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This paper presents the results of a multi-year effort to redesign the introduction to business course at Western Michigan University. ScrimmageSIM, a business simulation that emulates commercial ERP systems, provides the core experience in the course and is a mechanism for students to develop their understanding of business with a focus on quantitative analysis. The design and implementation of the simulation experience follows the experiential learning spiral, as students run the simulation five times with increasingly complex scenarios. The overall design of the course is competency-based, as students have the opportunity to redo many of the course assignments to earn a better grade. The simulation experience, combined with the competency-based design of the course, has resulted in a more rigorous course with students earning grades that are better than they were with the previous curriculum.

With the adoption of sustainability continuing to gain momentum, there has never been a better time for business schools to understand the extent to which they are preparing students to contribute to sustainable organizations and society. The current research seeks to help schools advance this aim by examining the extent to which sustainability is being integrated within business school curricula. We accomplish this through a systematic analysis of 529 websites from undergraduate marketing programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). To further our understanding of how sustainability can be integrated into curricula, we draw upon prior research and the United Nations' Blueprint for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Integration to propose a new sustainability curriculum framework. This research fills a gap in the literature by offering a comprehensive look at the state of sustainability in marketing education and offers direction for programs seeking to meet market demands, advance SDG goals, and fulfill current AACSB standards.

Using a narrative inquiry methodology, grounded by the polymorphous paradigm and institutional betrayal as a conceptual framework, I highlight the experience of seven college student sex workers. I explore their perceptions of and engagement with their colleges/universities and the faculty, staff, and administrators that run them. Specifically, I sought to understand how they make meaning of their invisibility on campus and I inquire about what they think institutional support means and how it could manifest for them. Findings include the reality that these college student sex workers have little confidence in their institutional leaders to understand them, they view their campus as places where they are always already not welcome, and they had little vision for how their institutions could be supportive. I conclude with recommendations for educators and administrators and discussion of implications.

This paper discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic can shift the conversation of paid and unpaid placements from an economic to a pedagogical and goodwill perspective. During the pandemic lockdown many placements were cancelled or postponed. Some continued as agreed but with students working from home, while other placements became unpaid. We build on the pertinent literature that raises legal, ethical, economic and pedagogical implications of paid versus unpaid placement models and what motivates placement organizations to offer placements. Four interdisciplinary trans-Tasman case studies are discussed to better understand the complex situations for placement organizations and universities to sustain WIL placements during this pandemic. Conclusions include recommendations to be vigilant and ensure goodwill is not used to mask the exploitation of students, but rather, positively influence the motivation behind offering placements during these trying times and beyond.

With the emergence of big data as a strategic weapon in business, the need for hands-on activities in undergraduate courses is essential for preparing the next wave of technical talent. As the availability of programs in data analytics and data science grows based on market demands, the need for foundational technical skills is important to equip graduates for readily available entry level jobs in the field. While the available literature contains elements of application of big data into the classroom, mainstream tools like Apache Hadoop have not been readily addressed. This paper evaluates two different methods of providing students exposure to Hadoop through either an on-premise cluster or virtual machines. A curriculum is provided for students to gain hands-on experience through lab exercises, assessed through pre- and post-quizzes to test understanding. In addition, student work is assessed for application and analysis in a Business Intelligence and Big Data undergraduate course. This work contributes to the information systems (I.S.) community by providing foundational elements essential for integrating software tools such as Hadoop, Hive, and Spark into coursework.

This report explores the ways in which human resource (HR) managers use "TOEIC"® scores to inform hiring, promotion, and training decisions in an international workplace. Two data sources were used (a) previously collected test users' testimonials that described managers' use of TOEIC scores to inform HR decisions and (b) test-use examples collected from HR managers and TOEIC representatives specifically for this project. Our analysis of test-use examples provided insight into how companies use TOEIC scores to inform HR decisions related to hiring, promotion, and training of employees in international businesses. To conclude, we provide suggestions for future research such as providing services to test users (e.g., assessment literacy, the development of assessments measuring additional components of workplace English, or algorithms to help analyze the various variables relevant to informing HR decisions) to continue to support meaningful and relevant score-based HR decisions and score interpretations.

