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We measure the labor-demand effects of two simultaneous forms of technological change—automation of production processes and consolidation of parts. We collect detailed shop-floor data from four semiconductor firms with different levels of automation and consolidation. Using the O*NET survey instrument, we collect novel task data for operator laborers that contains process-step level skill requirements, including operations and control, near vision, and dexterity requirements. We then use an engineering process model to separate the effects of the distinct technological changes on these process tasks and operator skill requirements. Within an occupation, we show that aggregate measures of technological change can mask the opposing skill biases of multiple simultaneous technological changes. In our empirical context, automation polarizes skill demand as routine, codifiable tasks requiring low and medium skills are executed by machines instead of humans, whereas the remaining and newly created human tasks tend to require low and high skills. Consolidation converges skill demand as formerly divisible low and high skill tasks are transformed into a single indivisible task with medium skill requirements and higher cost of failure. We conclude by developing a new theory for how the separability of tasks mediates the effect of technology change on skill demand by changing the divisibility of labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Theory posits hierarchy as a response to coordination challenges and emphasizes organization size and the need to transfer knowledge as the mainspring of these challenges. This connection, however, is largely based on the quantity of knowledge to be transferred rather than its characteristics. Building on the knowledge‐based view, we propose that knowledge scope—the variety of knowledge across an organization's members—affects coordination costs and hierarchy expansion. Using an economy‐wide database from Brazil, we show that firms are more likely to expand their hierarchy when knowledge scope increases. This effect varies with firms' capacities to manage knowledge; firms whose employees perform more similar tasks or have shared experience at previous employers are less likely to expand hierarchy in response to increases in knowledge scope. Managerial Summary: Growing organizations often struggle to coordinate the work of their employees within their current organizational structures. We distinguish coordination problems generated by increased size from problems generated by expanding the variety of knowledge used and argue that both spur organizations to hire additional managers. Using a database of Brazilian startups, we show that a greater variety of knowledge used is associated with the expansion of hierarchy. Additionally, we find that organizations whose employees have more shared work experience have a greater ability to coordinate and thus delay the expansion of hierarchy. Overall, our results show the importance of the characteristics of an organization's knowledge base for organizational structure and suggest building teams with shared experience can enhance an organization's ability to adapt to coordination challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Patients with ovarian cancer and their spousal caregivers report similarities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and experiences throughout the cancer process. Previous research has reflected these shared experiences, demonstrating caregivers' capacity to accurately rate their patient-partner's HRQoL as a proxy. In response, this study examines associations between caregivers' perceptions of their patient-partner's HRQoL and their own caregiving responsibilities, consequences to well-being, and desired assistance from the healthcare system. This study will be beneficial when developing supports to assist caregivers throughout the cancer journey. Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, spousal caregivers (N = 82) of patients with ovarian cancer completed measures on perceived patient HRQoL and caregiver experiences. Correlation analyses determined medical and sociodemographic covariates. A multivariate multiple regression was conducted using four proxy HRQoL functioning subscales and three factors of reported experiences as caregivers in cancer. Post-hoc univariate regression analyses were run on significant factors to assess the associations that exist. Results: Caregiver-perceived patient physical functioning was significantly associated with more caregiving tasks after controlling for education, age, and stage of ovarian cancer, but no other HRQoL functioning scale (i.e., role, emotional, social) was associated with caregiver experiences. Conclusion: The study provides a unique perspective into the caregiver experience by attending to interpersonal factors in relation to caregiver experiences. Results may be able to guide interventions aimed at supporting caregivers through the cancer process by offering more assistance with tasks as their partner's physical condition worsens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using households survey microdata from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, we characterize changes in employment and wages between the mid-2000s and the late-2010s emphasizing the gender dimension from the viewpoint of the task-based approach. We employ surveys from PIAAC-OECD to study the task content of jobs and create an index of routine task content (RTC) of occupations. We document five facts: (i) The proportion of routine tasks is currently higher for women than for men. (ii) The employment structure is considerably more biased towards high-RTC jobs in Latin America than in OECD countries, for both genders. (iii) There was an increase in the employment participation of low-RTC jobs during the period under study, mainly driven by movements in the occupational structure of women, especially the young and middle-aged. (iv) Wage gains were relatively higher in high-RTC occupations, with this pattern more pronounced for men than for women. (v) While there was a modest reduction in the gender wage gap, the decline was stronger in computer-intensive occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unit human capital resources (HCRs) are positively associated with unit performance and developing them is vital to sustaining unit performance. Yet, extant research has focused primarily on formal human resource methods of developing individual and group capacities (e.g., training) and given lesser attention to on-the-job mechanisms and processes impacting unit HCRs. We advance a theoretical framework featuring unit deployments, which reflect the formal or informal configuration of existing unit members' assignments to unit-relevant tasks at a point in time, as a powerful tool for unit HCR development. We first articulate how deployments can enhance unit HCR by increasing members' HCRs, cultivating members' social capital resources, and influencing unit emergence enabling states. We then introduce four types of unit HCR portfolios that differ in resource and coordination flexibility and highlight how units can use distinct deployment strategies to cultivate each type of portfolio. We conclude by detailing when each unit HCR portfolio will likely generate the greatest return for units under varying task dynamism and complexity conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to create a model of patient-centered outcomes with respect to self-management tasks and skills of patients with a tracheostomy in their home setting. Methods: A scoping review using four search engines was undertaken (Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library) to identify studies relevant to this issue and published since 2000. