Learning at work - a combination of experience based learning and theoretical education

Training and learning at work is important as employees competence has to meet organisational requirements for flexibility. This study examines conditions and obstacles in integrating a web-based course at work in order to enhance employees level of competence. Employees view of working condition, competence and how they learn at work is also of importance. A selection of 35 people was made at a company which is part of a large business. The design was quantitative with complementary qualitative data. The employees had a positive attitude towards work despite increasing difficulties in work tasks and an increasing workload, which was the greatest barrier of integrating the web-based course at work. Competence development involved a certain degree of stress, but was outweighed by the fact that it was stimulating and led to the work feeling easier. To manage work, knowledge was obtained primarily by colleagues and company courses.     

Collaborative learning as a collective competence when students use the potential of meaning in asynchronous dialogues

The aim of this study is to examine and to describe how student teachers engaged in courses in web-based learning environments over a period of 40-weeks develop a collective competence to collaborate. The collective competence of collaboration is defined as the level of learning ability a group of students express when using dialogues as a tool for their own and other’s learning in a web-based learning environment. The students’ contributions to the course assignments, the group responses and the collaborative discussions and dialogues were analysed and interpreted based on Bakhtin’s and Rommetveit’s theories on dialogic interactions and meaning potentials. The results describe three different levels at which students use dialogues as a tool for learning when they collaborate within the group.     

Information technology levels,competence development and performance in Swedish small business enterprises

This paper analyses relations between leaders' and co-workers' competence, IT-levels and organizational aspects within ten small business enterprises in Sweden. Data from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used for statistical data analyses organized in four steps. A result is that IT-levels and change competence go together with higher levels of educational investment, and that companies with high levels on these aspects also tend to have a proneness for joining change programs. Another finding is that the higher the rate of IT in a company, the lower the incidence of musculoskeletal problems among employees. The study shows that an increase in leader change competence, a flat organization, a higher leader than co-worker change competence, and an ongoing program contribute significantly to profit per capita at the company level. The analysis model seems to give a good integration of the results, but underlying mechanisms must be dealt with in future research.     

Dancing between theory and practice: Enhancing work engagement through work stress intervention

This quasi‐experimental and longitudinal study assesses the effectiveness of a work stress intervention (i.e., Team Redesign) to increase job and personal resources and to consequently reduce job strain and increase employee psychosocial well‐being in an enamel manufacturing company following the Resources‐Experiences‐Demands Model (RED Model) and within the Action‐Research approach. The sample consisted of 108 employees at Time 1 and 72 employees at Time 2. Repeated‐measures multivariable analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that the Time × Intervention interaction had reliable, positive, and incremental effects on job resources (i.e., innovation climate), personal resources (i.e., professional self‐efficacy and perceived competence), and motivational outcomes (i.e., work engagement, vigor, and dedication) on the intervention group (laboratory team, n = 9) when compared with the control group (n = 63 employees from different departments). Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications based on the RED Model, including the feedback from Intervention (Action) to Theory (Research). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Implementing virtual collaborative inquiry practises in a middle-school context

The aim of the present study was to investigate the challenges that relate to the implementation of virtual inquiry practises in middle school. The case was a school course in which a group of Finnish students (N = 14) and teachers (N = 7) completed group inquiries through virtual collaboration, using a web-based learning environment. The task was to accomplish a cross-disciplinary inquiry into cultural issues. The students worked mainly at home and took much responsibility for their course achievements. The investigators analysed the pedagogical design of the course and the content of the participants' interaction patterns in the web-based environment, using qualitative content analysis and social network analysis. The findings suggest that the students succeeded in producing distinctive cultural products, and both the students and the teachers adopted novel roles during the inquiry. The web-based learning environment was used more as a coordination tool for organizing the collaborative work than as a forum for epistemic inquiry. The tension between the school curriculum and the inquiry practises was manifest in the participants' discussions of the assessment criteria of the course.     

The organization and execution of work environmental projects in a Norwegian industrial company

The major principles underlying the environmental work at STK may be summed up as follows

Responsibility. (1) The environmental organization, with its sub-committees, is responsible for establishing a systematic environmental effort within the company. The environmental organization must therefore develop an action programme which includes the identification, establishment of economic resources, and control of the execution of environmental projects. (2) the company/departmental management is responsible For the physical execution of environmental projects in an active cooperation with the employees through the departmental committees and the environmental organization. (3) The company management is responsible for ensuring that physical and psychological factors in the work environment are considered at the planning stage of new production facilities.

