bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Elements Way: Empowering Parents, Educators, and Mentors in the Age of New Media
Authors: Cohen Zilka Gila 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of mentor’s work with immigrant children and adolescents at risk, using the Elements Way.

Background: The New Media offers our “screen kids” a lot of information, many behavioral models, and a new type of social communication. The Elements Way is an educational method designed to enhance openness, development, breakthroughs, goal achievement, and transformation in the age of media and social networks.

Methodology: The Elements Way was developed following research on communication in the diversified media, especially new media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and television reality shows, and the study is an examination of the effectiveness of mentors’ work with immigrant children and adolescents at risk, using the Elements Way. All mentors had been trained in the Elements Way. The study population included 640 mentors working with immigrants’ children in Israel. The work was conducted in 2010-2013. The mixed-methods approach was selected to validate findings.

Contribution: Empowering children and enhancing their ability to cope; Creating openness and sharing, making children more attentive to the significant adults in their lives; Supporting children who face the complex reality that characterizes our age.

Findings: Significant differences were found in the mentors’ conduct with the children. Work programs were designed and implemented with care and consistency, and mentors succeeded in generating change within the children and achieving desired goals. Of the 640 participating mentors, 62 were not able to promote the child, and interviews with them revealed that their work with the children was not consistent with the Elements Way and began from a different vantage point.

Recommendations for Practitioners: Success factors: Self-awareness and awareness of one’s surroundings. Empathy. Willingness to engage in significant interactions. Self-cleansing and self-reflection. Ability to engage in a personal and interpersonal dialogue. Ability to accept and contain the child. Cooperation with the child in creating a work program and assisting the child to achieve the goals that were set in the program.

Recommendation for Researchers:	Future studies should focus on analyzing the discussions of children and adolescents, to add depth to our insights regarding children and adolescents’ perception of the mentors’ work from their perspective.

Impact on Society: Finding the “keys” to openness, development, goal achievement, and transformation in our work with “screen kids.”

Future Research: Studies that are designed to examine the effectiveness of mentor’s work with immigrant children and adolescents at risk, using the Elements Way.
The Effect of Personality Traits on Sales Performance: An Empirical Investigation to Test the Five-Factor Model (FFM) in Pakistan
Authors: Waheed Abdul , Yang Jianhua , K. Webber Jon 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: The present study investigates the relationship between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits and sales performance in Pakistan.

Background:	Personality is a well-researched area in which numerous studies have examined the correlation between personality traits and job performance. In this study, a positive effect between the various dimensions of the five-factor model (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and open to experience) and sales performance in Pakistan is investigated.

Methodology: Pearson’s correlation values as well as analysis methodologies were employed to gather descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and use the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Cronbach’s alpha value helped determine the internal consistency of the group items. Questionnaires were distributed among 600 salespersons in various cities of Pakistan from April 2015 to January 2016. Subsequently, 510 questionnaires were acquired for the sample.

Contribution: The current study contributes to the literature on personality traits and sales performance by applying empirical evidence from sales managers in three industries of Pakistan: pharmaceutical, insurance, and electronics.

Findings: The results affirmed a positive effect of the five-factor model on sales performance among various industries in Pakistan. The effect of each sub-factor from the five-factor model was examined autonomously. There is a favorable benefit to sales managers in considering FFM when making hiring decisions.

Impact on Society: FFM offers important insights into personality traits that work well within Pakistani sales industry structure.

Future Research:	A broader rendering of the effects of FFM on sales organizations in other geographical locations around Pakistan should be considered. Additionally, an extended study should be conducted to investigate the effects of FFM on female sales employees involving religious and cultural forces within that country.
The Use of Kanban to Alleviate Collaboration and Communication Challenges of Global Software Development
Authors: Tanner Maureen , Edgar Dauane Marcelo 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to describe how various Kanban elements can help alleviate two prominent types of challenges, communication and collaboration in Global Software Development (GSD).

