Search results for: academic offer

Authors: Eliane Abdo, Olivier Colot

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SMEs are always considered as a national priority due to their contribution to job creation, innovation and growth. Once the start-up phase is crossed with encouraging results, the company enters the phase of growth. In order to improve its competitiveness, maintain and increase its market share, the company is in the necessity even the obligation to develop its tangible and intangible investments. SMEs are generally closed companies with special and critical financial situation, limited resources and difficulty to access the capital markets; their shareholders are always living in a conflict between their independence and their need to increase capital that leads to the entry of new shareholder. The capital structure was always considered the core of research in corporate finance; moreover, the financial crisis and its repercussions on the credit’s availability, especially for SMEs make SME financing a hot topic. On the other hand, financial theories do not provide answers to capital structure’s questions; they offer tools and mode of financing that are more accessible to larger companies. Yet, SME’s capital structure can’t be independent of their governance structure. The classic financial theory supposes independence between the investment decision and the financing decision. Thus, investment determines the volume of funding, but not the split between internal or external funds. In this context, we find interesting to study the hypothesis that SMEs respond positively to the financial theories applied to large firms and to check if they are constrained by conventional solutions used by large companies. In this context, this research focuses on the analysis of the resource’s structure of SME in parallel with their investments’ structure, in order to highlight a link between their assets and liabilities structure. We founded our conceptual model based on two main theoretical frameworks: the Pecking order theory, and the Trade Off theory taking into consideration the SME’s characteristics. Our data were generated from DIANE database. Five hypotheses were tested via a panel regression to understand the type of dependence between the financing methods of 3,244 French SMEs and the development of their investment over a period of 10 years (2007-2016). The results show dependence between equity and internal financing in case of intangible investments development. Moreover, this type of business is constraint to financial debts since the guarantees provided are not sufficient to meet the banks' requirements. However, for tangible investments development, SMEs count sequentially on internal financing, bank borrowing, and new shares issuance or hybrid financing. This is compliant to the Pecking Order Theory. We, therefore, conclude that unlisted SMEs incur more financial debts to finance their tangible investments more than their intangible. However, they always prefer internal financing as a first choice. This seems to be confirmed by the assumption that the profitability of the company is negatively related to the increase of the financial debt. Thus, the Pecking Order Theory predictions seem to be the most plausible. Consequently, SMEs primarily rely on self-financing and then go, into debt as a priority to finance their financial deficit.

Keywords: capital structure, investments, life cycle, pecking order theory, trade off theory

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Authors: Sascha Kraus, Wolfgang Hora, Philipp Stieg, Thomas Niemand, Ferdinand Thies, Matthias Filser

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In most countries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are the backbone of the economy due to their impact on job creation, innovation and wealth creation. Moreover, the ongoing globalization makes it inevitable – even for SME that traditionally focused on their domestic markets – to internationalize their business activities to realize further growth and survive in international markets. Thus, internationalization has become one of the most common growth strategies for SME and has received increasing scholarly attention over the last two decades. One the downside internationalization can be also regarded as the most complex strategy that a firm can undertake. Particularly for family firms, that are often characterized by limited financial capital, a risk-averse nature and limited growth aspirations, it could be argued that family firms are more likely to face greater challenges when taking the pathway to internationalization. Especially the triangulation of family, ownership, and management (so-called ‘familiness’) manifests in a unique behavior and decision-making process which is often characterized by the importance given to noneconomic goals and distinguishes a family firm from other businesses. Taking this into account, the concept of socio-emotional wealth (SEW) has been evolved to describe the behavior of family firms. In order to investigate how different internal and external firm characteristics shape internationalization success of family firms, we drew on a sample consisting of 297 small and medium-sized family firms from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Thus, we include SEW as essential family firm characteristic and added the two major intra-organizational characteristics, entrepreneurial orientation (EO), absorptive capacity (AC) as well as collaboration intensity (CI) and relational knowledge (RK) as two major external network characteristics. Based on previous research we assume that these characteristics are important to explain internationalization success of family firm SME. Regarding the data analysis, we applied a Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), an approach that allows identifying configurations of firm characteristics, specifically used to study complex causal relationships where traditional regression techniques reach their limits. Results indicate that several combinations of these family firm characteristics can lead to international success, with no permanently required key characteristic. Instead, there are many roads to walk down for family firms to achieve internationalization success. Consequently, our data states that family owned SME are heterogeneous and internationalization is a complex and dynamic process. Results further show that network related characteristics occur in all sets, thus represent an essential element in the internationalization process of family owned SME. The contribution of our study is twofold, as we investigate different forms of international expansion for family firms and how to improve them. First, we are able to broaden the understanding of the intersection between family firm and SME internationalization with respect to major intra-organizational and network-related variables. Second, from a practical perspective, we offer family firm owners a basis for setting up internal capabilities to achieve international success.

Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, family firm, fsQCA, internationalization, socio-emotional wealth

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Authors: Andre Pastori D'Aurea, Lauriston Bertelli Feranades, Luis Eduardo Ferreira, Leandro Dias Pinto, Fabiana Ayumi Shiozaki

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The aim of this study was to improve the production of beef cattle on tropical pasture without harming this environment. On tropical pastures, cattle's live weight gain is lower than feedlot, and forage production is seasonable, changing from season to season. Thus, concerned with sustainable livestock production, the Premix Company has developed strategies to improve the production of beef cattle on tropical pasture to ensure sustainability of welfare and production. There are two important principles in this productivity system: 1) increase individual gains with use of better supplementation and 2) increase the productivity units with better forage quality like corn silage or other forms of forage conservations, actually used only in winter, and adding natural additives in the diet. This production system was applied from June 2017 to May 2018 in the Research Center of Premix Company, Patrocínio Paulista, São Paulo State, Brazil. The area used had 9 hectares of pasture of Brachiaria brizantha. 36 steers Nellore were evaluated for one year. The initial weight was 253 kg. The parameters used were daily average gain and gain per area. This indicated the corrections to be made and helped design future fertilization. In this case, we fertilized the pasture with 30 kg of nitrogen per animal divided into two parts. The diet was pasture and protein-energy supplements (0.4% of live weight). The supplement used was added with natural additive Fator P® – Premix Company). Fator P® is an additive composed by amino acids (lysine, methionine and tyrosine, 16400, 2980 and 3000 mg.kg-1 respectively), minerals, probiotics (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 7 x 10E8 CFU.kg-1) and essential fatty acids (linoleic and oleic acids, 108.9 and 99g.kg-1 respectively). Due to seasonal changes, in the winter we supplemented the diet by increasing the offer of forage, supplementing with maize silage. It was offered 1% of live weight in silage corn and 0.4% of the live weight in protein-energetic supplements with additive Fator P ®. At the end of the period, the productivity was calculated by summing the individual gains for the area used. The average daily gain of the animals were 693 grams per day and was produced 1.005 kg /hectare/year. This production is about 8 times higher than the average of Brazilian meat national production. To succeed in this project, it is necessary to increase the gains per area, so it is necessary to increase the capacity per area. Pasture management is very important to the project's success because the dietary decisions were taken from the quantity and quality of the forage. We, therefore, recommend the use of animals in the growth phase because the response to supplementation is greater in that phase and we can allocate more animals per area. This system's carbon footprint reduces emissions by 61.2 percent compared to the Brazilian average. This beef cattle production system can be efficient and environmentally friendly to the natural. Another point is that bovines will benefit from their natural environment without competing or having an impact on human food production.

Keywords: cattle production, environment, pasture, sustainability

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Authors: Frazer McDonald Ng'oma

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Online Learning in Malawi has only immersed in recent years due to the need to increase access to higher education, the need to accommodate upgrading students who wish to study on a part time basis while still continuing their work, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of schools resulting in academic institutions seeking alternative modes of teaching and Learning to ensure continued teaching and Learning. Realizing that this mode of Learning is becoming a norm, institutions of higher Learning have started pioneering online post-graduate programs from which they can draw lessons before fully implementing it in undergraduate programs. Online learning pedagogy has not been fully grasped and institutions are still experimenting with this mode of Learning until online Learning guiding policies are created and its standards improved. This single case descriptive qualitative research study sought to investigate online postgraduate students’ perceptions and experiences with Student to student interactive pedagogy in their programs. The results of the study are to inform institutions and educators how to structure their programs to ensure that their students get the full satisfaction. 25 Masters students in 3 recently introduced online programs at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), were engaged; 19 were interviewed and 6 responded to questionnaires. The findings from the students were presented and categorized in themes and subthemes that emerged from the qualitative data that was collected and analysed following Colaizzi’s framework for data analysis that resulted in themes formulation. Findings revealed that Student to student interactions occurred in the online programme during live sessions, on class Whatsapp group, in discussion boards as well as on emails. Majority of the students (n=18) felt the level of students’ interaction initiated by the institution was too much, referring to mandatory interactions activities like commenting in discussion boards and attending to live sessons. Some participants (n=7) were satisfied with the level of interaction and also pointed out that they would be fine with more program-initiated student–to–student interactions. These participants attributed having been out of school for some time as a reason for needing peer interactions citing that it is already difficult to get back to a traditional on-campus school after some time, let alone an online class where there is no physical interaction with other students. In general, majority of the participants (n=18) did not value Student to student interaction in online Learning. The students suggested that having intensive student-to-student interaction in postgraduate online studies does not need to be a high priority for the institution and they further recommended that if a lecturer decides to incorporate student-to-student activities into a class, they should be optional.

