Robotics at dimension data: friend or foe of the human in process automation?

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are follows: critically assess the impact of disruptive technologies, such as automation, on the organisation, its processes and employees; evaluate the structural changes required within the organisation to prepare for digital transformation; apply change models to the unique challenges associated with disruptive technologies; and recommend solutions for the organisation to proceed with the implementation of disruptive technologies, while keeping employees central to the change. Case overview/synopsis The Dimension Data automation case provides students and executives with a glimpse of the future that organisations and employees must prepare for. The case starts out with the protagonist and product owner of digital at Dimension Data, Andrew Harmse, reflecting on his three-year automation journey within the Automation Centre of Excellence. The world of automation is growing exponentially, and Andrew’s team will have to support the organisation as they scale up their automation journey and navigate the uncertain future of an increased, blended human-robot workforce. Individual employee reactions, positive and negative, will have to be balanced with the opportunities that ever-changing technology enables. The case focusses on the themes of digital transformation, digital disruption, change management and the very real factors to consider when faced with decision-making on automation as the world is constantly changing. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organisations to relook processes and increase investment in technologies that enable digital client engagement and servicing, considering social distancing requirements. Automation at dimension data has been largely internally focussed, but there is a drive to increase delivery for clients. Andrew’s team will have to guide organisations through the journey and continuum of changes and uncertainties, such as large- scale unemployment and robot ethics. Complexity academic level The target audience for this teaching case are postgraduate and Master level students, specifically Master of Business Administration (MBA) students as well as Executive Education courses. Students who are responsible for making strategic decisions that impact the future of their organisations as well as students with an interest in the role of technology in the future will benefit from the case. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

The impact of heat on kidney stone presentations in South Carolina under two climate change scenarios

The risk of kidney stone presentations increases after hot days, likely due to greater insensible water losses resulting in more concentrated urine and altered urinary flow. It is thus expected that higher temperatures from climate change will increase the global prevalence of kidney stones if no adaptation measures are put in place. This study aims to quantify the impact of heat on kidney stone presentations through 2089, using South Carolina as a model state. We used a time series analysis of historical kidney stone presentations (1997–2014) and distributed lag non-linear models to estimate the temperature dependence of kidney stone presentations, and then quantified the projected impact of climate change on future heat-related kidney stone presentations using daily projections of wet-bulb temperatures to 2089, assuming no adaptation or demographic changes. Two climate change models were considered—one assuming aggressive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (RCP 4.5) and one representing uninibited greenhouse gas emissions (RCP 8.5). The estimated total statewide kidney stone presentations attributable to heat are projected to increase by 2.2% in RCP 4.5 and 3.9% in RCP 8.5 by 2085–89 (vs. 2010–2014), with an associated total excess cost of ~ $57 million and ~ $99 million, respectively.

Climate Change Impact and Adaptation for Highway Asphalt Pavements: A Literature Review

For the past few decades, researchers all over the world have agreed that the service life of civil infrastructure is significantly affected by climate change. Pavement is one of these significant infrastructures that can be easily affected by climate change. However, it is well known that predicting climate change is highly complex and dynamic. Hence, a review has been done on available climate change models and the uncertainties involved in climate change prediction. This review addresses various important questions such as (1) What is climate change? (2) How to use climate change models? (3) Uncertainties involved in using climate change models. (4) How does climate change impacts the pavement infrastructure? (5) What are the adaptation and mitigation strategies available? and (6) How do economic costs and emissions change due to climate change? This review is useful to understand climate change and its implications on pavement infrastructure.

Framing Your Future Through Employee Engagement

There are many diverse demands and pressures on institutions of higher education. We are now at a time where innovation is required for many higher education institutions' survival and sustainability. However, university leaders should not look to old archaic change models to determine a way forward. Institutional leaders should look for methods to engage all generations of their workforce and decrease the level of resistance to the proposed change. This chapter looks at employee engagement and provides a model that higher education leaders can deploy to stimulate employee engagement and innovation. Framing Your Future is a model that can easily be deployed at a team, department, or even organizational level.