Background:	Iterative and Lean development methodologies like Kanban have gained significance in the software development industry, both in the co-located and globally distributed contexts. However, little is known on how such methodologies can help mitigate various challenges in that occur in a globally distributed software development context.

Methodology: The study was conducted using a single-case study based on a general inductive approach to analysis and theory development. Through the literature review, collaboration and communication challenges that GSD teams face were identified. Data collected through semi-structured interviews was then inductively analyzed to describe how the case-study teams employed various Kanban elements to mitigate communication and collaboration challenges they face during GSD.

Findings: The study found that some Kanban elements, when properly employed, can help alleviate collaboration and communication challenges that occur within GSD teams. These relate to Inclusion Criteria, Reverse Items, Kanban Board, Policies, Avatars, and Backlog.

Contribution: The paper contributes to knowledge by proposing two simple concept maps that detail the specific types of communication and collaboration challenges which can be alleviated by the aforementioned Kanban elements in GSD.

Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper is relevant to GSD teams who are seeking ways to enhance their team collaboration and communication as these are the most important elements that contribute to GSD project success. It is recommended that relevant Kanban elements be used to that effect, depending on the challenges that they aim to alleviate.

Future Research: Future research can investigate the same research questions (or similar ones) using a quantitative approach.
Entertaining Whilst Defacing Websites: Psychological Games for Hackers
Authors: K Das Ashish , Thi Nguyen Quynh , Thomas Susan 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to investigate various characteristics from both victims as defaced websites and defacers that linked to a risk of being defaced through a set of descriptive analysis.

Background:	The current figures from a spectrum of sources, both academic and non-academic reports, proved a progressive increase of website defacement attacks to numerous organisations.

Methodology: This study obtains a set of data from Zone-H site, which is accessible to the public, including 99,437 defaced websites. The descriptive analysis is applied in order to understand the motives of defacers and the probability of website re-defacements through the statistical investigation.

Findings: The motives for defacing websites are driven mainly due to entertaining reasons. This in turn has an implication on the type of techniques defacers attack websites.
The Effects of Instructional Design on Student Engagement with Video Lectures at Cyber Universities
Authors: Costley Jamie , Hughes Christopher , Lange Christopher 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: The number of students enrolled in online courses that use video lectures is on the rise. However, research shows that the number of students watching video lectures is low, and the number watching videos to completion is even lower.

Background: This paper seeks to understand this problem by looking for correlations between instructional design and student engagement with video lectures.

Methodology: Students at a cyber-university in South Korea (n=1801) were surveyed on their perception of the instructional design used in the courses they took and their engagement with online video lectures.

Contribution: This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by demonstrating positive correlations between instructional design, watching, and finishing video lectures.

Findings: While most other research has found low levels of online lecture viewership, this paper found significantly higher numbers watching and finishing videos. Other major findings of the paper are that five key elements of instructional design for online learning environments (designing methods, setting the curriculum, establishing time parameters, establishing netiquette, and utilizing the medium effectively) all correlated positively with students watching and finishing video lectures.

Recommendations for Practitioners	: Based on findings in this paper, it is recommended that practitioners consider taking actions when designing their instruction for online courses. These include batching their video lectures together by topic, devoting greater resources to helping students utilize the medium, and communicate time parameters in a way that encourages students to view video lectures in a timely manner.

Recommendation for Researchers:	As the watching of video lectures in this study was mandatory for learners, an interesting area of further research would be to examine whether that decision led to higher numbers of students watching them.

Future Research: It is important for researchers to conduct further research into the interplay between ways instructors can design their instruction in order to encourage learners to better experience online learning.
Reasons for Poor Acceptance of Web-Based Learning using an LMS and VLE in Ghana
Authors: Asampana Isaac , Akanlisikum Akanferi Albert , Ami-Narh James 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates the factors that affect the post implementation success of a web-based learning management system at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

Background: UPSA implemented an LMS to blend Web-based learning environment with the traditional methods of education to enable working students to acquire education.

Methodology: An explanatory sequential mixed method was adopted, under the pragmatic paradigm, to investigate the level of acceptance of web-based learning by students. The effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and other social factors were investigated. In all, 4500 final and third-year undergraduate students of UPSA made up the population. A sample size of 870 was used for this study.