Keywords: online learning, interactions, student interactions, post graduate students

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Authors: Sue S. Feldman

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As clinical and nursing informatics mature, an area that has gotten a lot of attention is the value capstone projects. Capstones are meant to address authentic and complex domain-specific problems. While capstone projects have not always been essential in graduate clinical and nursing informatics education, employers are wanting to see evidence of the prospective employee's knowledge and skills as an indication of employability. Capstones can be organized in many ways: a single course over a single semester, multiple courses over multiple semesters, as a targeted demonstration of skills, as a synthesis of prior knowledge and skills, mentored by one single person or mentored by various people, submitted as an assignment or presented in front of a panel. Because of the potential for capstones to enhance the educational experience, and as a mechanism for application of knowledge and demonstration of skills, a rigorous capstone can accelerate a graduate's potential in the workforce. In 2016, the capstone at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) could feel the external forces of a maturing Clinical and Nursing Informatics discipline. While the program had a capstone course for many years, it was lacking the depth of knowledge and demonstration of skills being asked for by those hiring in a maturing Informatics field. Since the program is online, all capstones were always in the online environment. While this modality did not change, other contributors to instruction modality changed. Pre-2016, the instruction modality was self-guided. Students checked in with a single instructor, and that instructor monitored progress across all capstones toward a PowerPoint and written paper deliverable. At the time, the enrollment was few, and the maturity had not yet pushed hard enough. By 2017, doubling enrollment and the increased demand of a more rigorously trained workforce led to restructuring the capstone so that graduates would have and retain the skills learned in the capstone process. There were three major changes: the capstone was broken up into a 3-course sequence (meaning it lasted about 10 months instead of 14 weeks), there were many chunks of deliverables, and each faculty had a cadre of about 5 students to advise through the capstone process. Literature suggests that the chunking, breaking up complex projects (i.e., the capstone in one summer) into smaller, more manageable chunks (i.e., chunks of the capstone across 3 semesters), can increase and sustain learning while allowing for increased rigor. By doing this, the teaching responsibility was shared across faculty with each semester course being taught by a different faculty member. This change facilitated delving much deeper in instruction and produced a significantly more rigorous final deliverable. Having students advised across the faculty seemed like the right thing to do. It not only shared the load, but also shared the success of students. Furthermore, it meant that students could be placed with an academic advisor who had expertise in their capstone area, further increasing the rigor of the entire capstone process and project and increasing student knowledge and skills.

Keywords: capstones, clinical informatics, health informatics, informatics

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Authors: Indra Bahadur Chand

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This paper will focus on the need for development and application of global protocols and policy in planning, designing, development, and management of systems of eco-towns and eco-villages so that sustainable development will be assured from the perspective of environmental, economical, peace, and harmonized social dynamics. This perspective is essential for the development of civilized and eco-friendly human settlements in the town and rural areas of the nation that will be a milestone for developing a happy and sustainable lifestyle of rural and urban communities of the nation. The urban population of most of the town of developing economies has been tremendously increasing, whereas rural people have been tremendously migrating for the past three decades. Consequently, the urban lifestyle in most towns has stressed in terms of environmental pollution, water crisis, congested traffic, energy crisis, food crisis, and unemployment. Eco-towns and villages should be developed where lifestyle of all residents is sustainable and happy. Built up environment of settlement should reduce and minimize the problems of non ecological CO2 emissions, unbalanced utilization of natural resources, environmental degradation, natural calamities, ecological imbalance, energy crisis, water scarcity, waste management, food crisis, unemployment, deterioration of cultural heritage, social, the ratio among the public and private land ownership, ratio of land covered with vegetation and area of settlement, the ratio of people in the vehicles and foot, the ratio of people employed outside of town and village, ratio of resources recycling of waste materials, water consumption level, the ratio of people and vehicles, ratio of the length of the road network and area of town/villages, a ratio of renewable energy consumption with total energy, a ratio of religious/recreational area out of the total built-up area, the ratio of annual suicide case out of total people, a ratio of annual injured and death out of total people from a traffic accident, a ratio of production of agro foods within town out of total food consumption will be used to assist in designing and monitoring of each eco-towns and villages. An eco-town and villages should be planned and developed to offer sustainable infrastructure and utilities that maintain CO2 level in individual homes and settlements, home energy use, transport, food and consumer goods, water supply, waste management, conservation of historical heritages, healthy neighborhood, conservation of natural landscape, conserving bio-diversity and developing green infrastructures. Eco-towns and villages should be developed on the basis of master planning and architecture that affect and define the settlement and its form. Master planning and engineering should focus in delivering the sustainability criteria of eco towns and eco village. This will involve working with specific landscape and natural resources of locality.

Keywords: eco-town, ecological habitation, master plan, sustainable development

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Authors: Senait Belay Adugna, Mirutse Giday, Tsegahun Manyazewal

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Background: The emergence and resurgence of zoonotic diseases have continued to be a major threat to global health and the economy. Developing countries are particularly vulnerable due to agricultural expansions and the domestication of animals by humans. Scientifically sound clinical trials are important to find better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat zoonotic diseases, while there is a lack of evidence to inform the clinical trials’ capacity and practice in countries highly affected by the diseases. This study aimed to investigate researchers’ perceptions and experiences in conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia. Methods: This study employed a descriptive, qualitative study design. It included major academic and research institutions in Ethiopia that had active engagements in veterinary and public health research. It included the National Veterinary Institute, the National Animal Health Diagnostic and Investigation Center, the College of Veterinary Medicine at Addis Ababa University, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, the Armauer Hansen Research Institute, and the College of Health Sciences at Addis Ababa University. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 senior researcher investigators in the institutions who hold a proven exhibit primarily leading research activities or research units. Data were collected from October 2019 to April 2020. Data analysis was undertaken using open code 4.03 for qualitative data analysis. Results: Five major themes, with 18 sub-themes, emerged from the in-depth interview in connection. These were: challenges in the prevention, control, and treatment of zoonotic diseases; One Health approach to mitigate zoonotic diseases; personal and institutional experiences in conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases; barriers in conducting clinical trials towards zoonotic diseases; and strategies that promote conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases. Conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia is hampered by a lack of clearly articulated ethics and regulatory frameworks, trial experts, financial resources, and good governance. Conclusions: In Ethiopia, conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases deserves due attention. Strengthening institutional and human resources capacity is a precondition to harnessing effective implementation of clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in the country. In Ethiopia, where skilled human resource is scarce, the One Health approach has the potential to form multidisciplinary teams to systematically improve clinical trials capacity and outcomes in the country.

Keywords: Ethiopia, clinical triak, zoonoses, disease

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Authors: Bianca Price, Jennifer Stokes

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Academic and social support systems are critical for students in enabling education; these support systems have the potential to enhance the student experience whilst also serving a vital role for student retention. In the context of international moves toward widening university participation, Australia has developed enabling programs designed to support underrepresented students to access to higher education. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a mentor program based within an enabling course. This study evaluates how the mentor program supports new students to develop social networks, improve retention, and increase satisfaction with the student experience. Guided by Social Learning Theory (SLT), this study highlights the benefits that can be achieved when students engage in peer-to-peer based mentoring for both social and learning support. Whilst traditional peer mentoring programs are heavily based on face-to-face contact, the present study explores the difference between mentors who provide face-to-face mentoring, in comparison with mentoring that takes place through the virtual space, specifically via a virtual community in the shape of a Facebook group. This paper explores the differences between these two methods of mentoring within an enabling program. The first method involves traditional face-to-face mentoring that is provided by alumni students who willingly return to the learning community to provide social support and guidance for new students. The second method requires alumni mentor students to voluntarily join a Facebook group that is specifically designed for enabling students. Using this virtual space, alumni students provide advice, support and social commentary on how to be successful within an enabling program. Whilst vastly different methods, both of these mentoring approaches provide students with the support tools needed to enhance their student experience and improve transition into University. To evaluate the impact of each mode, this study uses mixed methods including a focus group with mentors, in-depth interviews, as well as engaging in netnography of the Facebook group ‘Wall’. Netnography is an innovative qualitative research method used to interpret information that is available online to better understand and identify the needs and influences that affect the users of the online space. Through examining the data, this research will reflect upon best practice for engaging students in enabling programs. Findings support the applicability of having both face-to-face and online mentoring available for students to assist enabling students to make a positive transition into University undergraduate studies.

