Search results for: 21st century leadership

Authors: M. S. Riyazulla

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Since the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a perceptible decline in Islamic supremacy in world affairs, apart from the gradual waning of the amiable relations and relevance of Islamic countries in the International political arena. For a long, Islamic countries have been marginalised by the superpowers in the global conflicting issues. This was evident in the context of their recent invasions and interference in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The leading International Islamic organizations like the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Gulf Cooperation Council, and Muslim World League did not play any prominent role there in resolving the crisis that ensued due to the exogenous and endogenous causes. Hence, there is a need for Islamic countries to create a credible International Islamic organization that could dictate its terms and shape a new Islamic world order. The prominent Islamic countries are divided on ideological and religious fault lines. Their concord is indispensable to enhance their image and placate the relations with other countries and communities. The massive boon of oil and gas could be synergistically utilised to exhibit their omnipotence and eminence through constructive ways. The prevailing menace of Islamophobia could be abated through syncretic messages, discussions, and deliberations by the sagacious Islamic scholars with the other community leaders. Presently, as Muslims are at a crossroads, a dynamic leadership could navigate the agitated Muslim community on the constructive path and herald political stability around the world. The present political disorder, chaos, and economic challenges necessities a paradigm shift in approach to worldly affairs. This could also be accomplished through the advancement in science and technology, particularly space exploration, for peaceful purposes. The Islamic world, in order to regain its lost preeminence, should rise to the occasion in promoting peace and tranquility in the world and should evolve a rational and human-centric solution to global disputes and concerns. As a splendid contribution to humanity and for amicable international relations, they should devote all their resources and scientific intellect towards space exploration and should safely transport man from the Earth to the nearest and most accessible cosmic body, the Moon, within one hundred years as the mankind is facing the existential threat on the planet.

Keywords: carboniferous period, Earth, extinction, fossil fuels, global leaders, Islamic glory, international order, life, marginalization, Moon, natural catastrophes

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Authors: Lin Yanyan

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This research set out to understand early childhood practitioners’ perceptions of continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities and its relationship to career progression and leadership roles in Singapore. The small-scale qualitative inductive study was conducted in two phases. Phase one used close-ended questionnaires with a total of 24 early years practitioner participants, while phase two included a total of 5 participants who were invited to participate in the second part of the data collection. Semi-structured interviews were used at phase two to elicit deeper responses from parents and teachers. Findings from the study were then thematically coded and analysed. The findings from both questionnaires and interviews showed that early years practitioners perceived CPD to be important to their professional growth, but there was no conclusive link that CPD necessarily led to the progression of leadership roles in the early years. Participants experience of CPD was strongly determined by their employer- the preschool operator, being government-funded or a private entity, which resulted in key differences emerging between their responses. Participants also experienced road blocks in their pursuit of CPD, in the form of staff shortage, budget constraints and lack of autonomy as their employers imposed specific CPD courses on them to suit the organisational needs, rather than their personal or professional needs.

Keywords: continuous professional development (CPD), early years practitioners (EYP), career progression, leadership

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Authors: Cristina Maria Mendoza Sanchez, Maria Angeles Navarro Perán

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Introduction: Nursing as a profession, from its initial formation and after its development in practice, has been built and identified mainly from its technical competence and professionalization within the positivist approach of the XIX century that provides a conception of the disease built on the basis of to the biomedical paradigm, where the care provided is more focused on the physiological processes and the disease than on the suffering person understood as a whole. The main issue that is in need of study here is a review of the nursing profession's history to get to know how the nursing profession was before the XIX century. It is unclear if there were organizations or people with knowledge about looking after others or if many people survived by chance. The holistic care, in which the appearance of the disease directly affects all its dimensions: physical, emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual. It is not a concept from the 21st century. It is common practice, most probably since established life in this world, with the final purpose of covering all these perspectives through quality care. Objective: In this paper, we describe and analyze the history of education in nursing learning in terms of reviewing and analysing theoretical foundations of clinical teaching and learning in nursing, with the final purpose of determining and describing the development of the nursing profession along the history. Method: We have done a descriptive systematic review study, doing a systematically searched of manuscripts and articles in the following health science databases: Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Temperamentvm and CINAHL. The selection of articles has been made according to PRISMA criteria, doing a critical reading of the full text using the CASPe method. A compliment to this, we have read a range of historical and contemporary sources to support the review, such as manuals of Florence Nightingale and John of God as primary manuscripts to establish the origin of modern nursing and her professionalization. We have considered and applied ethical considerations of data processing. Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria in our search, in Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Temperamentvm and CINAHL, we have obtained 51 research articles. We have analyzed them in such a way that we have distinguished them by year of publication and the type of study. With the articles obtained, we can see the importance of our background as a profession before modern times in public health and as a review of our past to face challenges in the near future. Discussion: The important influence of key figures other than Nightingale has been overlooked and it emerges that nursing management and development of the professional body has a longer and more complex history than is generally accepted. Conclusions: There is a paucity of studies on the subject of the review to be able to extract very precise evidence and recommendations about nursing before modern times. But even so, as more representative data, an increase in research about nursing history has been observed. In light of the aspects analyzed, the need for new research in the history of nursing emerges from this perspective; in order to germinate studies of the historical construction of care before the XIX century and theories created then. We can assure that pieces of knowledge and ways of care were taught before the XIX century, but they were not called theories, as these concepts were created in modern times.