The contribution seeks to apply the principles of J. L. Austin's speech-act theories to the study of local business segregation in the Jim Crow South. In particular, it borrows the notions of illocutionary and perlocutionary force when examining the seemingly bland and prosaic statements that are often used to normalise segregation within the business of commercial entertainment. For purposes of expanding the complexity of typical Manichaean (i.e., Black vs White) ethnic studies, this analysis was developed within the context of tri-racial segregation as applied to rural moviegoing within Robeson County, North Carolina during the first half of the twentieth century. Notably, the development of Robeson's historical cinema-exhibition spaces eventually resulted in a highly unusual venue -- i.e., the three-entrance theatre -- whose physical architecture reflected tensions between local ethnic demographics and desired social hierarchies. Yet even in the face of these unusual physical constructs, this study contends that seemingly everyday objective/descriptive and non-demonising language remained an essential component in enforcing segregation.

The Principles of Information Systems course taught at a medium-sized Midwest University consists of Information Systems conceptual material plus Microsoft Excel and Access skills that the Information Systems faculty feel are most important to business students from all business disciplines. These skills range from using basic mathematic functions and formulas to complex "what-if" statements for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Microsoft Access topics range from constructing simple tables, queries, forms, and reports to complex calculations using Expression Builder. However, aside from a few comments from faculty teaching in accounting, economics, management, finance, or marketing, it is not known specifically what specific skills that faculty from other major universities consider important for successful completion of their programs. A survey consisting of 18 spreadsheet and database case attributes was sent to graduating seniors, business faculty and to area businesses requesting that they rate each case as to its importance in their specific major, business curriculum or knowledge skill set respectively. Each participant was asked to select the appropriate block on a Likert scale ranging from "not very important" to "very important" for each of all 18 cases. The responses were returned by 18 students, 22 faculty, and 81 area businesses. While there was nothing that indicated that the Information Systems faculty were not teaching important skills there were some interesting facts noted. Considering this, the faculty has decided to broaden the scope within each case to ensure fluency in Excel and Access by employing a fewer number of cases and more emphasis on specific skills.

Targeted agricultural education programs can play a role in solving complex water issues. This article applies importance-performance analysis to examine dimensions of water resources that may inform local water conservation campaigns in the United States. The purpose of this study was to generate a deep understanding of home irrigation users' preferences and perceptions about water to inform landscape irrigation water best practices campaigns among this audience nationwide. Importance-performance analysis was conducted using quantitative survey research. Responses were drawn from 2,675 people who use home landscape irrigation in all states nationwide and from three areas experiencing serious water issues: Florida, California, and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. There were differences among respondents as a function of geographical location, which revealed people are likely influenced by their exposure to and experience with water issues. There were significant differences between respondents' perceived importance with clean water for different purposes and plentiful water for different purposes. We identified gaps between importance of and satisfaction with clean and plentiful water for different purposes which demonstrate dissatisfaction around important water topics, such as clean water for local and large water bodies. The findings provide insight for targeted programs surrounding local needs and issues. Agricultural education professionals who work on water issues should emphasize home irrigation users' influence on water quality issues over water quantity issues, and should incorporate locally specific findings into programs.

Academic entrepreneurship has been one of the main research fields over the past 20 years, specifically due to the interest of policy makers in this topic. Initially, this interest focused on the creation of university spin-off (USO) firms; although given the new circumstances of the university and its context, there is a need to steer the research topic toward survival. This is because the simple creation of USOs, without their being able to survive or create value, is useless. This article focuses on one of the determining factors of the success of USOs, as measured by employment and sales growth: the influence of institutional- and ecosystem-level variables. Through a backward sequential process, our results show that the business size and the public support in the field of training and bureaucracy are the main elements that affect success.

Over the last years, educators have been forced to rethink about the whole education system. In 2005, Connectivism, a new learning theory, was emerged. Consequently, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been presented as an alternative powerful educational system. Money was invested and tens of for-profit and non-profit companies involved in producing MOOC. However, integrating and adopting MOOC in educational institutions worldwide is still questionable. This literature review paper addressed and discussed the issues that higher education institutions should consider before adopting MOOC. The findings showed eight considerable, interrelated and controllable MOOC issues: high dropout rate, accreditation, business model, reputation, pedagogy, research ethics, student assessment and language barrier. Policy makers in higher education institutions should be aware of these issues before including MOOC in their development plans. In addition, the paper presented a number of possible future studies.