Keywords: enabling education, mentoring, netnography, social learning theory

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Authors: Pibool Waijittragum

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This paper has its objectives to reveal contents and personality suitable to women’s newspapers. The research methodology employed in this study is the questionnaire which is derived from a literature review related to newspapers, graphic elements method for print media design and 12 sample sizes of different daily newspapers. In order to acquire an in-depth understanding and comprehensible view of desirable for a women’s newspaper design, graphic elements that related to that personality as well as other preferable elements for a women’s newspaper, including seven editorial Many Thai newspapers were offer a women’s documentary and column space. With its feminine looks, most of them appeared with warm tones and friendly mood through their headlines, contents, illustrations and graphics. The study found that most desirable personalities for a women’s newspaper design in Thailand are: Modern, Chic and Natural. Each personality has significant graphic elements as follows: 1. Modern: significant elements of modern personality comprises of the composition with graduation pattern which creates attractiveness by using an anomalous alignment layout grid and outstanding structure to create focal points and dynamic movement. Dark to black color that has narrowed, limited hue coupled with bright color tones. The round shape of the Thai font style was suitable for this concept. Such Thai fonts have harmonious proportion and consistent stroke with the urban-polite look. 2. Chic: significant elements of chic personality comprises of the proper composition with distinctive scale, using rhythmic repetition and a contrast of scale to draw in reader attention. Vivid and bright color tones with extensive hues coupled with similar color tones and round shape of the Thai font style with a light stroke and consistent line. 3. Natural: significant elements of natural personality comprises of the proper composition using rhythmic repetition that creates a focal point through striking images and harmonious perspective. Warm color tones with restricted hues that appear to look natural. Duo tone color was suitable through the gradually increasing gradient. The Thai style with hand writing font was suitable through the inconsistent stroke. There are 10 types of daily content that were revealed to be the most desirable for Thai women readers, these are: Daily News, Economics News, Education News, Entertainment News, International news, Political News, Public Health News, Scientific News, Social News and Sports News. As well, there are 16 topics identified as very desirable for Thai women readers, such as: Art and Culture, Automobile, Classified, Special Scoop, Editorial, Advertisement, Entertainment, Health and Quality of Life, History, Horoscope, Lifestyle and Fashion, Literature, Nature - Environment and Tourism, Night Life, Stars and Jet Set Gossip, Women’s Issue.

Keywords: women behaviors, feminine looks, newspaper design, news content

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Authors: Mehmet Sinan Erguven

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A number of authorities argue that radio is an outdated medium for advertising and does not have the same impact on consumers as it did in the past. This grim outlook on the future of radio has its basis in the audio-visual world that consumers now live in and the popularity of Internet-based marketing tools among advertising professionals. Nonetheless, consumers still appear to overwhelmingly prefer radio as an entertainment tool. Today, in Canada, 90% of all adults (18+) tune into the radio on a weekly basis, and they listen for 17 hours. Teens are the most challenging group for radio to capture as an audience, but still, almost 75% tune in weekly. One online radio station reaches more than 250 million registered listeners worldwide, and revenues from radio advertising in Australia are expected to grow at an annual rate of 3% for the foreseeable future. Radio is also starting to become popular again in Turkey, with a 5% increase in the listening rates compared to 2014. A major matter of concern always affecting radio advertising is creativity. As radio generally serves as a background medium for listeners, the creativity of the radio commercials is important in terms of attracting the attention of the listener and directing their focus on the advertising message. This cannot simply be done by using audio tools like sound effects and jingles. This study aims to identify the creative elements (execution formats appeals and approaches) and creativity factors of radio commercials in Turkey. As part of the study, all of the award winning radio commercials produced throughout the history of the Kristal Elma Advertising Festival were analyzed using the content analysis technique. Two judges (an advertising agency copywriter and an academic) coded the commercials. The reliability was measured according to the proportional agreement. The results showed that sound effects, jingles, testimonials, slices of life and announcements were the most common execution formats in creative Turkish radio ads. Humor and excitement were the most commonly used creative appeals while award-winning ads featured various approaches, such as surprise musical performances, audio wallpaper, product voice, and theater of the mind. Some ads, however, were found to not contain any creativity factors. In order to be accepted as creative, an ad must have at least one divergence factor, such as originality, flexibility, unusual/empathic perspective, and provocative questions. These findings, as well as others from the study, hold great value for the history of creative radio advertising in Turkey. Today, the nature of radio and its listeners is changing. As more and more people are tuning into online radio channels, brands will need to focus more on this relatively cheap advertising medium in the very near future. This new development will require that advertising agencies focus their attention on creativity in order to produce radio commercials for their customers that will differentiate them from their competitors.

Keywords: advertising, creativity, radio, Turkey

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Authors: Luisa Villani

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The proposal aims to express concerns about the connection between mind, body, society, and environment in the Flyers’ dance, a very well-known rotatory dance in Mexico, to create meanings and to make the apprehension of the world possible. The interaction among the brain, mind, body, and environment, and the intersubjective relation among them, means the world creates and recreates a social interaction. The purpose of this methodology, based on the embodied cognition theory, which was named “A Performance-Embodied Theory” is to find the principles and patterns that organize the culture and the rules of the apprehension of the environment by Totonac people while the dance is being performed. The analysis started by questioning how anthropologists can interpret how Totonacs transform their unconscious knowledge into conscious knowledge and how the scheme formation of imagination and their collective imagery is understood in the context of public-facing rituals, such as Flyers’ dance. The problem is that most of the time, researchers interpret elements in a separate way and not as a complex ritual dancing whole, which is the original contribution of this study. This theory, which accepts the fact that people are body-mind agents, wants to interpret the dance as a whole, where the different elements are joined to an integral interpretation. To understand incorporation, data was recollected in prolonged periods of fieldwork, with participant observation and linguistic and extralinguistic data analysis. Laban’s notation for the description and analysis of gestures and movements in the space was first used, but it was later transformed and gone beyond this method, which is still a linear and compositional one. Performance in a ritual is the actualization of a potential complex of meanings or cognitive domains among many others in a culture: one potential dimension becomes probable and then real because of the activation of specific meanings in a context. It can only be thought what language permits thinking, and the lexicon that is used depends on the individual culture. Only some parts of this knowledge can be activated at once, and these parts of knowledge are connected. Only in this way, the world can be understood. It can be recognized that as languages geometrize the physical world thanks to the body, also ritual does. In conclusion, the ritual behaves as an embodied grammar or a text in movement, which, depending on the ritual phases and the words and sentences pronounced in the ritual, activates bits of encyclopedic knowledge that people have about the world. Gestures are not given by the performer but emerge from the intentional perception in which gestures are “understood” by the audio-spectator in an inter-corporeal way. The impact of this study regards the possibility not only to disseminate knowledge effectively but also to generate a balance between different parts of the world where knowledge is shared, rather than being received by academic institutions alone. This knowledge can be exchanged, so indigenous communities and academies could be together as part of the activation and the sharing of this knowledge with the world.

Keywords: dance, flyers, performance, embodied, cognition

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Authors: Francis Deinmodei W. Poazi, Jasmine O. Tamunosiki-Amadi, Maurice Fems

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In recent times the resource-based view (RBV) of strategic management has recorded a sizeable attention yet there has not been a considerable scholarly and managerial discourse, debate and attention. As a result, this paper gives special bit of critical reasoning as well as top-notch analyses and relationship between RBV and organizational innovation. The study examines those salient aspects of RBV that basically have the will power in ensuring the organization's capacity to go for innovative capability. In achieving such fit and standpoint, the paper joins other relevant academic discourse and empirical evidence. To this end, a reasonable amount of contributions in setting the ground running for future empirical researches would have been provided. More so, the study is guided and built on the following strength and significance: Firstly, RBV sees resources as heterogeneity which forms a strong point of strength and allows organisations to gain competitive advantage. In order words, competitive advantage can be achieved or delivered to the organization when resources are distinctively utilized in a valuable manner more than the envisaged competitors of the organization. Secondly, RBV is significantly influential in determining the real resources that are available in the organization with a view to locate capabilities within in order to attract more profitability into the organization when applied. Thus, there will be more sustainable growth and success in the ever competitive and emerging market. Thus, to have succinct description of the basic methodologies, the study adopts both qualitative as well as quantitative approach with a view to have a broad samples of opinion in establishing and identifying key and strategic organizational resources to enable managers of resources to gain a competitive advantage as well as generating a sustainable increase and growth in profit. Furthermore, a comparative approach and analysis was used to examine the performance of RBV within the organization. Thus, the following are some of the findings of the study: it is clear that there is a nexus between RBV and growth of competitively viable organizations. More so, in most parts, organizations have heterogeneous resources domiciled in their organizations but not all organizations as it was specifically and intelligently adopting the tenets of RBV to strengthen heterogeneity of resources which allows organisations to gain competitive advantage. Other findings of this study reveal that of managerial perception of RBV with respect to application and transformation of resources to achieve a profitable end. It is against this backdrop, the importance of RBV cannot be overemphasized; the study is strongly convinced and think that RBV view is one focal and distinct approach that is focused on internal to outside strategy which engenders sourcing or generating resources internally as well as having the quest to apply such internally sourced resources diligently to increase or gain competitive advantage.