Keywords: nursing history, nursing theory, Saint John of God, Florence Nightingale, learning, nursing education

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Authors: Sharon Cayzer-Haller, Shir Ginosar-Yaari, Ariel Knafo-Noam

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The 21st century emerged as the digital century, and it is marked by a wide range of technological developments and changes, followed by potential changes in human communication skills. This technological revolution has changed human means of communication in many different ways: children and adolescents are spending much of their time in front of screens, participating in all sorts of online activities (even more so since the outbreak of COVID-19). The current study focuses on the role of values in adolescents' online bystanders' behavior. Values are cognitive, abstract representations of desirable goals that motivate behavior, and we hypothesized finding significant associations between specific values and differential online bystanders' feelings and behavior. Data was collected through online questionnaires that measured the participants' values, using Schwartz's short version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, 2012). Participants’ online behavior was assessed in a questionnaire addressing reactions to situations of cyber shaming and cyberbullying, and specifically positive feelings and pro-social behavior (e.g., more supportive reactions) toward the victims, as opposed to different offensive behavioral reactions (such as laughing at the victim or ignoring the situation). Participants were recruited with a commercial research panel company, and 308 Israeli adolescents' values and online behavior were examined (mean age 15.2). As hypothesized, results show significant associations between self-transcendence values (universalism and benevolence) and conservation values (conformity, tradition, and security). These two groups of values were positively correlated with pro-social bystanders' feelings and behavior. On the opposite side of the values scale, the value of power was negatively associated with the participants' pro-social behavior, and positively associated with offensive behavioral reactions. Further research is needed, but we conclude that values serve as crucial guiding factors in directing adolescents' online feelings and behavior.

Keywords: adolescents, values, cyberbullying, online behavior, power

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Authors: M. J. Ponnambalam

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Physics Outreach in Jamaica has nearly tripled the number of students doing Introductory Calculus-based Physics at the University of the West Indies (UWI, Mona) within 5 years, and thus has shown the importance of Physics Teaching & Learning in Informal Settings. In 1899, the first president of the American Physical Society called Physics, “the science above all sciences.” Sure enough, exactly one hundred years later, Time magazine proclaims Albert Einstein, “Person of the Century.” Unfortunately, Physics seems to be losing that glow in this century. Many countries, big and small, are finding it difficult to attract bright young minds to pursue Physics. At UWI, Mona, the number of students in first year Physics dropped to an all-time low of 81 in 2006, from more than 200 in the nineteen eighties, spelling disaster for the Physics Department! The author of this paper launched an aggressive Physics Outreach that same year, aimed at conveying to the students and the general public the following messages: i) Physics is an exciting intellectual enterprise, full of fun and delight. ii) Physics is very helpful in understanding how things like TV, CD player, car, computer, X-ray, CT scan, MRI, etc. work. iii) The critical and analytical thinking developed in the study of Physics is of inestimable value in almost any field. iv) Physics is the core subject for Science and Technology, and hence of national development. Science Literacy is a ‘must’ for any nation in the 21st century. Hence, the Physics Outreach aims at reaching out to every person, through every possible means. The Outreach work is split into the following target groups: i) Universities, ii) High Schools iii) Middle Schools, iv) Primary Schools, v) General Public, and vi) Physics teachers in High Schools. The programmes, tools and best practices are adjusted to suit each target group. The feedback from each group is highly positive. e.g. In February 2014, the author conducted in 3 Primary Schools the Interactive Show on ‘Science Is Fun’ to stimulate 290 students’ interest in Science – with lively and interesting demonstrations and experiments in a highly interactive way, using dramatization, story-telling and dancing. The feedback: 47% found the Show ‘Exciting’ and 51% found it ‘Interesting’ – totaling an impressive 98%. When asked to describe the Show in their own words, the leading 4 responses were: ‘Fun’ (26%), ‘Interesting’ (20%), ‘Exciting’ (14%) and ‘Educational’ (10%) – confirming that ‘fun’ & ‘education’ can go together. The success of Physics Outreach in Jamaica verifies the following words of Chodos, Associate Executive Officer of the American Physical Society: “If we could get members to go to K-12 schools and levitate a magnet or something, we really think these efforts would bring great rewards.”

Keywords: physics education, physics popularization, UWI, Jamaica

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Authors: Kazem Samadi

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In today’s world, public agencies like customs have become vital institutions in international trade processes and in maintaining national economic security due to increasing economic and commercial complexities. In this regard, human resource management (HRM) is crucial to achieving organizational goals. This research employed a descriptive survey method, in which the statistical population consisted of all customs employees. Using Cochran's formula, 300 employees were selected from the central customs office. A researcher-made questionnaire was used as the data collection tool, with content validity and reliability confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The collected data were analyzed through structural modeling using SPSS and AMOS 24. The results indicated that leadership culture significantly affected employee motivation, efficiency, and performance in customs. Customs managers and leaders in Iran can improve organizational productivity by fostering this culture, thereby facilitating individual and organizational development for their staff.

