Search

This paper presents a methodological insight in using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method in a study of young adults with chronic congenital heart disease (ACHD). It is not well understood how young adults with CHD make sense of their lives beyond the existing quality of life measures. Exploring this research topic guided by the three principles of IPA: (a) phenomenology, (b) hermeneutics, and (c) idiography, we found our study elucidated one's sense making growing up with a pediatric chronicity; particularly the role of researcher 'as instrument' for its centrality as an authentic representation of the lived 'CHD' experience unfolded. Decisions relevant to data collection and the analytical phase of the research are presented. Insight further involves discussing methodological integrity and the ethical considerations associated with implementing IPA as the foundational framework. We believe using IPA in a cohort of adult congenital heart disease patients provided an in-depth exploration into the meaningfulness of these individuals' lives. Our study highlights the value of using hermeneutics to advance the growing body of ACHD evidence and other disease-related research studies. Moreover, using the IPA approach contributes to methodological development by promoting interdisciplinary scholarship that disseminates practical, real-world knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with traditional closed innovation, open innovation brings more new ideas, technologies, and resources to megaprojects, which is becoming increasingly important in the face of growing complexity and sustainability. Drawing on the application of sense-making theory in organizational change, this study conducts an empirical case study to explore how open innovation is carried out in megaprojects, as well as how to explain the processes at the micro level. The Changchun Metropolitan Circle Ring Expressway phase II project was selected as the analytical case and grounded coding technology was adopted to analyze the realization process of open innovation. The results revealed that managers as organizers first completed their own sense making and then influenced others' sense making via sense giving to unify understanding and complete innovation mode transformation. Moreover, managers need to adjust sense making for themselves and sense giving for others according to interactive feedback. This study illustrated that open innovation strategies need to enact some new relevant routines in order for a cognitive reorientation to take place. A multi-level and multi-dimensional micro-mechanism and process was proposed to guide open innovation behavior in megaprojects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with traditional closed innovation, open innovation brings more new ideas, technologies, and resources to megaprojects, which is becoming increasingly important in the face of growing complexity and sustainability. Drawing on the application of sense-making theory in organizational change, this study conducts an empirical case study to explore how open innovation is carried out in megaprojects, as well as how to explain the processes at the micro level. The Changchun Metropolitan Circle Ring Expressway phase II project was selected as the analytical case and grounded coding technology was adopted to analyze the realization process of open innovation. The results revealed that managers as organizers first completed their own sense making and then influenced others’ sense making via sense giving to unify understanding and complete innovation mode transformation. Moreover, managers need to adjust sense making for themselves and sense giving for others according to interactive feedback. This study illustrated that open innovation strategies need to enact some new relevant routines in order for a cognitive reorientation to take place. A multi-level and multi-dimensional micro-mechanism and process was proposed to guide open innovation behavior in megaprojects.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the industry-oriented sense making competencies of engineering students. This qualitative research was carried out using the seven-step method of Sandlovski and Barroso. The metacomposite team consisted of three experts in curriculum planning and one expert in metacomposite research. 107 related research sources were used as the basis of the analysis, The result of which was extracting 11 themes of problem finding, finding a topic, choosing a topic with the aim of finding a new solution. Analyzing the information needs, designing and compiling the information search structure, implementing the information search process, evaluating the information search process, compiling the problem solving structure is based on the final information. Also the implementation of problem solving, the consequences of problem solving, and the final decision regarding the problem solving structure. The validity of the data was confirmed by using the techniques of reliability, transferability and alignment of data and trustworthiness of the data was also confirmed by the accurate guidance of the flow of information collection and alignment of the researchers. The results showed that proper sense making is necessary for success in many jobs, and a person must be able to make decisions, take action and develop an action plan in a turbulent and complex environment and in an uncertain state. Professors can show their creativity in the classroom by teaching sense making in the teaching process and combine the art of effective teaching with scientific knowledge. Based on the results of the research, on the one hand, it can provide educational planners with a wide range of experiences, on the other hand, the identification of themes analyzed in the sense masking approach has a significant impact on improving the quality of teaching in the field of engineering education. The correct understanding of these factors are very important for the university and the higher education system.

