Employee Online Communities

This chapter seeks to impart understanding of the role of employee online communities for enhanced employee engagement and retention in an organization. The highly engaged and motivated employees would contribute more towards accomplishing the organizations goals. The various research studies conducted in the past across the world identify job satisfaction as a major determinant of employee engagement and retention. The role of internal communication through employee online communities of organizations or intranets is theoretically suggested to be a major influencer for the enhancement of employee engagement efforts. This can help to enhance and support culture, corporate values, mission statement, and annual company goals. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the role that the employee online communities of organizations play in order to support the twin objectives of employee retention and engagement. Engaging employees can be the catalyst for inducing positive change among employees and, as a result, boosting an organization's success.

Practices of Filipino Public High School Teachers on Digital Teaching and Learning Technologies during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Basis for Learning Action Cell Sessions

Purpose–With industry 4.0 revolutionizing the digitally renowned teaching and learning societies, this research study aims to uncover the practices of public high school teachers on digital teaching and learning technologies during the COVID-19pandemic. Method–This descriptive-correlational study surveyed 34 consented Filipino teacher-participants of a public high school system in the Buguey District, Northern Philippines. Validated responses extracted thru Google forms administered in 30 days were described using frequency counts and percentages. Perceived practices were correlated with teacher-participants' profiles, while qualitative key informant interviews disclosed best practices, challenges, and problems along with the use of digital technologies for teaching and learning.Results–Findings revealed rare practices on the use of digital technologies to teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among teachers which are mostly on early to middle age brackets, dominantly female, completed their equivalent Masters' degree, holding teacher 2 or 3 ranks, and permanently teaching in 6 to 10 years now. Practices of teachers in the use of digital teaching and learning tools are somewhatevident, eager to practice and acknowledging the benefits of using the digital tools and radiating best practices in the workplace. Despite some technical issues that are beyond control, having internet at home necessitates the teacher's role to enhance teaching and learning while maximizing the potential of varied tools.Conclusion–With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd)has indeed necessitated teachers to be innovative in class towards achieving its vision-mission statement by integrating into the curriculum and instruction the use of digital teaching and learning tools.Recommendations–It is recommended that DepEd must continually upscale its technological competencies with the implementation of the proposedlearning action cell sessions.Research Implications–The relevant research findings provided insights for school administrators for implementing training sessions for teachers to be technologically pandemic-responsive.Practical Implications–The results of the study provided inputs for teachers to be adaptive to utilizing digital tools for teaching not only in time of a pandemic.

Planning for HEI Excellence

In this chapter, the mission statement is conceptualized as mission, vision, and value statements. These statements are the building blocks and reflect the ultimate distillation of strategic activity. This chapter explains the role of vision, mission, and value statements in planning for organizational excellence. The chapter outlines the quality management system, the importance of defining an effective mission statement, the key requirements for a compelling mission statement, and the reasons why mission statements fail. The chapter concludes with a strong affirmation on the need to develop a precise and comprehensive mission statement and align all business processes to achieve the mission statement.

ON THE FULL-FLEDGED MISSION STATEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY

The mission statement of an organization compiled in accordance with the definition of the term “mission” of the dictionary of the ISO 9000 quality management systems standard cannot be recognized as an effective management tool, since the ISO requirements for this document are too generic and vague. The objectives of this work were to clarify the functions of the mission statement of the university library as a management document, to develop a definition of the mission statement, consisting mainly of a list of its functions, and to develop a full-fledged mission statement of the Scientific Library of the Belarusian National Technical University based on the developed functional definition. Accordingly, the methods of work were the retrieval and interpretation of relevant scientific literature and the synthesis of data obtained from it for the development of new documents, viz. the definition of the mission statement and the mission statement of our library based on it. As a result, the intended functional definition of a university library mission statement as a full-fledged effective management document has been given and the mission statement of the Scientific Library of the Belarusian National Technical University has been crafted. The aspects of improving the efficiency of the library after the adoption of the new mission statement are briefly discussed.

Additive Alternatives

<p>As an island nation, beach and coastline activities play a significant role in daily life in New Zealand. In promoting independent and productive lives for amputees, the New Zealand Artificial Limb Service (NZALS) encourages accessing these environments. However, carbon fibre foot prosthetics can be easily compromised by these conditions, as a result of abrasion and corrosion caused by sand and saltwater. To deliver on their mission statement 2017-2021 the NZALS seeks solutions to this issue (NZALS, 2016). In response this research project explores the possibility of offering a range of customised lifestyle-specific prosthetics that can be interchanged easily with a carbon-fibre prosthetic, to accommodate different recreational activities and thereby offer greater choice and independence for their patients. The project focuses on a case study for low-cost durable coastline prosthetic produced through Additive Manufacturing (AM) with Nylon PA-12 using design for additive manufacturing (DFAM) principles to facilitate a product that has a human form and dynamic three-dimensionality. This will be supported by the development of a quick-release coupling system allowing amputees to easily switch between prosthetic foot types for different uses. This incorporates height adjustment, ease of customising foot and fairing combinations and improved usability. This project has been undertaken in collaboration with the NZALS and uses a two-part design research methodology. Research ‘for’ design has been conducted by summarising, collating, and/or synthesising existing research. This was done through literature reviews, product autopsies and context scenarios. This was followed by a research ‘through’ design approach. The methods used are body storming which enabled research on how the foot functions in the scenario, analogue and digital sketching, CAD modelling, and rapid prototyping through AM. The project provides future reference points for the NZALS to improve and expand their product offerings and to facilitate their goal of remote service provision.</p>

