How organisations can remove barriers to increase workforce collaboration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how organisations can remove the barriers that they are currently coming up against to increase their workforce collaboration. Playing a key role in workforce transformation, HR faces pressures to remove the barriers that stand in the way of effective collaboration and decision-making; and Andrew Watson explores in this piece the ways in which organisations can empower employees to take a more collaborative approach to work. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on Andrew’s extensive experience in HR, this is a thought led opinion piece. Findings The findings of the paper show that to empower employees to foster greater collaboration, organisations require a broader cultural shift in organisation. Although there are new challenges such as hybrid working models and siloed departments, Andrew’s paper reveals that to become a more collaborative workplace, employees need a platform that will allow them to come together and cultivate openness and transparency. Technology has the power to break down the communication barriers that stand in the way of effective ideas and knowledge sharing strategies. It can also help teams make incremental improvements quickly without having to wait for multiple approvals. Originality/value Drawing on Andrew’s extensive experience in HR to share insights.

Adoption and Success of e-HRM in a Cloud Computing Environment

This qualitative study examines the digitisation of HRM in a cloud-based environment. The influencing factors for the transformation from conventional HRM to eHRM are examined with a special focus on the success factors from a strategic to the operational level. Additionally, an in-depth analysis of the currently existing and new HR metrics which emerge during the transformation takes place. The study is based on interviews with HR experts with extensive experience in transforming and working with the new technology. Active participation of the HR department is relevant for the success of the digital transformation HRM project. HR metrics have not been applied extensively so far and are used less for controlling and optimizing HR processes. New metrics would increase the acceptance of the new technology and thus the success of the overall HR transformation. The main contribution is related to the field of HR software adoption of cloud-based solutions.

Weaving Security into DevOps Practices in Highly Regulated Environments

In this article, the authors discuss enhancing a DevOps implementation in a highly regulated environment (HRE) with security principles. DevOps has become a standard option for entities seeking to streamline and increase participation by all stakeholders in their Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). For a large portion of industry, academia, and government, applying DevOps is a straight forward process. There is, however, a subset of entities in these three sectors where applying DevOps can be very challenging. These are entities mandated by security policies to conduct all, or a portion, of their SDLC activities in an HRE. Often, the reason for an HRE is protection of intellectual property and proprietary tools, methods, and techniques. Even if an entity is functioning in a highly regulated environment, its SDLC can still benefit from implementing DevOps as long as the implementation conforms to all imposed policies. A benefit of an HRE is the existence of security policies that belong in a secure DevOps implementation. Layering an existing DevOps implementation with security will benefit the HRE as a whole. This work is based on the authors extensive experience in assessing and implementing DevOps across a diverse set of HREs. First, they extensively discuss the process of performing a DevOps assessment and implementation in an HRE. They follow this with a discussion of the needed security principles a DevOps enhanced SDLC should include. For each security principle, the authors discuss their importance to the SDLC and their appropriate placement within a DevOps implementation. They refer to a security enhanced DevOps implementation in an HRE as HRE-DevSecOps.

Inclusive Language Education and Digital Games

Digital technologies play a significant role in language education. One of the most well-received technologies by language learners is digital games. These games facilitate connections between diverse language learners regardless of age, gender, sociocultural and educational background, and diversity. Since the concept of inclusive education is gaining momentum, the popularity of digital games presents new possibilities for inclusive practices in language learning. In research for this chapter, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 EFL students who had extensive experience playing video games. The objective was to discover whether digital games had the potential to drive inclusive language education forward and how this could be done. Student insights into the value of playing video games are presented based on interview data that were analyzed thematically. Finally, the implications and suggestions to use digital games for inclusive language education are discussed.

FIRST STEPS BEFORE THE JUMP: UKRAINIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIANS SURVEY ABOUT OER

Objective. The authors study: 1) the level of awareness of librarians of Ukrainian universities about Open Educational Resources (OER); 2) the ability of librarians to provide support services for the development, creation and use of OER in teaching, learning, research. Methods. The study was conducted by methods of analysis of professional literature, online survey (questionnaires) and analysis of the results. The questionnaires “Library of Higher Education Institution in Support of Distance Learning: Open Educational Resources” was distributed from 20.04. until 20.05.2021 among 137 directors of libraries of higher education institutions of Ukraine. Responses came from 77 libraries. The questionnaire consisted of 9 open-ended and closed-ended questions to allow researchers to get a holistic picture of the research process. Results. The analysis of 77 questionnaires showed that the vast majority of free HEI libraries in Ukraine have extensive experience in working with electronic educational resources. Ranking by resource type prove that 95.89% of library collections are the own generation resources (HEI authors): databases, incl. repositories. The concept of "Open Educational Resources" (OERs) is familiar and understandable to 84.42% of respondents. At the same time, 75.32% are already involved in supporting the OER. Librarians may catalog them (21.92%) or not catalog (32.88%). Among the OER types supported by librarians, educational materials (77.05%) and textbooks (55.74%) predominate. The closest partnership of librarians in OER support (except for teachers) is with the specialists of IT services (66.13%). Conclusions. Despite the still spontaneous, chaotic and little-studied nature of the library movement towards OER, librarians are well aware of this issue. At the same time, 96.1% of respondents want to improve their competencies in the direction of supporting open educational resources. This is very important, because it is the understanding and acceptance of OER that is crucial for a long-term vision of this movement. That is why specific aspects, such as organizational, economic, personnel and motivational, need urgent further study.

