Recent Articles
-
Addressing risk with VUCA-Prime
Dr. David Hillson Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementMany risk practitioners have heard of VUCA as a way of describing an environment which gives rise to risk. VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. It was first developed in the 1990s by the U.S. Army War College, but it has become widely used in business as a way of characterizing the risky environment in which organisations operate.
-
The importance of semantics in ESL instruction
Douglas Magrath EducationIn a recent article, I discussed the importance of phonetics for ESL instructors. But instructors can also benefit from an understanding of semantics — the study of meaning. Linguistic semantics has been defined as the study of how languages organize and express meanings.
-
Tobacco’s disappearing act in baseball
Dr. Denise A. Valenti Sports & FitnessEvery April, America's pastime of baseball returns to ballparks across the country as communities can once again take in the sights of the stadium and cheer on their favorite team. But one thing many fans will not see this season is the use of tobacco among players.
-
High-tech tools now a regular part of police work
Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityThere was a time when body cameras were met with a lot of resistance. Now we are looking at a future when videos captured by these cameras could potentially replace traditional written reports. Soon there may be facial recognition software built into these body cameras as well. The rise in crime and terrorism has necessitated the growing use of technology for law enforcement work. Proponents stress how officers find it difficult to fight crime, quite understandably, without the right resources at hand.
-
How volunteers define leadership
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementA board is a combination of volunteers dedicated to governing an organization. In the U.S., there are more than 1.5 million nonprofit boards of directors. From the start, the directors must concur on their roles and responsibilities to advance the mission and serve the members. They must recognize that each person brings a unique perspective and experience that must be blended to work as a high-performing governing body. Directors all have their own perspectives of leadership and the characteristics necessary to produce results.
-
Softwood lumber dispute cuts both ways
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsRecent news that the U.S. Department of Commerce would impose a 20 percent import tariff on softwood lumber coming from Canada set off alarm bells in the U.S. residential construction industry. Home builders have been cautioning for months that increased materials costs were driving up the price of newly built homes, placing them further out of reach of many prospective home buyers. The lion's share of those increases has come from the escalating cost of softwood lumber.
-
Cultivating nurse employee engagement
Keith Carlson Healthcare AdministrationEvery nurse leader and nurse executive knows the nurses within a healthcare organization are worth their weight in gold. The nursing staff (nursing assistants, LPNs, RNs and APRNs) is the lifeblood of any organization involved in the delivery of high-quality healthcare.
-
Report: Healthcare jobs on the rise again
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationIn a bit of a surprise, the U.S. jobs report for April showed a huge jump from the previous month — 211,000 non-farm jobs added last month, compared to 79,000 in March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of jobs predicted was pegged at about 185,000.
-
3 church administration areas you can’t afford to overlook
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityFrom accounting to technology and more, there are plenty of tasks on a church administrator’s to-do list. While certain administration topics receive the lion’s share of attention, there are a few areas that aren’t as obvious to consider.
-
The explosive danger of dust particles
Kyle Penner Facilities & GroundsCombustible dust explosions are a risk in many areas of a facility. Facilities can create dust particles that can become airborne and dispersed throughout the plant. It's when these particles are in a combustible environment that they represent a significant risk for an industrial accident. The serious hazards associated with handling fine dusts and powdered materials may be overlooked by many plant personnel because they are not fully understood.