The recession of 2008 and the demise of established financial firms served as a reminder that effective corporate governance is important to ensure that businesses remain as going concern. One key area is the implementation of effective enterprise-wide risk management practices. The resulting regulatory oversight enacted through the Dodd Frank Act placed additional responsibility on organizations to develop effective risk management practices. However, business risks are evolving and are now reflected in data breaches and defective parts recalls. Business students, especially accounting majors, must have a working knowledge of risk assessment practices prior to entering the work force. The risk management project was developed to help provide students with this opportunity. It has been used over several semesters at a regional university, and results shows that students are able to identify business risks and perform a basic risk assessment. Students now have a better understanding of the enterprise risk management process and will be more productive as they enter the workforce.

This paper reports on the use of QlikView business intelligence software for use in a Business Intelligence (BI) course within an undergraduate information systems program. The course provides students with concepts related to data warehousing, data mining, visualizations, and software tools to provide business intelligence solutions for decision making. The goal of the course is to balance both the technical and business skills students require when using business intelligence systems. Specific use of the software QlikView is outlined through an experiential project whereby students obtain, model, analyze, and interpret publicly accessible airline data. QlikView is a leading business intelligence software package that allows users to import data from a variety of sources to create visualization-based dashboards for reporting and analysis. The use of QlikView in this course addresses common challenges with using commercially available software in the classroom.

TechMath is a professional development program that forms collaborations among businesses, colleges, and schools for the purpose of promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. TechMath has provided strategies for creating highquality professional development by bringing together teachers, students, and business partners to allow teachers to design Problem-Based Learning (PBL) modules. Teachers reported that their participation enhanced their understanding of business applications for mathematics and science instruction. Results from surveys, questionnaires, and focus group sessions prompted recommendations for researchers, administrators, and practitioners interested in preparing students for STEM careers.

Big Data are structured, semi-structured, unstructured, and raw data that are revolutionizing how we think about and use information in the 21st century. Big Data represents a paradigm shift from our prior use of traditional data assets over the past 30+ years, such as numeric and textual data, to generating and accessing petabytes and beyond of images and social media. Traditional databases stored only structured data consisting of letters and numbers, but in the era of Big Data a need arose to incorporate unstructured data as part of overall information management. The shift to Big Data started with the Internet boom of the mid to late 1990s and the "rich data" that could be collected through semi-structured and unstructured petabytes of behavioral, image, textual, and social media data. Social media, such a Facebook, Twitter, Wikis, Blogs, YouTube, etc., has also changed our view of data. Big Data is a relatively nascent field of study that has spawned the development of new hardware, software, and database architectures to handle the large volume of structured and unstructured data. However, the foundation for the exploration and analysis of Big Data is as old as the Information Age itself and is rooted in the field of communications. In this paper, the authors show how communication theory has developed in parallel with the development of the Information Age and how the application of convergent theories resulted in Big Data producing Business Intelligence.

Competitive growth in today's economy requires engineers to possess innovation skills to create novel designs. An entrepreneurial mindset enables people to think and then act in a certain way to discover, evaluate, and exploit opportunities by understanding the value proposition of a new idea, identifying the potential market, and adapting ideas to meet the needs and desires of various customer segments. However, secondary students often lack formalized opportunities to look for new opportunities for innovative design, act upon their design ideas, and transform those ideas into reliable investments of time and resources during their school experiences. Therefore, we propose that secondary engineering teachers can employ established entrepreneurial pedagogical interventions as a means to promote more authentic engineering design activities in STEM learning environments. The interventions can aid students in making more informed design decisions, engage them in developing viable solutions to authentic problems while investigating opportunities for exploiting their ideas, and thus, support the innovation capabilities of our future. Consequently, this article highlights methods in which to integrate an entrepreneurial mindset within high school STEM classrooms, specifically those focused on engineering.