This study examines differentiated financial risk tolerance attitudes between three listing branches within the Australian Securities Exchange's (ASX) standardised listing environment. Western Australia's (WA) concentration of earlier‐stage IPOs (51% of all ASX small, (predominately mining) initial public offerings (IPOs)) appears to reflect a localised 'entrepreneurial' risk attitude towards smaller, higher‐risk transactions, comparative to New South Wales and Victoria. Our mixed method approach identifies that the concentration of small‐cap, capital raising experiences that are (in)/formally shared through key 'gatekeepers', shape locally adopted funding capabilities, business processes, and risk attitudes. Underlying risk attitudes were influenced by the shared confidence in the recognition and management of risk, thereby increasing the propensity to participate in more speculative opportunities, and WA's presumptive higher risk tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerning the legislative role of members of parliament in Iran, the present paper aimed to identify factors affecting their perception during passing laws through a behavioral approach. Sampling was carried out via judgmental method and was continued till reaching saturation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parliament member. The answers to interview questions in addition to documents such as negotiation proceedings were analyzed. Employing grounded theory, codes, concepts and categories were obtained as a result of data analysis. Five propositions were obtained after linking three categories at selective coding stage. Data analysis found personality, education, experience, personal feelings, emotions and feelings as individual factors affecting perception of MPs. Perceptions, the main category of research consists of direct and indirect perception as two subcategories and sense making, sense breaking, and sense giving as its concepts. Introduction *Studies regarding perception of MPs (members of parliament) could be divided into several categories; however, they are not sufficient. In one group, the legislative process is described by MPs at individual and collective level through distinct steps. Cognitive and perceptual dimensions of each step are discusses (Slembeck, 2016).In second group, value systems are mentioned as key factors affecting the perception of the political elite while analyzing environment. In relevant studies, there is no emphasis on the decision-making process and its step-by-step analysis (e.g. Brosch & Sander, 2013).In third group, system and process approaches were used simultaneously. In these works, both top-down and bottom-up processes such as political pressures, interpersonal issues, personality and genetics have been examined at the same time (Jost et al., 2016). In another group of research, subjective frameworks and decision-making styles of MPs from various parties in developed countries namely the United States, Britain, and Germany have been investigated (e.g. Rokeach, 2006; Altemeyer, 1998; Duckitt, 2001). Members of parliament are largely unaware of the effect of their cognitive characteristics on their decisions. If MPs are aware of factors affecting their perception, they might avoid biases and decision-making errors. This could reduce their severity as well. Thanks to the significance of the aforementioned issue the present study attempts to identify individual and personality variables affecting the perception of MPs during the legislative process. MethodologyGrounded theory is a qualitative research method aiming to develop a theory based on data.The classical method of grounded theory has been used in present research due to the lack of a codified model for factors affecting the perception of MPs during legislative process. In order to collect data, the researcher employed semi-structured interviews and archived data such as recorded parliament sessions. Using theoretical and judgmental sampling, a number of participants were selected for the study. Research sample size was finalized based on the principle of theoretical saturation. In this study, theoretical saturation was achieved by interviewing 22 MPs and analyzing the recordings of sessions in detail. FindingsThere are three stages of open, selective, and theoretical coding in classical grounded theory. Fifty-five categories were obtained in open coding stage. Ten concepts emerged subsequently. In selective coding stage, the perception of the MPs was considered as the central category around which the data were organized.Finally, three categories were obtained: perception, individual factors and legislation. The central category of perception consisted of direct perception like sense making and indirect perception such as sense giving or sense breaking. Individual factors consisted of the following concepts: personality, education, background, personal interests, feelings and emotions. Legislation entails approving plans and bills. At theoretical coding stage, the relationships between categories are conceptualized.Perception is the central category for this study. By analyzing narratives and stories of interviewees, it was clarified that MPs analyze and perceive events, bills and plans in two ways: They gain perception about a bill or plan either directly through studying documents and reports or indirectly through attending meetings of the commissions or fractions and listening to their colleagues’ opinion. Using the literature on perception, they were introduced to the topics of sense making, sense giving, and sense breaking, which, were placed under subcategories of direct and indirect perception.Direct perception: All the attempts of MPs to perceive environmental events and laws in the process of passing laws are considered as sense making.Indirect perception: Observations showed that some MPs in different sessions try to destroy the meaning and perception of a bill or plan in the minds of other MPs by using discourses, narratives, stories and arguments (sense breaking) or presenting different arguments. They try to communicate their own meaning (sense giving) and create a new perception in minds of MPs. Individual factorsMuch evidence showed the influence of individual factors on the perception of MPs while conducting the present study. Results showed that individual factors are composed of the following concepts: personality, education, feelings and emotions, background and personal interests. Personality: The personality of MPs has a considerable effect on their sense making, sense giving, and sense breaking in the process of passing laws as well as comprehension of topics discussed in parliament and commissions. The personality of MPs was evaluated based on dimensions of Big Five Personality Traits model including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability (Robbins & Judge, 2017).Some of MPs were extroverts interacting with so many MPs. This group of MPs spoke frequently about their experiences and how they influenced others with their words about a bill or an act.Some MPs admitted that they have repeatedly tried to persuade other MPs with agreeable personalities.Some MPs were highly conscientious. They examined all bills and plans carefully. They claimed that they never voted for any bills or plans without having sufficient information. Their perceptions of bills or plans differed due to the amount of time they spent on each bill or act.Openness to experience was another dimension of the personality of MPs affecting perceptions. Some MPs mentioned issues concerning art and literature in their statements. They talked about performances of politicians and the structure of parliament in other countries openly. These MPs exhibited more openness than other MPs who had traditional or local perspectives or descriptions limited to their own electoral constituency.Individuals with low emotional stability reacted quickly and were more sensitive to performances of other MPs. Those who get low scores in this dimension are typically nervous, anxious and impulsive. MPs with low emotional stability would take a stand against the statements of other MPs in examining plans and bills. The other group of MPs on the contrary were calm and in no hurry to answer other MPs during sessions of the commissions.Education: MPs’ level of education affects their attention. Those who have studied medicine, agriculture, civil engineering or sociology do not share the same concerns. They examine the bills and plans relevant to their own field of study more carefully.Feelings and Emotions: The mood of an MP while examining or commenting on a plan or bill affects their perception. Analysis of parliament sessions indicated that when examining a bill is postponed to subsequent session of commission, the behavior and reactions of some MPs change. During the interval between the sessions, MPs may study the issue or have conversations with other people which could influence their studies (sense making) or attitudes (sense breaking and sense giving). Background: The background of MPs could have an effective role in their perception. Those who have been MPs for several terms have a different perception than those who have become MPs for the first time. The alignment of an individual’s career background with their commission could also affects his perception of the plans and bills. Personal interests: Many MPs believed that their colleagues are concerned with their personal interests. They explained that as soon as their colleagues become MPs, they begin planning for participation in the next elections and their main aim is to secure a seat in the parliament in subsequent terms. Discussion and conclusionResults of the present research showed that individual factors affecting the perception of MPs include personality, education, background, personal interests, feelings and emotions. Perception was considered the central category of the present research, which consists of the two subcategories of direct and indirect perception.In previous studies, a number of factors affecting perception in general or perception of politicians and MPs in particular have been mentioned. Value systems, personality, and cognitive biases are among key factors found in foreign research (e.g. Brosch & Sander, 2013; Slembeck, 2016; and Altemeyer, 1998). However, as far as literature shows, no similar study has been conducted on the effect of the aforementioned five variables on the perception of MPs in Iranian parliament.The present research faced a number of limitations. First, it was difficult to reach MPs. Second, MPs interviewed were all male. Third the statistical community of the research consisted of MPs of the Iranian parliament. Fourth, Selecting MPs was conducted using the judgmental method and finally participants were only 22 people.Future researchers can investigate factors mentioned in this research independently. It is recommended that future researchers examine perceptions of other politicians and managers and study factors affecting perception of individuals such as city council members, ministers and CEOs. * Corresponding author