Democracy. The employees or their representatives on the joint committees must be involved in the identification and solution of their own problems, and participate in the control and the inspection of environmental projects.

Information. The environmental work demands a continuous, detailed exchange of information between the environmental organization, company/departmental management and the employees. Information from the company/departmental management is necessary to ensure that the employees have opportunities for inspection and control. Information from the employees to their supervisors and to the environmental organization ensures an early identification of problems. Information from the environmental organization is necessary for a common, coordinated environmental activity,

Integration. The environmental organization must be closely associated with the company's other organizational systems. This is achieved by ensuring that senior representatives from management and the trade unions participate in the environmental organization and the other joint committees.

Workdivision. (1) Minor environmental problems are solved within the departments as far as possible. (2) The environmental efforts are coordinated by a central group, the Work Environment Committee, which has overall responsibility. (3) A small, independent group (the Environmental Group) is established to identify and assess environmental problems in the different departments. (4) Sub-committees are established to be responsible for environmental aspects which require special knowledge (e.g. the Rehabilitation Committee, the Chemicals Committee). (5) The departmental committees function as local Work Environment Committees, by establishing the priorities for their environmental project and controlling their execution in their own department.     

Web-based learning in the computer-aided design curriculum

Abstract This study attempts to apply the principle of constructivism and virtual reality (VR) technologies to computer-aided design (CAD) curriculum by integrating network, CAD and VR into a web-based learning environment. Through VR technologies, it is expected that the traditional two-dimensional (2D) computer graphics course can be expanded into a three-dimensional (3D) real-time simulation one. VR technologies provide a novel method to enhance user visualisation of complex three-dimensional graphics and environments. Experience and environmental interaction allow users more readily to perceive the dimensional interrelations of graphics which are typically portrayed through static multiview or pictorial representations. A web-based learning system ( WebDeGrator ) has been developed to simulate a computer graphics learning system for learning. Future developments of the proposed web-based learning framework are also discussed.     

Evaluation of a compact CAD course in laboratory experiments

With the increasing deployment of CAD, the necessity of instructing employees in the use of such systems grows; short training periods are desirable. The authors developed a compact course of 40‐hour's duration in which 32 individuals (engineering students) were instructed on a 2‐dimensional CAD system; a subsequent investigation of the achievements of the course was made with the use of laboratory experiments. In qualitative and quantitative respects the performance achieved using CAD during a drawing task was lower than that attained by the same individuals at the drawing board. A compact course of the described extent can only be the basis for self‐instruction. Interrelations between the quality of the results and the method of work exist. With regard to the performance, the variance among individuals was distinctly higher at the CAD terminal than at the drawing board. A prediction concerning the achievements of the course drawn from the performance at the drawing board, especially when based on quantitative achievements, is problematic.     

Research and Development as a Competence Creating Business in a Business

Research and development departments in industrial firms may not take it for granted anymore that they are the only preferred supplier of research and development to the company of which they are a part. The growing need to be innovative and the increasing availability of innovative competencies on the market result in a pressure on these departments to become more business–like and to reconsider their sources of competitive advantage over other (potential) suppliers of research and development. Traditionally, scientific and technological knowledge and skills concerning the product were the prime source. Nowadays, managerial competencies and the ability to work for and with your clients and suppliers are becoming more important. To become a competitive business in a business, research and development departments should create the competencies that enable them to create value for their clients. This calls for good competence management, comprising management of human resources, information technology, and internal and external interfaces. In this paper we explore what it means and what it takes for research and development departments to implement competence management, elaborating it theoretically and describing a case of competence management in the research and development department of a European car company.     