The Information Systems discipline has long suffered an identity crisis. It has also been prone to program sustainability issues as a technology focus has waxed and waned over the last 50 years. This paper suggests a new approach to teaching Information Systems, utilizing the notion of "fundamental and powerful concepts." Using digital disruption as a fundamental and powerful concept, the authors argue for the core IS course and the courses that make up the major to be developed and centered around the transformation of business models, products, and services caused by emerging digital technologies. The paper includes an outline for the core IS course and the other courses in the major and concludes with a suggestion that the fundamental and powerful concept of digital disruption be used as an approach to teaching Information Systems.

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season was above normal, producing 20 named storms, 7 hurricanes, 3 major hurricanes, and seasonal accumulated cyclone energy that exceeded the 1991-2020 average. Hurricane Idalia was the most damaging hurricane of the year, making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida, resulting in eight direct fatalities and 3.6 billion U.S. dollars in damage. The above-normal 2023 hurricane season occurred during a strong El Nino event. El Nino events tend to be associated with increased vertical wind shear across the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic, yet vertical wind shear during the peak hurricane season months of August-October was well below normal. The primary driver of the above-normal season was likely record warm tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs), which effectively counteracted some of the canonical impacts of El Nino. The extremely warm tropical Atlantic and Caribbean were associated with weaker-than-normal trade winds driven by an anomalously weak subtropical ridge, resulting in a positive wind-evaporation-SST feedback. We tested atmospheric circulation sensitivity to SSTs in both the tropical and subtropical Pacific and the Atlantic using the atmospheric component of the Community Earth System Model, version 2.3. We found that the extremely warm Atlantic was the primary driver of the reduced vertical wind shear relative to other moderate/strong El Nino events. The concentrated warmth in the eastern tropical Pacific in August- October may have contributed to increased levels of vertical wind shear than if the warming had been more evenly spread across the eastern and central tropical Pacific. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season produced above-normal activity despite strong El Nino conditions. The season had 20 named storms, along with 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. Normally, El Nino decreases Atlantic hurricane activity due to increases in vertical wind shear. In 2023, vertical wind shear was below average, likely driven by the record warm tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea surface temperatures which led to tropical circulation patterns that were considerably different from the atmospheric flow typically observed during El Nino events. This manuscript also uses a state-of-the-art climate model to investigate the impacts of Atlantic and Pacific SST configurations on Atlantic vertical wind shear patterns. KEYWORDS: El Nino; Hurricanes/ typhoons; Tropical cyclones; Atmospheric waves; Seasonal forecasting, 1. Introduction The 2023 North Atlantic (hereafter Atlantic) hurricane season was classified as above normal based on NOAA's definition, (1) with 20 named storms [e.g., a tropical cyclone (TC) or [...]

To date, few scholars in counselor education have attended to the processes and impacts of introducing business related concepts within counseling curricula. The authors describe the development, implementation and evaluation of a graduate-level course titled Entrepreneurship in Clinical Settings wherein students were tasked with producing a business plan for their ideal clinical practice. Implications and recommendations are explored.

The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that influence business students' intentions to enroll in law school. Scant research has focused on factors that influence business students' decisions to enroll in law school. This paper attempts to fill that gap. Hypotheses about student intentions are based on Ajzen & Fishbein's (1977) Theory of Planned Behavior. A sample of students enrolled in a business law class at a large Midwestern university is used to examine the hypotheses. Results indicate that law school intentions are driven by whether students feel they would enjoy the work of a lawyer, whether they feel having a law degree would provide them with job opportunities, and whether they feel they have the skills and abilities to get a law degree. Surprisingly, perceptions about future wealth are not associated with law school intentions. The sample may generalize to business student populations at other large state universities; however, it is important for future researchers to similarly investigate student law school intentions at other types of universities and colleges. The paper encourages undergraduate teachers of business law, as well as administrators of law schools, to consider the determinants of student intentions to study law. We particularly encourage law schools to work with undergraduate law faculty and periodically survey their target undergraduate populations to better understand student perceptions about attending law school.