Keywords: leadership culture, organizational culture, employee performance, customs

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Authors: Phalaunnaphat Siriwongs

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The classroom of the 21st century is an ever-changing forum for new and innovative thoughts and ideas. With increasing technology and opportunity, students have rapid access to information that only decades ago would have taken weeks to obtain. Unfortunately, new techniques and technology are not a cure for the fundamental problems that have plagued the classroom ever since education was established. Class size has been an issue long debated in academia. While it is difficult to pinpoint an exact number, it is clear that in this case, more does not mean better. By looking into the success and pitfalls of classroom size, the true advantages of smaller classes becomes clear. Previously, one class was comprised of 50 students. Since they were seventeen- and eighteen-year-old students, it was sometimes quite difficult for them to stay focused. To help students understand and gain much knowledge, a researcher introduced “The Theory of Multiple Intelligence” and this, in fact, enabled students to learn according to their own learning preferences no matter how they were being taught. In this lesson, the researcher designed a cycle of learning activities involving all intelligences so that everyone had equal opportunities to learn.

Keywords: multiple intelligences, role play, performance assessment, formative assessment

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Authors: Robin C. Ladwig

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The future of work becomes less predictable, which requires increasing the adaptability of organizations to social and work changes. Society is transforming regarding gender identity in the sense that more people come forward to identify as trans and gender diverse (TGD). Organizations are ill-equipped to provide a safe and encouraging work environment by lacking inclusive organizational structures. The qualitative multi-method research about TGD inclusivity in the workplace explores the enablers and barriers for TGD individuals to satisfactory engage in the work environment and organizational culture. Furthermore, these TGD insights are analyzed about their organizational implications and awareness from a leadership and management perspective. The semi-structured online interviews with TGD individuals and the photo-elicit open-ended questionnaire addressed to leadership and management in diversity, career development, and human resources have been analyzed with a critical grounded theory approach. Findings demonstrated the significance of TGD voices, the support of leadership and management, as well as the synergy between voices and leadership. Hence, it indicates practical implications such as the revision of exclusive language used in policies, data collection, or communication and reconsideration of organizational decision-making by leaders to include TGD voices.

Keywords: future of work, occupational identity, organisational decision-making, trans and gender diverse identity

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Authors: Omar Alsetoohy, Mohamed Ezzat, Mahmoud Abou Kamar

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The success of a restaurant or hotel depends very much on the quality and quantity of its human resources. Thus, establishing a competitive edge through human assets requires careful attention to the practices that best leverage these assets. Usually, hotel or restaurant employees recognize customer defection as an unfavorable or unpleasant occurrence associated with failure. These failures could be in handling, communication, learning, or encouragement. Besides, employees could be afraid of blame from their colleagues and managers, which prevents them from freely discussing these mistakes with them. Such behaviors, in turn, would push employees to withdraw from the workplace. However, we have a good knowledge of the leadership outcomes, but less is known about how and why these effects occur. Accordingly, mindful leaders usually analyze the causes and underlying mechanisms of failures for work improvement. However, despite the excessive literature in the field of leadership and employee behaviors, to date, no research studies had investigated the impact of a failure-tolerant restaurant culture on the employees’ withdrawal behaviors considering the moderating role of psychological empowerment and mindful leadership. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the impact of a failure-tolerant culture on the employees’ withdrawal behaviors in fast-food restaurants in Egypt considering the moderating effects of employee empowerment and mindful leaders. This study may contribute to the existing literature by filling the gap between failure-tolerant cultures and employee withdrawal behaviors in the hospitality literature. The study may also identify the best practices for restaurant operators and managers to deal with employees' failures as an improvement tool for their performance.

Keywords: failure-tolerant culture, employees’ withdrawal behaviors psychological empowerment, mindful leadership, restaurants

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Authors: Hamed Hakim, Roderic Archambault, Charles J. Kibert, Maryam Mirhadi Fard

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Changes in the patterns of life in the late 20th and early 21st century have created new challenges for educational systems. Greening the physical environment of school buildings has emerged as a response to some of those challenges and led to the design of energy efficient K-12 school buildings. With the advancement in knowledge and technology, the successful construction of Net Zero Energy Schools, such as the Lady Bird Johnson Middle School demonstrates a cutting edge generation of sustainable schools, and solves the former challenge of attaining energy self-sufficient educational facilities. There are approximately twenty net zero energy K-12 schools in the U.S. of which about six are located in Climate Zone 5 and 6 based on ASHRAE climate zone classification. This paper aims to describe and analyze the current status of energy efficient and NZE schools in Canada. An attempt is made to study existing U.S. energy neutral strategies closest to the climate zones in Canada (zones 5 and 6) and identify the best practices for Canadian schools.