Survey among Russian doctors on routine electroencephalography

The aim of the work was to assess how accurately specialists, performing EEG, apply the recommendations in their daily practice.Materials and Methods. An anonymous survey was conducted of 210 specialists in functional diagnostics and neurologists performing routine electroencephalography. The survey consisted of nine mandatory single-choice questions.Results. Only 9 respondents out of 210 (4.3%) perform routine EEG completely in accordance with the Recommendations of the Expert Council of Neurophysiology of the Russian Anti-Epileptic League on performing the routine EEG.' Of these, only three specialists (1.4% of the total number of respondents) answered that a functional diagnostics doctor is present throughout the entire examination.Conclusion: Despite the wide distribution and extensive experience in the use of EEG, there is no uniform practice of its implementation by doctors in the Russian Federation. Standardization of the methodology of its performance will increase confidence in EEG results among doctors of clinical specialties, increase the degree of inter-expert agreement among functional diagnostics physicians, and improve the quality of diagnosis of central nervous system diseases. To do this, it is necessary to develop webinar and educational programs on the methodology of EEG under the auspices of professional associations of doctors of functional diagnostics, neurophysiologists, neurologists.

Barriers to bank customers’ intention to fully adopt digital payment methods

Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between a set of functional and social–psychological barriers and bank customers’ intention to fully adopt digital payment methods (DPMs). Design/methodology/approach The data were collected via an online questionnaire sent to two samples of Swedish bank customers, namely, adopters-accepters (i.e. young bank customers) and adopters-resisters (i.e. a group opposing a cashless society). Hypotheses were tested by applying an ordinal regression model. Findings Regarding the adopters-accepters, privacy and access barriers can be obstacles to the full adoption of DPMs. The adopters-resisters perceived all five studied barriers as significant, though only the impersonalisation barrier seemed to matter when the barriers were related to their intention to fully adopt DPMs. Moreover, the results suggest that barriers have a stronger negative effect on the intention to fully adopt among those with extensive experience of DPMs. Practical implications Based on the barriers affecting the intention of particular groups of bank customers to adopt DPMs, banks could implement customised measures to promote the ongoing development of digital financial services. Originality/value In this under-researched area, this study provides empirical knowledge of the influence of various barriers on the intention of bank customers characterised as adopters-accepters and adopters-resisters to fully adopt DPMs.

Subjective and intuitive decision-making by managers

The article describes the characteristics of the mechanisms of managerial judgments and intuition. It is considered how: intuition and judgments are based on extensive experience and knowledge; they can be understood from the point of view of signal recognition and subsequent recall of relevant experiences from memory. It is shown that intuition and judgment are an analysis that is fixated on the ability to react quickly through recognition. Some pathologies that are often found in managerial behavior, caused by emotions and stress, as well as the lack of appropriate habits, are revealed. In conclusion, it is suggested that managers include the «future» in the managerial «style» or habit.

The role of leptin in patients recovering from Anorexia Nervosa

Introduction: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a mental disorder with the highest death rate. The characteristic feature of AN is endocrine dysregulations, including changes in adipose-tissue secreted hormones, especially adipokines. The most widely studied of them is leptin whose role in the pathophysiology and prognosis of AN is confirmed in more and more studies. The aim of the study was to summarize the role of endocrine disruptions with particular emphasis on leptin in the pathophysiology of AN. Material and methods: For the literature review, the electronic databases PubMed, Cochrane and Google Scholar search were used with the following keywords: eating disorders, adipokines, leptin, metreleptin, satiety, hunger, anorexia, obesity, for studies listed from database inception to October 2021. Results: Leptin, produced mainly by white adipose tissue, inhibits the hunger center in the hypothalamus by negative feedback with ghrelin secreted by the gastrointestinal tract. Leptin is involved in numerous biological functions, including body weight regulation, innate and adaptive immunity regulation, reproduction, and bone formation. Studies confirm decreased leptin levels in AN individuals. In recent years, extensive experience has been gained with leptin as a drug in clinical trials. The studies suggested that treatment can restore menstrual function and bone health and improve mood with unclear body weight effects. Conclusions: Focusing on leptin-related changes is a promising approach to improve AN management. Assessment of leptin levels in AN patients could be a useful tool for therapy monitoring. Treatment with leptin could reverse unfavourable changes induced by diet restriction, including mood symptoms, loss of bone mass and menstrual function. However, the results of these studies need confirmation on larger groups of patients.

Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency

Recent media advocacy for the nascent psychedelic medicine industry has emphasized the potential for psychedelics to improve society, pointing to research studies that have linked psychedelics to increased environmental concern and liberal politics. However, research supporting the hypothesis that psychedelics induce a shift in political beliefs must address the many historical and contemporary cases of psychedelic users who remained authoritarian in their views after taking psychedelics or became radicalized after extensive experience with them. We propose that the common anecdotal accounts of psychedelics precipitating radical shifts in political or religious beliefs result from the contextual factors of set and setting, and have no particular directional basis on the axes of conservatism-liberalism or authoritarianism-egalitarianism. Instead, we argue that any experience which challenges a person's fundamental worldview—including a psychedelic experience—can precipitate shifts in any direction of political belief. We suggest that the historical record supports the concept of psychedelics as “politically pluripotent,” non-specific amplifiers of the political set and setting. Contrary to recent assertions, we show that conservative, hierarchy-based ideologies are able to assimilate psychedelic experiences of interconnection, as expressed by thought leaders like Jordan Peterson, corporadelic actors, and members of several neo-Nazi organizations.