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statements for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach of conducting and reporting a scoping review, and the Participants, Concept, Context (PCC) scheme were employed. The following elements of the framework synthesis study data were screened, and presented based on the self-management model of Lorig and Holman. Results: 34 publications from 17 countries met the criteria for study inclusion: 24 quantitative, 8 qualitative and 2 mixed methods designs. Regarding the dimensions of self-management, 28 articles reported on "managing the therapeutic regimen", 27 articles discussed "managing role and behavior changes", and 16 articles explored "managing emotions". A model of self-management of patients with tracheostomy was developed, which placed the patient in the center, since it is this individual who is completing the tasks and carrying out his or her skill sets. Conclusion: This scoping review represents the first comprehensive overview and modeling of the complex self-management tasks and skills required of patients with tracheostomy in their home setting. The theoretical model can serve as a cornerstone for empirical intervention studies to better support this patient-centered outcome for this population in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based in a case study, we seek to understand to what extent a teacher's participation in lesson studies influences her teaching practice. Data collection included participant observation (doing a research journal and audio/video recording), document collection (tasks and lesson plans) and interview. The results suggest that participating in several lesson studies, planning whole-class discussions from the students' answers, influenced the teachers' practice. She proposed a task that allowed students to make connections between representations, as in the lesson studies, and, in the whole-class discussion, she encouraged several students to participate and challenged them to go beyond the task, which she did not do in the lesson studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Preschoolers are being increasingly exposed to social robots. • Preschoolers can successfully participate in different tasks with a social robot. • Preschooler behavioural engagement was greater with a human instructor than a social robot. Young children are exposed to new digital technologies, such as social robots. Limited research exists on how children engage with social robots and their role in the preschool classroom. This study observed 35 English-speaking children (M age = 4.60 years) participating in two tasks (Simon Says and iPad drawing) under the guidance of a social robot or human instructor. Children's engagement was measured across behavioural, emotional, and verbal domains. Results showed higher behavioural and positive emotional engagement with a human instructor than a social robot instructor across both tasks. Children uttered more words with the human instructor than the social robot instructor for the iPad drawing task, although there were no differences for the Simon Says task. Children's engagement and utterances were positively correlated during the social robot and human instructor conditions. The findings suggest that child engagement was overall higher with a human than with a social robot and such differences may be important for teachers to consider when using social robots in the preschool classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, English is becoming not just a means of communication, but also a necessary tool for learning and working. More and more often people are faced with the need to use English in everyday life, in particular, reading is used in: communication in social networks, working with documents, information search, cooperation with foreign partners, and travel. In addition, the English language expands the opportunities of the student, broadens the horizons, and forms the worldview and personal experience. Therefore, studying the process of reading formation is a relevant issue at this time. The purpose of this review article is to study the methodology, requirements, process, and factors of reading literacy formation in English classes. The object of the article is the success of literate reading formation. The results and conclusions of the article can be further used in other research on the tasks of students' reading literacy formation. The following research methods are used in the article: analysis and generalization of the scientific literature, researches of foreign scientists, observation, direct interpretation of the word, questionnaire survey. The practical significance of the research consists in the possibility of using the materials of the article, at the English language classes when introducing new tools, technologies, and methodologies, as well as at the seminars on the theory and methodology of teaching a foreign language in the secondary and higher pedagogical institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing digital literacy and, more recently, digital citizenship is one of the objectives promoted by the major international organisations involved in the education sector. However, in order to integrate digital citizenship into education a thorough understanding of the intended outcomes is required. This is why a meta-analysis of recent texts was carried out. The paper presents the result of this literature review consisting in a structured compilation of all the defining elements that constitute our profile of citizens as users of languages and digital technology. We suggest a way in which to integrate digital citizenship education into language education and describe the socio-interactional pedagogical approach adopted in the context of two projects, elang citizen and Lingu@num. This approach is based on the execution of authentic tasks, referred to as real-world tasks. We also present the results of a questionnaire carried out by teachers who explored these tasks and reported that by engaging in them, language learners can experience authentic communication and action as citizens in the "digital wilds" beyond the classroom walls and develop both their language skills and their digital citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, research has highlighted the benefits that various language learners have gained from participating in open and participative websites, particularly with regard to the development of their language competences, especially in additional languages. This raises the question of possible avenues for exploiting the potential of such participation in language teaching and learning. Real world tasks seem to be an interesting prospect, especially as they make it possible to integrate digital citizenship education into language teaching. This research analyses language teachers' perceptions of real-world tasks, particularly in terms of their strengths and limitations for language teaching and learning in general and for digital citizenship education. The study shows that the strengths identified outnumber the limitations, that the main and intrinsic dimensions of real-world tasks are identified and that the limitations feared are mainly linked to the institutional framework and to issues due to insufficient literacy among learners and teachers. As far as digital citizenship is concerned, we note above all a lack of information among teachers and a clear difficulty in bridging the gap between language teaching/learning and education to digital citizenship.