Keywords: Canada K-12 schools, green school, energy efficient, net-zero energy schools

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Authors: Ambreen Amir Ali

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In todays’ dynamic environment, it has become very crucial to have comprehensive management trainee program to hire future leaders of organization. It is being proved that fresh graduates mostly join organizations because of its institution but later on they leave organization because of their immediate manager or supervisor. The concept of coaching and mentoring in talent management systems are very important, because mentors are those who can advise, facilitate, help and support new entrants to advance in their career. When it comes to going for talent hunt, one point needs to be highlighted that MTs are the raw talent for your organization, now it’s the responsibility of employers to nourish them, polish and developed them so that they can enthusiastically take care of senior leadership roles.

Keywords: management trainee, retention, leadership roles, coaching

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Authors: Selim M. Khan, Aaron A. Goodarzi, Joshua M. Taron, Tryggve Rönnqvist

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Indoor air quality, a prime determinant of health, is strongly influenced by the presence of hazardous radon gas within the built environment. As a health issue, dangerously high indoor radon arose within the 20th century to become the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer. While the 21st century building metrics and human behaviors have captured, contained, and concentrated radon to yet higher and more hazardous levels, the issue is rapidly worsening in Canada. It is established that Canadians in the Prairies are the 2nd highest radon-exposed population in the world, with 1 in 6 residences experiencing 0.2-6.5 millisieverts (mSv) radiation per week, whereas the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission sets maximum 5-year occupational limits for atomic workplace exposure at only 20 mSv. This situation is also deteriorating over time within newer housing stocks containing higher levels of radon. Deep machine learning (LSTM) algorithms were applied to analyze multiple quantitative and qualitative features, determine the most important contributory factors, and predicted radon levels in the known past (1990-2020) and projected future (2021-2050). The findings showed gradual downwards patterns in Sweden, whereas it would continue to go from high to higher levels in Canada over time. The contributory factors found to be the basement porosity, roof insulation depthness, R-factor, and air dynamics of the indoor environment related to human window opening behaviour. Building codes must consider including these factors to ensure adequate indoor ventilation and healthy living that can prevent lung cancer in non-smokers.

Keywords: radon, building metrics, deep learning, LSTM prediction model, lung cancer, canada, sweden

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Authors: Prakash Singh

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This study focused on the importance of collegiality to improve the effectiveness of a poorly resourced school (PRS). In an effective school that embraces collegiality as its culture, one can expect to find a teaching staff and a management team that shares responsibilities and accountabilities through the development of a common purpose and vision, regardless of whether the school is considered to be poorly resourced or not. Working together in collegial teams is a more effective way to accomplish tasks and to create a climate for effective learning, even for learners in PRSs from poor communities. The main aim of this study was therefore to determine whether collegiality as a leadership strategy could extract the best from people in a PRS, and consequently create the most effective and efficient educational climate possible. The responses received from the teachers and the principal at the PRS supports the notion that collegiality does have a positive influence on learning, as demonstrated by the improved academic achievement of the learners. The teachers were now more involved in the school. They agreed that this was a positive development. Their descriptions of increased involvement, shared accountability and shared decision-making identified important aspects of collegiality that transformed the school from being dysfunctional. Hence, it is abundantly clear that a collegial leadership style can help extract the best from people because the most effective and efficient educational climate can be created at a school when collegiality is employed. Collegial leadership demonstrates that even in PRSs, there are boundless opportunities to improve teaching and learning.

Keywords: collegiality, collegial leadership, effective educational climate, poorly resourced school

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Authors: Tiina Brandt, Isaac Wanasika

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Culturally diverse global companies need to understand cultural differences between leaders and employees from different backgrounds. Communication is culturally contingent and has a significant impact on effective execution of leadership goals. The awareness of cultural variations related to communication and interactions will help leaders modify their own behavior, and consequently improve the execution of goals and avoid unnecessary faux pas. Our focus is on young adults that have experienced cultural integration, culturally diverse surroundings in schools and universities, and cultural travels. Our central research problem is to understand the impact of different national cultures on communication. We focus on four countries with distinct national cultures and spatial distribution. The countries are Finland, Indonesia, Russia and USA. Our sample is based on business students (n = 225) from various backgrounds in the four countries. Their responses of communication and leadership styles were analyzed using ANOVA and post-hoc test. Results indicate that culture impacts on communication behavior. Even young culturally-exposed adults with cultural awareness and experience demonstrate cultural differences in their behavior. Apparently, culture is a deeply seated trait that cannot be completely neutralized by environmental variables. Our study offers valuable input for leadership training programs and for expatriates when recognizing specific differences on leaders’ behavior due to culture.

Keywords: communication, culture, interaction, leadership

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Authors: Muizz Sanni-Anibire

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The 21st century has witnessed growing concerns for the protection of built facilities against natural and man-made disasters. Studies in earthquake resistant buildings, fire, and explosion resistant buildings now dominate the arena. To protect people and facilities from the effects of the explosion, reinforced concrete walls have been designed to be blast resistant. Understanding the performance of these walls is a key step in ensuring the safety of built facilities. Blast walls are mostly designed using simple techniques such as single degree of freedom (SDOF) method, despite the increasing use of multi-degree of freedom techniques such as the finite element method. This study is the first stage of a continuous research into the safety and reliability of blast walls. It presents the SDOF approach applied to the analysis of a concrete wall panel under three representative bomb situations. These are motorcycle 50 kg, car 400kg and also van with the capacity of 1500 kg of TNT explosive.