Re-Thinking Health Behaviour Change Models From an Integrated Perspective

Scientific evidence indicates that theory-based health interventions are more effective in promoting health behavior change (BC) and in maintaining health changes over time. Previous work identified more than 80 BC theories; however, there is little guidance on how to best choose between them. More than creating new theories, an essential challenge now is to integrate these theories to reach a more complete understanding of the BC process. The chapter is an effort to integrate some of the most central theories in this field, aiming to reach an integrated framework by 1) identifying and merging similarities between theories, reducing conceptual complexity, and by 2) building from dissimilarities as key aspects to overcome limitations. This framework is a practical visual tool that intends to support researchers and practitioners working in the field, guiding on the crucial constructs to address in interventions to promote health BC. This framework also integrates the ACP model as an approach that offers valuable insights to support communication in health interventions.

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Land Degradation and Desertification

Land degradation and desertification have been graded as a major environmental and social dispute in most of the emerging countries. Changes in temperature, wind speed, and precipitation patterns will influence plant biomass production, land use, land cover, soil moisture, infiltration rate, runoff and crop management, and ultimately, land degradation. Close relations between climate change and land degradation processes have been perceived in the past decades. Climate change models and land use models should be combined with hydrologic/erosion models to accurately compute or predict climate change impacts on land degradation. This chapter introduces the advancements in modeling of impact of climate changes in land degradation and need for the critical investigation to better understand and forecast the responses of land degradation processes to a changing climate in the future.

The Application of Kotter's Model of Change in the Higher Education: A Case Study in Vietnam Private Universities

With the changing demands of higher quality teaching profession, especially the increasing trend of studying at private universities, many fail to produce desired effects, even when guided by organizational change models. Educational specialists, educators, academics, school administrators, and even scientists have all contributed to the development of change management as a significant concept. The purpose of this study is to apply Kotter's 8-step model of change to educational administration of private universities in Ho Chi Minh City. Change efforts focus on enhancing faculty capacity to support diverse student success. The change process is planned using Kotter's (1996) eight-step change model and is therefore a regulated, linear, sequential change process. The initial steps were reviewed, and the strategies considered workable. This approach enhances faculty acquisition and project success. Characterization of each step provides insight into ways to apply Kotter's model of change in higher education settings.

Impact of Climate Change on Upper Ganga Ramsar Site of UP, India

According to the IPCC Second Assessment Report, climate change will lead to an alteration of the hydrological cycle and could have major impacts on regional water resources. India features a diverse range of wetlands, including high-altitude alpine lakes, littoral swamps in the form of mangroves and corals, and inland wetlands of various sorts. The Upper Ganga Ramsar Site is Uttar Pradesh's only Ramsar Site geographical distribution and may fluctuate as a result of climate change. Wetland reactions to climate change are frequently left out of global climate change models. The climate change adaptations must be incorporated into the economic development, planning, and implementation process.

Environmental Impact of Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

Environmental degradation as a consequence of modern technological change is still an unresolved global issue. As countries grow, the cost of this progress has to be born in the form of a rise in carbon emissions. In Pakistan, energy consumption has increased from 34 Million MTOE in 1992 to 98 MTOE in 2019 due to oil and gas-based production. Likewise, the average temperature has risen during the last 50 years in Pakistan. Based on IPAT and Climate change models, this study estimates the two equations model to analyze the impact of economic growth, foreign direct investment, population density and population in urban agglomeration on carbon emissions by using ARDL bound testing methodology. The co-integration relationship was found in both stages with consistency. This study proved the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory in the case of Pakistan. The more insightful finding is that the large bulge area of the curve between carbon emissions and economic growth highlights that the negative impact of today’s economic growth on the environment will remain for a much longer period in the future. It is also found that carbon emissions are responsible for increasing average temperature resulting in a climatic change in Pakistan. These empirical results indicate that there is a dire need to revisit the growth strategy to achieve sustained economic growth.