Building owners are caught between two powerful forces--the need to lower energy costs and the need to meet or exceed outdoor air ventilation regulations for occupant health and comfort. Large amounts of energy are wasted each day from commercial, institutional, and government building sites as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems replace indoor air with fresh outdoor air multiple times per day. Heating or cooling energy is continually wasted in the exhaust air stream, while new energy must be generated and used to condition entering outdoor air. Building owners who fail to capture this wasted energy will continue to incur high energy costs, negatively impacting asset values, profitability, and the ability to attract tenants, customers, or students with corporate or federally directed energy-efficiency mandates. To address this challenge, many building owners are turning to site-recovered energy technologies such as Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV). Designed to operate with new or existing HVAC units, ERV technology provides an affordable means to simultaneously cut HVAC energy costs without compromising outdoor air ventilation requirements. (Contains 3 figures and 5 endnotes.)

This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students' learning and their understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students' perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students' understandings of research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his enthusiasm and his expertise and mentoring in doing research. However many students developed only limited understandings of research in the subject area, despite their direct experience of the lecturers' research. The implications for the design of research-led education approaches are explored.

Whether manually or through the use of software, a non-linear information organization framework known as mind mapping offers an alternative method for capturing thoughts, ideas and information to linear thinking modes such as outlining. Mind mapping is brainstorming, organizing, and problem solving. This paper examines mind mapping techniques, advantages, and disadvantages of hand-drawn maps and using mind mapping software. Several mind mapping software applications are compared on a number of product dimensions. Survey results provide a descriptive profile of mind map users in education, government and business sectors.

From a review of some of the literature and a brief compiling of statistics on women in positions of leadership and power, and with a quick look at the life and work of some contemporary women who have thought about and lived the life of corporate leadership, it is clear that women have made small progress into positions of power and influence. Research shows that this is true because they did not desire the positions of leadership, did not want to pay the price of the loneliness of leadership, or were derailed in some way by sex. A review of the timeline for the advances for women also shows the disconnect between what happens in legislation or social opinion and what really happens to the plight of women in the halls of power. Research indicates the alternative for women seeking positions of power in the corporate structure is as follows: Some women…who are the best qualified for leadership…leave the corporate ranks and never return. Some decide to become entrepreneurs. Some decide on other upward mobility enterprises. This paucity of women in the Boardroom and at the helm of corporate power definitely accounts for the lack of soul, ethics, and the general quandary in corporate America. The dilemma that leaders are now facing is: What happened here, as evidence by corporate scandals and the fall of Wall Street, where do we go, and what do we do now? It is the focus of this paper to show that the greatest deterioration of the corporate structure is caused by the following: Not including and/or promoting women into the ranks of leadership…real policy making power…not providing a female friendly environment for women, not setting up legitimate and ongoing mentoring systems for women, not recognizing the different, but significant, voice of knowledge that women bring to the table.

Daring to challenge the status quo impacts innovation. Yet, successful outcomes depend on individual risk-taking and choice to influence others to support new ideas. This "Challenging the Status Quo" exercise illustrates how leaders use power and influencing tactics to challenge norms by analyzing Donald Trump's journey as the 45th U.S. President to defy experts and successfully influence followers to support his non-traditional candidacy: businessman lacking political experience becoming leader of the free world. Through integrating videoclips and polls, instructors make power visible, relevant, and thought-provoking as students apply power theory and influencing tactics perspectives to analyze (a) how leaders impact followers' perceptions, (b) students mutual-influencing strategies, (c) power's relationship with social identity and privilege, and (d) social impact on innovation via activism and free speech.

Developing and assessing individuals' competence to identify business opportunities is of increasing importance in the current widespread introduction of entrepreneurship programmes in higher education worldwide. However, performance tests to assess opportunity identification competence (OIC) are scarce in the entrepreneurship education literature. This study elaborates on the development and application of such a performance assessment tool: the opportunity identification competence assessment test (OICAT). In the OICAT participants are asked to generate business ideas in the area of sustainable development. This study investigated how bachelor's students, and master's students following entrepreneurial courses, identify opportunities. The results suggest that the OICAT is successful in tracking individual differences in OIC. The OICAT could be used as a learning-oriented assessment, helping students find out both what they already can do and what they need for further improvement.