Concerning the legislative role of members of parliament in Iran, the present paper aimed to identify factors affecting their perception during passing laws through a behavioral approach. Sampling was carried out via judgmental method and was continued till reaching saturation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parliament member. The answers to interview questions in addition to documents such as negotiation proceedings were analyzed. Employing grounded theory, codes, concepts and categories were obtained as a result of data analysis. Five propositions were obtained after linking three categories at selective coding stage. Data analysis found personality, education, experience, personal feelings, emotions and feelings as individual factors affecting perception of MPs. Perceptions, the main category of research consists of direct and indirect perception as two subcategories and sense making, sense breaking, and sense giving as its concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines discourses in five Finnish municipalities' energy transition processes to identify and explain different ideological discourses among its members. The study fills a gap in research extending the idea of sense making to capture the ideologies that hide in discourses during socio-technical transitions. We identify three types of ideological discourses labelled as Clan, Solarpunk and Native. The implications of the ideologies embedded in municipal, multi-partner networks that participate in energy transition affect who will be heard in a local context. This impacts future choices directly related to sustainability outcomes. We propose that discourses in these multi-partner networks, conceptualized from the perspective of municipal energy systems, help us to uncover underlying ideologies that imperil change. And yet at the same time, these revelations offer opportunities for sustainability-oriented innovation.