Contribution: This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying the factors that hinder post-implementation of LMS at the tertiary level in Ghana and adds to the general literature available.

Findings: The level of acceptance of LMS seems very low due to poor IT infrastructure, inadequate training, and the relevance of the system to quality lecture delivery. However, students’ intention to use LMS and the usefulness of LMS were perceived to be high, especially among students in higher levels.

Recommendations for Practitioners: The authors recommend that IT infrastructure, especially reliable and fast internet connectivity, and adequate training should be provided.

Recommendation for Researchers:	Further research should be done to confirm if the provision of a more reliable internet system will boost students’ internet proficiency, which in turn will improve their utilisation of the LMS.

Impact on Society: Help create awareness of schooling while pursuing a career and also improve interactions between students and lecturers. It will also improve enrolment and possibly reduce the cost of education in the long-run.

Future Research: Researchers can look at the possibility of implementing total virtual learning systems at the tertiary level in Ghana.
The Utilisation of Smartphones Apps as a Service Tool at Kuwaiti Academic Libraries
Authors: F. Ghuloum Husain , R Allamki Zuwainah 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how Kuwaiti Academic Libraries (KALs) have responded to the rapidly evolving Smartphone-Apps (SP-Apps) environment, as well as exploring the level of electronic services provided in these libraries.

Background:	This study can illustrate whether the governmental, academic libraries in the State of Kuwait have already benefited from the mobile services provided by smart phones or not.

Methodology: In this study, the researchers use both qualitative and quantitative methods. Therefore, questionnaires and interviews are used in order to collect in-depth data in this field. The questionnaire sample was 400 respondents. They divided in two KALs: Kuwait University Library (KUL) and Public Authority of Applied Education Training Library (PAAETL), while eight individual interviews were conducted one-to-one in this research.

Contribution: This paper may be important for academic libraries to identify shortcomings in the smartphones’ content and services they provide and in highlighting efforts by libraries to address their users’ needs in this area.

Findings: The findings show that most participants expressed the need to introduce an SP-App to their library. They also confirmed that there are many difficulties in creating an SP-App including lack of budget, lack of awareness of library management, lack of clarity about library management strategic objectives, and vision for an SP-App.
Recommendations for Practitioners: Designing SP-Apps that have reliable content and user interface that is easy to use is a considerable challenge. For this reason, the study highly recommends introducing SP-Apps for KALs as soon as possible.

Future Research:	The recommendations proposed are relevant to Kuwait. Further research may be useful in this field in other developing countries, in order to test or develop the suggested strategy.
Proposing an Integrated Change Management Model for the United Nations
Authors: George Saadé Raafat , Wan James 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: Using United Nations as the backdrop, this article present a theory-based conceptual model. The results of this empirical study also identify the most influence factors to the success of change management to the United Nations.

Background:	In 2000, the issue of management reform started taking center stage in the United Nations, and change efforts were presented to various governing bodies regularly as an indicator of organizational performance. However, existing change theories put many efforts on addressing the institutional management and behavior problems. Only a few answered the phenomenon existing in the U.N. context.

Methodology: Using the data collected from seven United Nations organizations, we assess the psychometric properties of validated survey items, followed by EFA and then CFA.

Contribution: Change management in the United Nations context is rarely being studied. Fifteen items in five constructs describing impact factors for current change process in the United Nations are derived.
Findings	This article identified five factors, including Communication, Transparency, Culture, Participation, and Resistance, that are the most influence factors with implication to change and change management in the United Nations.

Recommendations for Practitioners: To United Nations management professionals, they should not only emphasize on the implementations of the change process, but also, as our findings clearly show, on institutional pressures such as culture. However, the results of this study also show that putting efforts on clear organization’s objectives and procedure, smooth improvement process in place, transparency with the encouragement of staff participation, will significantly reduce such impact from the resistance of staff.