The objective of this study was to test the effect of far-field industrial (i.e., man-made) versus biological analogies on creativity of business professionals from two organizations engaged in the idea generation phase of new product development. Psychological effects, as reflected in language use, were measured via computerized text analysis of transcribed audio recordings of ideation sessions. Effects on quality of product concepts generated by participants were measured via analysis of 15 judges' multidimensional creativity ratings. Though psychological effects were undetectable, results suggest presenting new product development professionals with biological analogies as ideation stimulus increases novelty and may increase elegance of solutions generated. Presenting far-field industrial analogies increases relevance and effectiveness of solutions generated. This study serves as a source of evidence that biomimicry (design by analogy to biology) is an effective approach to product innovation. It also shows that there is an important role for far-field industrial analogies in stimulating ideas during new product development. A strategically designed brainstorming session should prime innovators with both far-field industrial and biological analogies to generate maximally creative ideas.

Numerous changes to information technology and media consumption over the last 2 decades have facilitated a fundamental shift in how people receive information, including weather forecasts. Historically, weather information was generally vetted through experts (often broadcast meteorologists) to members of the public in a relatively top-down system. Now, with the availability of internet websites, phone applications, and social media, people have an increasingly diverse set of sources from which to get weather forecasts. In this piece, we present results from CONUS-wide surveys that show this diversification of weather sources for nonroutine weather events. While older respondents still tend to get weather information from television, younger respondents are increasingly reliant on less traditional sources, including phone notifications, internet websites, social media, and family and friends. This shift to nontraditional sources means that a more diverse set of actors will have the opportunity to provide weather information to users, which could impact the quality, reliability, and accessibility of the weather information in the future. KEYWORDS: Social Science; Communications/ decision making, 1. Introduction Weather influences our daily lives. From minor choices (like deciding to wear a coat) to more significant choices (like cancelling sporting events and concerts), almost everyone relies on [...]

Climate change is a global existential threat with far-reaching implications for natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and human societies. Adapting to and mitigating climate change require global cooperation and participation from all mindsets and belief systems, including the traditionally western weather, water, and climate enterprise (WWCE), faith-based understandings (FBUs), and Indigenous Knowledges (IKs). Epistemological differences and language barriers between knowledges and the historical marginalization and exploitation of IKs by western ideologies and some FBUs make coproduction and relationship building challenging. Acknowledging their historical tensions and distinctions, there is meaningful overlap between the WWCE, FBUs, and IKs on environmental stewardship, justice, and mental health. This article highlights three themes at the intersection of FBUs, IKs, and environmentalism: 1) increasing faith- based and Indigenous community resilience to weather extremes; 2) developing kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) and collegiate weather, water, and climate education that weaves FBUs and IKs; and 3) increasing communication flows between weather, water, and climate science, and faith-based and Indigenous communities. These initiatives aim to foster relationships and trust between the WWCE, faith-based, and Indigenous communities; transform the WWCE into a multiknowledge enterprise; and promote a climate-resilient society. The American Meteorological Society's Committee on Spirituality, Multifaith Outreach, and Science (COSMOS) plays a pivotal role in facilitating dialogue and collaboration on these themes while acknowledging distinctions and historical tensions between FBUs, IKs, and the WWCE. Collaborative efforts between the WWCE, faith- based, and Indigenous communities hold immense potential for addressing climate challenges, fostering resilience, and building a more inclusive and sustainable future grounded in mutual respect and understanding. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This article addresses how weaving faith-based understandings (FBUs) and Indigenous Knowledges (IKs) into the weather, water, and climate enterprise (WWCE) can effectively tackle climate change, extreme weather, and other environmental challenges. Emphasizing the need for a shift in mindset and community dialogue, the path to adaptation begins with raising awareness and fostering discussions that bridge science and societal values. This includes acknowledging the historical tensions that exist between FBUs, IKs, and western science and being honest about the challenges and distinctions that arise from these tensions. Through partnerships highlighted between the American Meteorological Society (AMS), Indigenous groups, and multifaith organizations, we see practical outcomes: enhanced weather preparedness, improved mental well-being, holistic environmental solutions, and informed policymaking. These collaborations are crucial for building a resilient and sustainable future by connecting community strengths through a multiknowledge scientific and cultural approach. KEYWORDS: Climate change; Adaptation; Communications/ decision making; Education; Indigenous knowledge; Resilience, 1. Introduction Our changing climate presents an urgent, global, and existential threat with profound implications for natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and human societies worldwide (IPCC 2022). The urgent need to confront [...]

