Aspects of profitability that influence smallholder cash-crop preferences in northern Mozambique

This study analyses profitability in terms of relationships between various aspects, indicators and cash-crop cultivation preferences. Both financial and pragmatic aspects of profitability were found to be related to cash-crop preferences. Apart from the need to promote a crop with a good farm gate price and to reduce production and marketing costs, promoters need to strengthen the wider system by supporting profitability as well as household consumption requirements. The correlation between indicators of expected profitability improved as more financial and pragmatic aspects were incorporated. Smallholder farmers' rankings of profitability correlated better with cash-crop preferences when the analysis incorporated more aspects of profitability. In addition, the results indicated the institutional support needed to improve the profitability of cash crops. This simple method of identifying smallholder preferences for one cash crop among many is of paramount importance in the design of strategies for improving agricultural market participation.     

Connectivity and work dominance: Panacea or pariah?

Does technologically-supported work connectivity help young managers and professionals under the age of 45 deal with the pressing demands of their work, or does the presence of work-connecting technologies exacerbate the tendencies of this talent force to engage in more work and longer working hours? Utilizing both surveys and follow-up focus group interactions, this study found that while work-connecting technologies permitted a greater range of options regarding when and where work was done, this same connectivity provided constant availability to work and often drove expectations that more must be done, thereby increasing the likelihood of longer work hours and—surprisingly—leading to a diminished sense of flexibility. Study participants offer insights regarding the thought processes behind these outcomes. Perspectives on how emerging leaders and their organizations can effectively manage and achieve the potential of enhanced connectivity are provided. A four-phased approach is recommended. First, we discuss key cultural dynamics. Second, the role of organizational expectations and practices is emphasized. Third, we consider a set of responsibilities for organizational leaders, whose actions and cues provide the most vivid clarity for young managers attempting to decide where to draw the work/life balance line. Finally, the challenge and responsibility of personal accountability is presented. Consideration of a work paradigm that reorients our thinking about traditional “face time,” and strives to bridge the gap between the potential and pervasive impact of work-connecting technologies, is also included.     

试论研究生创新能力的培养

近年来,在研究生创新能力培养方面,存在学术氛围不浓、创造实践少、指导不力、论文和答辩把关不严等问题.改变这种现状,要增强研究生的创新意识,改善培养环境,重视导师队伍、管理队伍的建设.     

广州市产业转移背景下高职物流管理人才培养模式研究

受产业转型、产业转移政策实施的影响,广州市物流人才需求体现出新的特点,高职院校应有针对性的调整物流管理人才培养模式。在此背景下结合广州番禺职业技术学院的实践,从课程体系构建、实践教学体系构建和师资队伍建设等方面积极探索,提出了企业内植、实境耦合的人才培养模式,不断满足区域物流管理人才需求。     

Dynamic land use and land cover changes and their effect on forest resources in a coastal village of Matemwe,Zanzibar, Tanzania

