1,720,957 research outputs found
The effectiveness of workshops as managerial learning opportunities
No full textPurpose\ud
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of workshops as a learning tool for small business owner‐managers (SBO‐Ms). It aims to concentrate on workshops delivered over 18 months from January 2007 to July 2008 as part of several publicly‐funded small business development programmes in two Australian local government areas (LGAs).\ud
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Design/methodology/approach\ud
Effectiveness is measured in terms of meeting the overarching learning needs and expectations of participants in the context of the programme goals. The paper analyses data gathered from workshop participants either post‐workshop, in later focus groups or through a questionnaire as well as additional feedback from participants and the organisers' reflections. The thematic analysis is organised through an analogy of “going shopping”, where the SBO‐M shopper is buying “learning” when they attend a workshop.\ud
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Findings\ud
Understanding motivation to participate or the “what's in it for me” is important as SBO‐Ms tend to be reluctant, resist or fail to engage with externally sponsored business support initiatives. Workshops were valued for the “space” they create to reflect on practice. For many SBO‐Ms, content “comes alive” with discussion while networking helps reduce the isolation SBO‐Ms can feel.\ud
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Practical implications\ud
The shopping analogy suggests workshops must cater for purposeful shoppers as well as browsers, while interaction with others in the workshop is critical to realising the value of workshops.\ud
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Originality/value\ud
Knowing whether, and how, workshops deliver learning can help to better target and refine these types of support initiatives to ensure they provide positive outcomes for individuals, organisations and economies
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Organic Rice Production – Improving System Sustainability
Full text linkTrials conducted as part of the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Rice Production during 2003-2004 investigated alternative weed management, cultivar assessments and fertiliser strategies in order to improve the sustainability of organic rice production systems in the NSW Riverina. Results indicated there was no immediate rice yield benefit to organic producers by applying any of the various organic fertilisers tested. Ongoing experimentation may have shown benefits to cereal or pastures which followed in the rotation, but this was not evaluated. The authors recommend that organic rice farmers carefully monitor crop yield responses to fertiliser applications and carefully consider the cost:benefit of fertiliser applications to their cropping and livestock rotation. Whilst the yields achieved for organic rice during the experiments were low compared to district averages for ‘conventionally’ grown rice during the 2003-04 season (yields ranged from 71-86% of conventional yield), they were well above the 50-75% yield reduction cited as typical for organically produced rice compared to conventional rice. The authors recommend that organic rice producers investigate a number of strategies to improve nutrient cycling within the rice rotation. This includes strategies to maximise symbiotic N fixation during the pasture phase such as shortening the pasture phase to two years, ensuring a high (at least 90%) legume component in pastures and improving pasture nutrition (particularly P), water use efficiency and grazing management. The value of incorporating green manuring within the farming system to increase N cycling, provide weed breaks and alternative cropping and grazing opportunities should also be investigated. Rice establishment techniques (sowing method, fertiliser placement and flushing) may have a significant impact on N losses and rice yields. Sod-seeding rice into a legume pasture, the method commonly used by organic producers, is the preferred sowing method for preserving organic nitrogen as there is zero cultivation and hence slow plant decomposition. Organic farmers can further reduce N losses during establishment by minimising flushing and by applying organic fertilisers or composts prior to permanent water (as opposed to sowing application). There was no statistical evidence that the application of liquid lime and molasses after sowing prevented the germination of some weeds, and that a homeopathic remedy made out of Barnyard grass seeds would decrease populations of barnyard grass over time. A field demonstration showed that harrowing could produce an effective post-emergent control for barnyard grass, providing the timing of harrowing and soil condition is optimal
Entrepreneurship learning through a collaborative approach to student practical placement / internship
No full textItem is not available from this repository. Link to the published version - subscription maybe required.Business DegreesHolmesglen InstituteDimensional Data, Victoria, Australi
A novel collaborative Student Placement Program benefits its stakeholders
No full textBusiness DegreesHolmesglen InstituteLightning Talk Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency Conference (TEQSA) Conference 2019Melbourn
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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