Difficulty in using observations to isolate the impacts of aerosols from meteorology on deep convection often stems from the inability to resolve the spatiotemporal variations in the environment serving as the storm's inflow region. During the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Tracking Aerosol Convection interactions Experiment (TRACER) in June-September 2022, a Texas A&M University (TAMU) team conducted a mobile field campaign to characterize the meteorological and aerosol variability in air masses that serve as inflow to convection across the ubiquitous mesoscale boundaries associated with the sea and bay breezes in the Houston, Texas, region. These boundaries propagate inland over the fixed DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) sites. However, convection occurs on either or both the continental or maritime sides or along the boundary. The maritime and continental air masses serving as convection inflow may be quite distinct, with different meteorological and aerosol characteristics that fixed- site measurements cannot simultaneously sample. Thus, a primary objective of TAMU TRACER was to provide mobile measurements similar to those at the fixed sites, but in the opposite air mass across these moving mesoscale boundaries. TAMU TRACER collected radiosonde, lidar, aerosol, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and ice nucleating particle (INP) measurements on 29 enhanced operations days covering a variety of maritime, continental, outflow, and prefrontal air masses. This paper summarizes the TAMU TRACER deployment and measurement strategy, instruments, and available datasets and provides sample cases highlighting differences between these mobile measurements and those made at the ARM sites. We also highlight the exceptional TAMU TRACER undergraduate student participation in high-impact learning activities through forecasting and field deployment opportunities. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The environment influencing storms often varies across scales that are not always adequately captured by measurements collected at fixed locations. This paper describes our strategy for collecting mobile measurements of the aerosols and meteorology that influenced convection initiated by the sea breeze across the Houston, Texas, region. We show several examples of the local variations in aerosols and meteorology influencing storms that were captured by our mobile platform that were different from those sampled at fixed observation sites. We also highlight potential future studies and science questions that could be addressed using our dataset. KEYWORDS: Deep convection; Sea breezes; Aerosols; Cloud microphysics; Soundings; Aerosol-cloud interaction, 1. Motivation and goals Deep convective systems play a significant role in a number of critical components of the climate system through their large contribution to the hydrological cycle, feedback [...]

Tabletop exercises examining weather-related hazards are not uncommon but are often built around somewhat generic scenarios that only touch on the meteorological communication environment at a very shallow level. A recent exercise in central Oklahoma sought to change that. A local emergency manager, personnel from a National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office, and a severe weather researcher with a background in exercise design and facilitation worked together to create and deliver a realistic severe weather simulation. Exercise participants were exposed to detailed forecast information via NWSChat--a dedicated communication tool used to connect NWS forecasters, emergency managers, and media members for real-time information sharing. NWS forecasters were able to both actively play in the exercise due to the use of NWSChat and observe how local decision-makers interpreted and utilized the impact-based decision support service (IDSS) graphics and short-term forecast updates. The collaborative approach of developing a detailed scenario with numerous real- world IDSS graphics, along with the use of NWSChat for real-time delivery, resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants. The local emergency management office identified numerous areas for improvement in communicating real-time forecast information across their jurisdiction, along with gaps in current plans and resources. Meanwhile, the NWS forecast office had the opportunity to experiment with using the new NWSChat platform in a high- impact severe weather environment before a real-world event took place. Forecasters also gained insight into current IDSS graphic interpretation, noting areas for improved messaging to end users, such as adding storm motion to existing severe weather graphics. KEYWORDS: Communications/ decision making; Emergency preparedness; Emergency response, 1. Introduction Tabletop exercises are an important tool for emergency managers to ensure jurisdictional readiness for future incidents. These exercises often involve multiple agencies or stakeholders representing various parts of [...]

Background: The importance of information technology to current business practices has long drawn the attention of practitioners and academicians. Aim: This paper aims to broaden understanding about service innovation as a critical organizational capability through which information technology adoption influences the competitive advantage of a firm. In the context of financial firms, this study examines how information technology is adopted and managed to enhance service innovation practices and whether and how service innovation practices may influence the competitive advantage of firms. Method: A research framework and the associated hypotheses are proposed. An empirical survey was conducted and questionnaires were mailed to 558 financial firms in Taiwan. Analysis: A total of 124 valid observations was collected and analysed using the partial least squares technique. Conclusions: The results suggest that adopting information technology has positive effects on service innovation practices, which increase the competitive advantage of firms.