The present study aimed at exploring if the vocabulary recall of the advanced EFL learners could be enhanced by MI-oriented Thematic Vocabulary Instruction (TVI). To scrutinize the probable impact of the treatment on various intelligence groups, we selected a purposive homogeneous sample of 80 out of 118 advanced level learners and assigned them to four groups. The first experimental group (EG1) underwent TVI along with matching MI-based tasks, the second experimental group (EG2) received TVI with non-matching MI-oriented tasks, the third experimental group (EG3) had TVI but just did the coursebook exercises and the control group (CG) received conventional non-thematic instruction with coursebook exercises. 60 advanced words were taught for 10 sessions. The vocabulary recall test was administered with a three-week interval after the end of the treatment, requiring the participants to use the words in five paragraphs based on the given topic and the frequency counts showed the number of the new words. The results from ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests revealed that the EG1 members who had undergone TVI with MI-oriented tasks significantly outperformed their peers. Specifically, verbally intelligent learners had the highest and the intra-personally dominant ones had the lowest significant performances. The findings accentuate the significance of taking individual differences into account and offer a number of pedagogical implications for the teachers and administrative authorities.

Abstract How does a firm’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in a low-wage country change its onshore task demand in a high-wage country? Is the shift more intensive for jobs that the literature has designated offshorable? We address these questions using a matched difference-in-differences (DiD) approach with data on German firms that have similar propensities to conduct FDI in the Czech Republic. Our novel matching procedure draws on post-lasso logit estimates and shows that high task intensities of managing, administration, and labor legislation play a major role in firms’ engagement in international expansion. The outcomes of the DiD estimation show that after acquiring a foreign affiliate, multinational enterprises (MNEs) increase the intensities of their activities typical of headquarters such as managing, analyzing, and negotiating relative to the corresponding task intensities among non-MNEs. We also find sector-specific decreases, such as a reduction in typical production tasks (monitoring, producing, measuring) in manufacturing MNEs or typical service tasks (informing, medical, repairing) in service MNEs.

Currently, in the researches of library and information sciences, the relationship between the process of searching and learning is discussed a lot. It seems that the search to learning has led to exploratory search and exploratory search has helped users discover concepts in order to overcome their uncertainty and finally, achieve learning. What has been neglected is the extent to which searching process affects learning and the degree of knowledge change until one reaches the level of expertise. Hence, the present study was compiled on research findings with the aim of determining the impact of the information search process based on work tasks on learning. For this purpose, a semi-experimental one-group design with pre-test and post-test was used in 2021. The statistical population was the nursing students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in their sixth semester, and 38 of these students randomly participated in this study. First of all, an educational workshop with the aim of getting familiar with drawing conceptual map and a search training workshop were held. Afterwards, the students were assigned two tasks and they were asked to draw their conceptual maps before and after searching. In order to describe and analyze the information in this research, conceptual map scoring (a type of quantitative content analysis) was used to determine the degree of learning, the Euclidean algorithm was used to assess the degree of knowledge change until reaching the level of expertise, and the pairwise comparison method was used to evaluate the difference in the degree of learning before and after the search. The outcomes indicated that the mean difference before and after the search was significant in both scenarios (P

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Previous empirical studies investigating the employment impact of technological change have relied on cross-sectional measures of occupational tasks. Here, the author links microdata on individual workers to panel data on occupational tasks while controlling for individual unobservables. In examining the association between routine and abstract tasks and employment transitions, he finds new and economically important evidence that changes to tasks within occupations are strongly related to variation in the transition rates to non-employment and to different occupations. Consistent with recent work focused on technological change during the Great Recession, within-occupation increases in routine tasks are found to increase outgoing transition rates but these effects are concentrated during periods of economic turmoil. The results also show that increases in abstract tasks are associated with decreases in the outgoing transition rates, but this relationship is relatively invariant to business cycle conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classification of development tasks for innovative industrial clusters in regional innovation systems is considered. The importance of such clusters in regional economic development is established. A classification of development tasks in four planes is proposed. Each plane corresponds to a different direction of development. The benefits of cluster development are identified at the level of the cluster constituent, the cluster, and the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: To determine the influence of a