Keywords: blast wall, safety, protection, explosion

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Authors: Andreea Anamaria Anghel, Flaviu Mihai Frigura-Lliasa, Attila Simo

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In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in revitalizing the historical area of Timisoara, a city located in western Romania, with a focus on preserving its architectural heritage while also promoting sustainable urban development. This has led to several initiatives aimed at improving public spaces, promoting sustainable transport, and encouraging the use of green infrastructure, such as green interior courtyards, to enhance the livability and sustainability of the area. A preliminary study regarding history, characteristics and current condition was carried out by the authors regarding these interior courtyards in the historical areas of Timisoara, the European Capital of Culture, in 2023, highlighting their potential to contribute to the sustainable development of the city. Modern interventions in interior historical courtyards should aim to preserve the historic character of these spaces while also promoting their sustainable and functional use in the 21st century. By doing so, these courtyards can continue to serve as vital urban oases and cultural landmarks for generations to come.

Keywords: architectural heritage, green interior courtyards, public spaces, sustainable development

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Authors: A. Knezović

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21st century has transformed the labor market landscape in a way of posing new and different demands on university graduates as well as university lecturers, which means that the knowledge and academic skills students acquire in the course of their studies should be applicable and transferable from the higher education context to their future professional careers. Given the context of the Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) classroom, the teachers’ objective is not only to teach the language itself, but also to prepare students to use that language as a medium to develop generic skills and competences. These include media and information literacy, critical and creative thinking, problem-solving and analytical skills, effective written and oral communication, as well as collaborative work and social skills, all of which are necessary to make university graduates more competitive in everyday professional environments. On the other hand, due to limitations of time and large numbers of students in classes, the frequently topic-centered syllabus of LSP courses places considerable focus on acquiring the subject matter and specialist vocabulary instead of sufficient development of skills and competences required by students’ prospective employers. This paper intends to explore some of those issues as viewed both by LSP lecturers and by business professionals in their respective surveys. The surveys were conducted among more than 50 LSP lecturers at higher education institutions in Croatia, more than 40 HR professionals and more than 60 university graduates with degrees in economics and/or business working in management positions in mainly large and medium-sized companies in Croatia. Various elements of LSP course content have been taken into consideration in this research, including reading and listening comprehension of specialist texts, acquisition of specialist vocabulary and grammatical structures, as well as presentation and negotiation skills. The ability to hold meetings, conduct business correspondence, write reports, academic texts, case studies and take part in debates were also taken into consideration, as well as informal business communication, business etiquette and core courses delivered in a foreign language. The results of the surveys conducted among LSP lecturers will be analyzed with reference to what extent those elements are included in their courses and how consistently and thoroughly they are evaluated according to their course requirements. Their opinions will be compared to the results of the surveys conducted among professionals from a range of industries in Croatia so as to examine how useful and important they perceive the same elements of the LSP course content in their working environments. Such comparative analysis will thus show to what extent the syllabi of LSP courses meet the demands of the employment market when it comes to the students’ language skills and competences, as well as transferable skills. Finally, the findings will also be compared to the observations based on practical teaching experience and the relevant sources that have been used in this research. In conclusion, the ideas and observations in this paper are merely open-ended questions that do not have conclusive answers, but might prompt LSP lecturers to re-evaluate the content and objectives of their course syllabi.

Keywords: languages for specific purposes (LSP), language skills, topic-centred syllabus, transferable skills

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Authors: Armaghan Moravej Aleali, Seyed Bahman Ghaderian, Homeira Rashidi, Mahmoud Mapar

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Background and Objective The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is considered the most important public health threat of the 21st century. This syndrome is characterized by a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors including increased central abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein, high blood pressure, increased fasting glucose, and hyperinsulinemia. MetS has been associated with hypogonadism and erectile dysfunction (ED), and MetS may be considered a risk factor for ED. The aim of this study was finding an association between metabolic syndrome and hypogonadism in Khouzestan, Iran. Subjects and Methods: In this study, 60 patients divided into two groups consisted of 30 cases (with metabolic syndrome) and 30 controls. Total and free Serum Testosterone and FBS in all of them were measured. Data was analyzed with SPSS20 program. Results: There was a significant difference between two groups about free Testosterone (P=0.01), FBS (P=0.002) and LH (P=0.03). Conclusion: According to this finding, it is thought the prevalence of hypogonadism in men with metabolic syndrome is more than the general population.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome, fasting blood sugar, hypogonadism, testosterone

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Authors: Gaurav Kumar, Shilpa

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Digital libraries have been established all over the world to create, maintain and to preserve the digital materials. This paper focuses on operational digital preservation systems specifically in educational organizations in India. It considers the broad range of digital objects including e-journals, technical reports, e-records, project documents, scientific data, etc. This paper describes the main objectives, process and technological issues involved in preservation of digital materials. Digital preservation refers to the various methods of keeping digital materials alive for the future. It includes everything from electronic publications on CD-ROM to Online database and collections of experimental data in digital format maintains the ability to display, retrieve and use digital collections in the face of rapidly changing technological and organizational infrastructures elements. This paper exhibits the importance and objectives of digital preservation. The necessities of preservation are hardware and software technology to interpret the digital documents and discuss various aspects of digital preservation.