Studies of transformative change have been making headway in understanding the complexity of societal transformation processes. Yet, we lack understanding of how people's lived experiences of transformations both shape and are shaped by meaning-making processes. In addressing this gap, we make two assumptions: Firstly, change processes comprise interactions between social actors that shape the way they are made sense of and experienced by the people involved in such interactions. Secondly, such change processes involve transformative experiences, which can bring to light previously taken-for-granted dimensions of lived experience. To address this research gap, we describe two complementary tools for analysing transformations: dialogical sense-making and critical phenomenology. These approaches share a focus on the experiential and sense-making dimensions, yet ask distinctly different kinds of questions and use different methods. Dialogical sense-making explores how people create meanings around transformations through various social interactions. Critical phenomenology analyses subjectivity, lived experience and structures that make possible and help shape experience. When brought into dialogue with each other, they allow for richer analyses of how the sense or meaning of transformations is constituted in experience. • People shape and are shaped by transformative change. • How people experience and make sense of transformative change is not well understood. • Here we introduce two approaches from social sciences and philosophy that address this gap. • Each provides distinct yet complementary tools for understanding the situated experience of transformative interactions. • This can help us understand how experiences of transformative change shape people's responses to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Team coaching is an organisational practice with insufficient empirical and theoretical foundations. This research contributes empirical insights from a 12-month autoethnographic study focussing on what team coaches do and how they do it. We illuminate the micro-practices that inform sense making and team coaching approaches during emergent practice. The research contributes the new concept of modes of awareness for coaches to reflect on the knowledge and experience that inform multiple perspectives required for advanced practice. We build on existing conceptualisations of team coaching practice to present a framework of modes of awareness that integrates diverse streams of theory and practice.

Abstract Background Safe clinical practice for patients hospitalised in mental health care during a suicidal crisis is situated within a dynamic, non-linear and uncertain context. Under such complex conditions, the adaptive capacity is considered vital to handling challenges and changes in clinical care. This study aimed to explore safe clinical practice for suicidal patients hospitalised in mental health wards through understanding healthcare professionals’ (HCPs’) capacities to adapt to challenges and changes in clinical care. Methods This study applied a qualitative design with focus group and individual interviews. Twenty-five HCPs participated in the focus groups, and 18 participated in individual interviews. The study was conducted in open and locked wards in a university hospital in Norway providing specialised mental health services for patients with mental illness. Results HCPs described their adaptive capacities for clinical practice relative to three themes. 1) HCPs used expertise to make sense of suicidal behaviour to support complex decision making. Their strategies included setting aside forms and checklists to prioritise trust and making judgements based on more than just patients’ spoken words. They improved their understanding by seeking others’ perspectives through collaborative sense-making processes involving the healthcare team and patient. 2) HCPs individualised the therapeutic milieu to address the diversity of patients with suicidal behaviour by creating individual clinical pathways, making trade-offs between under- and over-protection and adjusting observations. 3) HCPs described managing uncertainty as necessary for providing safe clinical practice. They managed uncertainty as a team by developing mutual collegial trust and support and creating a shared understanding. Conclusion HCPs’ adaptive capacities are vital to the complex set of practices involved in safe clinical practice for patients hospitalised during a suicidal crisis. By using expertise, individualising the therapeutic milieu, and managing uncertainty, HCPs individually and collectively develop their capacities to adapt to challenges and changes in clinical care. HCPs cannot easily ensure safe clinical practice by following standards; safe clinical practice depends on HCPs’ adaptations. Ward systems that ensure collegial trust and support, as well as arenas that foster shared understanding and situational awareness, are needed.

