A study of 25 years of publication outputs in the German academic profession

In the weak evaluation state of Germany, full professors are involved in the traditional social governance partnership between the state, and the self-governing higher education institutions (HEI) and disciplinary associations. Literature suggests that formal and informal governance could trigger changes in academics’ publication behavior by valorizing certain publication outputs. In the article, secondary data from three surveys (1992, 2007 and 2018) is used for a multi-level study of the evolution of academics’ publication behavior. We find a trend toward the “model” of natural science publication behavior across all disciplines. On the organizational level, we observe that a strong HEI research performance orientation is positively correlated with journal articles, peer-reviewed publications, and co-publications with international co-authors. HEI performance-based funding is only positively correlated with the share of peer-reviewed publications. At the level of individual disciplines, humanities and social sciences scholars adapt to the peer-reviewed journal publication paradigm of the natural sciences at the expense of book publications. Considering how the academic profession is organized around reputation and status, it seems plausible that the academic profession and its institutional oligarchy are key contexts for the slow but steady change of academics’ publication behavior. The trend of changing academics’ publication behavior is partly related to HEI valorization of performance and (to a lesser extent) to HEI performance based-funding schemes, which are set by the strong academic profession in the weak evaluation state of Germany.

Dual crossover mechanisms of benevolent supervision on followers' contextual performance and emotional exhaustion alleviation

PurposeAdopting conservation of resources (COR) theory as a guiding framework, this study proposes that benevolent supervision (BS) is a feasible leadership style for building a positive resource gain process in subordinates' extra-role actions and reducing their exhaustion, and leader-member exchange (LMX) and positive affect (PA) serve as indirect crossover mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachSurveys were conducted at three-time points with four-week intervals. A total of 304 subordinates and 55 supervisors at a Taiwanese university participated in the surveys, and a multilevel model was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that prior BS (time 1) was positively associated with subordinates' subsequent LMX and PA (time 2). LMX mediated the relationship between BS and subsequent supervisor-rated contextual performance (time 3), and PA mediated the relationship between BS and subordinate-rated emotional exhaustion (time 3). In addition, supervisors' learning orientation positively moderated the relationship between BS and contextual performance via LMX, whereas supervisors' performance orientation negatively moderated this relationship.Practical implicationsThe results of the study encourage leaders to exhibit benevolence toward subordinates, increase subordinates' contextual performance and enhance personal feelings, thereby ultimately benefitting the organization.Originality/valueThis study reveals that BS is a source of resource investment in the process of subordinates' positive job (contextual performance) and personal (emotional exhaustion) resource gains through social exchange (LMX) and affective (PA) crossover mechanisms and that supervisors' goal inclinations impact this process.

Job Satisfaction and Performance Orientation of Paramedics in German Emergency Medical Services—A Nationwide Survey

(1) Background: Shortage of skilled workers is a relevant global health care problem. To remain competitive with other professions, job satisfaction is a critical issue; however, to date, there are no data available on the German EMS. This study aims to perform a statistical analysis of job satisfaction and performance orientation and to identify risk factors for low job satisfaction of paramedics in the German EMS. (2) Methods: Data were collected from 2590 paramedics through a nationwide cross-sectional survey, using the job satisfaction questionnaire by Neuberger and Allerbeck and the performance orientation questionnaire by Hippler and Krüger. Descriptive and regression statistical analysis were performed. (3) Results: The participants scored significantly lower than the reference sample on job satisfaction, with “organization and management” and “payment” being the lowest rated subscales. Around 9% of employees feared losing their jobs. While work attitude toward performance and success enhancement was high, fear of failure was also common. (4) Conclusion: Job satisfaction of paramedics in the German EMS is below that of the reference sample. Discontent with payment and organizational issues is common. Performance orientation is high, but fear of failure is frequent. Current and future efforts that aim at an attractive working environment should reflect on these findings.