Additive Alternatives

<p>As an island nation, beach and coastline activities play a significant role in daily life in New Zealand. In promoting independent and productive lives for amputees, the New Zealand Artificial Limb Service (NZALS) encourages accessing these environments. However, carbon fibre foot prosthetics can be easily compromised by these conditions, as a result of abrasion and corrosion caused by sand and saltwater. To deliver on their mission statement 2017-2021 the NZALS seeks solutions to this issue (NZALS, 2016). In response this research project explores the possibility of offering a range of customised lifestyle-specific prosthetics that can be interchanged easily with a carbon-fibre prosthetic, to accommodate different recreational activities and thereby offer greater choice and independence for their patients. The project focuses on a case study for low-cost durable coastline prosthetic produced through Additive Manufacturing (AM) with Nylon PA-12 using design for additive manufacturing (DFAM) principles to facilitate a product that has a human form and dynamic three-dimensionality. This will be supported by the development of a quick-release coupling system allowing amputees to easily switch between prosthetic foot types for different uses. This incorporates height adjustment, ease of customising foot and fairing combinations and improved usability. This project has been undertaken in collaboration with the NZALS and uses a two-part design research methodology. Research ‘for’ design has been conducted by summarising, collating, and/or synthesising existing research. This was done through literature reviews, product autopsies and context scenarios. This was followed by a research ‘through’ design approach. The methods used are body storming which enabled research on how the foot functions in the scenario, analogue and digital sketching, CAD modelling, and rapid prototyping through AM. The project provides future reference points for the NZALS to improve and expand their product offerings and to facilitate their goal of remote service provision.</p>

Refining the Loop of Continuous Improvement

Academic assessment of student competency is essential to measure learning within a gerontology program. In its self-evaluation, a program must assess its student learning outcomes. JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez et al. (2019, p. 423) proposed a systematic approach that has several levels. The key is to utilize a competency-based education model. Moreover, to satisfy workforce goals the gerontology program must adopt the AGHE competencies that reflect the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to serve older adults at an acceptable level of care. The next step involves generating well-articulated quantitative or qualitative measures of student learning outcomes (SLOs) consistent with the program’s mission statement that include twelve competency domains. SLO measures include test grades, assignments, projects, portfolios, field experiences, essay questions, multiple choice items, and so on. The program’s enhancement loop requires the evaluation of SLOs, faculty discussion of them, and a continuous modification cycle "closing the loop" to reach the program’s goals.

Editorial Introduction

In this introduction, the cases of India, South Africa, and Brazil are connected. The contributions from these countries, in different ways, discuss the dramatic moral impacts of government approaches to the pandemic. The three countries are part of the BRICS platform, in which Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa participate. With 40 percent of the world’s population, the BRICS platform concerns a substantial part of the world. The principles of the platform and its mutual “economic, political, cultural an environmental philosophy” are summarized by Marco Ricceri (2019). The members support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), and they will contribute to the quality of global development. At the 13th BRICS Summit in September 2021, the New Delhi Declaration was presented (BRICS 2021). This declaration conveys a thorough normative mission statement. It therefore renders an interesting common frame of reference from which to analyze and judge the contributions from the three countries, as well as from China and Russia.

Perspective of the GEMSTONE Consortium on Current and Future Approaches to Functional Validation for Skeletal Genetic Disease Using Cellular, Molecular and Animal-Modeling Techniques

The availability of large human datasets for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the advancement of sequencing technologies have boosted the identification of genetic variants in complex and rare diseases in the skeletal field. Yet, interpreting results from human association studies remains a challenge. To bridge the gap between genetic association and causality, a systematic functional investigation is necessary. Multiple unknowns exist for putative causal genes, including cellular localization of the molecular function. Intermediate traits (“endophenotypes”), e.g. molecular quantitative trait loci (molQTLs), are needed to identify mechanisms of underlying associations. Furthermore, index variants often reside in non-coding regions of the genome, therefore challenging for interpretation. Knowledge of non-coding variance (e.g. ncRNAs), repetitive sequences, and regulatory interactions between enhancers and their target genes is central for understanding causal genes in skeletal conditions. Animal models with deep skeletal phenotyping and cell culture models have already facilitated fine mapping of some association signals, elucidated gene mechanisms, and revealed disease-relevant biology. However, to accelerate research towards bridging the current gap between association and causality in skeletal diseases, alternative in vivo platforms need to be used and developed in parallel with the current -omics and traditional in vivo resources. Therefore, we argue that as a field we need to establish resource-sharing standards to collectively address complex research questions. These standards will promote data integration from various -omics technologies and functional dissection of human complex traits. In this mission statement, we review the current available resources and as a group propose a consensus to facilitate resource sharing using existing and future resources. Such coordination efforts will maximize the acquisition of knowledge from different approaches and thus reduce redundancy and duplication of resources. These measures will help to understand the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and other skeletal diseases towards defining new and more efficient therapeutic targets.