Digitalization of Technology for Expert Project Management of The School Environment Progression

The article presents the issues of school environment expertise and discusses the possibilities and prospects of using digital tooling for its assessment in mass educational practice and scientific research. The proposed method of vector modeling of the environment of personality development allows determining the activity of the individual in mastering educational resources in various types of environments. This digital tooling allows school management teams and organizational consultants to conduct management and pedagogical analysis of the current status and complementarity of various system components of school environments with each other, as well as with the school’s mission, and implement their managerial and vocational design; to develop programs for the progression of school organizations based on environment methodology using expert project management technology; to carry out organizational and pedagogical consulting of schools taking into account the “built-in” nature of environments of various levels (the environment of the lesson, class, club, school, and educational complex).

Well-Being at Work

Well-being is defined as individuals' subjective and global judgment whether the individual is experiencing the relative presence of positive emotions, the relative absence of negative emotions, and satisfaction with their life. This chapter addresses individuals' well-being at work, since work composes an important part of individuals' life experiences and has important effects on both employees' and organizations' effectiveness. For this purpose, this book chapter provides a comprehensive overview of well-being with respect to its predictors as well as its outcomes. More specifically, personality factors, job characteristics, and occupational stress are explored in terms of individual and organizational antecedents, whereas job satisfaction and work performance are utilized as outcomes of well-being. This chapter will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and organizational consultants in providing a comprehensive guideline about the implications of well-being at work settings.

Well-Being at Work

Well-being is defined as individuals' subjective and global judgment whether the individual is experiencing the relative presence of positive emotions, the relative absence of negative emotions, and satisfaction with their life. This chapter addresses individuals' well-being at work, since work composes an important part of individuals' life experiences and has important effects on both employees' and organizations' effectiveness. For this purpose, this book chapter provides a comprehensive overview of well-being with respect to its predictors as well as its outcomes. More specifically, personality factors, job characteristics, and occupational stress are explored in terms of individual and organizational antecedents, whereas job satisfaction and work performance are utilized as outcomes of well-being. This chapter will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and organizational consultants in providing a comprehensive guideline about the implications of well-being at work settings.

Dialogic group coaching – inspiration from transformative mediation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to group coaching in the workplace that can enhance shared learning in groups and teams through dialogue as opposed to group members’ individual positioning through discussion and debate. Design/methodology/approach – An action research project conducted throughout one year in collaboration between the management groups of the Elderly Care in a Danish municipality, two organizational consultants and two researchers from the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University. The dialogical approach to group coaching is developed in the interaction between dialogue theory and the performance and close analysis of 12 video-taped coaching sessions with four management groups. The development of the dialogic group coaching concept is further supported through common reflections between researchers and groups in initial meetings as well as during the coaching sessions and final interviews, reflections between researchers and groups in initial meetings as well as during the coaching sessions and final interviews. Findings – The non-directive approach of dialogic group coaching is inspired by Transformative Mediation. This approach includes a focus on empowerment and recognition within the group in terms of promoting common reflection and learning. This also appears to diminish conflict talk and conflict-based relationships. Further, the dialogic approach emphasizes the importance of a coaching contract to create a common basis for reflection and action, which is found to reduce individual positioning. Originality/value – The paper develops a dialogic concept of group coaching in theory and practice, while focusing on the learning processes and development of the participating management groups.

Life Cycle Challenges of Online Learning Support Systems

For centuries, biologists have described the living world in terms of life cycles (Campbell & Reece, 2005; Quinn & Cameron, 1983; Lester, Parnell, & Carraher, 2003). Similar to the epigenesis of the individual (Erikson, 1980), theorists have asserted that there is a natural rhythm to development in the corporation (Adizes, 1988). Pathology occurs when the characteristics inherent in each developmental stage are thwarted. In the past several decades, organizational consultants began the assimilation of corporate health to that of the individual, citing life cycles in organizations as being epigenetic and predetermined (Adizes, 1988; Lester, Parnell, Carraher, 2003; Masurel & Montfort, 2006; Liao, 2006). The catalyst for change is similar to that of life crisis in the individual where an otherwise steady state is dismantled by environmental events (Beck & Cowan, 1996). Moving from a successful level of endeavor to a deteriorating, chaotic level, the business is forced to change in sometimes quantum ways. Not unlike the individual, the business resisting change is arrested in development and faces stagnation and possible deterioration. There are occurrences where whole industries are stimulated toward change; as a response, individual business in that industry must decide to adapt to the change or fail. In traditional academia, triggers in the millennium environment have directed a change toward internet-based education and digital format. Support systems in academia, like college book stores, are stimulated to adapt to non-traditional delivery platforms.

Are Research Universities Knowledge-Intensive Learning Organizations?

This chapter questions the clarity of the concepts of “knowledge society” and “knowledge-intensive organization”. In particular, the author asserts that the notion that postindustrial society is more knowledge intensive than industrial society is a self-serving proposition made by academics and organizational consultants to emphasize the importance of their own industries. Since all organizations are knowledgeintensive in major ways, the specific meanings of a newly emergent kind of knowledge-intensive organization need to be clarified. The author undertakes this by means of an analysis of research universities.

De effectiviteit van oplossingsgericht werken en cliëntgeleide contractering bij coaching en advisering: lessen uit de psychotherapie

The effectiveness of solution-focused working in coaching and consultancy The effectiveness of solution-focused working in coaching and consultancy C. Visser & R. Butter, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 21, March 2008, pp. 35-55 Until now, little research has been done on the effectiveness of organizational consultancy and coaching. This study aims to make a contribution to the knowledge development in this area. A web-based questionnaire was administered with 158 clients of coaches and organizational consultants. Through this questionnaire, the relation was studied between, on the one hand, the way of contracting and the approach followed, and on the other hand the effectiveness of the project. One of the most striking conclusions is that a client-led way of working – which is one of the important characteristics of the solution-focused approach – in which the client directs the process while the advisor responds flexibly, is strongly associated with success. The article closes with some practical suggestions for advisors and for follow-up research.