Followership practices as determinants of national innovativeness: a study across 56 cultures

PurposeThere is a dearth of literature on what are the factors in terms of leaders’ and followers’ characteristics that impact innovation at the country level. The purpose of this paper is to build theoretical argument and provide empirical evidence of these factors using a cross-cultural mode of study across 56 nations.Design/methodology/approachThe Bayesian modelling technique is used on data from the GLOBE survey.FindingsInnovation at the individual, team and organisational levels has generally been associated with the relationship-motivated leadership, as opposed to task-motivated leadership. This study confirms that this premise holds at the societal level of analysis as well. The second finding is that in terms of followers’ cultural characteristics, out of three variables (power distance, collectivism and performance orientation) tested, only power distance orientation is found to have a predictive relationship with aggregate innovation. The moderator slope analysis unveils a nuanced understanding of how the interaction between leadership styles and followers’ cultural traits impact national innovativeness.Research limitations/implicationsCulture and leadership configurations that bolster innovation need to be studied more thoroughly.Practical implicationsThis study has implications for multi-country teams involved in research and development activities.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this is the first study to unpack leader−follower relationships as predictors of national innovation. A leadership-culture fit perspective is advanced.

MATHEMATICS TEACHER’S ENGAGEMENT AND STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO LEARN MATHEMATICS

Effective teachers are those who are highly engaged and who have an essential role in promoting student motivation and achievement. Thus, this study was conducted to ascertain the engagement of Mathematics teachers and its relation to the learning motivation of students in a state college in the Philippines. It employed the mixed methods, specifically Creswell’s (2014) sequential explanatory approach, with the survey-questionnaire, interview, and focus group discussion as data collection techniques. The findings of the study revealed that teacher’s engagement in Mathematics in terms of “Body Language and Behaviors,” “Consistent Focus,” and “Individual Attention,” were “Very High” while “Rigorous Thinking,” “Meaningfulness of Work,” “Verbal Participation,” “Clarity of Teaching,” “Performance Orientation,” “Interest and Enthusiasm,” and “Confidence,” were only “High.” Meanwhile, students’ motivation to learn Mathematics as to “Relevance,” “Interest,” “Satisfaction,” and “Confidence” were also “High”. The test of hypothesis on significant correlation showed that there was a close association between teacher’s engagement in Mathematics and students’ motivation to learn Mathematics. There was also a corroboration between the quantitative data obtained from the survey and the qualitative data acquired during the interview and focus group discussion. The result further implied that teacher’s high engagement contributes positively to students’ willingness to learn essential concepts and skills in Mathematics.

Supportive assessment strategies as curriculum events in a performance-oriented classroom context

This article examines the role and pedagogical implications of supportive assessment strategies at the interface where curriculum, general Didaktik and pedagogy meet; theoretically, the article draws upon concepts from research in each of those domains. This interplay is examined in relation to the performance-orientation on two curricular levels: on the programmatic curriculum level, Sweden is used as an example for a result-oriented curricular assessment context. On the enacted curriculum level, a high-performing class in year 8 in a Swedish compulsory school is chosen as a concrete case. Methodologically, the study represents a classroom case study. The empirical data corpus has been collected during one school year and consists of video-recorded lesson observations in the subjects of Swedish and science, semi-structured interviews with teachers and students, and field notes and teaching artefacts in the form of teaching documents. The results show that the supportive assessment strategies used in this classroom context can be understood as a kind of catalyst for the curricular performance orientation, where the effective achievement of externally set up outcome expectations is the purpose. Finally, this is critically discussed, among others, in relation to a bildungs-oriented understanding of education.

