Predictors of ethical code use and ethical tolerance in the public sector

This paper reports the results of a survey of ethical attitudes, values, and propensities in public sector employees in Australia. It was expected that demographic variables, personal values, and contextual variables at the individual level, and group and organisational-level values would predict use of formal codes of ethics and ethical tolerance (tolerance of unethical behaviour). Useable data were received from 500 respondents selected at random across public sector organizations in a single Australian state. Results supported the study hypotheses, but indicated that different mechanisms underlie each of the criterion variables. Use of ethical codes was determined primarily on the basis of a perception that others use the code, while ethical tolerance was determined by personal values. At an applied level, the research highlights the need for organizations to establish a critical mass of code users, so that this operates as a normative influence on others in the organization

Calculation of the boundary conditions in the continuous casting of steel process

This paper presents the relationship between the technological cooling parameters in the continuous casting machine and the boundary conditions implemented in the numerical model. A heat transfer model for the primary and secondary cooling zones in the continuous steel casting process was formulated, plus a description of boundary conditions was proposed, based on this model. Numerical calculations were performed with the ProCAST software for the S235 steel, and the format cast 220 × 1 100 mm. Calculation results were verified on the using our own measurements of the strand surface temperature in the cooling chamber

Modeling and control of a floating platform

A platform with a rotating crane resting on three adjustable floats in a tub has been built on laboratory scale. Controller design is studied to prevent the platform from leaning due to crane movements. The system dynamics can be described primarily by a simple sixth order linear model. Model errors are then due mainly to unmodeled effects of waves that are essentially linear transfers. It is precisely under these conditions that H8 design should perform well. Actual design and tests show that H8 controllers do not substantially outperform LQG designs combined with feedforward controllers, but the combination of both feedforward and feedback controllers can easily be obtained by H8 design technique

The Postan Thesis and Beyond: The English Agrarian Economy c.1200-1348

The thirteenth century is generally regarded by economic historians as a period of extremely rapid demographic growth in England. It is believed that this increase in population meant that poorer and poorer lands were gradually taken under the plough. This trend, it is argued, led to an increasing disequilibrium between population and resources. In particular, the assumption is made that the ploughing-up of waste lands once used for grazing resulted in a worsening shortage of livestock and a progressive decline in the fertility of the arable land. ... Despite the progress made in the study of medieval English agriculture over the last two decades, there has been no thorough re-assessment of the Postan's interpretation of English agrarian history in the pre-1348 period. Perhaps because of the range of Postan's arguments, critics and commentators have been reluctant to embark on a comprehensive re-examination of the case upon which the Postan thesis rests. Nor has there been any attempt to draw together the different threads of debate or to examine the full implications of more recent research. A thorough re-assessment of the Postan thesis as it relates to the decades before the Plague is therefore long overdue. This dissertation is intended to provide such a re-examination. The Postan thesis will be reviewed in light of more recent research into English agriculture before the Black Death, and the criticisms made of Postan's model over the last two decades. It will be argued that, although the Postan thesis offers important insights into the pre-1348 period, the opportunities for a successful adaptation to demographic stress before the Black Death were perhaps greater than Postan believed. A case will be made therefore for a more optimistic interpretation of the process of economic change in England during the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries

Conversation therapy with people with aphasia and conversation partners using video feedback: a group and case series investigation of changes in interaction

Conversation therapies employing video for feedback and to facilitate outcome measurement are increasingly used with people with post-stroke aphasia and their conversation partners; however the evidence base for change in everyday interaction remains limited. We investigated the effect of Better Conversations with Aphasia (BCA), an intervention that is freely available online at https://extend.ucl.ac.uk/. Eight people with chronic agrammatic aphasia, and their regular conversation partners participated in the tailored 8 week program involving significant video feedback. We explored changes in: (i) conversation facilitators (such as multi-modal turns by people with aphasia); and (ii) conversation barriers (such as use of test questions by conversation partners). The outcome of intervention was evaluated directly by measuring change in video-recorded everyday conversations. The study employed a pre-post design with multiple 5 minute samples of conversation before and after intervention, scored by trained raters blind to the point of data collection. Group level analysis showed no significant increase in conversation facilitators. There was, however, a significant reduction in the number of conversation barriers. The case series data revealed variability in conversation behaviors across occasions for the same dyad and between different dyads. Specifically, post-intervention there was a significant increase in facilitator behaviors for two dyads, a decrease for one and no significant change for five dyads. There was a significant decrease in barrier behaviors for five dyads and no significant change for three dyads. The reduction in barrier behaviors was considerable; on average change from over eight to fewer than three barrier behaviors in 5 minutes of conversation. The pre-post design has the limitation of no comparison group. However, change occurs in targeted conversational behaviors and in people with chronic aphasia and their partners. The findings suggest change can occur after eight therapy sessions and have implications for clinical practice. A reduction in barrier behaviors may be easier to obtain, although the controlled case series results demonstrate a significant increase in conversation facilitators is also possible. The rehabilitation tool is available online and video technology was central to delivering intervention and evaluating change

Shipping as a Knowledge Industry: Research and Strategic Planning at Ocean Group

This chapter approaches the question of how transformations in the world of shipping relate to wider trends in business and general history through the lens of knowledge. It will investigate how technological and managerial knowledge was created, developed and exploited as a corporate resource from the 1950s onwards in Ocean Transport and Trading, one of the UK’s leading liner shipping firms. The chapter will, first, briefly discuss the resource-based view of the firm and the importance of knowledge as a corporate resource. It will then examine Ocean’s use of technological and operational knowledge in the post-war era. The following section examines the introduction of modern management concepts at Ocean from the late 1960s and their impact on corporate strategy. In conclusion, the chapter will argue that the introduction of managerial concepts of knowledge contributed to Ocean’s gradual withdrawal from shipping and transformation into a provider of global logistics services and that analyzing shipping as a knowledge industry helps make sense of the transformation of the industry