cognitive dual task on postural sway and balance errors during the Concussion Balance Test (COBALT).Methods: Twenty healthy adults (12 females, eight males; aged 21.95 ± 3.77 years; height = 169.95 ± 9.95 cm; weight = 69.58 ± 15.03 kg) partook in this study and completed single- and dual-task versions of a reduced COBALT.Results: Sway velocity decreased during dual-task head rotations on foam condition (p = .021, ES = -0.57). A greater number of movement errors occurred during dual-task head rotations on firm surface (p = .005, ES = 0.71), visual field flow on firm surface (p = .008, ES = 0.68), and head rotations on foam surface (p < .001, ES = 1.61) compared with single-task conditions. Cognitive performance was preserved throughout different sensory conditions of the COBALT (p = .985).Discussion: Cognitive dual tasks influenced postural control and destabilized movements during conditions requiring advanced sensory integration and reweighting demands. Dual-task versions of the COBALT should be explored as a clinical tool to identify residual deficits past the acute stages of concussion recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the postural response to specific types of long-term memory (episodic vs. semantic) in young adults performing an unperturbed upright stance. Although a similar level of steadiness (mean distance) was observed, dual tasking induced a higher velocity, more energy in the higher frequency range (power spectral density), and less regularity (sample entropy) compared with a simple postural task. Moreover, mean velocity was always greater in the semantic than in the episodic task. The differences in postural control during dual tasking may result from the types of processes involved in the memory task. Findings suggest a spatial process sharing between posture and episodic memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication plays a key role in teaching and learning processes. Questions are a communicational act greatly used by teachers to structure their discourse, establish dynamics, and foster interaction between the different participants in the classroom. In view of these potentialities of questions in the classroom context, we have developed a teaching experiment with the aim of understand the role of the teacher's question in the learning of topics on functions. Considering the nature of this aim, a methodology of qualitative and interpretative nature was used. The data collection was based on the students’ written productions and on the audio and video recordings of a mathematics class of a Grade 10 educational group (in northern Portugal). Data analysis is based on content analysis techniques, crossing collected data and categories emerging from the literature. The study revealed that the teacher’s questions alternated between confirmation, focalization, and inquiry, with inquiry prevailing. Questions aimed at testing the student’s knowledge gave both the teacher and actual student important information. Questions that focused the student’s attention on a particular detail enabled the students to organize their reasoning and structure their answer. Questions that required the students to explain or justify their thoughts were those that proved to most contribute to the development of the student’s reasoning process.

The strategic development of modern Russian regions is acquiring more and clearer methodological content, mastering new models for analyzing the factors that determine the prospects for the development of economic entities. In relation to the analysis of the situation in terms of ensuring economic security, the results of which determine the development of a particular region, it is important to evaluate the practice of ensuring economic security, reflected in the development strategy of the region. Considering the essence of such a phenomenon as “development”, it is necessary to namesuch aspects of this process as changes that accompany development and are aimed at achieving the goal. The researchers note that the changes, as a rule, are natural and irreversible. In terms of the strategic development of regions, as well as any socio-economic systems, changes of this kind are also irreversible, since they do not allow returning to their original state. Thestrategic development of regions, as well as economic entities, provides not only an increase in internal potential, but also creates a competitive advantage when interacting with the external environment. The purpose of this study is to determine the special provisions of economic security in the regional development strategy using the example of a typical region of the Central Federal District, which allows us to assess the problems of implementing the directions of the country’s economic security strategy and determine the tasks for adjusting the regional development strategy. Among the research methods used are content analysis of documents, system analysis, methods of grouping and generalization, as well as methods of logical analysis and synthesis of information within the subject area of research. In this paper, it has been established that there are no independent sections on any aspect of economic security, and certain aspects are not presented systematically and reflect the target orientation of the strategy developers to a greater extent than contain specific projects and programs of direct action in terms of ensuring the economic security of the region. In general, in the text of a strategy of a typical region there is no emphasis on economic security, and general phrases in the form of tasks that the region needs to solve are similar to declarative statements about the need to resolve individual issues. For the future, an analysis is needed, which should be carried out from the point of view of the tasks set for each area of economic security, which are determined by the country’s economic security strategy, with the exception of issues related to the development of the national financial system due to the lack of powers of the region in this area.