Keywords: resource-based view, innovation, organisation, recognition significant relationship and theoretical perspective

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Authors: Wint Wint Thu, Htet Ko Ko Win, Myat Mon San, Zaw Lin Tun, Nandar Than Aye, Khin Nyein Myat, Hayman Nyo Oo, Nay Aung Lin, Kusum Thapa, Kyaw Htet Aung

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Background: In Myanmar, the intense political instability happened to start in Feb-2021, while the COVID-19 pandemic waves are also threatening the public health system, which subsequently led to severe health sector crisis, including difficulties in accessing maternal and newborn health care for vulnerable women and children. The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) uses a telehealth approach United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Essential Health Project. Implementation: The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) service has adapted to the MNCH needs of vulnerable pregnant women and was implemented to mitigate the risk of limited access to essential quality MNH care in Yangon, Myanmar, under women, and the project trained 13 service providers on a telehealth care package for pregnancy and newborn developed Jhpiego to ensure understanding of evidence-based MNCH care practices. The phone numbers of the pregnant women were gathered through the preexisting and functioning community volunteers, who reach the most vulnerable pregnant women in the project's targeted area. A total of 212 pregnant women have been reached by service providers for RPNC during the implementation period. The trained service providers offer quality antenatal and postnatal care, including newborn care, via telephone calls. It includes 24/7 incoming calls and time-allotted outgoing calls to the pregnant women during antenatal and postnatal periods, including the newborn care. The required data were collected daily in time with the calls, and the quality of the medical services is made assured with the track of the calls, ensuring data privacy and patient confidentiality. Lessons learned: The key lessons are 1) cost-effectiveness: RPNC service could reduce out of pocket expenditure of pregnant women as it only costs 1.6 United States dollars (USD) per one telehealth call while it costs 8 to 10 USD per one time in-person care service at private service providers, including transportation cost, 2) network of care: telehealth call could not replace the in-person antenatal and postnatal care services, and integration of telehealth calls with in-person care by local healthcare providers with the support of the community is crucial for accessibility to essential MNH services by poor and vulnerable women, and 3) sharing information on health access points: most of the women seem to have financial barriers in accessing private health facilities while public health system collapse and telehealthcare could provide information on low-cost facilities and connect women to relevant health facilities. These key lessons are important for future efforts regarding the implementation of remote pregnancy and newborn care in Myanmar, especially during the political crisis and COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Keywords: telehealth, accessibility, maternal care, newborn care

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Authors: Adekeye Joshua Temitope

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“Transgender” presents a complexion of ambiguity in the African context and it remains a contested topography in the discourse of sexual identity. The casts and stigmatisations towards transgender unveils vital facts and intricacies often ignored in the academic communities; the problems and oppressions of given sex/gender system, the constrain of monogamy and ignorance of fluidity of human sexuality thereby generating dual discords of “enforced heterosexual” and “unavoidable homosexual.” The African culture voids transgender movements and perceive same-sex sexual behavior as “taboo or bad habits” and this provide reasonable explanations for the failure of asserting for the sexual rights in GLBT movement in most discourse on sexuality in the African context. However, we could not deny the real existence of active flowing and fluidity of human sexuality even though its variants could be latent. The incessant consciousness of the existence of transgender practices in Africa either in form of bisexual desire or bisexual behavior with or without sexual identity, including people who identify themselves as bisexual opens up the vision for us to reconsider and reexamine what constitutes such ambiguity and controversy of transgender identity at present time. The notion of identity politics in gay, lesbian, and transgender community has its complexity and debates in its historical development. This paper analyses the representation of the historical trajectory of transgender practices by presenting the dynamic transition of how people cognize transgender practices under different historical conditions since the understanding of historical transition of bisexual practices would be very crucial and meaningful for gender/sexuality liberation movement at present time and in the future. The paper did a juxtaposition of the trajectories of bisexual practices between Anglo-American world and Africa, as it has certain similarities and differences within diverse historical complexities. The similar condition is the emergence of gay identity under the influence of capitalism but within different cultural context. Therefore, the political economy of each cultural context plays very important role in understanding the formation of sexual identities historically and its development and influence for the GLBT movement afterwards and in the future. By reexamining Kinsey’s categorization and applying Klein’s argument on individual’s sexual orientation this paper is poised to break the given and fixed connection among sexual behavior/sexual orientation/sexual identity, on the other hand to present the potential fluidity of human sexuality by reconsidering and reexamining the present given sex/gender system in our world. The paper concludes that it is obligatory for the essentialist and exclusionary trend at this historical moment since gay and lesbian communities in Africa need to clearly demonstrate and voice for themselves under the nuances of gender/sexuality liberation.

Keywords: heterosexual, homosexual, identity politics, queer politics, transgender

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Authors: Tom Turner

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The recent financial crisis in 2008 and the growing inequality in developed industrial societies would appear to present significant challenges to capitalism and the free market. Yet there have been few substantial mainstream political or economic challenges to the dominant capitalist and market paradigm to-date. There is no dearth of critical and theoretical (academic) analyses regarding the prevailing systems failures. Yet despite the growing inequality in the developed industrial societies and the financial crisis in 2008 few commentators have advocated the comprehensive socialization or state ownership of the means of production to our knowledge – a core principle of radical Marxism in the 19th and early part of the 20th century. Undoubtedly the experience in the Soviet Union and satellite countries in the 20th century has cast a dark shadow over the notion of centrally controlled economies and state ownership of the means of production. In this paper, we explore the history of a doctrine advocating the socialization or state ownership of the means of production that was central to Marxism and socialism generally. Indeed this doctrine provoked an intense and often acrimonious debate especially for left-wing parties throughout the 20th century. The debate within the political economy tradition has historically tended to divide into a radical and a revisionist approach to changing or reforming capitalism. The radical perspective views the conflict of interest between capital and labor as a persistent and insoluble feature of a capitalist society and advocates the public or state ownership of the means of production. Alternatively, the revisionist perspective focuses on issues of distribution rather than production and emphasizes the possibility of compromise between capital and labor in capitalist societies. Over the 20th century, the radical perspective has faded and even the social democratic revisionist tradition has declined in recent years. We conclude with the major challenges that confront both the radical and revisionist perspectives in the development of viable policy agendas in mature developed democratic societies. Additionally, we consider whether state ownership of the means of production still has relevance in the 21st century and to what extent state ownership is off the agenda as a political issue in the political mainstream in developed industrial societies. A central argument in the paper is that state ownership of the means of production is unlikely to feature as either a practical or theoretical solution to the problems of capitalism post the financial crisis among mainstream political parties of the left. Although the focus here is solely on the shifting views of the radical and revisionist socialist perspectives in the western European tradition the analysis has relevance for the wider socialist movement.