Objective: To undergo the preliminary development of a new measure of patient adaptation to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): A-IBD. Design: Based on a prior conceptualisation of adaptation, a 40-item scale was generated and completed by 304 people diagnosed with IBD. Main outcome measures: Psychometric analysis of the measure. Association with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief IPQ) and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ). Results: The 18-item scale consisted of four subscales (patient identity, person identity, acceptance, expectations). Weak to moderate correlations were found between subscales of the A-IBD and the Brief IPQ and IBDQ. Conclusion: The A-IBD shows potential for assessing adaptation. Further analysis could confirm its usefulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Mathematics is fundamental for many professions, especially science, technology, and engineering. Yet, mathematics is often perceived as difficult and many students leave disciplines in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as a result, closing doors to scientific, engineering, and technological careers. In this editorial, we argue that how mathematics is traditionally viewed as “given” or “fixed” for students’ expected acquisition alienates many students and needs to be problematized. We propose an alternative approach to changes in mathematics education and show how the alternative also applies to STEM education.

In this paper, we implemented a methodological framework of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and a theoretical conceptualization of multiple selves to explore the subjective accounts of six amateur bodybuilders using appearance- and performance-enhancing drugs (APEDs). The participants made sense of their bodybuilding careers and experiences with APEDs in a way that showed a multiplicity and complexity of reasons for using APEDs, which stemmed from tensions they perceived between the context of bodybuilding and other life domains. The participants’ reasons for the use of APEDs included not only enhancing their body, appearance and performance but also enhancing other subjectively important psychological characteristics, such as agency and self-control, the development of knowledge and expertise, sense of meaning, well-being, and quality of life. In the analysis, we integrated these themes through the concept of the “extraordinary self,” based on which our participants strived for self-actualization through bodybuilding and the use of APEDs. In the sense making of our participants, a potential “exit point” subverting their APED use emerged from a tension between such “extraordinary selves” and the “ordinary selves” through which they perceived APEDs as preventing them from living normal, balanced lives outside the context of bodybuilding. However, success in balancing the two selves also created the possibility of the future use of APEDs.

In this paper, we implemented a methodological framework of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and a theoretical conceptualization of multiple selves to explore the subjective accounts of six amateur bodybuilders using appearance- and performance-enhancing drugs (APEDs). The participants made sense of their bodybuilding careers and experiences with APEDs in a way that showed a multiplicity and complexity of reasons for using APEDs, which stemmed from tensions they perceived between the context of bodybuilding and other life domains. The participants' reasons for the use of APEDs included not only enhancing their body, appearance and performance but also enhancing other subjectively important psychological characteristics, such as agency and self-control, the development of knowledge and expertise, sense of meaning, well-being, and quality of life. In the analysis, we integrated these themes through the concept of the "extraordinary self," based on which our participants strived for self-actualization through bodybuilding and the use of APEDs. In the sense making of our participants, a potential "exit point" subverting their APED use emerged from a tension between such "extraordinary selves" and the "ordinary selves" through which they perceived APEDs as preventing them from living normal, balanced lives outside the context of bodybuilding. However, success in balancing the two selves also created the possibility of the future use of APEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the last decades, language and discourse have entered the conception of organizing, meant as a process of sense-making where discursively based interpretations define agents, purposes, and organizations. The aim of the present paper was to connect sense-making theory with the study of metaphor, being the latter one of the most valuable and multifaceted linguistic tools, useful to catch, describe, and shape organizational identity. To this purpose, the focus of the investigation was on the sense- making processes used by employees to figure out their organization, analysing the metaphors they use when talking about it. Participants to the study were 115 employees working in a medium-sized company operating in the automotive sector and located in the south of Italy. At the time of data collection, the company was experiencing a great change due to a recent process of commercial expansion. Consequently, employees were engaged in managing great transformations of the organization, both related to its cultural vision and to the tasks and working modalities. Therefore, in-depth individual interviews were used to collect discursive data about the way employees perceived this transformation. The study was intended as an action-research intervention aimed at collecting data to support the HR function in dealing with these organizational changes. Practical implications for the development of work and organizational (W&O) psychology are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Choices and quality decisions made by consumers in relation to their healthcare have been associated with personal experience of those services, interpersonal engagement and reliance on third-party information, as well as the subsequent satisfaction with the service. The purpose of this research was to understand current information sources, determinants of quality discernment and decision-making factors by consumers in the Australian community in relation to healthcare. Method: Conventional content analysis research was undertaken in the form of a national telephone survey of 200 consumers. Open-ended questions were used to elicit information from the general community. Results: Reputation and other key interpersonal and structural elements are utilised in determining quality of healthcare services as well as in deployment as key factors in decision-making regarding use of healthcare services. While most respondents valued and used key information about provider relationships, outcomes performance and performance rankings, up to 20% of respondents did not know or could not identify ways in which they would assess and evaluate the quality of healthcare services. Conclusion: This research identifies that consumers use a range of information and advice relating to experience, interpersonal engagement and information from third-party sources. If healthcare providers develop clearer communications around their technical, procedural and conduct principles, consumers will be in a better position to evaluate reputation and make decisions about their healthcare needs and the health system.

