Technical rationality and professional artistry in HRD practice

Abstract

This paper outlines the limitations of a technical rationalist approach to HRD practice without seeking to negate it. It then offers a complementary view based on Schon's notion of the reflective practitioner which exhorts HRD practitioners to embrace complexity and reflection. We outline, first, a number of dimensions of diversity which confer complexity upon HRD practice, and, second, a series of suggested questions that may aid the framing of practical problems in a more effective way than might be the case with a purely technical rationalist approach. We urge novice (and expert) HRD practitioners to adopt a mind set that is contemplative of the diversities that they may encounter in practice and which is conjectural with regard to how these diversities may impact upon problems and their solutions.     

A multivariate test for detecting fraud based on Benford’s law,with application to music streaming data

Statistical Methods & Applications - Benford’s law became a prevalent concept for fraud and anomaly detection. It examines the frequencies of the leading digits of numbers in a collection...     

Conditional intensity: A powerful tool for modelling and analysing point process data

The conditional intensity function of a spatial point process describes how the probability that a point of the process occurs ‘at’ a particular point in its carrier space depends on the realisation of the process in the remainder of the carrier space. Provided that the point process is simple, the conditional intensity determines all of the properties of the process, in particular its likelihood function. In this paper, we review the use of the conditional intensity function in the formulation of point process models and in making inferences from point process data, giving separate consideration to temporal, spatial and spatiotemporal settings. We argue that the conditional intensity function should take centre-stage in spatiotemporal point process modelling and analysis.     

Gender diversity among ‘boys’ in Papua New Guinea: Memories of sameness and difference in early childhood

Childhood is a time when children begin to constitute themselves as gendered subjects largely according to social norms that are rigidly framed within dominant discourses of heteronormative binary gender. This paper is based on the life histories of 42 sexuality and gender diverse adult men and transgender women conducted in PNG. Findings offer insight into the ways in which boys transgressed gender norms through dress, play, work within the home and in dance. We argue that gender transgression in childhood is not a contemporary phenomena and such childhood experiences of boys in PNG should be recognised as part of the country's rich cultural diversity.     

Reforming pensions: Principles, analytical errors and policy directions

This article, sets out a series of principles for pension design rooted in economic theory: pension systems have multiple objectives, analysis should consider the pension system as a whole, analysis should be framed in a second-best context, different systems share risks differently, and systems have different effects by generation and by gender. That discussion is reinforced by identification of a series of widespread analytical errors — errors that appear in World Bank work, but by no means only in World Bank work: tunnel vision, improper use of first-best analysis, improper use of steady-state analysis, incomplete analysis of implicit pension debt, incomplete analysis of the impact of funding (including excessive focus on financial flows, failure to consider how funding is generated, and improper focus on the type of asset in trust funds), and ignoring distributional effects. The second part of the article considers implications for policy: there is no single best pension design, earlier retirement does little or nothing to reduce unemployment, unsustainable pension promises need to be addressed directly, a move from pay-as-you-go towards funding in a mandatory system may or may not be welfare improving, and implementation matters — policy design that exceeds a country's capacity to implement it is bad policy design. We illustrate the ranges of designs of pension systems that fit the fiscal and institutional capacity constraints typical at different levels of economic development. The potential gains from simplicity imply that a country capable of implementing an administratively demanding plan does not necessarily gain from doing so. New Zealand has a simple pension system through choice, not constraint.     

Rural restructuring in the American West: land use, family and class discourses

Migration patterns, technological developments, and altered human–land relationships are combining to precipitate tremendous changes in rural communities across the western US. These processes of restructuring, however, have been quite contentious and divisive for many of the region's small towns. While we are beginning to understand the causes of recent growth and development trends, the consequences of contemporary forces of restructuring on communities remain unstudied. This paper explores the reactions of residents to forces of restructuring in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, the Methow Valley, Washington, Kane County, Utah, and Teton Valley, Idaho. In depth interviews and survey responses give voice to community members by allowing them to articulate their perceptions and interpretations of recent events. The analyses demonstrate tremendous diversity in the ways in which individuals interpret the changes taking place around them. These diverse interpretations challenge singular conceptions of community and highlight the ways in which notions of land use, family, and class are negotiated in the context of contemporary rural restructuring. The analysis further demonstrates the need for a more synthesized field of rural studies spanning disciplinary and national divides.     

Belohnungen und Bestrafungen im Netz: Verhaltenskontrolle in Chat-Foren

It is often lamented that the anonymity and physical distance of the Internet prevent effective punishment for antisocial behavior such as insulting, racist or sexist comments. It is thus claimed that anomie regins on the Internet. However, if we look at individual Internet forums and the virtual groups which frequent them, it becomes evident that behavioral rules are often explicated and a row of rewards and punishments are used for behavioral control. With the help of systematic behavioral observations, analysis of documents and field experiments in 24 selected chat forums in the IRC and WWW this study examines how people use technical and social sanctions to control each other’s behavior in computer-mediated communication. Boundaries and possibilities of behavioral control on the Internet are of interest both for those who use chat forums as well as for those who offer chat forums. Accordingly, practical consequences of the results of the study are discussed with special consideration given to the danger of abuse of power.