Keywords: sate ownership, ownership means of production, radicals, revisionists

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Authors: Mamiko Orii

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This study reports on primary school second language teachers’ sources of language insecurity. Furthermore, it aims to develop an in-service training course to reduce anxiety and build sufficient English communication skills. Language/Linguistic insecurity refers to a lack of confidence experienced by language speakers. In particular, second language/non-native learners often experience insecurity, influencing their learning efficacy. While language learner insecurity has been well-documented, research on the insecurity of language teaching professionals is limited. Teachers’ language insecurity or anxiety in target language use may adversely affect language instruction. For example, they may avoid classroom activities requiring intensive language use. Therefore, understanding teachers’ language insecurity and providing continuing education to help teachers to improve their proficiency is vital to improve teaching quality. This study investigated Japanese primary school teachers’ language insecurity. In Japan, teachers are responsible for teaching most subjects, including English, which was recently added as compulsory. Most teachers have never been professionally trained in second language instruction during college teacher certificate preparation, leading to low confidence in English teaching. Primary source of language insecurity is a lack of confidence regarding English communication skills. Their actual use of English in classrooms remains unclear. Teachers’ classroom speech remains a neglected area requiring improvement. A more refined programme for second language teachers could be constructed if we can identify areas of need. Two questionnaires were administered to primary school teachers in Tokyo: (1) Questionnaire A: 396 teachers answered questions (using a 5-point scale) concerning classroom teaching anxiety and general English use and needs for in-service training (Summer 2021); (2) Questionnaire B: 20 teachers answered detailed questions concerning their English use (Autumn 2022). Questionnaire A’s responses showed that over 80% of teachers have significant language insecurity and anxiety, mainly when speaking English in class or teaching independently. Most teachers relied on a team-teaching partner (e.g., ALT) and avoided speaking English. Over 70% of the teachers said they would like to participate in training courses in classroom English. Questionnaire B’s results showed that teachers could use simple classroom English, such as greetings and basic instructions (e.g., stand up, repeat after me), and initiate conversation (e.g., asking questions). In contrast, teachers reported that conversations were mainly carried on in a simple question-answer style. They had difficulty continuing conversations. Responding to learners’ ‘on-the-spot’ utterances was particularly difficult. Instruction in turn-taking patterns suitable in the classroom communication context is needed. Most teachers received grammar-based instruction during their entire English education. They were predominantly exposed to displayed questions and form-focused corrective feedback. Therefore, strategies such as encouraging teachers to ask genuine questions (i.e., referential questions) and responding to students with content feedback are crucial. When learners’ utterances are incorrect or unsatisfactory, teachers should rephrase or extend (recast) them instead of offering explicit corrections. These strategies support a continuous conversational flow. These results offer benefits beyond Japan’s English as a second Language context. They will be valuable in any context where primary school teachers are underprepared but must provide English-language instruction.

Keywords: english as a second/non-native language, in-service training, primary school, teachers’ language insecurity

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Authors: Gyu-Dong Kim, Wuk-Jae Yoo, Sang-Youl Lee

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Composite structures offer numerous advantages over conventional structural systems in the form of higher specific stiffness and strength, lower life-cycle costs, and benefits such as easy installation and improved safety. Recently, there has been a considerable increase in the use of composites in engineering applications and as wraps for seismic upgrading and repairs. However, these composites deteriorate with time because of outdated materials, excessive use, repetitive loading, climatic conditions, manufacturing errors, and deficiencies in inspection methods. In particular, damaged fibers in a composite result in significant degradation of structural performance. In order to reduce the failure probability of composites in service, techniques to assess the condition of the composites to prevent continual growth of fiber damage are required. Condition assessment technology and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques have provided various solutions for the safety of structures by means of detecting damage or defects from static or dynamic responses induced by external loading. A variety of techniques based on detecting the changes in static or dynamic behavior of isotropic structures has been developed in the last two decades. These methods, based on analytical approaches, are limited in their capabilities in dealing with complex systems, primarily because of their limitations in handling different loading and boundary conditions. Recently, investigators have introduced direct search methods based on metaheuristics techniques and artificial intelligence, such as genetic algorithms (GA), simulated annealing (SA) methods, and neural networks (NN), and have promisingly applied these methods to the field of structural identification. Among them, GAs attract our attention because they do not require a considerable amount of data in advance in dealing with complex problems and can make a global solution search possible as opposed to classical gradient-based optimization techniques. In this study, we propose an alternative damage-detection technique that can determine the degraded stiffness distribution of vibrating laminated composites made of Glass Fiber-reinforced Polymer (GFRP). The proposed method uses a modified form of the bivariate Gaussian distribution function to detect degraded stiffness characteristics. In addition, this study presents a method to detect the fiber property variation of laminated composite plates from the micromechanical point of view. The finite element model is used to study free vibrations of laminated composite plates for fiber stiffness degradation. In order to solve the inverse problem using the combined method, this study uses only first mode shapes in a structure for the measured frequency data. In particular, this study focuses on the effect of the interaction among various parameters, such as fiber angles, layup sequences, and damage distributions, on fiber-stiffness damage detection.

Keywords: stiffness detection, fiber damage, genetic algorithm, layup sequences

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Authors: Jim Weese

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The Kinesiology, Exercise and Sport Science environment remain excellent venues for leadership research. Prescribed leadership (coaching), emergent leadership (players and organizations), and executive leadership are all popular themes in the research literature. Leadership remains a popular area of inquiry in the sport management domain as well as an interesting area for practitioners who wish to heighten their leadership practices and effectiveness. The need for effective leadership in these areas given competing demands for attention and resources may be at an all-time high. The presenter has extensive research and practical experience in the area and has developed his concept based on the latest leadership literature. He refers to this as the Five ’C’s of Leadership. These components, noted below, have been empirically validated and have served as the foundation for extensive consulting with academic, sport, and business leaders. Credibility (C1) is considered the foundation of leadership. There are two components to this area, namely: (a) leaders being respected for having the relevant knowledge, insights, and experience to be seen as credible sources of information, and (b) followers perceiving the leader as being a person of character, someone who is honest, reliable, consistent, and trustworthy. Compelling Vision (C2) refers to the leader’s ability to focus the attention of followers on a desired end goal. Effective leaders understand trends and developments in their industry. They also listen attentively to the needs and desires of their stakeholders and use their own instincts and experience to shape these ideas into an inspiring vision that is effectively and continuously communicated. Charismatic Communicator (C3) refers to the leader’s ability to formally and informally communicate with members. Leaders must deploy mechanisms and communication techniques to keep their members informed and engaged. Effective leaders sprinkle in ‘proof points’ that reinforce the vision’s relevance and/or the unit’s progress towards its attainment. Contagious Enthusiasm (C4) draws on the emotional intelligence literature as it relates to exciting and inspiring followers. Effective leaders demonstrate a level of care, commitment, and passion for their people and feelings of engagement permeate the group. These leaders genuinely care about the task at hand, and for the people working to make it a reality. Culture Builder (C5) is the capstone component of the model and is critical to long-term success and survival. Organizational culture refers to the dominant beliefs, values and attitudes of members of a group or organization. Some have suggested that developing and/or imbedding a desired culture for an organization is the most important responsibility for a leader. The author outlines his Five ‘C’s’ of Leadership concept and provide direct application to executive leadership in Kinesiology, Exercise and Sport Science.

Keywords: effectiveness, leadership, management, sport

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Authors: Trevor Stephen, Joshua D. Aceves, David Guyer, Jona Jacobson

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As a profession, social work has much to offer individuals, groups, and organizations. A multidisciplinary approach to understanding and solving complex challenges and a commitment to developing and training ethical practitioners outlines characteristics of a profession embedded with leadership skills. This presentation will take an overview of the historical context of social work leadership, examine social work as a unique leadership model composed of its qualities and theories that inform effective leadership capability as it relates to our code of ethics. Reflect critically on leadership theories and their foundational comparison. Finally, a look at recommendations and implementation to social work education and practice. Similar to defining leadership, there is no universally accepted definition of social work leadership. However, some distinct traits and characteristics are essential. Recent studies help set the stage for this research proposal because they measure views on effective social work leadership among social work and non-social leaders and followers. However, this research is interested in working backward from that approach and examining social workers' leadership preparedness perspectives based solely on social work training, competencies, values, and ethics. Social workers understand how to change complex structures and challenge resistance to change to improve the well-being of organizations and those they serve. Furthermore, previous studies align with the idea of practitioners assessing their skill and capacity to engage in leadership but not to lead. In addition, this research is significant because it explores aspiring social work leaders' competence to translate social work practice into direct leadership skills. The research question seeks to answer whether social work training and competencies are sufficient to determine whether social workers believe they possess the capacity and skill to engage in leadership practice. Aim 1: Assess whether social workers have the capacity and skills to assume leadership roles. Aim 2: Evaluate how the development of social workers is sufficient in defining leadership. This research intends to reframe the misconception that social workers do not possess the capacity and skills to be effective leaders. On the contrary, social work encompasses a framework dedicated to lifelong development and growth. Social workers must be skilled, competent, ethical, supportive, and empathic. These are all qualities and traits of effective leadership, whereas leaders are in relation with others and embody partnership and collaboration with followers and stakeholders. The proposed study is a cross-sectional quasi-experimental survey design that will include the distribution of a multi-level social work leadership model and assessment tool. The assessment tool aims to help define leadership in social work using a Likert scale model. A cross-sectional research design is appropriate for answering the research questions because the measurement survey will help gather data using a structured tool. Other than the proposed social work leadership measurement tool, there is no other mechanism based on social work theory and designed to measure the capacity and skill of social work leadership.