Why do people create extra representations to help them make sense of situations, diagrams, illustrations, instructions and problems? The obvious explanation—external representations save internal memory and computation—is only part of the story. I discuss seven ways external representations enhance cognitive power: they change the cost structure of the inferential landscape; they provide a structure that can serve as a shareable object of thought; they create persistent referents; they facilitate re-representation; they are often a more natural representation of structure than mental representations; they facilitate the computation of more explicit encoding of information; they enable the construction of arbitrarily complex structure; and they lower the cost of controlling thought—they help coordinate thought. Jointly, these functions allow people to think more powerfully with external representations than without. They allow us to think the previously unthinkable.

The purpose of this article is to study how people make sense of the "Swedish strategy" in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic as well as how they implement this strategy in their everyday life. The article is based on an interview study with eight people living in Stockholm and the interviews were all performed during the initial phase of the pandemic (April-May 2020). Theoretically, this article takes its point of departure in a sociological interest for how people make sense of uncertainty, here exemplified by everyday life during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results show that the interviewees support the Swedish strategy and its scientific ground at the same time as they experience uncertainty in how this strategy should be transformed into everyday practices. This ambivalence can be understood in relation to Beck's "risk society" and his thesis about human's paradoxical approach to science and risk experts as well as in relation to Tulloch and Lupton's sociocultural perspective on risk and everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE Choices and quality decisions made by consumers in relation to their healthcare have been associated with personal experience of those services, interpersonal engagement and reliance on third-party information, as well as the subsequent satisfaction with the service. The purpose of this research was to understand current information sources, determinants of quality discernment and decision-making factors by consumers in the Australian community in relation to healthcare. METHOD Conventional content analysis research was undertaken in the form of a national telephone survey of 200 consumers. Open-ended questions were used to elicit information from the general community. RESULTS Reputation and other key interpersonal and structural elements are utilised in determining quality of healthcare services as well as in deployment as key factors in decision-making regarding use of healthcare services. While most respondents valued and used key information about provider relationships, outcomes performance and performance rankings, up to 20% of respondents did not know or could not identify ways in which they would assess and evaluate the quality of healthcare services. CONCLUSION This research identifies that consumers use a range of information and advice relating to experience, interpersonal engagement and information from third-party sources. If healthcare providers develop clearer communications around their technical, procedural and conduct principles, consumers will be in a better position to evaluate reputation and make decisions about their healthcare needs and the health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Safe clinical practice for patients hospitalised in mental health care during a suicidal crisis is situated within a dynamic, non-linear and uncertain context. Under such complex conditions, the adaptive capacity is considered vital to handling challenges and changes in clinical care. This study aimed to explore safe clinical practice for suicidal patients hospitalised in mental health wards through understanding healthcare professionals' (HCPs') capacities to adapt to challenges and changes in clinical care. Methods: This study applied a qualitative design with focus group and individual interviews. Twenty-five HCPs participated in the focus groups, and 18 participated in individual interviews. The study was conducted in open and locked wards in a university hospital in Norway providing specialised mental health services for patients with mental illness. Results: HCPs described their adaptive capacities for clinical practice relative to three themes. 1) HCPs used expertise to make sense of suicidal behaviour to support complex decision making. Their strategies included setting aside forms and checklists to prioritise trust and making judgements based on more than just patients' spoken words. They improved their understanding by seeking others' perspectives through collaborative sense-making processes involving the healthcare team and patient. 2) HCPs individualised the therapeutic milieu to address the diversity of patients with suicidal behaviour by creating individual clinical pathways, making trade-offs between under- and over-protection and adjusting observations. 3) HCPs described managing uncertainty as necessary for providing safe clinical practice. They managed uncertainty as a team by developing mutual collegial trust and support and creating a shared understanding. Conclusion: HCPs' adaptive capacities are vital to the complex set of practices involved in safe clinical practice for patients hospitalised during a suicidal crisis. By using expertise, individualising the therapeutic milieu, and managing uncertainty, HCPs individually and collectively develop their capacities to adapt to challenges and changes in clinical care. HCPs cannot easily ensure safe clinical practice by following standards; safe clinical practice depends on HCPs' adaptations. Ward systems that ensure collegial trust and support, as well as arenas that foster shared understanding and situational awareness, are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – to analyze the process of organizational learning in development of organizational competences in two educational institutions that offer Higher Technological Education Courses in Brazil. Design/Method/Approach. As for the methodology, the nature of the research is exploratory, with a qualitative approach, and a multiple case study method. Findings. The results made it possible to conclude that there was a learning process at the organizational level, as new knowledge and new practices had been institutionalized. Based on the data found in each case, it was possible to certify that some competences can be built and others eliminated, shaping the dynamic character of the process. Theoretical implications. It was possible to corroborate the model used (Patriotta, 2003) and propose advances to it, towards an understanding of organizational learning processes in the development of organizational competences. Practical implications. The manager can see competences in dynamics, changing over time and in the context of the organization, according to the events and changes in their objectives, intentions, and strategies. Originality/Value. We found that organizational learning is the result of the acquisition of a competence that represents this process. Using a metaphor, it was found that the competences of an organization represent the 'DNA' of the organizational learning. Research limitations/Future research. This paper analyzed two cases only and new case studies are needed to characterize more fully on these results. Paper type – empirical.