BackgroundFreezing of Gait (FOG) is a motor symptom frequently observed in advanced Parkinson’s disease. However, due to its paroxysmal nature and diverse presentation, assessing FOG in a clinical setting can be challenging. Before FOG can be fully investigated, it is critical that a reliable experimental setting is established in which FOG can be evoked in a standardized manner, but the efficacy of various gait tasks and triggers for eliciting FOG remains unclear.ObjectivesThis study aimed to conduct a systematic review of the existing literature and evaluate the available evidence for the relationship between specific motor tasks, triggers, and FOG episodes in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD).MethodsWe conducted a literature search on four online databases (PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library) using the keywords “Parkinson’s disease,” “Freezing of Gait”, “triggers” and “tasks”. A total of 128 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in our analysis.ResultsThe review found that a wide range of gait tasks were employed in studies assessing FOG among PD patients. However, three tasks (turning, dual tasking, and straight walking) emerged as the most frequently used. Turning (28%) appears to be the most effective trigger for eliciting FOG in PwPD, followed by walking through a doorway (14%) and dual tasking (10%).ConclusionThis review thereby supports the utilisation of turning, especially a 360-degree turn, as a reliable trigger for FOG in PwPD. This finding could be beneficial to clinicians conducting clinical evaluations and researchers aiming to assess FOG in a laboratory environment.

This exploratory practice study, conducted at the Higher Institute of Human Sciences of Jendouba and the Higher Institute of Languages of Gabès, Tunisia, investigated the impact of task-based language teaching (TBLT) on pre-service teachers’ functional competence and explored both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of TBLT in their English courses. Data came primarily from classroom observations and focus-group interviews. Findings suggest that TBLT fostered pre-service teachers’ functional competence in English. Both teachers and students reported that TBLT helped improve learners’ linguistic and communicative skills.

Flow is an intrinsic motivational state associated with full task engagement, positive affect, and enhanced performance. While research has examined how different language tasks interact with flow experiences, no study has examined learner flow experiences in a wide range of tasks using an experience sampling method to determine how universal basic task features (e.g., modality, participant structure, information distribution, and targeted skills) interact with flow. The present study aims to respond to this gap in the research. Participants were 13 teachers and 327 students from 18 intact French L2 classes in a Canadian postsecondary school. Teachers selected and implemented an average of six tasks from their personal repertoires at random moments throughout the semester. Immediately following each task, learners anonymously completed a flow experience questionnaire (N = 1408; α = 0.91), and teachers a task description questionnaire containing 17 basic task features (N = 81). Statistical analyses show that 10 of the 17 variables significantly interacted with learners' flow experiences. The results not only validate a frequently used flow measurement and establish norms for future research but also outline a framework language teachers can use to evaluate and modify practices to improve learners' subjective classroom experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, about half of the school-leavers – irrespective of their school-leaving certificate – start an apprenticeship instead of entering the labour market or university. Firms act as gatekeepers who influence which school-leavers start an apprenticeship. Previous studies have provided important information on the reasons firms train. By analysing tasks, I consider an additional characteristic that probably influences firms' training decisions. The aim of my study is twofold: I examine whether tasks performed in a firm first correlate with the decision to provide apprenticeship training and second with the school-leaving certificate of newly hired apprentices. I use the BIBB Establishment Panel on Training and Competence Development to estimate hybrid models with the task shares of firms as the main independent variables. The results suggest that firms' task composition affects their decisions concerning vocational education and training (VET). Firms with a high share of routine or manual tasks are more likely to be involved in VET. Moreover, high shares of manual and routine tasks are accompanied by a higher demand for apprentices with lower secondary certificates, and high shares of interactive tasks by a high demand for apprentices with the highest secondary school-leaving certificate (i.e. the Abitur). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been recommended in the new College English Curriculum Requirement in China (Ministry of Education, 2017) for students learning English as a foreign language. Teachers might not, however, implement these concepts in their classes. This study aims to investigate whether the concept of TBLT has made its way into EFL teachers’ theoretical beliefs and the degree to which TBLT is being put into practice. By using semi-structured interviews and classroom observations, this study investigated the beliefs and practices of three tertiary English teachers in China and their use of tasks in their language classes. The results show that although these teachers had positive attitudes toward TBLT, only some activities in their classes could be classified as tasks. The teachers’ use of tasks seemed to be influenced by web-based textbooks and their own reflective practices. This study provides recommendations for developing language teacher education programmes based on TBLT in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented article concerns the issue of the work of a probation officer in the context of the ethics of the profession from a theoretical and practical perspective. Probation officers are employees of common courts. They have psychological, legal, pedagogical or sociological education. The tasks entrusted to them relate to readaptation, rehabilitation, education and control, as well as documents administration and interactions in the environment of their charges. Direct contact with the client is emotionally difficult, and the problems that arise in the work of the probation officer concern all kinds of human affairs. A probation officer is a trustworthy person and should also be of impeccable character. Having qualities that allow him/her to practice his/her profession competently, a probation officer works in formal and informal areas, and therefore takes responsibility for the daily lives of his/her charges. A probation officer is required to be a competent and tolerant person, and to perform the assigned duties effectively. The probation officers' sphere of values may differ from the sphere of values of their clients, but it cannot be a permanent obstacle to working for their welfare. It is