Keywords: leadership competencies, leadership education, multi-level social work leadership model, social work core values, social work leadership, social work leadership education, social work leadership measurement tool

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Authors: Paulette Henry

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If Caribbean Universities wish to remain sustainable in the global education market they must meet the new demands of the 21st Centuries learners. This means preparing the teaching and learning environment with the human and material and resources so that the University can blossom out into the entrepreneurial University. The entrepreneurial University prepares the learner to become a global citizen, one who is innovative and a critical thinker and has the competencies to create jobs. Entrepreneurship education provides more equitable access to university education building capacity for the local and global economy. The entrepreneurial thinking, the mindset, must therefore be among academic and support staff as well as students. In developing countries where resources are scarce, Universities are grappling with a myriad of financial and non-financial issues. These include increasing costs, Union demands for increased remuneration for staff and reduced subvention from governments which has become the norm. In addition, there is the political pressure against increasing tuition fees and the perceptions on the moral responsibilities of universities in national development. The question is how do small universities carve out their niche, meet both political and consumer demands for a high quality, low lost education, fulfil their development mandate and still remain not only viable but competitive. Themes which are central to this discourse on the transitions necessary for the entrepreneurial university are leadership, governance and staff well-being. This paper therefore presents a case study of a Caribbean University to show how transformational leadership and the change management framework propels change towards an entrepreneurial institution seeking to have a competitive advantage despite its low resourced context. Important to this discourse are the transformational approaches used by the University to prepare staff to move from their traditional psyche to embracing an entrepreneurial mindset whilst equipping students within the same mode to become work ready and creative global citizens. Using the mixed methods approach, opinions were garnered from both members of the University community as well as external stakeholder groups on their perception of the role of the University in the business arena and as a primary stakeholder in national development. One of the critical concepts emanating from the discourse was the need to change the mindset of the those in university governance as well as how national stakeholders engage the university. This paper shows how multiple non-financial factors can contribute to change. A combination of transformational and servant leadership, strengthened institutional structures and developing new ones, rebuilding institutional trust and pride have been among the strategies employed within the change management framework. The university is no longer limited by borders but through international linkages has transcended into a transnational stakeholder.

Keywords: competitiveness, context, entrepreneurial, leadership

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Authors: Kim Katherine Castillo, Nelson John Datubatang, Terrence Phillip Dy, Norelie Hampac, Reichen Crismark Martinez, Nina Faith Pantinople, Jose Dante Santos II, Marchel Ann Santos, Sophia Abigail Santiago, Zyrill Xsar San Juan, Aira Mae Tagao, Crystal Kylla Viagedor

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The Work Immersion Program was implemented to help students gain abundant work-related experiences while on-site; additionally, the program aims to help students improve their competencies and interpersonal skills as they are given the option to join the workforce if they ever choose to do so after senior high school. The work immersion experience posed diverse challenges for students, spanning personal, financial, engagement, environmental, and equipment-related domains. These included the need for assistance in time management, transportation expenses, and procurement of materials. Furthermore, students faced difficulties in independent task completion and encountered suboptimal work environments. Addressing these multifaceted obstacles is crucial to optimize the educational outcomes of work immersion programs. In addition to the challenges, several other issues have been identified, including the absence of standardized work immersion programs across schools and industries, the challenges in securing appropriate work immersion placements, the necessity for enhanced monitoring and evaluation of program effectiveness, and the limited availability of field programs aligned with students' chosen courses. Furthermore, there is a lack of comprehensive information regarding the attitudes of Senior High School students toward work immersion programs within their respective schools. This study aims to investigate the attitudes of senior high school students at Nazareth School of National University towards work immersion programs, with a focus on identifying factors that influence their perception and participation, including collegiality and expectations. By exploring the students' attitudes, the research endeavors to enhance the school's work immersion programs and contribute to the overall educational experience of the students. This study addresses challenges related to work immersion programs, focusing on six subtopics: Work Immersion, Work Immersion in the Philippines, Students' Attitudes, Factors Affecting Students' Attitudes, Effectiveness of Work Immersion for Senior High School Students, and Students' Perception and Willingness to Participate. Using a descriptive research design, the study examines the attitudes of senior high school students at Nazareth School of National University in Manila. Data was collected from 100 students, representing different academic strands, through a 35-item researcher-made survey. Descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and variability, will be used to analyze the data using JASP, providing valuable insights into the students' attitudes toward work immersion.

Keywords: attitudes, challenges, educational outcomes, work immersion programs

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Authors: Johnas Buhori, Meinrad Haule Lembuka

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Introduction: Social work expands its boundary to accommodate indigenous knowledge and practice for better competence and services. In Tanzania, Mama Mkubwa Mkubwa (MMM) (Mother’s elder sister) is an indigenous practice of alternative child care that represents other traditional practices across African societies known as Ubuntu practice. Ubuntu is African Humanism with values and approaches that are connected to the social work. MMM focuses on using the elder sister of a deceased mother or father, a trusted elder woman from the extended family or indigenous community to provide alternative care to an orphan or vulnerable child. In Ubuntu's perspective, it takes a whole village or community to raise a child, meaning that every person in the community is responsible for child care. Methodology: A desk review method guided by Ubuntu theory was applied to enrich the study. Findings: MMM resembles the Ubuntu ideal of traditional child protection of those in need as part of alternative child care throughout Tanzanian history. Social work practice, along with other formal alternative child care, was introduced in Tanzania during the colonial era in 1940s and socio-economic problems of 1980s affected the country’s formal social welfare system, and suddenly HIV/AIDS pandemic triggered the vulnerability of children and hampered the capacity of the formal sector to provide social welfare services, including alternative child care. For decades, AIDS has contributed to an influx of orphans and vulnerable children that facilitated the re-emerging of traditional alternative child care at the community level, including MMM. MMM strongly practiced in regions where the AIDS pandemic affected the community, like Njombe, Coastal region, Kagera, etc. Despite of existing challenges, MMM remained to be the remarkably alternative child care practiced in both rural and urban communities integrated with social welfare services. Tanzania envisions a traditional mechanism of family or community environment for alternative child care with the notion that sometimes institutionalization care fails to offer children all they need to become productive members of society, and later, it becomes difficult to reconnect in the society. Implications to Social Work: MMM is compatible with social work by using strengths perspectives; MMM reflects Ubuntu's perspective on the ground of humane social work, using humane methods to achieve human goals. MMM further demonstrates the connectedness of those who care and those cared for and the inextricable link between them as Ubuntu-inspired models of social work that view children from family, community, environmental, and spiritual perspectives. Conclusion: Social work and MMM are compatible at the micro and mezzo levels; thus, application of MMM can be applied in social work practice beyond Tanzania when properly designed and integrated into other systems. When MMM is applied in social work, alternative care has the potential to support not only children but also empower families and communities. Since MMM is a community-owned and voluntary base, it can relieve the government, social workers, and other formal sectors from the annual burden of cost in the provision of institutionalized alternative child care.

Keywords: ubuntu, indigenous social work, african social work, ubuntu social work, child protection, child alternative care

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Authors: Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, Lisa-Charlotte Wolter

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With the continuous proliferation of media platforms, there have been tremendous changes in media consumption behaviors. From the perspective of sports sponsorship, while there is now a multitude of platforms to create brand associations, the changing media landscape and shift of message control also mean that sports sponsors will have to take into account the nature of and consumer responses toward these emerging digital media to devise effective marketing strategies. Utilizing the personal interview methodology, this study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. A total of 18 experts from European and American academics, sports marketing industry, and sports leagues/teams were interviewed to address three main research questions: 1) What are the major changes in digital technologies that are relevant to sports sponsorship; 2) How have digital media influenced the channels and platforms of sports sponsorship; and 3) How have these technologies affected the goals, strategies, and measurement of sports sponsorship. The study found that sports sponsorship has moved from consumer engagement, engagement measurement, and consequences of engagement on brand behaviors to micro-targeting one on one, engagement by context, time, and space, and activation and leveraging based on tracking and databases. From the perspective of platforms and channels, the use of mobile devices is prominent during sports content consumption. Increasing multiscreen media consumption means that sports sponsors need to optimize their investment decisions in leagues, teams, or game-related content sources, as they need to go where the fans are most engaged in. The study observed an imbalanced strategic leveraging of technology and digital infrastructure. While sports leagues have had less emphasis on brand value management via technology, sports sponsors have been much more active in utilizing technologies like mobile/LBS tools, big data/user info, real-time marketing and programmatic, and social media activation. Regardless of the new media/platforms, the study found that integration and contextualization are the two essential means of improving sports sponsorship effectiveness through technology. That is, how sponsors effectively integrate social media/mobile/second screen into their existing legacy media sponsorship plan so technology works for the experience/message instead of distracting fans. Additionally, technological advancement and attention economy amplify the importance of consumer data gathering, but sports consumer data does not mean loyalty or engagement. This study also affirms the benefit of digital media as they offer viral and pre-event activations through storytelling way before the actual event, which is critical for leveraging brand association before and after. That is, sponsors now have multiple opportunities and platforms to tell stories about their brands for longer time period. In summary, digital media facilitate fan experience, access to the brand message, multiplatform/channel presentations, storytelling, and content sharing. Nevertheless, rather than focusing on technology and media, today’s sponsors need to define what they want to focus on in terms of content themes that connect with their brands and then identify the channels/platforms. The big challenge for sponsors is to play to the venues/media’s specificity and its fit with the target audience and not uniformly deliver the same message in the same format on different platforms/channels.