Historically, a policy of enforcement in internationalisation processes is still seen by many as an approach to solve certain economic crises. However, Portugal's solution for this problem is part of a greater problem, namely trying to solve a European problem that has recently worsened and is largely uncontrolled. This paper aims to contribute, firstly by mentioning the Portuguese economic context and also possible ways of internationalisation and, secondly, by measuring a set of variables/factors that should support the development of the Portuguese economy. The results of the interviews which supported this study's methodological basis show that the Portuguese economy's poor dynamism and low demand by alternate markets are the two critical variables for the country's weak competitiveness. The suggestions of those surveyed propose that the Portuguese economy's dynamics should be characterised by a hybrid model, joining factors connected to the Nordic school's behavioural model, Dunning's eclectic paradigm (1997), and Buckley and Casson's model of internationalisation theory (1976).

This article illustrates how the generic employability skills approach to critical thinking suffers from serious conceptual and epistemological difficulties that impact deleteriously on both its practical effectiveness and democratic appropriateness. Unlike technical skills, employability skills, in this case cognitive capacities such as critical thinking and problem solving, are traditionally presented as not job specific, and are intended to remain broadly applicable across a variety of occupations and professions. The emphasis that career education places on technical rationality in critical thinking violates principles of democratic learning by disregarding the historical context of vocational experience. Within career education, critical thinking conceived as technical rationality refers to means/end reasoning that pursues human capital and business objectives with the maximum possible effectiveness. This article proposes that a more effective, politically empowering, and epistemically coherent approach to critical thinking promotes student understanding of the various forces shaping contemporary vocational experience. Finally, this article proposes a revised critical thinking construct based on foundational rationality to remedy these problems, and offers examples of concrete classroom strategies, such as praxis, problem-posing education and collaborative learning, that protect democratic learning in career education programs.

Hybrid Meeting "2nd GNSS Polarimetric Radio Occultations User Workshop" What: Over 80 people from 14 countries, 3 continents, and over 40 different affiliations, from government agencies, research centers, universities, and the commercial space sector, discussed the status of the polarimetric radio occultation technique and applications being developed from the current and future observations, with focus on its use for and in numerical weather prediction modeling. When: 28-29 November 2023 Where: Hybrid, at the Keck Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. Co-organized by JPL and ICE-CSIC/IEEC. KEYWORDS: Atmosphere; Cloud microphysics; Convective-scale processes; Thermodynamics; Numerical weather prediction/ forecasting; Convective parameterization, 1. Introduction Conventional radio occultations (ROs) track the phase delay induced by water vapor and air density gradients in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals as they propagate through Earth's [...]

This article discusses a set of projects that build on the following concepts: the private sector has the ability to fund undergraduate research projects, the private sector is hungry for projects that focus on the scholarship of application and engagement, and students can be empowered beyond a particular research project in this funding model. Through a student-run organization, several departments came together for consulting research projects. Although formal research projects are not the sole activity of the organization, many have been accomplished and presented at academic meetings, highlighting a "theory-to-practice" approach. Most of the client work scaffolds students' learning of research methods, support students' ability to participate in other research experiences, and provide real examples of completed projects that assist students in applying to graduate school or seeking work in the professional world.

Teaching about economics and business has a long tradition in geography. Planning the optimal site for a business or service in a community; examining the demographics and behavior of a certain target market; studying supply chain management to build a specific product such as a mobile phone or a piece of furniture; and examining median income by neighborhood, state, or country are all inherently geographic problems and tasks. They all involve considerations of location, scale, and patterns over space and time. These geographic tasks can be understood and solved through the use of today's web-based maps, data, and tools. In the hands of geography educators and students, these maps, data, and tools can engage learners in central issues of economics and business using the geographic perspective in tandem with a problem-based approach. Web geographic information systems (GIS) provides the ability to examine the above issues from local to global scale, using any device, using only a web browser and an Internet connection. Exploring these topics with web mapping tools builds content knowledge, skills, and the geographic perspective; it also fosters numeric competencies and computer fluency. This article provides some practical resources and approaches to teach economics and business themes in geography.