important that a probation officer is both a good person and a reliable specialist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: In this article, we explore the effects of managerial monitoring on the behavior of subordinates tasked with the search for alternatives in a complex environment. We argue that managerial monitoring will lead subordinates to exhibit more search than they would engage in otherwise as they try to impress their superiors by exerting more effort. We test and confirm our hypothesis in four laboratory studies with a total of 444 participants. Our findings show that search distance and duration are highly susceptible to managerial monitoring, whereas similar interventions from peers and subordinates are ineffective. Managerial Summary: A key task for employees is to find new solutions to corporate problems when and where they occur. But what determines how long these individuals search and how far they venture before settling on one solution eventually? And how can and should managers steer this process, particularly if they are as unknowing about potential solutions as their subordinates? Here, we show that leaders can bring their staff to explore complex solution spaces longer and more remotely by regularly appraising their subordinates' efforts. This is because employees will feel an enhanced need to demonstrate their industriousness to their bosses, and long and distant search is easily justified. Whether this increases corporate performance depends on the complexity of the solution space and the opportunity costs of search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: How do an organization's task requirements affect the ways in which it reacts to competitors' strategic investments? This study uses a novel measure of task requirements (Case Mix Index), to test the competitive and spillover effects of prior adoption on a focal organization's timing of adoption, while accounting for the underlying demand‐side drivers of adoption. Results of an empirical study of the adoption of robotic surgery systems by U.S. hospitals validate our measure as a predictor of the timing of adoption. Further, this measure moderates the effect of adoption by competitors, delaying investment in the technology for those hospitals most likely to adopt robotic surgery based on their patient population, while accelerating adoption for those with the lowest demand for the technology. Managerial Summary: When a nearby competitor adopts an important innovation, an organization may react by either imitating their strategy in order to stay competitive or deferring the choice to adopt the technology in order to differentiate and focus elsewhere. Which of these paths it decides to follow may be influenced by the type and difficulty of problems it handles for its customers (task requirements). Using the adoption of robotic surgery in the U.S. Hospital industry, we find that organizations that serve more difficult customer needs defer investment in response to a competitor's technology adoption, while those who address less difficult problems on average are likely to respond by accelerating adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how job insecurity affects workplace behaviors has been the source of debate in the academic literature as well as in the popular press. The current study leverages and expands ideas from the Conservation of Resources theory about resource investment to examine how and when job insecurity is associated with behaviors indicative of promotive or protective job preservation strategies aimed at social or task targets. We present two studies. The first study takes a longitudinal approach to examine the bidirectional relationships between job insecurity and job performance, counterproductive work behaviors, knowledge hiding, and self-presentation ingratiatory behavior. The second study examines job preservation motivation as a mechanism linking job insecurity to these work behaviors, and it considers specific elements of threats as moderators (i.e., perceived threat controllability, perceived threat proximity). Together these studies suggest that job insecurity is associated with strategic behavior when employees are facing proximal threats to their jobs; however, these efforts are rarely in the best interest of organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does a firm's foreign direct investment (FDI) in a low-wage country change its onshore task demand in a high-wage country? Is the shift more intensive for jobs that the literature has designated offshorable? We address these questions using a matched difference-in-differences (DiD) approach with data on German firms that have similar propensities to conduct FDI in the Czech Republic. Our novel matching procedure draws on post-lasso logit estimates and shows that high task intensities of managing, administration, and labor legislation play a major role in firms' engagement in international expansion. The outcomes of the DiD estimation show that after acquiring a foreign affiliate, multinational enterprises (MNEs) increase the intensities of their activities typical of headquarters such as managing, analyzing, and negotiating relative to the corresponding task intensities among non-MNEs. We also find sector-specific decreases, such as a reduction in typical production tasks (monitoring, producing, measuring) in manufacturing MNEs or typical service tasks (informing, medical, repairing) in service MNEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a dataset containing messages from the Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) system, which records the results from the automatic verification of students' solutions to unique programming exercises of 11 various types. These results are automatically generated by the system, which automates a massive Python programming course at MIREA—Russian Technological University (RTU MIREA). The DTA system is trained to distinguish between approaches to solve programming exercises, as well as to identify correct and incorrect solutions, using intelligent algorithms responsible for analyzing the source code in the DTA system using vector representations of programs based on Markov chains, calculating pairwise Jensen–Shannon distances for programs and using a hierarchical clustering algorithm to detect high-level approaches used by students in solving unique programming exercises. In the process of learning, each student must correctly solve 11 unique exercises in order to receive admission to the intermediate certification in the form of a test. In addition, a motivated student may try to find additional approaches to solve exercises they have already solved. At the same time, not all students are able or willing to solve the 11 unique exercises proposed to them; some will resort to outside help in solving all or part of the exercises. Since all information about the interactions of the students with the DTA system is recorded, it is possible to identify different types of students. First of all, the students can be classified into 2 classes: those who failed to solve 11 exercises and those who received admission to the intermediate certification in the form of a test, having solved the 11 unique exercises correctly. However, it is possible to