Keywords: digital media, mobile media, social media, technology, sports sponsorship

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Authors: Amy Buckley

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The purpose of this article is to assess the problem of constitutional hyper-rigidity to consider how it and the associated tensions with democratic constitutionalism can be diminished by means of using digital democratic technologies. In other words, this article examines how digital technologies can assist us in ensuring fidelity to the will of the constituent power without paying the price of hyper-rigidity. In doing so, it is impossible to ignore that digital strategies can also harm democracy through, for example, manipulation, hacking, ‘fake news,’ and the like. This article considers the tension between constitutional hyper-rigidity and democratic constitutionalism and the relevant strengths and weaknesses of digital democratic strategies before undertaking a case study on Canadian e-consultations and drawing its conclusions. This article observes democratic constitutionalism through the lens of the theory of deliberative democracy to suggest that the application of digital strategies can, notwithstanding their pitfalls, improve a constituency’s amendment culture and, thus, diminish constitutional hyper-rigidity. Constitutional hyper-rigidity is not a new or underexplored concept. At a high level, a constitution can be said to be ‘hyper-rigid’ when its formal amendment procedure is so difficult to enact that it does not take place or is limited in its application. This article claims that hyper-rigidity is one problem with ordinary constitutionalism that fails to satisfy the principled requirements of democratic constitutionalism. Given the rise and development of technology that has taken place since the Digital Revolution, there has been a significant expansion in the possibility for digital democratic strategies to overcome the democratic constitutionalism failures resulting from constitutional hyper-rigidity. Typically, these strategies have included, inter alia, e- consultations, e-voting systems, and online polling forums, all of which significantly improve the ability of politicians and judges to directly obtain the opinion of constituents on any number of matters. This article expands on the application of these strategies through its Canadian e-consultation case study and presents them as a solution to poor amendment culture and, consequently, constitutional hyper-rigidity. Hyper-rigidity is a common descriptor of many written and unwritten constitutions, including the United States, Australian, and Canadian constitutions as just some examples. This article undertakes a case study on Canada, in particular, as it is a jurisdiction less commonly cited in academic literature generally concerned with hyper-rigidity and because Canada has to some extent, championed the use of e-consultations. In Part I of this article, I identify the problem, being that the consequence of constitutional hyper-rigidity is in tension with the principles of democratic constitutionalism. In Part II, I identify and explore a potential solution, the implementation of digital democratic strategies as a means of reducing constitutional hyper-rigidity. In Part III, I explore Canada’s e-consultations as a case study for assessing whether digital democratic strategies do, in fact, improve a constituency’s amendment culture thus reducing constitutional hyper-rigidity and the associated tension that arises with the principles of democratic constitutionalism. The idea is to run a case study and then assess whether I can generalise the conclusions.

Keywords: constitutional hyper-rigidity, digital democracy, deliberative democracy, democratic constitutionalism

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Authors: Ola Hall, Ibrahim Wahab, Thorsteinn Rognvaldsson, Mattias Ohlsson

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The subfield of poverty and welfare estimation that applies machine learning tools and methods on satellite imagery is a nascent but rapidly growing one. This is in part driven by the sustainable development goal, whose overarching principle is that no region is left behind. Among other things, this requires that welfare levels can be accurately and rapidly estimated at different spatial scales and resolutions. Conventional tools of household surveys and interviews do not suffice in this regard. While they are useful for gaining a longitudinal understanding of the welfare levels of populations, they do not offer adequate spatial coverage for the accuracy that is needed, nor are their implementation sufficiently swift to gain an accurate insight into people and places. It is this void that satellite imagery fills. Previously, this was near-impossible to implement due to the sheer volume of data that needed processing. Recent advances in machine learning, especially the deep learning subtype, such as deep neural networks, have made this a rapidly growing area of scholarship. Despite their unprecedented levels of performance, such models lack transparency and explainability and thus have seen limited downstream applications as humans generally are apprehensive of techniques that are not inherently interpretable and trustworthy. While several studies have demonstrated the superhuman performance of AI models, none has directly compared the performance of such models and human readers in the domain of poverty studies. In the present study, we directly compare the performance of human readers and a DL model using different resolutions of satellite imagery to estimate the welfare levels of demographic and health survey clusters in Tanzania, using the wealth quintile ratings from the same survey as the ground truth data. The cluster-level imagery covers all 608 cluster locations, of which 428 were classified as rural. The imagery for the human readers was sourced from the Google Maps Platform at an ultra-high resolution of 0.6m per pixel at zoom level 18, while that of the machine learning model was sourced from the comparatively lower resolution Sentinel-2 10m per pixel data for the same cluster locations. Rank correlation coefficients of between 0.31 and 0.32 achieved by the human readers were much lower when compared to those attained by the machine learning model – 0.69-0.79. This superhuman performance by the model is even more significant given that it was trained on the relatively lower 10-meter resolution satellite data while the human readers estimated welfare levels from the higher 0.6m spatial resolution data from which key markers of poverty and slums – roofing and road quality – are discernible. It is important to note, however, that the human readers did not receive any training before ratings, and had this been done, their performance might have improved. The stellar performance of the model also comes with the inevitable shortfall relating to limited transparency and explainability. The findings have significant implications for attaining the objective of the current frontier of deep learning models in this domain of scholarship – eXplainable Artificial Intelligence through a collaborative rather than a comparative framework.

Keywords: poverty prediction, satellite imagery, human readers, machine learning, Tanzania

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Authors: R. M. Kilonzo, S. Bedingfield, K. Smith, K. Hudgins Smith, K. Couper, R. Ratley, Z. Taylor, A. Engelman, M. Renne

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Introduction: The mental health needs of university students continue to evolve, necessitating a strategic approach to service delivery. The East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Counseling Center developed its inaugural Strategic Plan (2024-2028) to enhance student mental health services. The plan focuses on improving access, quality of care, and service visibility, aligning with the university’s mission to support academic success and student well-being. Aim: This strategic plan aims to establish a comprehensive framework for delivering high-quality, evidence-based mental health services to ETSU students, addressing current challenges, and anticipating future needs. Methods: The development of the strategic plan was a collaborative effort involving the Counseling Center’s leadership, staff, with technical support from Doctor of Public Health-community and behavioral health intern. Multiple workshops, online/offline reviews, and stakeholder consultations were held to ensure a robust and inclusive process. A SWOT analysis and stakeholder mapping were conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. Key performance indicators (KPIs) were set to measure service utilization, satisfaction, and outcomes. Results: The plan resulted in four strategic priorities: service application, visibility/accessibility, safety and satisfaction, and training programs. Key objectives include expanding counseling services, improving service access through outreach, reducing stigma, and increasing peer support programs. The plan also focuses on continuous quality improvement through data-driven assessments and research initiatives. Immediate outcomes include expanded group therapy, enhanced staff training, and increased mental health literacy across campus. Conclusion and Recommendation: The strategic plan provides a roadmap for addressing the mental health needs of ETSU students, with a clear focus on accessibility, inclusivity, and evidence-based practices. Implementing the plan will strengthen the Counseling Center’s capacity to meet the diverse needs of the student population. To ensure sustainability, it is recommended that the center continuously assess student needs, foster partnerships with university and external stakeholders, and advocate for increased funding to expand services and staff capacity.

