title: Affective commitment and citizenship behaviour: The role of LMX and personality and the mediating effects of empowerment

authors: Rodriguez-Llewell, Yanahina

subjects: Organisational commitment

abstract: The purpose of this research was to identify motivational factors that would predict organisational commitment and citizenship behaviour. One important motivational factor is empowerment, which is an intrinsic motivator (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 121 table 5 ), this study examined the contribution of each of its four dimensions  in predicting affective commitment and citizenship behaviours targeted towards both individuals and the organisation. I also investigated the association that leader-member exchange and three personality factors (extraversion, emotional stability and openness to experience) had with both empowerment and organisational outcomes (affective commitment, citizenship behaviours). I further examined empowerment mediation effects. 
This research was conducted among ten occupational groups at The Waikato District Health Board in New Zealand. 872 questionnaires were distributed and a final sample of 306 responses (35.1%) was obtained. The results, consistent across all occupational groups and other demographics, suggested that although extraversion, emotional stability and openness to experience individually contributed to empowerment, affective commitment and citizenship behaviours, when their contribution towards affective commitment and citizenship behaviour was examined simultaneously with empowerment and LMX contributions, personality contribution decreased. The regression equation results showed emotional stability as the only significant personality contributor towards citizenship behaviours. In addition, leader member exchange contribution was significant only towards affective commitment whereas empowerment was the strongest predictor of the three organisational outcomes explored. Moreover, two of the four empowerment dimensions were also found to mediate the relationship between LMX and affective commitment. However, no empowerment mediation effects were found between LMX and citizenship behaviours. Overall, this research provides valuable information on how to increase employee's affective commitment and extra role behaviours by adjusting organisation's structures and policies and fostering employees' perception of empowerment. Recommendations for further research and practical implications for organisations are discussed in the final chapter.

text: Affective commitment and citizenship behaviour: The role of LMX and personality and the mediating effects of empowerment The purpose of this research was to identify motivational factors that would predict organisational commitment and citizenship behaviour. One important motivational factor is empowerment, which is an intrinsic motivator (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 121 table 5 ), this study examined the contribution of each of its four dimensions  in predicting affective commitment and citizenship behaviours targeted towards both individuals and the organisation. I also investigated the association that leader-member exchange and three personality factors (extraversion, emotional stability and openness to experience) had with both empowerment and organisational outcomes (affective commitment, citizenship behaviours). I further examined empowerment mediation effects. 
This research was conducted among ten occupational groups at The Waikato District Health Board in New Zealand. 872 questionnaires were distributed and a final sample of 306 responses (35.1%) was obtained. The results, consistent across all occupational groups and other demographics, suggested that although extraversion, emotional stability and openness to experience individually contributed to empowerment, affective commitment and citizenship behaviours, when their contribution towards affective commitment and citizenship behaviour was examined simultaneously with empowerment and LMX contributions, personality contribution decreased. The regression equation results showed emotional stability as the only significant personality contributor towards citizenship behaviours. In addition, leader member exchange contribution was significant only towards affective commitment whereas empowerment was the strongest predictor of the three organisational outcomes explored. Moreover, two of the four empowerment dimensions were also found to mediate the relationship between LMX and affective commitment. However, no empowerment mediation effects were found between LMX and citizenship behaviours. Overall, this research provides valuable information on how to increase employee's affective commitment and extra role behaviours by adjusting organisation's structures and policies and fostering employees' perception of empowerment. Recommendations for further research and practical implications for organisations are discussed in the final chapter.