identify classes of typical, motivated and suspicious students among the latter group based on the proposed dataset. The proposed dataset can be used to develop regression models that will predict outbursts of student activity when interacting with the DTA system, to solve clustering problems, to identify groups of students with a similar behavior model in the learning process and to develop intelligent data classifiers that predict the students' behavior model and draw appropriate conclusions, not only at the end of the learning process but also during the course of it in order to motivate all students, even those who are classified as suspicious, to visualize the results of the learning process using various tools. Dataset: doi: 10.5281/zenodo.8092417. Dataset License: CC-BY-4.0 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most important step in preparing for the introduction of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) at a production enterprise is to create a team of experts. The requirements in terms of skills for FMEA team members are described in detail. Professional requirements for the team in terms of design analysis (DFMEA) and the analysis of production processes (PFMEA) are outlined. Principles for effective training of the experts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Educational Research (22196064) is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract The study aimed to explore six public service users’ perspectives on the impact their upper limb injury or condition has on their everyday lives while receiving occupational therapy intervention at a public hospital in the context of the Northern Cape of South Africa. An interpretivist phenomenological approach was employed. Data was collected using reflexive photography and semi-structured interviews. Three main themes were generated during inductive reasoning, namely the impact on role fulfillment, change in occupational task performance and the factors impacting performance in preferred occupations. Participants confirmed that to present a contextually relevant and responsive service, Occupation-Based Hand Therapy (OBHT) approaches must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have profound and complex illnesses, often fraught with uncertainties in diagnoses, treatments, and care decisions. Clinicians often deviate from best practices to handle ICUs' myriad complexities and uncertainties. Non-routine events (NREs), defined as any aspect of care perceived by clinicians as deviations from optimal care, are latent and frequent safety threats that, if left unchecked, can be precursors to adverse events. Proper identification and analysis of NREs that represent latent safety threats have been proposed as a feasible and more effective approach for performance improvement than traditional root cause analysis for patient safety events. However, NRE studies to date have yet to show the holistic picture of NREs in the contexts of teamwork and time-dependent tasks that are frequently associated with NREs. NREs, an upstream interventional area to understand root causes, team performance, and human-computer interaction, still needs to be expanded. This article presents concepts of NREs, and the use of real-world data (RWD) and informatics methodology to investigate NREs in contexts and discusses the opportunities and challenges to enhance NREs research in teamwork and time-dependent tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In classrooms that use small‐group tasks, some groups may finish earlier than others and there may be concern that early finishers will become disengaged. However, early finishing remains relatively under‐examined. This paper uses conversation analysis to investigate how EFL students in a Japanese university finish tasks early. It describes a set of practices students use to finish tasks and reveals how students orient to the achievement of task outcomes. The study finds that students may have more to say on task topics than a task allows, and early finishers may develop these topics in post‐task talk in the target language. The paper argues that early finishing may lead to useful language practice and teachers should therefore be cautious when assigning extra work to early finishers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, in the researches of library and information sciences, the relationship between the process of searching and learning is discussed a lot. It seems that the search to learning has led to exploratory search and exploratory search has helped users discover concepts in order to overcome their uncertainty and finally, achieve learning. What has been neglected is the extent to which searching process affects learning and the degree of knowledge change until one reaches the level of expertise. Hence, the present study was compiled on research findings with the aim of determining the impact of the information search process based on work tasks on learning. For this purpose, a semi-experimental one-group design with pre-test and post-test was used in 2021. The statistical population was the nursing students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in their sixth semester, and 38 of these students randomly participated in this study. First of all, an educational workshop with the aim of getting familiar with drawing conceptual map and a search training workshop were held. Afterwards, the students were assigned two tasks and they were asked to draw their conceptual maps before and after searching. In order to describe and analyze the information in this research, conceptual map scoring (a type of quantitative content analysis) was used to determine the degree of learning, the Euclidean algorithm was used to assess the degree of knowledge change until reaching the level of expertise, and the pairwise comparison method was used to evaluate the difference in the degree of learning before and after the search. The outcomes indicated that the mean difference before and after the search was significant in both scenarios (P<0.001). Also, there was a significant difference between the mean scores before and after the search and the score of the conceptual map, with high confidence. However, it was low, compared to the rate of learning growth according to the expert score. Besides, the difference between the mean of the conceptual map in the complex and simple scenarios was not significant. