The perceptions of human resource development professionals in Taiwan regarding their working relationships with subject matter experts (SMEs) during the training design process

While the literature supports the importance of establishing a relationship between designers and subject matter experts (SMEs) in the training design process, this approach is not followed in all global practices. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of human resource development professionals in Taiwan regarding their working relationships with SMEs. The respondents of the study were HRD professionals who worked in high-tech companies located in a science park in Taiwan. The study found that a significant relationship exists between the ability to work with SMEs and current ability in the training design process among HRD professionals who had worked with SMEs. This study provides implications for the professional development of HRD practitioners and HRD practice in Taiwan companies. Cross-cultural issues are discussed to explain inconsistencies between the results and US-based perspectives on the training design process.     

Effective design of a global leadership programme

The purpose of this paper is to report level 3 evaluation findings from a leadership development programme. This paper comprises a case study, quantitative data analysis, and results from critical incident semi-structured interviews. A unique research model was developed from a literature review. There are many problems associated with the design and delivery of leadership development programmes. Senior executive-taught workshops, 360° feedback, and action learning were deliberately employed to increase the adoption and application of specific behaviours after the programme. The results substantiate previous findings on the impact of these elements by demonstrating concrete behavioural changes rather than perceived enhancement in leadership capabilities as often cited in other studies. The model should be further tested, applied and refined as necessary.

Organizations wishing to develop leaders could be guided by the model and findings of this research. A novel and innovative design model was developed from a literature review, tested against a leadership programme in a large well-known multi-national organization, and later refined based on the empirical results. It will be of value to HRD managers and researchers.     

Action e-learning: An exploratory case study of action learning applied online

Abstract

Web-based instruction, also called e-learning, is currently one of the most talked-about education and training media. To prepare courses for online delivery and to maintain their effectiveness, the designer must have an understanding of e-learning instructional design principles. Action learning is a proven, effective management development process that has not been implemented to date as an e-learning instructional methodology. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine the impact of the action learning process on the effectiveness of management level web-based instruction (WBI). A leader-led, management-level course using face-to-face delivery was converted to web-based instruction where action learning was the delivery methodology. Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation served as the evaluation tool to determine effectiveness of the intervention. It was found that, though challenging to facilitate, the action learning online method is effective and yields changes in participants' knowledge. However, contrary to expectations, online learning communities did not form.     

A Taguchi-based Kansei engineering study of mobile phones at product design stage

This article is aimed at applying Taguchi method in Kansei engineering and explores a way to integrate it into an industrial product design stage. Emotional customer needs are derived using Kansei image word pairs. The Taguchi-based approach is validated by a case study with mobile phones. Experimental work in implementing the proposed approach was able to suggest design attributes of a mobile phone that are essential to be considered at the product design stage to satisfy the customers’ expectations and hence to increase the company's sales.     

A pragmatic adaptive enrichment design for selecting the right target population for cancer immunotherapies

One of the challenges in the design of confirmatory trials is to deal with uncertainties regarding the optimal target population for a novel drug. Adaptive enrichment designs (AED) which allow for a data-driven selection of one or more prespecified biomarker subpopulations at an interim analysis have been proposed in this setting but practical case studies of AEDs are still relatively rare. We present the design of an AED with a binary endpoint in the highly dynamic setting of cancer immunotherapy. The trial was initiated as a conventional trial in early triple-negative breast cancer but amended to an AED based on emerging data external to the trial suggesting that PD-L1 status could be a predictive biomarker. Operating characteristics are discussed including the concept of a minimal detectable difference, that is, the smallest observed treatment effect that would lead to a statistically significant result in at least one of the target populations at the interim or the final analysis, respectively, in the setting of AED.     

Logistic retainment interval dose exploration design for Phase I clinical trials of cytotoxic agents

Phase I studies of a cytotoxic agent often aim to identify the dose that provides an investigator specified target dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) probability. In practice, an initial cohort receives a dose with a putative low DLT probability, and subsequent dosing follows by consecutively deciding whether to retain the current dose, escalate to the adjacent higher dose, or de-escalate to the adjacent lower dose. This article proposes a Phase I design derived using a Bayesian decision-theoretic approach to this sequential decision-making process. The design consecutively chooses the action that minimizes posterior expected loss where the loss reflects the distance on the log-odds scale between the target and the DLT probability of the dose that would be given to the next cohort under the corresponding action. A logistic model is assumed for the log odds of a DLT at the current dose with a weakly informative t-distribution prior centered at the target. The key design parameters are the pre-specified odds ratios for the DLT probabilities at the adjacent higher and lower doses. Dosing rules may be pre-tabulated, as these only depend on the outcomes at the current dose, which greatly facilitates implementation. The recommended default version of the proposed design improves dose selection relative to many established designs across a variety of scenarios.     

绿色理念在图书馆建筑中的体现——以南京工程学院逸夫图书信息中心为例

绿色图书馆是现代图书馆的发展趋势,它贯彻的是一种科学、健康、创新、可持续发展的理念.绿色图书馆建设首先要从建筑做起.绿色建筑在设计上主要包括五个因素:可持续发展、节水、节能、材料选择与室内环境质量.南京工程学院逸夫图书信息中心在选址、造型及色彩、节能、功能区域设置、智能化系统、无障碍设计等方面充分体现了绿色图书馆的理念,达到了人、建筑、自然的和谐统一.     

北京奥林匹克公园中心区地下交通联系通道地面建筑设计的思考

北京奥林匹克公园中心区地下交通联系通道地面建筑由于位置突出、功能要求苛刻,故方案选定十分慎重。本文通过分析上述方案设计过程,对如下几个理论问题进行了探讨：①通道地面建筑的主要类型和特点;②建筑设计一般原则在通道地面建筑设计中的具体运用,提出实现功能是设计的出发点,坚持不断创新是设计的核心,解决设计理念与实践的矛盾是设计的最基本原则;③结合园林景观设计理论,强调了通道地面建筑与周边环境的协调关系。文章目的是探讨建筑设计理论应如何具体指导设计实践。     

天麻中天麻素的提取工艺

目的考察影响天麻中天麻素的提取因素。方法采用正交试验法,以提取液中醇浸膏收率及天麻素的含量为考察指标。结果提取的最佳条件70℃下,用40%乙醇提取3次,每次2h,6倍量乙醇。结论所用工艺稳定可行。