Keywords: preservation, digital preservation, digital dark age, conservation, archive, repository, document, information technology, hardware, software, organization, machine readable format

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Authors: Francesco Pisano

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Islam has been an important topic in Turkey’s institutional identity. Since the dawn of the Turkish Republic, at the end of the First World War, the new Turkish leadership was urged to deal with the religious heritage of the Sultanate. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s first President, led the country in a process of internal change, substantially modifying not merely the democratic stance of it, but also the way politics was addressing the Muslim faith. Islam was banned from the public sector of the society and was drastically marginalized to the mere private sphere of citizens’ lives. Headscarves were banned from institutional buildings together with any other religious practice, while the country was proceeding down a path of secularism and Westernization. This issue is demonstrated by the fact that even a new elected Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was initially barred from taking the institutional position, because of allegations that he had read a religious text while campaigning. Over the years, thanks to this initial internal shift, Turkey has often been seen by Western partners as one of the few countries that had managed to find a perfect balance between a democratic stance and an Islamic inherent nature. In the early 2000s, this led many academics to believe that Ankara could eventually have become the next European capital. Since then, the internal and external landscape of Turkey has drastically changed. Today, religion has returned to be an important point of reference for Turkish politics, considering also the failure of the European negotiations and the always more unstable external environment of the country. This paper wants to address this issue, looking at the important role religion has covered in the Turkish society and the way it has been politicized since the early years of the Republic. It will evolve from a more theoretical debate on secularism and the path of political westernization of Turkey under Ataturk’s rule to a more practical analysis of today’s situation, passing through the failure of Ankara’s accession into the EU and the current tense political relation with its traditional NATO allies. The final objective of this research, therefore, is not to offer a meticulous opinion on Turkey’s current international stance. This issue will be left entirely to the personal consideration of the reader. Rather, it will supplement the existing literature with a comprehensive and more structured analysis on the role Islam has played on Turkish politics since the early 1920s up until the political domestic revolution of the early 2000s, after the first electoral win of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Keywords: democracy, Islam, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey

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Authors: Nnadi Ezekiel Ejiofor

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In Enugu, Nigeria, this study investigates the connection between strategic leadership and project management sustainability, with an emphasis on building projects in the State. The study set out to accomplish two specific goals: first, it sought to establish a link between creative project management and resource efficiency in construction projects in Enugu State, Nigeria; and second, it sought to establish a link between innovative thinking and waste minimization in those same projects. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from 45 registered construction enterprises in the study area as part of the study's descriptive research approach. Due to the nonparametric nature of the data, Spearman Rank Order Correlation was used to evaluate the acquired data. The findings demonstrate that creative project management had a significant positive impact on resource efficiency in construction projects carried out by architecture firms in Enugu State, Nigeria (r =.849; p.001), and that innovative thinking had a significant impact on waste reduction in those same projects (r =.849; p.001). It was determined that strategic leadership had a significant impact on the sustainability of project management, and it was thus advised that project managers should foresee, prepare for, and effectively communicate present and future developments to project staff in order to ensure that the objective of sustainable initiatives, such as recycling and reuse, is implemented in construction projects.

Keywords: construction, project management, strategic leadership, sustainability, waste reduction

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Authors: Jane E. Mullen, Kevin Kelloway, Ann Rhéaume-Brüning

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The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of perceived leader word-action alignment on subordinate extra-role safety behavior. Using survey data gathered from a sample of nurses employed in health care facilities located in Eastern Canada (n = 192), the effects of perceived word-action alignment (measured as the cross product of leaders speaking positively about safety and acting safely) on nurse safety participation was examined. Moderated regression analysis resulted in the significant (p < .01) prediction of nurse safety participation by the interaction term. Analysis of the simple slopes comprising the interaction term suggests that positively speaking about safety only predicted safety participation when leaders were also perceived by subordinates as acting safely. The results provide empirical support for the importance of the perceived alignment between leaders’ words, or espoused safety values and priorities, and their actions. Practical implications for safety leadership training are discussed.

Keywords: leadership, safety participation, safety performance, safety training

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Authors: Francis Okodede, Edafe Lucky Okotie

Abstract:

Conventional energy sources based on oil, coal, and natural gas has posed a trait to environment and to human health. Green energy stands as an alternative because it has proved to be eco-friendly. The prospective of renewable energy sources are quite vast as they can, in principle, meet many times the world’s energy demand. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, can provide sustainable energy services based on the use of routinely available indigenous resources. New renewable energy sources (solar energy, wind energy, and modern bio-energy) are currently contributing immensely to global energy demand. A number of studies have shown the potential and contribution of renewable energy to global energy supplies, indicating that in the second half of the 21st century, it is going to be a major source and driver in the telecommunication sector. Green energy contribution might reach as much as 50 percent of global energy demands if the right policies are in place. This work suggests viable non-conventional means of energy supply to power a cellular base station.