A Longitudinal Study of Workspace Design for Knowledge Exploration and Exploitation in the Research and Development Process

In order to leverage organizational learning, scholars have already defined but are still discussing the interpretation of two different learning types, exploration and exploitation. Exploring new frontiers across knowledge domains and maintaining the balance with exploiting the existing knowledge is critical for the prosperity of an organization. The spatial dimension of organizational learning considers that proximity of employees has an influence on their learning activities, but from a rather macro perspective without taking workspace design into account. We account for these issues by examining the impact of workspace design on knowledge exploration and exploitation on the micro level at distinct stages along the value chain (i.e., the research, development and project market team unit) of Novartis, a pharmaceutical company. In a longitudinal study, employees of the three cases have been interviewed and observed over the course of three years, before and after workspace redesign. With the change from a cellular to an open workspace, employees become closer and highly visible to each other, which influences knowledge work. As the cases occurred sequentially in time, design principles were derived. The findings suggest that exploitation is supported by workspace design that leads to high proximity inducing faster feedback cycles and first‐hand information. Exploration, however, is supported by workspace design that leads to high visibility triggering more cross‐functional interactions and thereby the variability of knowledge. The later the stage in the research and development process, the higher the need for balanced learning activities. This balance is well reflected in a ‘multi‐space’ workspace consisting of shared meeting areas, quiet zones, central staircases and integrated laboratories and desk areas.     

There's a merger in your future

Mergers will affect most of us who work for a company, and most of us will endure several during our careers. In spite of the careful and detailed analysis corporate heads perform when they contemplate a merger (often referred to as due diligence), differences in company cultures are usually given little or no consideration. Do employees dress differently? Do one company's best and brightest show up for work in shorts and T-shirts, toting skateboards, whereas the other company's employees wouldn't dream of arriving without polished shoes? If employees are used to having offices, will they feel valued working in a cubicle, even if the CEO does the same? Do companies expect employees to ask for permission or forgiveness? These issues are generally left for individual employees and their harried managers to resolve. As a survivor as well as an observer of many mergers, the author can attest that culture clashes are something that merged employees must handle on a daily basis. These are not abstract issues; employees face them every moment of every working day. If ignored, they rarely go away; they escalate, sometimes to the point of destroying the merger     

The positive outcomes of information security awareness training in companies – A case study

One of the key factors in successful information security management is the effective compliance of security policies and proper integration of “people”, “process” and “technology”. When it comes to the issue of “people”, this effectiveness can be achieved through several mechanisms, one of which is the security awareness training of employees. However, the outcomes should also be measured to see how successful and effective this training has been for the employees.In this study, an information security awareness project is implemented in a company both by training and by subsequent auditing of the effectiveness and success of this training (which focussed on password usage, password quality and compliance of employees with the password policies of the company). The project was conducted in a Turkish company with 2900 white-collar employees. Each employee took information security training including password usage. Also, there were several supporting awareness campaigns such as educational posters, animations and e-messages on the company Intranet, surveys and simple online quizzes. The project was carried out over a 12 month period and three password security strength audits were made during this period. The results were comparatively and statistically analysed. The results show us the effectiveness of the project and the impact of human awareness on the success of information security management programmes in companies. This study gives us some crucial results, facts and methods that can also be used as a guideline for further similar projects.     

IT‐mediated social interactions and knowledge sharing: Role of competence‐based trust and background heterogeneity

In the knowledge‐based economy, organizational success is dependent on how effectively organizational employees share information. Many studies have investigated how different types of communication activities and communications media influence knowledge sharing. We contribute to this literature by examining increasingly prevalent yet understudied IT‐mediated social interactions and their effects on knowledge sharing among employees in comparison to face‐to‐face social connections. By integrating the literature on knowledge sharing, social networks, and information systems, we theorize the ability of IT‐mediated social interaction to (1) afford interactions between individuals with heterogeneous backgrounds and (2) facilitate frequent IT‐mediated social interactions that are high in competence‐based trust—both supporting effective sharing of knowledge. Through a social network analysis of the employees in a high‐tech organization, this study finds that IT‐mediated frequent social interactions are the most effective in promoting knowledge sharing.     