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of search as a learning method, so it is suggested that librarians and information professors introduce searching as a learning method along with other methods to increase awareness and develop creative thinking skills in the academic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates changes in routine tasks and computer use in European jobs in the period 1995–2015, putting them in the context of the debates on the future of work and the impact of automation. Digital technologies not only affect employment shifts but also shape work organization. A shift-share analysis combining European Working Conditions Survey and European Labour Force Survey data assesses to what extent recent changes in tasks are the result of changes in the structure of employment (shifts in employment across jobs) or changes in the content of work itself (transformation in the task contents and methods within jobs). The results suggest contrasting trends between observed changes in tasks measures within jobs and compositional shifts in employment for routine tasks indexes. Employment structures are de-routinizing while work itself is becoming more routine. These results seem also related to the increased use of computers at work during the same period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Despite a plethora of studies, the moderating effects of contingency factors regarding the relationship between corporate planning (CP) and organizational performance (OP) remain open to discussion. Our meta‐analysis analyzes 183 independent study samples, 84 of which are examined for the first time. We expand on previous meta‐analyses by correcting for measurement error and dichotomization, and we use moderation analyses and meta‐analytical regressions to explain heterogeneity in these studies. We find evidence for the moderating effects of task interdependence and uncertainty avoidance as contingency factors. Unexpectedly, we identify an interaction of the measurements of OP and CP with uncertainty avoidance. Our results provide new insights into the relationship between CP and OP. Management Summary: Managers who may doubt whether planning is still fruitful in turbulent times obtain a clear answer from our study: Yes, it is. CP is definitely correlated with OP. The effect sizes are stable over time and for different types of planning. However, the effect of CP on performance depends on the organizational context. Manufacturing firms benefit more than nonmanufacturing firms, and larger firms benefit more than smaller firms. Organizations in countries with high uncertainty avoidance show larger effects in relation to those in countries with low uncertainty avoidance. Finally, organizations facing high environmental uncertainty show higher effects of CP than organizations in more stable environments. However, the identified effects are conditional on the type of measurement of performance and CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic & Political Thought / Myśl Ekonomiczna & Polityczna is the property of Lazarski University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

What explains pay inequality among coworkers? Theories of organizational influence on inequality emphasize the effects of formal hierarchy. But restructuring, firm flattening, and individualized pay setting have challenged the relevance of these structuralist theories. I propose a new organizational theory of differences in pay, focused on task structure and the horizontal division of labor across jobs. When organizations specialize jobs, they reduce the variety of tasks performed by some workers. In doing so they leave exclusive job turf to other coworkers, who capture the learning and discretion associated with performing a distinct task. The division of labor thus erodes pay premiums for some workers while advantaging others through job turf. I test this theory with linked employer–employee panel data from U.S. labor unions, which include a type of data that is rarely collected: annual reporting on work tasks. Results show that reducing task variety lowers workers' earnings, while increasing job turf raises earnings. When organizations reduce task variety for some workers, they increase job turf for others. Without assuming fixed job hierarchies and pay rates, interdependencies in organizational task allocation yield unequal pay premiums among coworkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disassembly line balancing problem (DLBP), which is to select disassembly process, open workstations and assign selected tasks to opened workstations, plays an important role in the recycling of End Of Life products. In real-world disassembly operations, task processing times are usually stochastic due to various factors. Most related works address the uncertain processing times by assuming that the probability distribution is known and the task processing times are independent of each other. In practice, however, it is difficult to get the complete distributional information and there is always underlying correlation between the uncertain processing times. This paper investigates the DLBP with partial uncertain knowledge, i.e. the mean and covariance matrix of task processing times. A new distributionally robust formulation with a joint chance constraint is proposed. To solve the problem, an approximated mixed integer second-order cone programming (MI-SOCP) model is proposed, and a two-stage parameter-adjusting heuristic is further developed. Numerical experiments are conducted, to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. We also draw some managerial insights and consider an extension problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As technology advances, so do its applications and standards. We are at a crossroads in a civilization that has grown based on the automation of operations and the development of technology to better human lives. As additional programs that do the same thing arrive, both large and small businesses utilize them, promoting their development. The approach in this paper is to address the major issue, which is the most frequently utilized capabilities in a company, whether it is IT or event production. My work involves minimizing these applications and developing a standard that may subsequently be updated on needs and demand.

The authors examined how the stability of the current total isometric force (FT) produced by four fingers is influenced by previous and expected voluntary changes in FT. The authors employed the synergy index obtained from the across-trial uncontrolled manifold analysis to quantify the stability of FT. The authors compared two tasks with similar histories of FT changes; one in which participants expected changes in FT in the future, and one in which they expected no changes in FT. The stability of FT was lower in the former task, indicating the existence of a novel type of anticipatory synergy adjustment. Disparate histories of FT changes yield inconsistent changes in stability, driven by individual differences in the covariation in the finger forces that leave FT invariant. Future research should focus on exploring these individual differences to better understand how previous and expected behavior changes influence the stability of the current motor behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We call on critical management education to focus on the organization of work and the nature of work tasks. Although critical action learning and both reflexive and psychodynamic approaches to management education situate learning in actual work experiences, they do not explicitly encourage reflection on work tasks and the organization of work. Our aim is to draw on the French psychodynamics of work perspective to argue that reflection on concrete experiences and processes of work is important because work has significant implications for workers' health and for society. We also use two vignettes to discuss the implications of French psychodynamics of work for the practice of critical management education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]