Keywords: base station, energy storage, green energy, rotor efficiency, solar energy, wind energy

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Authors: Patrick Guggenberger

Abstract:

Extant literature has highlighted the importance of individual employees in the entrepreneurial process, as they are those that come up with novel ideas and promote their implementation throughout the organization. However, research on antecedents of individual entrepreneurial behavior (IEB) is very limited. The present study takes an initial step to investigate the interplay between transformational leader behaviors of direct supervisors and employees’ ability and willingness to act entrepreneurial and sheds light on the moderating role of an individual’s hierarchical level. A theoretically derived research model is empirically tested, drawing on survey data of 450 individuals working in medium- and large-sized corporations in two countries. Findings indicate that various transformational leader behaviors have a strong positive impact on IEB, while the ability of direct supervisors to influence their followers’ entrepreneurial behavior depends strongly on their own hierarchical level. The study reveals that transformational leadership has most impact at lower hierarchical levels, where employees’ motivation to act entrepreneurial is the lowest.

Keywords: corporate entrepreneurship, hierarchy, individual entrepreneurial behavior, transformational leadership

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Authors: Shaidatul Azdawiyah Abdul Talib, Wan Mohd Razi Idris, Liew Ju Neng, Tukimat Lihan, Muhammad Zamir Abdul Rasid

Abstract:

Climate change has received great attention worldwide due to the impact of weather causing extreme events. Rainfall and temperature are crucial weather components associated with climate change. In Malaysia, increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall distribution patterns lead to drought and flood events involving agricultural areas, especially rice fields. Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) is the largest rice growing area among the 10 granary areas in Malaysia and has faced floods and droughts in the past due to changing climate. Changes in rainfall and temperature patter affect rice yield. Therefore, trend analysis is important to identify changes in temperature and rainfall patterns as it gives an initial overview for further analysis. Six locations across the MADA area were selected based on the availability of meteorological station (MetMalaysia) data. Historical data (1991 to 2020) collected from MetMalaysia and future climate projection by multi-model ensemble of climate model from CMIP5 (CNRM-CM5, GFDL-CM3, MRI-CGCM3, NorESM1-M and IPSL-CM5A-LR) have been analyzed using Mann-Kendall test to detect the time series trend, together with standardized precipitation anomaly, rainfall anomaly index, precipitation concentration index and temperature anomaly. Future projection data were analyzed based on 3 different periods; early century (2020 – 2046), middle century (2047 – 2073) and late-century (2074 – 2099). Results indicate that the MADA area does encounter extremely wet and dry conditions, leading to drought and flood events in the past. The Mann-Kendall (MK) trend analysis test discovered a significant increasing trend (p < 0.05) in annual rainfall (z = 0.40; s = 15.12) and temperature (z = 0.61; s = 0.04) during the historical period. Similarly, for both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, a significant increasing trend (p < 0.05) was found for rainfall (RCP 4.5: z = 0.15; s = 2.55; RCP 8.5: z = 0.41; s = 8.05;) and temperature (RCP 4.5: z = 0.84; s = 0.02; RCP 8.5: z = 0.94; s = 0.05). Under the RCP 4.5 scenario, the average temperature is projected to increase up to 1.6 °C in early century, 2.0 °C in the middle century and 2.4 °C in the late century. In contrast, under RCP 8.5 scenario, the average temperature is projected to increase up to 1.8 °C in the early century, 3.1 °C in the middle century and 4.3 °C in late century. Drought is projected to occur in 2038 and 2043 (early century); 2052 and 2069 (middle century); and 2095, 2097 to 2099 (late century) under RCP 4.5 scenario. As for RCP 8.5 scenario, drought is projected to occur in 2021, 2031 and 2034 (early century); and 2069 (middle century). No drought is projected to occur in the late century under the RCP 8.5 scenario. Thus, this information can be used for the analysis of the impact of climate change scenarios on rice growth and yield besides other crops found in MADA area. Additionally, this study, it would be helpful for researchers and decision-makers in developing applicable adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of climate change.

Keywords: climate projection, drought, flood, rainfall, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5, temperature

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Authors: Binay Pattanayak

Abstract:

More than 9 out of every 10 children in Jharkhand struggle to understand the texts and teachers in public schools. The medium of learning in the schools is Hindi, which is very different in structure and vocabulary than those in children’s home languages. Hence around 3 out of 10 children enrolled in early grades drop out in these schools. The state realized the cause of children’s high dropout in 2013-14 when the M-TALL, the language research shared the findings of a state-wide socio-linguistic study. The study findings suggested that there was a great need for initiating a mother-tongue based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) programme for the state in early grades starting from pre-school level. Accordingly, M-TALL in partnership with department of education designed two learning packages: Bhasha Puliya pre-school education programme for 3-6-year-old children for their school readiness with bilingual picture dictionaries in 9 tribal and regional languages. This was followed by a plan for MTB-MLE programme for early primary grades. For this textbooks in five tribal and two regional languages were developed under the guidance of the author. These books were printed and circulated in the 1000 schools of the state for each child. Teachers and community members were trained for facilitating culturally sensitive mother-tongue based learning activities in and around the schools. The mother-tongue based approach of learning has worked very effectively in enabling them to acquire the basic literacy and numeracy skills in own mother-tongues. Using this basic early grade reading skills, these children are able to learn Hindi and English systematically. Community resource groups were constituted in each school for promoting storytelling, singing, painting, dancing, acting, riddles, humor, sanitation, health, nutrition, protection, etc. and were trained. School academic calendar was designed in each school to enable the community resource persons to visit the school as per the learning plan to assist children and teacher in facilitating rich cultural activities in mother-tongue. This enables children to take part in plethora of learning activities and acquire desired knowledge, skills and interest in mother-tongues. Also in this process, it is attempted to promote 21st Century learning skills by enabling children to apply their new knowledge and skills to look at their local issues and address those in a collective manner through team work, innovations and leadership.