构筑实践教学体系,强化应用能力培养

本文介绍了在计算机特色专业建设过程中,围绕实践教学体系建设所开展的一系列工作。提出从程序设计实验教学改革入手,通过整合专业核心课程实践环节、增设综合课程设计环节、加强校外实习实训基地建设和毕业设计管理等措施,不断提升学生的应用能力。文中同时阐述了构筑先进实验平台和建设实验教师队伍的具体思路、做法及其对特色专业建设的支持。     

Management competences,not tools and techniques: A grounded examination of software project management at WM-data

Traditional software project management theory often focuses on desk-based development of software and algorithms, much in line with the traditions of the classical project management and software engineering. This can be described as a tools and techniques perspective, which assumes that software project management success is dependent on having the right instruments available, rather than on the individual qualities of the project manager or the cumulative qualities and skills of the software organisation. Surprisingly, little is known about how (or whether) these tools techniques are used in practice. This study, in contrast, uses a qualitative grounded theory approach to develop the basis for an alternative theoretical perspective: that of competence. A competence approach to understanding software project management places the responsibility for success firmly on the shoulders of the people involved, project members, project leaders, managers. The competence approach is developed through an investigation of the experiences of project managers in a medium sized software development company (WM-data) in Denmark. Starting with a simple model relating project conditions, project management competences and desired project outcomes, we collected data through interviews, focus groups and one large plenary meeting with most of the company’s project managers. Data analysis employed content analysis for concept (variable) development and causal mapping to trace relationships between variables. In this way we were able to build up a picture of the competences project managers use in their daily work at WM-data, which we argue is also partly generalisable to theory. The discrepancy between the two perspectives is discussed, particularly in regard to the current orientation of the software engineering field. The study provides many methodological and theoretical starting points for researchers wishing to develop a more detailed competence perspective of software project managers’ work.     

供电企业综合信息管理平台的设计与实现

文中首先分析了当前电力企业信息系统的不足,然后对某供电公司综合信息管理平台系统的体系结构进行了规划,讲解了使用J2EE体系架构建立带有权限控制的安全的综合信息平台;其次,采用数据管道技术实现了异构数据库之间数据的迁移,解决了企业异构数据库之间数据共享的问题,完成了各部门数据的整合,提高了数据的利用率,并使原有各部门的系统既独立又能协同工作,从而使企业对数据的整合和获取方式更加科学,提高了企业的管理化水平。     

An architecture for making recommendations to courseware authors using association rule mining and collaborative filtering

Nowadays we find more and more applications for data mining techniques in e-learning and web-based adaptive educational systems. The useful information discovered can be used directly by the teacher or author of the course in order to improve instructional/learning performance. This can, however, imply a lot of work for the teacher who can greatly benefit from the help of educational recommender systems for doing this task. In this paper we propose a system oriented to find, share and suggest the most appropriate modifications to improve the effectiveness of the course. We describe an iterative methodology to develop and carry out the maintenance of web-based courses to which we have added a specific data mining step. We apply association rule mining to discover interesting information through students’ usage data in the form of IF-THEN recommendation rules. We have also used a collaborative recommender system to share and score the recommendation rules obtained by teachers with similar profiles along with other experts in education. Finally, we have carried out experiments with several real groups of students using a web-based adaptive course. The results obtained demonstrate that the proposed architecture constitutes a good starting point to future investigations in order to generalize the results over many course contents.     

Dialogue‐Based Evaluation as a Creative Climate Indicator: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry

This paper examines how different forms of performance evaluation relate to aspects of the creative climate in a major pharmaceutical company. The study was based on a large employee‐attitude survey that was distributed to all company employees. The study analyses survey results from 5,333 employees at five R&D sites. The results indicate that management's evaluation of employees (either dialogue‐based or control‐based) relates to the type of motivation (intrinsic or extrinsic) that drives employees, to their style of thinking (value‐focused thinking) and on their attitudes to organizational creativity. The paper then discusses implications of these findings for HRM.     

Adaptive feedback generation to support teachers in web-based distance education

This work examines the application of user-adapted technologies to address problems experienced in web-based distance education. We have proposed an approach to support distance learning instructors by offering advice that points at problems faced by students and suggests possible activities to address these problems. The paper describes an original feedback generation framework which utilises student, group and class models derived from tracking data in web course management systems, and follows a taxonomy of feedback categories to recognise situations that are brought to the instructors’ attention. The results of an empirical study in an online learning course point at benefits of the generated feedback to both instructors and students. Teachers can get a better understanding of their students by knowing what problems they may be facing, when they are behind or ahead of their peers, who can help them and how, and what roles can be assigned in discussion forums. This, in turn, can have a positive effect on students who can receive feedback tailored to their needs and problems. The evaluation study points at issues that can be related in general to planning empirical evaluations of user-adapted systems in realistic web-based learning settings.