E-service portal for freelance community: case study in photography business

This study revealed the limitations of freelancers’ inability to perform portfolios and biographies, their performance ratings to a large community of customers. The difficulties were evident in searching for reliable, qualified and experienced freelancers from multi-channel information sources. These limitations might impact the ability of freelancers selected by customers to perform the required task to the customers’ satisfaction. This research focused on the case study of the freelance community for photography business in southern of Thailand. This aims to establish an online facility in which freelance photographers can publicize their services and performance to potential customers. The concepts entailed in web portals and e-services were the key elements in the development and ensured that its functions worked efficiently. The study employed qualitative methods were used to assess the current practices of web portal and thus determining the requirements for the e-service web portal for freelance community. The practical contribution is that it can aid the effective design and implementation of an e-service web portal for the freelance community of photography business, and it is a massive step towards promoting the freelance community in Thailand.

Audience Study as Catalyst in Sustainable Nollywood Yoruba Film Industry

Nollywood is the representation of the socio-cultural apparatus of Nigeria in the world cinema. Tis paper evaluates generally, film audience’s perspective in Nollywood films, and in particular non-native actors in native films. Most often, stakeholders in the film industry do not access, or are flagrantly ignorant of viewer’s feedback on the state of their production in all media of communication. Some determine this with the profit margins. Tis paper therefore evaluates the audience’s perception of non-native actors in Nollywood Yoruba native films. The area of concentration is on the quality of audience reception on native films by non-native actors. Cluster sample method is the tool of research for this paper, in which questionnaire samples were distributed among film viewers in the Yoruba speaking area in Nigeria. This is done in order to determine the performance ratings of non-Yoruba native actor’s skill of character interpretation in cultured films. Theoretical framework is anchored on Bandura’s Social Learning theory, which concentrates on impact of artistic models on the audience’s psyche. Findings reveal that audience ratings of non-native actors in Yoruba cultured films is poor, compared with their characterization in non-native setting, and this is due to wrong casting by directors who cast them against all odds in order to improve their profit margin. Findings also reveal the importance of audience study as a necessity in pre-production considerations of film shooting.

Quality Improvement Efforts in VA Community Living Centers Increased Following Public Reporting of Performance

In 2018, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began publicly reporting performance ratings for its 134 Community Living Centers (CLCs; nursing homes) based on health inspections, staffing, and clinical quality measures. CLCs operate within a large, integrated healthcare system with unique financial and market incentives. Although public reporting has led to quality improvements in non-VA nursing homes, we do not know whether CLCs respond to public reporting differently than private sector nursing homes. To address this knowledge gap, we used a comparative case study approach involving 3 purposively selected CLCs with varied (low, medium, high) performance ratings. We conducted semi-structured interviews with personnel (n=12) responsible for quality measurement and improvement. Interviews focused on opinions of public reporting, actions taken to improve performance ratings, and motivations for change. Participants indicated public reporting improved transparency and provided an “outside perspective” on their performance. Strategies to improve performance ratings involved 1) data/information, 2) individual roles, and 3) teamwork/communication. All 3 CLCs made changes in these areas, yet respondents in the higher performing CLCs described implementing more strategies immediately after learning their ratings. Respondents in all 3 CLCs described being motivated to deliver good care and achieve public ratings that reflected the care they provided. This meant addressing internal weaknesses that contributed to lower scores for 2 CLCs. Our findings suggest public reporting may improve internal data collection, reporting, and quality improvement efforts in CLCs. They highlight the potential positive impact of public reporting in prompting quality improvement in nursing homes.

Exploring performance paradox in public organizations: Analyzing the predictors of distortive behaviors in performance measurement

Scholars have argued that utilization of quantitative performance indicators by public organizations could generate unintended consequences that might outweigh the benefits of performance measurement. We examined the relationships between goal ambiguity and external control, and distortive practices in performance measurement in public organizations. The data from 47 agencies of the central and local governments in Korea were analyzed using fixed-effect ordered logistic regression methods. The results showed that goal ambiguity was positively and significantly associated with distortive practices in performance measurement. Goal ambiguity may incentivize public employees to misuse performance information to obtain rewards for higher performance ratings. Contrary to our expectation, reinforced external control was negatively and significantly related to distortive behaviors in performance measurement. Higher work autonomy was not significantly associated with manipulation of performance information. Employees with higher intrinsic motivation were less likely to distort performance measures, whereas the ones with higher extrinsic motivation were more likely to misuse performance information to achieve higher performance ratings. Points for practitioners To avoid the potential distortions in performance measurement, public managers should adopt a refined measurement model of performance customized to the unique characteristics of public services. Multiple sets of measures need to be developed and managed properly to respond to complex political environments which involve different key values and the stakeholders in the policy processes, and the nature of public service products and outcomes. Reinforced behavioral control in the process of measuring performance will also be necessary.

An Investigation of Interviewer Note Taking in the Field

Although a key component of a structured interview is note taking, relatively few studies have investigated the effects of note taking. To address this lack of research, we conducted a study that examined the effects of note taking in a work setting. As predicted, we found that the total number of notes taken by interviewers and the level of detail of these notes were positively related to the ratings these interviewers gave to job applicants, that interviewer ratings of applicants who were hired were predictive of their job performance ratings, and that interviewer ratings mediated the relationships between note taking and performance ratings (i.e., the number of notes and their level of detail did not have a direct effect on performance ratings). We also showed that, if uncontrolled, interviewer nesting can result in misleading conclusions about the value of taking detailed notes.

Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Penerima Bantuan Covid-19 Kelurahan Bugel Kota Salatiga Menggunakan Simple Additive Wieghting (Saw)

The purpose of this study is to facilitate decision making in providing COVID-19 assistance to underprivileged communities in Bugel Village, Salatiga City. This study uses the Simple Additive Wieghting method or commonly referred to as the weighted addition method. This method performs a weighted summation of the performance ratings of each alternative on all attributes. The results of the study from 5 families showed who was the most eligible to receive the Covid-19 assistance in the Bugel Village, Salatiga City, namely Sardianto with a final normalization result of 0.785. It is hoped that this research can be used to make decisions quickly and objectively

Effects of focus of attention instructions on listeners’ evaluations of solo instrumental performance

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of focus of attention instructions (i.e. focus on the solo, accompaniment, or collaboration) on listeners’ performance evaluations. Participants ( N = 159) were inservice band directors who listened to and evaluated the accuracy and expressivity of four excerpts of Haydn’s Concerto for Trumpet in E-Flat Major, which we created by synchronizing recordings of good and bad performances of a trumpet soloist with good and bad performances of a piano accompaniment. Results indicated a significant main effect for focus-of-attention instructions group, indicating that listeners’ ratings were affected by the focus-of-attention instructions they received. However, we also found a significant three-way interaction among solo, accompaniment, and group, which signified that the effects of focus-of-attention instructions varied according to both solo and accompaniment conditions. Asking adjudicators to focus their evaluations on the collaborative performance of a soloist and pianist may result in different performance ratings than when asked to rate the soloist or pianist only. Implications for music educators and solo and ensemble event organizers are discussed.