Mathematics is fundamental for many professions, especially science, technology, and engineering. Yet, mathematics is often perceived as difficult and many students leave disciplines in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as a result, closing doors to scientific, engineering, and technological careers. In this editorial, we argue that how mathematics is traditionally viewed as "given" or "fixed" for students' expected acquisition alienates many students and needs to be problematized. We propose an alternative approach to changes in mathematics education and show how the alternative also applies to STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its undoubted centrality in modern society, Love has not received the attention it deserves in the study of organizations. Among the reasons for this avoidance is the fact that love is passionate and not authoritative; personal and subjective but not public. To understand the way organizational research can incorporate love, I explore and discuss three interweaving constructs. Eros (or a tale of the self) calls for an expression of the individuality in organizations, in terms of creativity, sense making and experience. Philia (or a tale of trust) contributes to explore trustworthy relationships, welcoming the other and enabling individuals to flourish in the workplace. Agape (or a tale of compassion) refers to generalized love for humanity and opens to the understanding of compassionate leadership. In the discussion, I call for new directions in the study of love as the organization and the organization as love. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of landscape is closely related to classifying and sense-making perception. The presence of an architectural object can drastically change the semantic field of the landscape. The museum complex “The Battle of Kulikovo Field” transforms a typical mid-Russian steppe landscape into an object filled with historical, mythological, ideological and other senses. As a result, a natural object becomes an object of text and book urban culture.

The difficulty coaches face in relating to and understanding how clients perceive and interpret situations is that the process for clients making sense of situations is unconscious. This presents a challenge, as there isn’t a direct or obvious route to access a client’s unconscious. Understanding clients’ use of metaphor offers a potential route to access this unconscious process and gain insight into clients’ sense making. The research adopted a critical realism paradigm and used a thematic analysis methodology with semi-structured interviews of eight executive leaders. The findings suggest that metaphor can offer insight into participants’ character and values, and coaches and leaders can use an approach of working with metaphor as a potential route to reveal and understand individuals’ unconscious sense making.

In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) published the Gap Report, which states that a new biosocial response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic is required to reinforce the biomedical strategy – Vision 90:90:90 – which is designed to end AIDS by 2030. This article provides a descriptive account of how a community–university partnership developed and piloted an innovative, transdisciplinary approach to HIV and AIDS management that could represent a nascent biosocial candidate to reinforce the biomedical strategy. The biosocial strategy has been labelled as the Taming Wicked Problems Framework that is influenced by ontological perspectives associated with complexity theory. The article focuses on how the Taming Wicked Problems Framework was developed by co-opting and repurposing management techniques associated with complexity into an action-oriented HIV and AIDS combination intervention. Three years after the pilot began, the Taming Wicked Problems Framework continues to provision the partnership with opportunities to ‘tame’ non-linear, biosocial aspects of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in rural South Africa. However, with the benefit of hindsight, there are some improvements and caveats that are highlighted so that future applications will be more robust. It is suggested that the Taming Wicked Problems Framework could represent one localised biosocial response that could contribute to ending AIDS by 2030.