year: 2008

title: Heat Transfer Enhancement in Heat Recovery Loops Using Nanofluids as the Intermediate Fluid

authors: Tarighaleslami, Amir Hossein

abstract: In this paper, the effect of replacing water with various nanofluids as the heat transfer media in an industrial Heat Recovery Loop (HRL) have been modelled. Generally, nanofluids are prepared by distributing a nanoparticle through a base fluid such as water. Suspended nanoparticles slightly affect the thermal and physical properties of the base fluid. Primarily nanoparticles are added to improve the fluid’s heat transfer characteristics by increasing its Reynolds number and thermal conductivity. Results show that by applying various HRL design methods and a nanofluid as an intermediate fluid, an increase in heat recovery is possible without the need for extra heat exchanger area and infrastructure. With the addition of 1.5 vol.% CuO nanoparticles to the HRL fluid using constant temperature storage method, heat recovery from liquid-liquid heat exchangers increases between 5 % and 9 %. In the case of air-liquid exchangers, the air-side heat transfer coefficient limits the impact of using a nanofluid. In other cases, the duty available from the process stream, such as a condenser, significantly restricts the heat transfer benefit of using a nanofluid. Alternative to increasing heat recovery, results show that applying a nanofluid in the HRL design phase enables heat exchanger area to decrease significantly for liquid-liquid matches.

text: Heat Transfer Enhancement in Heat Recovery Loops Using Nanofluids as the Intermediate Fluid In this paper, the effect of replacing water with various nanofluids as the heat transfer media in an industrial Heat Recovery Loop (HRL) have been modelled. Generally, nanofluids are prepared by distributing a nanoparticle through a base fluid such as water. Suspended nanoparticles slightly affect the thermal and physical properties of the base fluid. Primarily nanoparticles are added to improve the fluid’s heat transfer characteristics by increasing its Reynolds number and thermal conductivity. Results show that by applying various HRL design methods and a nanofluid as an intermediate fluid, an increase in heat recovery is possible without the need for extra heat exchanger area and infrastructure. With the addition of 1.5 vol.% CuO nanoparticles to the HRL fluid using constant temperature storage method, heat recovery from liquid-liquid heat exchangers increases between 5 % and 9 %. In the case of air-liquid exchangers, the air-side heat transfer coefficient limits the impact of using a nanofluid. In other cases, the duty available from the process stream, such as a condenser, significantly restricts the heat transfer benefit of using a nanofluid. Alternative to increasing heat recovery, results show that applying a nanofluid in the HRL design phase enables heat exchanger area to decrease significantly for liquid-liquid matches.

year: 2015-08-27

title: “It’s becoming part of their knowing”: a study of bicultural development in an early childhood teacher education setting in Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: Ritchie, Jenny

abstract: This study is an exploration of the implementation of bicultural development within a university-based early childhood teacher education programme in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which can be considered to be a bicultural country (Walker, 1987, p. 221). Bicultural development is a process in line with obligations contained within the Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi, which are reflected within the New Zealand Ministry of Education’s Revised Statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices (Ministry of Education, 1996a) and the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996b). The study adopts a critical, transformative theoretical paradigm, and employed an eclectic and emergent qualitative methodological approach, that reflected aspects from ethnographic, narrative and grounded theory methodologies. Interviews with university lecturers, early childhood care and education teachers, and professional development facilitators within the early childhood field; observations within early childhood care and education centres; audio taping of university class discussions; samples of university student assignments; and a written survey of graduates of the university teacher education programme provide the sources of data for the study. Central to the methodological process is a commitment to ethical care for participants, which involves attentive accountability to the interpretations that they place on the material that they contribute to the study and to the overall theorising of the significance of the findings. 

Key research questions of the study were to define ‘bicultural development’ in the context of early childhood care and education in this country; to identify key components of the bicultural development implementation process employed within the university teacher early childhood education programme; to distinguish some useful ‘indicators’ of bicultural development within early childhood centres; and to consider the implications for the teacher education programme in terms of preparing graduates to facilitate bicultural development within their future work in early childhood education. 

A significant finding of the study was the identification of a range of strategies for implementing bicultural development in early childhood education teacher education and care and education settings. The key strategies include Tiriti-based partnership models of teaching whereby Māori and Pākehā work alongside each other, enabling the paralleling of Māori and Western perspectives within both university teacher education and early childhood care and education programmes. It was considered essential that universities employ Māori lecturers to enable Māori content within the teacher education programme to be adequately provisioned. Since there are few Māori educators employed in mainstream early childhood services, it was suggested that teachers might seek to employ a “whanaungatanga” approach. This involves the early childhood centre staff creating a climate and environment in which Māori families/whānau are comfortable to participate fully in programme planning, implementation, and evaluation, which will enable all children attending to access Māori perspectives alongside the Western curriculum content. This approach is consistent with Article Two of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which guaranteed to Māori their tino rangatiratanga, or self-determination. 