Recommendation for Researchers:	The U.N. context is changing today at a faster rate. The U.N. is rarely being studied. Organizational theories applied to management frameworks provide great opportunity for research. These studies can also investigate management theories as they apply to the various types of U.N. organizations such specialized ones and other NGOs.

Impact on Society: As one of the biggest players in the international political and economic stage with a significant influence on the stability of global society, this study introduces an understanding of this political nature body that does not only benefit the knowledge of the organization but also indirectly impacts on the sustainability of the global community in the long run.

Future Research:	This research makes significant implications for future studies in the change management theory from an integrated view in the context of the United Nations. That could attract more attention further on an integration of strategic management, the cohesive methodology of project management practices as well as assimilated performance management research from within the U.N. system.
Representations of Practice – Distributed Sensemaking Using Boundary Objects
Authors: Hermanrud Inge , Eide Dorthe 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: This article examines how learning activities draw on resources in the work context to learn.
Background	The background is that if knowledge no longer is seen mainly as objects, but processes, how then to understand boundary objects? Our field study of learning activities reveals the use of pictures, documents and emotions for learning in the geographically distributed Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority

Methodology: The study is a qualitative study consisting of interview data, observation data, and documents.

Contribution: Contribute to practice based theorizing.

Findings: Three ideal types of representing practices have been identified, i.e., ‘Visualizing’, ‘Documenting’ and ‘Testing’. All three are combined with storytelling, sensing, reflections and sensemaking, which point at the importance of processes in learning. The article also add insights about how emotions can be an important resource for boundary spanning – and sensemaking – by creating the capability of reflecting upon and integrating different knowledge areas in the in- practice context.

Recommendations for Practitioners: Look for boundary objects within your field to promote online learning.

Recommendation for Researchers:	Study boundary objects in work context to understand learning.
Impact on Society	Role of objects in human learning.

Future Research: Focus on how emotions can be used for online learning.
When Informing Doesn't Inform [Abstract]
Authors: Beachboard John , Robinson Beachboard Martine 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: It appears that humans can become mal-informed and often consciously or subconsciously resist revising their mal-informed perspectives.

Background:	We need to apply behavioral and/or cognitive psychological approaches rather than traditional “educational” approaches.

Methodology: Literature review

Contribution: Suggests revising research focus to affective rather than cognitive solutions.

Findings: Teaching critical thinking helps but is not enough.

Impact on Society	: Many important societal decisions may be made emotionally rather than rationally.

Future Research: Research affective as well as cognitive factors in decision-making
Doctoral Students’ Social Support Profiles and Their Relationship to Burnout, Drop-Out Intentions, and Time to Candidacy
Authors: A Peltonen Jouni , Vekkaila Jenna , Rautio Pauliina , Haverinen Kaisa , Pyhältö Kirsi 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to better understand the individual variations in supervisory and researcher community support among doctoral students by analyzing the social support profiles of Finnish doctoral students. The differences among the profiles, in terms of satisfaction with supervision, experienced burnout, time to candidacy and disciplinary background were also examined.

Background:	This study explores social support profiles and their association with the experienced burnout, satisfaction with supervision, drop-out intentions, disciplinary background, and form of dissertation among doctoral students by employing a person-oriented approach.

Methodology: In total, 402 doctoral students from a Finnish university completed a Doctoral Experience survey. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to group doctoral students according to social support from supervisors and the researcher community.

Contribution: The present study is among the first quantitative studies to explore doctoral student social support profiles and their association with burnout, drop-out intentions, and time to candidacy. It brings into focus the importance of supervisory and researcher community support as one of the most crucial assets of doctoral education in researcher communities.

Findings: Two social support profiles, a) sufficient support from supervisor and researched community, and b) insufficient support from both of these, were identified. Further investigation suggested that the doctoral students who received sufficient support were less likely to suffer from burnout and were less likely to develop drop-out intentions than students who received insufficient support from their supervisor and the researcher community.

Recommendations for Practitioners: A recommendation deriving from this research is to identify students at risk as early as possible and assist them with sufficient support.