Impact of Societal Culture on Covid-19 Morbidity and Mortality across Countries

Researchers have begun exploring the impact of societal culture on Covid-19 outcomes (morbidity and mortality). However, emerging findings need integration with prior literature on societal culture and infectious diseases. Moreover, accumulation of knowledge warrants an update while overcoming certain limitations of samples as well as construct validity concerns. Accordingly, hypotheses are derived based on extant evidence proposing the impact of certain cultural practices on Covid-19 outcomes across countries. These hypotheses are tested using the cultural practice scores from GLOBE studies after controlling for certain covariates identified in literature. Multiple regression results reveal that societal culture significantly explains Covid-19 outcomes beyond the explanation due to control variables. Specifically, power distance and institutional collectivism show negative association with both Covid-19 morbidity and mortality. Additionally, performance orientation shows negative association with Covid-19 morbidity. It appears that power distance may ensure conformity to prescribed behaviors and features of performance orientation may facilitate swift and effective containment of Covid-19 cases. The significance of institutional collectivism—but not in-group collectivism—emerging as the form of collectivism showing negative association with Covid-19 outcomes is also discussed.

Implementation of the performance accountability system for government agencies (SAKIP) in realizing good governance at the Kediri city health office

In the implementation of SAKIP at the Kediri City Health Office, there were obstacles in making reports and implementing policies. This study used a qualitative descriptive method with a purposive sampling method. The result is a determinant of decision or policy-making by looking at the existing problems to produce an accurate strategy to improve performance. The priority scale of the program that is carried out then becomes very important in the sustainability of SAKIP in the coming year. This study is based on the results or performance orientation shown in the Government Agency Performance Report (LKjIP) and the implementation of SAKIP itself. The purpose of this research is to identify problems and solutions to problems faced in governance. Agency Performance Accountability System.

Primary School Students’ Performance Orientation - The Czech Republic Research

Introduction: The current school is strongly focused on student performance. Each student faces a large number of learning tasks, which place considerable demands on them, arouse in them a different degree of interest, evoke a different degree of commitment to work, are associated with different expectations or have a different degree of attractiveness. Performance situations are associated with pleasant experiences but also with experiences of failure, which in their essence affect the activity or passivity of the student, and thereby affect the prioritization of the necessity to excel or the need to avoid failure. These needs are the basis of performance orientation, which is analysed in the paper. The aim is to verify whether the motivational orientation of students is related to their beneficial outcomes. Methods: The quantitative nature of the paper made it possible to use both indicators of descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, standard deviation) and inductive statistics (Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson's Chi-square test, Shapiro-Wilk normality test). The surveyed sample of 363 respondents consisted of an available selection of students from 14 primary schools in five regions of the Czech Republic in 2019. The data were collected physically at schools using a standardized questionnaire. Students were acquainted with its purpose and content. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out electronically, both in terms of methodology in accordance with the research design of Hrabal and Pavelková (2011). Results: The analysis of the data of the sample of respondents revealed that the performance orientation of problem students differs statistically significantly from that of the performance motivation of non-problem students in two cases: 1) the need for successful performance, where differences were verified using hypothesis H1 and 2) in the ratio of performance needs, where the differences were verified using hypothesis H4. In other cases, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. Discussion: The presented findings correspond to current domestic (Krykorková & Váňová, 2010) and foreign research (Weiner, 2000). They draw attention to the importance of a positive motivation of the student in terms of his degree of involvement in the development of his own dispositions, which affects the benefit of the student. Positively motivated students achieve better results with a comparable intellect than non-motivated students (Man & Mareš, 2005). The role of the teacher and his knowledge of motivational types of students is of paramount importance in this respect. Limitations: The sample under examination of respondents does not bring a representative sample in terms of the representation of students according to school years, regions of the Czech Republic or according to the representation of so-called problem or non-problem students. The outcomes of the survey can thus be applied only to a given sample of respondents. Conclusion: The benefitting for students in the sample showed lower positive motivation than their intellectually comparable non-problem classmates. It is a question of reserves, the use of which is a challenge not only for themselves, but also for the school and parents. The largest differences between the two groups were recorded in the specific ratio of positive and negative motivation 4: 2 within the T1 type and in the ratio 1: 3 within the T6 type. The attempt to determine the causes of this fact, especially proposing a remedy, is a topic for further research in this area.