Understanding Language Testing presents an introduction to language tests and the process of test development that starts at the very beginning. Assuming no knowledge of the field, the book promotes a practical understanding of language testing using examples from a variety of languages. While grounded on solid theoretical principles, the book focuses on fostering a true understanding of the various uses of language tests and the process of test development, scoring test performance, analyzing and interpreting test results, and above all, using tests as ethically and fairly as possible so that test takers are given every opportunity to do their best, to learn as much as possible, and feel positive about their language learning. Each chapter includes a summary, suggestions for further reading, and exercises. As such this is the ideal book for both beginning students of linguistics and language education, or anyone in a related discipline looking for a first introduction to language testing.

Communication is no longer considered an optional soft" skill for climbing the corporate ladder. More and more businesses are placing emphasis on being able to communicate effectively. Communicating Effectively For Dummies gives you the tools and insight you need to manage conflict, build teams and communicate persuasively at work."

Here is an inspiring book about awakening to the wholeness of who you are, and fulfilling that wholeness in how you earn your living. "Wisdom at Work" offers practical methods for integrating inner spiritual aspiration and the outer work of earning money, face to face with the realities of today's demanding jobs. They all creatively apply principles and techniques of the Perennial Philosophy to the workplace and corporate life. As a spiritual seeker, leadership coach, and historian, Davidson has explored the workaday world as a place of spiritual growth, service, and awakening to the non-dual. Since 1980, he has led hundreds of seminars on empowerment, stress and change management, and personal/spiritual development.

OUR CULTURE HAS BECOME OBSESSED WITH HUSTLING. As we struggle to keep up in a knowledge economy that never sleeps, we arm ourselves with life hacks, to-do lists, and an inbox-zero mentality, grasping at anything that will help us work faster, push harder, and produce more. There's just one problem: most of these solutions are making things worse. Creativity isn't produced on an assembly line, and endless hustle is ruining our mental and physical health while subtracting from our creative performance. Productivity and Creativity are not compatible; we are stuck between them, and like the opposite poles of a magnet, they are tearing us apart. When we're told to sleep more, meditate, and slow down, we nod our heads in agreement, yet seem incapable of applying this advice in our own lives. Why do we act against our creative best interests? WE HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO FLOAT. The answer lies in our history, culture, and biology. Instead of focusing on how we work, we must understand why we work-why we believe that what we do determines who we are. Hustle and Float explores how our work culture creates contradictions between what we think we want and what we actually need, and points the way to a more humane, more sustainable, and, yes, more creative, way of working and living.

Information-packed lessons for both employees and employers to create a productive, thriving workplace Six-Word Lessons for Autism Friendly Workplaces gives you 100 insightful lessons on topics such as disability laws, reasonable accommodations, unwritten social expectations and best and worst jobs for people with autism. It is for employers who interview, hire and work alongside those on the autism spectrum, and it will help adults with autism find the perfect job and seamlessly fit into the workplace. This book will lead to a productive workplace for everyone.

Austerity's impacts on the healthcare, social care and education professions are under the spotlight in this important book. From scarcer resources to greater stresses, and falling training budgets to rising risks, it charts how policies and cuts have compromised workers' ability to undertake their professional roles. It combines research and practice experience to assess the extent of de-professionalisation in recent years and how workers have responded. This book is a vital review of how austerity has resculpted our notions of professionalism.

This book examines the various environmental factors which affect the workplace atmosphere in businesses, with a particular focus on indoor air quality. Topics discussed include antimicrobial treatments of indoor mould and bacteria; an assessment of the carbon footprint and how that will affect long-term pollution emission reduction; indoor air quality, health and productivity; antigenic/allergenic rubber proteins and environmental regulations and environmental investing practices in Europe.

Office ergonomics - whether we realize it or not - directly or indirectly affects every one of us. It is the study of the work we do, the environment we work in, and the tools we use to successfully perform our jobs. Office ergonomics helps us be comfortable and safe at work, which reduces the risk of injury, lowers stress, increases personal engagement, and raises overall work performance. This book embraces and addresses the new reality of the traditional 'office' work, which is ever changing and evolving, and offers tactical recommendations on how to make non-traditional office settings more comfortable. This book suggests how to Set up the office, wherever that may be - at a company site, at home, at a corner cafe, on a commuter train Interact with colleagues Organize and pace work Select and arrange equipment and furniture Maintain the physical climate - lighting, sound, heating and cooling The book is a practical one, based on sound theory and solid research. Written for non-engineers as well as those in the industry, it has a conversational tone, reflects true-life situations that office workers face, and is adaptable to multiple office settings. While budding ergonomists will find it educational, office managers and designers will benefit from it as well. You will find ten fast-paced chapters, augmented with brief case studies and illustrations, and capped off with a series of practical design recommendations. Three appendices delve into ergonomic topics with more thorough details. This book suggests how best to achieve a harmonious work scenario by optimizing the 'fit' between the person and his or her environment. This, in a nutshell, is what ergonomics is all about: working with ease and efficiency.

