Workplace Well-being: An Experimental Investigation into Benefits of Consciousness-based Architecture

Consciousness is primary and unbounded and can be accessed through multiple modalities, including the qualities of the workplace environment. This research explored the proposition that a consciousness-based architecture could improve workplace well-being. It experimentally investigated the potential benefits of Maharishi Vastu Architecture® (MVA) in a business setting. MVA buildings deal with wholeness and the establishment of the parts in relation to the whole. They have a strict East-West directional orientation, and strict proportion and placement of its center and rooms, among other features. A technical consulting company relocated their offices from a conventional building into one designed according to the principles of MVA. All the available employees of the company were tested one month before and one month after the move to the MVA building using a Workplace Well-being Index specifically created for this research. Data analysis comparing the pre and post measurements showed a 8% improvement (p<0.05) in subjective well-being upon relocating to the MVA building. Organizations can thus enhance workforce well-being through holistic workplaces designed for development of consciousness.

Malaysia–Ukraine: Fair and Square Partnership

The interview examines the achievements of bilateral relations of Ukraine and Malaysia since the establishment of the Embassy of Malaysia in Kyiv. It is stressed that Malaysia founded its diplomatic mission in Kyiv 15 years ago. At the nascent stage of cooperation, education was its most important component and catalyst of development due to many Malaysians pursuing studies in Ukraine. Nowadays, the Embassy changed the accent to popularization of Malaysia as an educational center for foreign students, including those from Ukraine. The Embassy is also increasingly focused on the development of tourism. From the beginning of 2019, Malaysia has offered a range of courses in a wide spectrum of reams conducted under the auspices of the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP), an international cooperation programme ensuring training and technical consulting in crucially important realms for developing countries. It offers services, inter alia, in diplomacy and crisis management, courses on physical infrastructure, combating corruption, and the development of electric power and solar power stations as well as customs system. It is mentioned that bilateral trade turnover between Ukraine and Malaysia has increased for the last two years after stagnation. The accelerated increase in trade between Malaysia and Ukraine is partially driven by initiatives conducted by the Governments of Malaysia and Ukraine, with the assistance of Malaysian and Ukrainian business communities, to find common means for boosting cooperation. In January 2018, business meetings took place in Kuala Lumpur, organised with the assistance of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE). The seminar brought together 19 Ukrainian companies and trade associations. It is stated that despite the signature of the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Defense Sphere between Malaysia and Ukraine, activities of the two states in this realm are still limited. Key words: Malaysia, cooperation, tourism, education, turnover.

Creating the mobile engineer: a study of a training program for engineering consultants

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how a technical consulting firm approaches the development of engineering consultants, to prepare them to deal with their liminal, i.e. mobile and transient work situation. More specifically, this paper addresses how a training program, designed for newly graduated engineers, can increase the consultants’ liminality competence. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a qualitative case study of an introductory development program in a Scandinavian technical consulting firm. The study is based on observations of training sessions and meetings, and interviews with developers, leaders and participants of the program. Findings This study identifies three processes, which develop the engineering consultants’ ability to master their mobile and transient work situation: identifying the core of an assignment, embracing “in-betweenness” and broadening the scope of action. Originality/value This paper enhances the understanding of formal training in the context of technical consulting and adds to the knowledge of how engineering consultants can master their liminal work positions; in particular, the study identifies how liminality competence can be elevated through formal training.

On the move to stay current: Knowledge cycling and scheduled labor mobility

Technical consulting plays an increasingly important role in developing and transferring knowledge in a wide range of industries and sectors. We present a case study of Swift Tech, a leading Scandinavian technical consulting firm, to identify and assess the importance of knowledge cycling—a knowledge process based on scheduled and recurrent rotation of technical consultants among organizational and problem-solving contexts. Our study identifies four main phases of knowledge cycling: entering an assignment, building experience, contributing to the project, and shifting to a new assignment. These phases underpin our model of knowledge cycling, which demonstrates that two aspects of local knowledge processes are critical: project task familiarization and project organization familiarization. We show that knowledge cycling relies on a dynamic interaction between client organization, consulting firm, and individual consultant in the ongoing transfer of knowledge among distinct contexts and communities. Knowledge cycling demonstrates the significance of “mobile knowledge” for the development of situated knowledge; hence, our results have important implications for situated learning theory.

Effect of service integration strategy on industrial firm performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between service integration and manufacturing firms’ profitability and to identify profitable services. Design/methodology/approach – The study examines the service integration data of 202 firms in the machinery and equipment sector in Korea. Firm profitability comes from secondary data to eliminate common method bias. Findings – The relationship between service integration, measured as the service-revenue ratio, and profitability has an inverted U-shape, likely stemming from political costs, a loss of opportunity in manufacturing improvements arising from resource constraints, and an increase in transaction costs. In addition, process operation outsourcing and technical consulting significantly contribute to profitability. Research limitations/implications – The authors show that the effect of service integration on profitability diminishes when firms experience both resource constraints and an increase in transaction costs from implementing the strategy. Furthermore, the profitability of services is heterogeneous across different offerings. Further research in other countries and sectors is necessary to refine the relationships suggested herein. Practical implications – Managers should strive to minimize the costs and problems stemming from resource constraints and transaction costs. It is also important to utilize external resources to achieve profitability from service integration. Managers also need to realize the different cost-revenue structure of each service. Originality/value – The authors find that the relationship between profitability and service integration depends on the degree of resource constraints and transaction costs. The authors also identify which service offerings are highly profitable, which has not been done in previous research.

CAFETICULTURA INDÍGENA EN YAJALÓN: UN ESCENARIO AL MARGEN DEL COMERCIO JUSTO

Actualmente existen aproximadamente 224 organizaciones campesinas en México que exportan directamente su café con sellos de certificación solidaria y de agricultura orgánica. Más allá de las ventajas que este proceso social ha traído a sus agremiados, poco se han abordado aquellas organizaciones que están fuera de estos dispositivos de comercialización. ¿Cuáles son las situaciones que enfrentan?, ¿cómo sus procesos organizativos internos y su relación con los agentes de desarrollo local? Nuestras preguntas se concretan en el área de influencia de la ciudad de Yajalón. Partimos del análisis de uno de los Despachos de Consultoría Técnica, DCT, con mayor antigüedad en la región y con mayor número de productores atendidos. Explicamos cómo surgieron y se desenvuelven las organizaciones que permanecen ajenas al comercio justo, CJ, con el fin de explicar el surgimiento de nuevas formas de intermediación y de organización rural en laé poca actual. ABSTRACT Approximately 224 campesino farming organizations currently exist in Mexico that directly export their coffee, sporting certification seals of solidarity-based and organic agricultural practices. Beyond the advantages this social process has brought to its affiliates, little attention has been directed toward those organizations that are outside of these commercialization tools. What situations do they face? What are their internal organizational processes, and their relations with local development agents? Our questions focus on the area of influence of the city of Yajalón. We begin based on analysis of one of the region’s oldest Technical Consulting Offices (DCT for its initials in Spanish) which attends to one of the highest numbers of coffee growers. We explain how the organizations that remain outside of Fair Trade (FT) emerged and how they develop, as a way of explaining the emergence of new forms of intermediation and rural organization in the current era.