Recent land cover change estimates show overall decline of tropical forests at the regional and global scales caused by multiple social, cultural and economic factors. There is an overall concern on the prevailing land use practices, such as shifting cultivation and extraction of forest materials as agents of forests losses, but also new, emerging land uses are threatening tropical forests. Understanding of the long-term development and driving forces of forest changes are needed, especially at local levels where many decisions on forest policies and land uses are made. This paper addresses the importance of such information for improved estimates of forest dynamics by studying local level land cover and land use changes during the last 50–70 years in the Eastern African tropical island of Zanzibar, Tanzania. The paper discusses the role of traditional and new land uses mainly subsistence farming, tourism and government interference through tree planting, in the long-term development of the forests at the village level. The material for the study is gathered from the interpretation of archival maps and aerial photographs combined with contemporary digital aerial photographs. The analyses are based on the mapping, spatial sampling and spatio-temporal change trajectory analysis (LCTA) of forest land cover, forest land uses and settlement patterns with GIS and statistics. Six distinct forest land cover change trajectories were identified and these illustrate dynamic and heterogeneous nature of the forests. Closed forest cover has dominated throughout due to cyclical land use patterns, but over 70% of the land area has been continuously transforming between closed, semi-open and open land cover conditions. Land use turnover rates indicate that hardly any forest areas are left untouched from the forces, which remove and re-establish forest vegetation in the long run. Land cover and land use change trajectories are spatially fragmented in the studied landscape. Majority of forest loss-gain dynamics is caused by shifting cultivation, while forest losses are most dramatic along the coast, where traditional and new land uses meet and land uses pressures are highest. The study suggests that landscape change trajectory analyses, where contemporary and historical information on land uses and land cover changes are spatially linked, can provide valuable aspects into local level forest land use planning and management strategies. For the case study, the findings suggest the following key forest management strategies for consideration: (1) establishment of a protected forest/scrubland in participation with the local stakeholders, especially the farmers, (2) promotion of areas for permanent agricultural practices, while simultaneously introducing management controls in the traditional slash-and-burn farming areas, and (3) promoting new livelihood opportunities for the farmers, who have traditionally been dependent on forest resources, meanwhile introducing alternatives for fuel wood for cooking.     

物流管理应用型人才培养模式的创新与实践——以惠州学院为例

应用型人才培养是地方本科院校发展定位的必然选择,文章对应用型人才的特质及其培养模式的内涵要求进行了思考,从优化人才培养方案、调整专业设置和课程结构、构建一体化实践教学体系、改革和创新课堂教学方法、开展国际合作教学、深化校企合作、培养学生的应用能力和创新能力等方面对惠州学院物流管理专业应用型人才培养模式的创新与实践进行了探讨,对同类院校有一定的启示。     

浅谈大学生英语自主学习能力的培养

大学英语在高校教学中处于一个非常重要的位置,现代语言教学理论要求学生具有自主学习的能力,目标是培养学生具有自主学习英语的意识和动机。在具体实践中,教师可以在教学的过程中,指导学生进行自我反思、自我评价,通过利用多媒体、网络等资源引导学生培养自主学习的能力,给他们创造一个良好的学习环境,积极开展发展性的课堂教学模式,讲英语教学模式与现代教育理念有机地融合到一起,以保证英语教学效率的提高。     

新时代大学生先进典型人物培育机制研究

大学生先进典型人物培育蕴含丰富的理论依据。当前大学生先进典型人物培育实践中存在的问题主要表现在培育缺乏系统性和前瞻性、宣传缺乏针对性和创新性、教育缺乏延续性和层次性。为破解这一现实难题,需要优化挖掘选树机制、宣传引领机制、持续教育机制及评估反馈机制,以增强新时代大学生典型人物培育工作的系统性、时代性及创新性,有力促进大学生典型人物培育实践向纵深发展向精细化发展。     

宜昌高职院校物流人才培养对策探讨

文章分析了宜昌高职院校物流人才培养存在的问题,并就如何解决问题及宜昌高职院校物流人才培养的对策进行了深入研究。     

Instrumental client relationship development among top-ranking service professionals

Informal client contact forms a crucial part of the daily routine of service professionals, in particular among top-ranking professionals working for consultancy and accountancy firms. In this paper, we investigate how 34 service professionals develop informal client contact, by studying their networking styles. Our study shows many similarities in informal client contact between two groups of service professionals grouped by gender, but we also found subtle differences in what we coin instrumental and expressive relations. Contrary to gender stereotypes, we found that female service professionals tended toward instrumental networking styles, using professionalism and distance and allowing the high quality of their work compensate for network deficits, contingent upon their clients’ gender. Male service professionals drew on expressive relations to develop emotional bonding with their male clients in particular, but nonetheless toward instrumental purposes. Our study contributes to service industries literature by theoretically and empirically establishing the different informal networking styles between top-ranking service professionals, and the role of emotional bonding in particular. In doing so, the paper helps to better understand the intricacies of informal client contact as a critical dimension of the professional services industry.