Keywords: strategic plan, university counseling center, mental health, students

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Authors: Dimitriu Corneliu-Ioan, Gheorghe FrațIlă

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Romania has one of the highest rates of road deaths among European Union Member States, and there is a concern that the country will not meet its goal of "zero deaths" by 2050. The European Union also aims to halve the number of people seriously injured in road accidents by 2030. Therefore, there is a need to improve road infrastructure safety management in Romania. The aim of this study is to analyze road accident data through statistical methods to assess the current state of road infrastructure safety in Bucharest. The study also aims to identify trends and make forecasts regarding serious road accidents and their consequences. The objective is to provide insights that can help prioritize measures to increase road safety, particularly in urban areas. The research utilizes statistical analysis methods, including exploratory analysis and descriptive statistics. Databases from the Traffic Police and the Romanian Road Authority are analyzed using Excel. Road risks are compared with the main causes of road accidents to identify correlations. The study emphasizes the need for better quality and more diverse collection of road accident data for effective analysis in the field of road infrastructure engineering. The research findings highlight the importance of prioritizing measures to improve road safety in urban areas, where serious accidents and their consequences are more frequent. There is a correlation between the measures ordered by road safety auditors and the main causes of serious accidents in Bucharest. The study also reveals the significant social costs of road accidents, amounting to approximately 3% of GDP, emphasizing the need for collaboration between local and central administrations in allocating resources for road safety. This research contributes to a clearer understanding of the current road infrastructure safety situation in Romania. The findings provide critical insights that can aid decision-makers in allocating resources efficiently and institutionally cooperating to achieve sustainable road safety. The data used for this study are collected from the Traffic Police and the Romanian Road Authority. The data processing involves exploratory analysis and descriptive statistics using the Excel tool. The analysis allows for a better understanding of the factors contributing to the current road safety situation and helps inform managerial decisions to eliminate or reduce road risks. The study addresses the state of road infrastructure safety in Bucharest and analyzes the trends and forecasts regarding serious road accidents and their consequences. It studies the correlation between road safety measures and the main causes of serious accidents. To improve road safety, cooperation between local and central administrations towards joint financial efforts is important. This research highlights the need for statistical data processing methods to substantiate managerial decisions in road infrastructure management. It emphasizes the importance of improving the quality and diversity of road accident data collection. The research findings provide a critical perspective on the current road safety situation in Romania and offer insights to identify appropriate solutions to reduce the number of serious road accidents in the future.

Keywords: road death rate, strategic objective, serious road accidents, road safety, statistical analysis

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Authors: Shyan-Lung Lin, Cheng-Yi Huang, Tung-Yi Lin

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Physical fitness is the adaptability of the body to physical work and the environment, and is generally known to include cardiopulmonary-fitness, muscular-fitness, body flexibility, and body composition. This paper is aimed to study the ventilatory and cardiovascular activity under various exercise intensities for subjects at distinct ends of cardiopulmonary fitness norm. Three graded upright biking exercises, light, moderate, and vigorous exercise, were designed for subjects at distinct ends of cardiopulmonary fitness norm from their physical education classes. The participants in the experiments were 9, 9, and 11 subjects in the top 20%, middle 20%, and bottom 20%, respectively, among all freshmen of the Feng Chia University in the academic year of 2015. All participants were requested to perform 5 minutes of upright biking exercise to attain 50%, 65%, and 85% of their maximum heart rate (HRmax) during the light, moderate, and vigorous exercise experiment, respectively, and 5 minutes of recovery following each graded exercise. The cardiovascular and ventilatory signals, including breathing frequency (f), tidal volume (VT), heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and ECG signals were recorded during rest, exercise, and recovery periods. The physiological signals of three groups were analyzed based on their recovery, recovery rate, and percentage variation from rest. Selected time domain parameters, SDNN and RMSSD, were computed and spectral analysis was performed to study the hear rate variability from collected ECG signals. The comparison studies were performed to examine the correlations between physical fitness norm and cardio-pulmonary signals during graded exercises and exercise recovery. No significant difference was found among three groups with VT during all levels of exercise intensity and recovery. The top 20% group was found to have better performance in heart recovery (HRR), frequency recovery rate (fRR) and percentage variation from rest (Δf) during the recovery period of vigorous exercise. The top 20% group was also found to achieve lower mean arterial pressure MAP only at rest but showed no significant difference during graded exercises and recovery periods. In time-domain analysis of HRV, the top 20% group again seemed to have better recovery rate and less variation in terms of SDNN during recovery period of light and vigorous exercises. Most assessed frequency domain parameters changed significantly during the experiment (p<0.05, ANOVA). The analysis showed that the top 20% group, in comparison with middle and bottom 20% groups, appeared to have significantly higher TP, LF, HF, and nHF index, while the bottom 20% group showed higher nLF and LF/HF index during rest, three graded levels of exercises, and their recovery periods.

Keywords: physical fitness, cardio-pulmonary signals, graded exercise, exercise recovery

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Authors: Matthew J. B. Wilson

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Disaster Risk Reduction relies heavily on the effective cooperation of both humanitarian and development actors, particularly in the wake of a disaster, implementing lasting recovery measures that better protect communities from disasters to come. This can be seen to fit within a broader discussion around integrating humanitarian and development work stretching back to the 1980s. Over time, a number of key concepts have been put forward, including Linking Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development (LRRD), Early Recovery (ER), ‘Build Back Better’ (BBB), and the most recent ‘Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus’ or ‘Triple Nexus’ (HDPN) to define these goals and relationship. While this discussion has evolved greatly over time, from a continuum to a more integrative synergistic relationship, there remains a lack of consensus around how to describe it, and as such, the reality of effectively closing this gap has yet to be seen. The objective of this research was twofold. First, to map these four identified concepts (LRRD, ER, BBB & HDPN) used in the literature since 1995 to understand the overall trends in how this relationship is discussed. Second, map articles reference a combination of these concepts to understand their interrelationship. A scoping review was conducted for each concept identified. Results were gathered from Google Scholar by firstly inputting specific boolean search phrases for each concept as they related specifically to disasters each year since 1995 to identify the total number of articles discussing each concept over time. A second search was then done by pairing concepts together within a boolean search phrase and inputting the results into a matrix to understand how many articles contained references to more than one of the concepts. This latter search was limited to articles published after 2017 to account for the more recent emergence of HDPN. It was found that ER and particularly BBB are referred to much more widely than LRRD and HDPN. ER increased particularly in the mid-2000’s coinciding with the formation of the ER cluster, and BBB, whilst emerging gradually in the mid-2000s due to its usage in the wake of the Boxing Day Tsunami, increased significantly from about 2015 after its prominent inclusion in Sendai Framework. HDPN has only just started to increase in the last 4-5 years. In regards to the relationship between concepts, it was found the vast majority of all concepts identified were referred to in isolation from each other. The strongest relationship was between LRRD and HDPN (8% of articles referring to both), whilst ER-BBB and ER-HDPN both were about 3%, LRRD-ER 2%, and BBB-HDPN 1% and BBB-LRRD 1%. This research identified a fundamental issue around the lack of consensus and even awareness of different approaches referred to within academic literature relating to integrating humanitarian and development work. More research into synthesizing and learning from a range of approaches could work towards better closing this gap.

Keywords: build back better, disaster risk reduction, early recovery, linking relief rehabilitation and development, humanitarian development integration, humanitarian-development (peace) nexus, recovery, triple nexus

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Jayme R. T. Silva, Paulo G. P. Toro, Angelo Passaro, Giannino P. Camillo, Antonio C. Oliveira

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An in-house C++ code has been developed, at the Prof. Henry T. Nagamatsu Laboratory of Aerothermodynamics and Hypersonics from the Institute of Advanced Studies (Brazil), to estimate the aerothermodynamic properties around the Hypersonic Vehicle Integrated to the Scramjet. In the future, this code will be applied to the design of the Brazilian Scramjet Technological Demonstrator 14-X B. The first step towards accomplishing this objective, is to apply the in-house C++ code at the leading edge of a flat plate, simulating the leading edge of the 14-X Hypersonic Vehicle, making possible the wave phenomena of oblique shock and boundary layer to be analyzed. The development of modern hypersonic space vehicles requires knowledge regarding the characteristics of hypersonic flows in the vicinity of a leading edge of lifting surfaces. The strong interaction between a shock wave and a boundary layer, in a high supersonic Mach number 4 viscous flow, close to the leading edge of the plate, considering no slip condition, is numerically investigated. The small slip region is neglecting. The study consists of solving the fluid flow equations for unstructured meshes applying the SIMPLE algorithm for Finite Volume Method. Unstructured meshes are generated by the in-house software ‘Modeler’ that was developed at Virtual’s Engineering Laboratory from the Institute of Advanced Studies, initially developed for Finite Element problems and, in this work, adapted to the resolution of the Navier-Stokes equations based on the SIMPLE pressure-correction scheme for all-speed flows, Finite Volume Method based. The in-house C++ code is based on the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations considering non-steady flow, with nobody forces, no volumetric heating, and no mass diffusion. Air is considered as calorically perfect gas, with constant Prandtl number and Sutherland's law for the viscosity. Solutions of the flat plate problem for Mach number 4 include pressure, temperature, density and velocity profiles as well as 2-D contours. Also, the boundary layer thickness, boundary conditions, and mesh configurations are presented. The same problem has been solved by the academic license of the software Ansys Fluent and for another C++ in-house code, which solves the fluid flow equations in structured meshes, applying the MacCormack method for Finite Difference Method, and the results will be compared.

Keywords: boundary-layer, scramjet, simple algorithm, shock wave

Procedia PDF Downloads 493