Keywords: community resource groups, learning, MTB-MLE, multilingual, socio-linguistic survey

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Authors: Adesina Nathaniel Olanrewaju

Abstract:

The motivation behind this study is the need to see strategic leadership as one of the key driving forces for improving corporate performance. Strategic leadership is seen as a potent source of management development and sustained competitive advantage for both employee and organizational performance. There is currently a charge on leaders as a major cause of organizational failure. Stakeholders give what they can afford, not necessarily what the organization needs and impose operational and financial decisions on the leaders, 200 respondents were fit for the analysis from the six geo-political regions in Nigeria. The selection was done equally among various parastatals through random sampling technique from the south-south, south-east, south-west, north-east, north-west and north-central. A descriptive research of the survey was employed. The data were subjected to t-test analysis and correlation and regression were used for the analysis. The findings revealed that there is a strong relationship and impact between a strategic leader and corporate performance. Recommendations were made based on the findings that strategic leaders should be given the blueprint, company’s policy and the stakeholders’ expectation within a time frame the work is to be carried out.

Keywords: time, strategic, organization, stakeholder, leader, performance

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Authors: Francesco Coraci, Abdul-Hadi G. Abulrub

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Digital technology is transforming the landscape of the industrial sector at a precedential level by connecting people, processes, and machines in real-time. It represents the means for a new pathway to achieve innovative, dynamic competitive advantages, deliver unique customers’ values, and sustain critical relationships. Thus, success in a constantly changing environment is governed by the ability of an organization to revolutionize their business models, deliver innovative solutions, and capture values from big data analytics and insights. Businesses need to re-strategize operations and develop extra capabilities to cope with the necessity for additional flexibility and agility. The traditional “command and control” leadership style is structurally and operationally incompatible with the digital era. In this paper, the authors discuss how transformational leaders can act as a glue in the social, organizational context, which is crucial to enable the workforce and develop a psychological attachment to the digital vision.

Keywords: internet of things, strategy, change leadership, dynamic competitive advantage, digital transformation

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Authors: Obazee Osariere

Abstract:

Corporate governance has been an emerging subject of worldwide interest in the 21st century following the failure of going concerns that were hitherto thought to be financially stable before their collapse. Nigeria has had its fair share of corporate collapse, which has made it embrace and develop its corporate governance regime. This paper seeks to undertake an overview of corporate governance and accountability: Nigeria's perspective. This paper examines the various ways the concept has been viewed, its various dimensions, and its basic principles as a major instrument of ensuring corporate governance and accountability and confidence in the operations of organisations. The paper, which adopts a qualitative research method, however, provides an essential theoretical framework within which better practice of corporate governance and accountability can be evolved for appreciable corporate results in the Nigerian business environment. Thus, a historical perspective is adopted to understudy the evolution of corporate governance and accountability from its little beginning to the present time. The adoption of these strategies, it is argued, will engender participation by various principles, engender mutual understanding, build social support and ensure accountability and openness. Such strategies would also help in attitude and behavioural change required to instill in the operators of corporate organisations the best practice enshrined in corporate governance and accountability.

Keywords: corporate governance, accountability, organisations, Nigeria, perspective

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Authors: Viktorija Voidogaitė

Abstract:

Catholic education is based on the belief that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. It is also influenced by the idea that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the humble and vulnerable. These principles emphasize the importance of serving the most vulnerable members of the Church community and promoting inclusivity without discrimination. This perspective emphasizes the need to protect the weakest members with compassion. However, realizing such an ideal in practice proves challenging, as the shortcomings and errors prevalent in any society often stem from the actions of Christians within that society. The evolution of these connections is observed throughout the historical development of Catholic education. In some European countries, Catholic education has become elitist, with limited room for inclusivity. This creates a conspicuous gap between the principles of the Evangelical community and elite Catholic schools and gymnasiums. Some schools appear to be most inclined to educate only those students who best align with their profile, leaving those needing assistance on the margins. As we advance into the third decade of the 21st century, there emerges a fundamental consideration: whether individuals who can assist the underprivileged and the infirm are being emphasized. Yet, it remains an open question whether these individuals will also possess the willingness and capability to construct a community or society that is inclusive and accessible to all.

Keywords: inclusion, Catholic education, inclusive education, becoming

Procedia PDF Downloads 65