iv) it fills a substantial gap in the literature on public sector work motivation by revealing what work behaviours public sector employees perceive as discretionary and what work environment characteristics are associated with their supply of discretionary work effort. Importantly, by disaggregating discretionary work effort this research provides greater detail on how perks, irks and monetary rewards are related to the different facets of discretionary work effort. Thus, from a theoretical perspective this research also demonstrates the conceptual meaningfulness and empirical utility of investigating the different facets of discretionary work effort separately. From a practical perspective, identifying work environment factors that are associated with discretionary work effort enhances managers' capacity to tap this valuable resource. This research indicates that to maximise the potential of their human resources, managers need to address perks, irks and monetary rewards. It suggests three different mechanisms through which managers might influence discretionary work effort and points to the importance of training for both managers and non-managers in cultivating positive interpersonal relationships
Farm to Fork Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for Norovirus on Frozen Strawberries
No full textFoodborne illness outbreaks have been increasingly linked to the consumption of fresh and frozen berries that were contaminated with pathogenic viruses, such as human norovirus (NoV). Contamination of berries is assumed to take place at harvest by the use of contaminated water for pesticide dilution, irrigation water source or by shedding berry pickers in the field. A quantitative microbial risk assessment simulation model was built to replicate the largest known NoV outbreak which sickened about 11,000 people over a 3-week period. The outbreak occurred in Germany in 2012 when contaminated frozen strawberries were served at nearly 400 schools and daycare centers. The risk model explicitly assumed that all contamination would arise from NoV contamination of surface water used for pesticide dilution. Input data was collected from the published literature, observational studies and assumptions. The model starts with contamination of the berries in the field, and proceeds through transportation to processing facility, washing, sanitizing, freezing, frozen transport to cargo ship, transport view of cargo ship, transport to distribution center, frozen storage at the distribution center, transport to the catering facility, food service preparation and consumption, dose response, and predicted illnesses. A total of 21 scenarios were chosen to evaluate the impact of model parameters on the number of illness associated with NoV contamination of berries. Scenarios evaluated include the initial level of NoV in surface water, the effect of seasonality on the prevalence of NoV in surface water, the strength of the pesticide used, the volume of water used to dilute the pesticide, temperature during transportation to processing facility, washing and sanitizing conditions at processing facility and preparation (heat-treatment) of berries prior to consumption. Scenarios were compared via the Factor Sensitivity technique where the logarithm of the ratio of mean illnesses was used to compare different assumptions. The input that had the greatest effect on increasing in the number of illnesses was a high NoV concentration in the water (8 log Genome Copies/L) when compared to the baseline scenario with resulting mean illnesses of 7,964 illnesses and ~2 illnesses, respectively. This assumption about the concentration of virus in the pesticide makeup water was the only variable capable of producing an outbreak similar to that observed in Germany in 2012. Heat-treatment of the berries, use of a pesticide with strong antiviral effect, and assumption about the virus concentration in the pesticide make-up water had the largest impact on decreasing illnesses.Peer reviewe
"Exploring Our Sexualities" - Noted Author and Activist Robyn Ochs to Present Workshop and Interactive Presentation at U of M Crookston on Wednesday, April 22, 2009
No full textTollefson, Elizabeth. (2009). "Exploring Our Sexualities" - Noted Author and Activist Robyn Ochs to Present Workshop and Interactive Presentation at U of M Crookston on Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/222053
A case study of the design, implementation, and formative evaluation of a team development program for a women's swimming and diving team in a NCAA division I university setting
No full textThis dissertation reflects a case study of the process of the design, implementation and formative evaluation of a team development program conducted with a swimming and diving team consisting of twenty-three women at a NCAA Division I university during the 2008-2009 academic year. The dissertation was undertaken to contribute to the knowledge base about how team development programs can be designed and implemented in athletic settings. As a foundation for the dissertation, the participant observer role was used in conjunction with Maher's (2000) Program Planning and Evaluation (PP&E) Framework and Maher's (2004) Student-Athlete Pyramid of Development. Relying on these approaches as procedural and technical guidance, a framework of knowledge, skills and abilities was formulated and then put into an evaluable programmatic form to assist the student-athletes on the team with interpersonal communication, within the team context. This dissertation explores how the PP&E Framework can be coupled with some of the levels of the Student-Athlete Pyramid of Development along with knowledge about team development from business, military, and sport to assist an athletic team in learning to communicate constructively. Formative evaluation data is provided from participating team members and the coaching staff about the actual and potential value of this kind of program. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are offered for the possible design and implementation of similar team development programs in athletic, business, and other contexts.Psy.DIncludes bibliographical references (p. 119-126)by Robyn L. OdegaardIncludes abstrac
The microbiome of otitis media with effusion in Indigenous Australian children
No full textAbstract not available.Jake Jervis-Bardy, Geraint B. Rogers, Peter S. Morris, Heidi C. Smith-Vaughan, Elizabeth Nosworthy, Lex E.X. Leong, Renee J. Smith , Laura S. Weyrich, Jacques De Haan, A. Simon Carney, Amanda J. Leach , Stephen O’Leary, Robyn L. Mars
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Woman as Object
No full textThis paper discusses the creation process of thirteen works by the author addressing women's issues using mannequins of actual women as a metaphor. Robyn Beirman Jamison discusses interviewing and photographing the women, creating the works, and the imagery of objectification of women by society
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