Effects of individual characteristics,organizational factors and task characteristics on computer programmer productivity and job satisfaction

Several individual characteristics of computer programmers (self- esteem, level of experience, and mathematical aptitude); four organizational factors (perceived supervisory initiated structure, perceived supervisor consideration, perceived level of performance feedback, and perceived degree of participation in organizational decisions); and five task characteristics (skill variety, task variety, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) are related to computer programmer productivity and job satisfaction. Measurement was accomplished via questionnaires; least squares multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses.     

Application of the Strain Index in multiple task jobs

Six different methods to calculate the Strain Index (SI) scores for jobs with multiple forces/tasks were developed. Exposure data of 733 subjects from 12 different worksites were used to calculate these SI scores. Results show that using different SI computation methods could result in different SI scores, hence different risk level classifications. However, some simpler methods generated SI scores were comparable to the more complicated composite SI method. Despite differences in the scores between the six different SI computation methods, Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients of 0.61-0.97 were found between the methods. With some confidence, ergonomic practitioners may use simpler methods, depending on their specificity requirement in job evaluations and available resources. Some SI computation methods may tend to over-estimate job risk levels, while others may tend to under-estimate job risk levels, due to different ways used in obtaining the various SI parameters and computations.     

Reliability and validity of an ergonomics-related Job Factors Questionnaire

Musculoskeletal disorders are an important cause of work disability and absenteeism. Specific job factors or tasks may increase the likelihood of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of the present study was to translate and adapt a Job Factors Questionnaire for the Brazilian–Portuguese language and evaluate its psychometric properties. A cross-cultural adaptation was performed according to an internationally recommended methodology involving translation, synthesis, back-translation, revision by an expert committee, and pre-testing. The psychometric properties were evaluated by administering the questionnaire to 148 employees at two companies involved in the assembly and fabrication of metal products. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by measuring the temporal stability through a test–retest design. Construct validity was assessed using the known-groups technique and by comparing workers responses with findings from the Nordic Questionnaire. Reliability was determined to be satisfactory based on Intraclass Correlation Coefficients ranging from 0.54 to 0.73. Construct validity analysis demonstrated a significant difference (p ≤ 0.02) between production and office workers on answers to 10 questionnaire items, and a significant difference (p ≤ 0.01) on the scores of the adapted questionnaire between subjects that indicated presence or absence of musculoskeletal symptoms. The results indicated that the adapted version of the questionnaire had psychometric properties that were acceptable for use in occupational studies involving workers that speak Brazilian–Portuguese.

Relevance to industry

The present study provides results of a cross-cultural adaptation process and a psychometric properties analysis of an instrument that verifies workers' perception of job factors that may lead to work-related pain and discomfort.     

Evaluating causes and consequences of turnover intention among IT workers: the development of a questionnaire survey

In this paper we describe the process of developing a questionnaire survey that evaluates the causes and consequences of turnover intention among information technology (IT) workers, with specific attention to issues of importance to women and minorities within the IT workforce. The questionnaire development process consisted of four steps:

1. Creation of the initial questionnaire from a literature review of existing scales
2. Pilot study using interviews to test the questionnaire
3. Modifications to the questionnaire based on feedback from the pilot study
4. Implementation of the revised questionnaire survey.

The process used for the development of the questionnaire survey is systematic and addresses issues specific to the IT workforce, in particular the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the IT workforce. The questionnaire survey allows the collection of reliable and valid data on causes and effects of retention and intention to turnover, thus making it possible to better understand the reasons for the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the IT workforce.     

校园计算网格作业自适应调度的研究和实现

由于网格资源具有分布、异构、动态、自治等特性。使得网格作业调度成为网格计算中具有挑战性的任务之一。针对校园高性能计算资源负载不均衡、管理模式不统一的问题，提出了校园计算网格自适应调度系统的解决方案。详细研究了网格作业的白适应调度技术，设计了含有负载均衡能力的资源动态信息收集模型，并给出自适应调度算法。实现了校园范围内高性能计算资源的负载均衡和统一的资源管理。     

thGridJob:面向空间信息网格的SOA结构任务框架

文章提出了一种基于SOA结构的任务框架来支持空间信息网格(SIG)中的长时间处理服务并将其命名为thGridJob。thGridJob采用三层结构,为用户和任务开发者提供了不同的编程接口。用户可以通过一系列的Web服务操作来提交和控制任务实例,任务开发者可以使用Java语言、脚本语言和工作流描述语言来开发任务实例。文章还采用Java语言开发设计和实现了一个thGridJob实现以及一个基于Web的用户界面,为SIG用户和任务开发者服务。     

一种支持服务网格的动态负载平衡系统

为了实现服务网格系统内负载的均衡分布，提高资源利用率和系统的吞吐率，设计并实现了一种基于服务网格环境的动态负载平衡系统。提出了层次式负载平衡调度模式，给出了本系统结构形式，设计并实现了一种综合考虑各局部代理作业数和各个局部代理性能以及当前的负载情况的动态双阈值作业分配算法。实验结果表明，此算法能有效地基于负载分派作业，达到了提高网格内分布资源的利用率和减少作业调度时间的目的。     

一种混合粒子群算法及其在Job Shop问题中的应用

粒子群算法是一种新颖的演化计算技术,具有思想简单、容易实现的优点,被广泛应用于连续空间的优化。结合遗传算法的思想提出一种新的进化方式并用于Job Shop离散空间优化,进一步结合粒子群算法的群体多样性和禁忌搜索算法的集中搜索性提出一种粒子群算法和禁忌搜索算法的混合策略。用Job Shop问题作为测试基准,仿真试验显示混合粒子群算法是可行和有效的。     

基于遗传算法的车间调度问题

基于遗传算法对车问调度问题进行了优化，给出了自适应的遗传算子，进行了遗传算法参数设置。采用这种编码方案、遗传算子和参数使得遗传操作大大简化，能达到有效的调度作用。最后，使用标准实例对算法有效性收敛速度进行了验证，并作了简要分析。     

民办高校教师职业过劳的成因与对策分析

针对我国民办高校人力资源管理中的教师职业过劳问题，从员工职业心理健康、压力管理、积极情绪等方面，利用员工帮助计划（EAP）方法，对其形成的原因进行了分析，并从个人、组织和社会三方面提出了解决策略。