An implication for management and staff of early childhood teacher education programmes in Aotearoa/New Zealand is the need to equip graduates with the knowledge bases and commitment that will enable them to implement bicultural development, ideally through adopting, a whanaungatanga approach. This involves facilitating teacher education students to move beyond the dysconscious racism (King, 1994) that is deeply embedded in mainstream Pākehā culture in this country, to the position where they are able to adopt a critical, transformative stance that is humble, respectful and responsive to cultural difference. This stance includes valuing the inclusion of te reo me ōna tikanga throughout early childhood programmes, in a partnership initiated by teachers, but one in which whānau Māori are then able to take the lead in determining the nature and application of Māori content.

text: “It’s becoming part of their knowing”: a study of bicultural development in an early childhood teacher education setting in Aotearoa/New Zealand This study is an exploration of the implementation of bicultural development within a university-based early childhood teacher education programme in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which can be considered to be a bicultural country (Walker, 1987, p. 221). Bicultural development is a process in line with obligations contained within the Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi, which are reflected within the New Zealand Ministry of Education’s Revised Statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices (Ministry of Education, 1996a) and the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996b). The study adopts a critical, transformative theoretical paradigm, and employed an eclectic and emergent qualitative methodological approach, that reflected aspects from ethnographic, narrative and grounded theory methodologies. Interviews with university lecturers, early childhood care and education teachers, and professional development facilitators within the early childhood field; observations within early childhood care and education centres; audio taping of university class discussions; samples of university student assignments; and a written survey of graduates of the university teacher education programme provide the sources of data for the study. Central to the methodological process is a commitment to ethical care for participants, which involves attentive accountability to the interpretations that they place on the material that they contribute to the study and to the overall theorising of the significance of the findings. 

Key research questions of the study were to define ‘bicultural development’ in the context of early childhood care and education in this country; to identify key components of the bicultural development implementation process employed within the university teacher early childhood education programme; to distinguish some useful ‘indicators’ of bicultural development within early childhood centres; and to consider the implications for the teacher education programme in terms of preparing graduates to facilitate bicultural development within their future work in early childhood education. 

A significant finding of the study was the identification of a range of strategies for implementing bicultural development in early childhood education teacher education and care and education settings. The key strategies include Tiriti-based partnership models of teaching whereby Māori and Pākehā work alongside each other, enabling the paralleling of Māori and Western perspectives within both university teacher education and early childhood care and education programmes. It was considered essential that universities employ Māori lecturers to enable Māori content within the teacher education programme to be adequately provisioned. Since there are few Māori educators employed in mainstream early childhood services, it was suggested that teachers might seek to employ a “whanaungatanga” approach. This involves the early childhood centre staff creating a climate and environment in which Māori families/whānau are comfortable to participate fully in programme planning, implementation, and evaluation, which will enable all children attending to access Māori perspectives alongside the Western curriculum content. This approach is consistent with Article Two of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which guaranteed to Māori their tino rangatiratanga, or self-determination. 

An implication for management and staff of early childhood teacher education programmes in Aotearoa/New Zealand is the need to equip graduates with the knowledge bases and commitment that will enable them to implement bicultural development, ideally through adopting, a whanaungatanga approach. This involves facilitating teacher education students to move beyond the dysconscious racism (King, 1994) that is deeply embedded in mainstream Pākehā culture in this country, to the position where they are able to adopt a critical, transformative stance that is humble, respectful and responsive to cultural difference. This stance includes valuing the inclusion of te reo me ōna tikanga throughout early childhood programmes, in a partnership initiated by teachers, but one in which whānau Māori are then able to take the lead in determining the nature and application of Māori content.

year: 2002