This book gives an understanding of the origins and nature of conflict, and enables the reader to find solutions through open communication and mutual trust and respect. It offers a simple structure which will allow all parties to reach the magic of win-win. Contents: About the authors; Preface; Introduction; 1. How the view explains our differences; 2. Differences in personality types; 3. Fight the difference or celebrate it? 4. Are you building a bridge or a barrier?; 5. Understand and manage your feelings; 6. Develop your skills and increase your choices; 7. Four steps to resolution; 8. Preventing conflict; Appendices; Bibliography; Index; Conflict resolution workshop.

If you want to learn about how leadership and culture jointly influence creativity in organizations and societies, this book provides you with the insight you are looking for. The contributors are scholars from diverse backgrounds - engineering, business management, sociology and communication. A common theme resonating in all the nine chapters of the book is the benefits of collaborative leadership in management. The authors have presented and applied concepts such as "value innovation," "creative intelligence," "creative leadership," and "disciplined creativity" to describe skills that leaders need to be able to facilitate organizational and societal development. Each chapter provides new models and perspectives on culture and creativity that add novel dimensions to the existing literature on the topic. The book is therefore a recommended reading for policy makers, managers, educators, researchers and expatriates who are either seeking new insights into the subject of creativity or are in search of suggestions on how to improve creativity at individual and collective levels of organizations and societies. ________________________________________________________________________________ About the Editors John Kuada is Grundfos professor in International Business and Intercultural Management at the Department of Business Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark. In addition to teaching and research, Professor Kuada has an extensive experience as a business consultant and training advisor in areas of management, marketing and cross-border inter-firm relations in Europe and Africa. He is the founder and current editor of African Journal of Economic and Management Studies. Olav Jull Sorensen is a professor of International Business at the Centre of International Business, Department of Business Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark. He initiated the establishment of the centre in 1984, including an MSc programme in International Business. Professor Sorensen's major research interests include the internationalization process of companies, global industrial dynamics and global value chain, as well as government-business relations.

The REAL LEAN series of books explains Lean management in ways that hundreds of other books do not. These original and creative works are written for hands-on Lean practitioners. Each volume is thoroughly researched and well documented, and provides an abundance of new information and perspectives to help ensure success with Lean management. The fifth volume of the REAL LEAN series presents a set of fundamental strategies that will help assure Lean management success. These strategies encourage executives to study Lean management history, analyze the failures of other companies, obtain a clearer view of reality at ground-level, better utilize internal and external human resources, and have greater confidence in their ability to become self-reliant in their Lean journey. As with prior Volumes of REAL LEAN, Volume Five emphasizes Lean as a management system and the Respect for People principle because both are usually missing from the practice of Lean management today. Readers will find this book to be amazingly insightful and filled with practical information that will help them better comprehend and put REAL LEAN into practice every day.

This fourth volume of the REAL LEAN series brings Lean full circle. It shows how Lean management is itself a craft that can only be learned as any other craftsman would learn their trade. Few people understand Lean management in the context as a craft, including the best Lean practitioners and Lean thinkers external to Toyota. This unique perspective creates a much clearer impression of what executives need to do in order to become Lean leaders. Their learning must be much deeper than they might have imagined, but the result will be much better than they would have expected. As with prior Volumes of REAL LEAN, Volume Four of emphasizes Lean as a management system and the Respect for People principle because both are usually missing from the practice of Lean management today. Readers will find this book to be amazingly insightful and filled with practical information that will help them better comprehend and put REAL LEAN into practice every day.

"Many of the common concepts of power in business are so close to perfectly wrong that it's amazing any work happens at all..." The physics definition of power is 'the ability to do work'; most social definitions are closer to the ability to avoid it. This insight provides opportunities for a radical re-think of power and response-ability at work. Linking the human side of systems into the architecture of the enterprise creates workplaces that are more effective, empowering and profitable for everyone involved. This enlightening and enlivening book explains the interplay of power, property and responsibility in the business context - how it works, why it doesn't, and what to do about it. Topics covered include: - how to identify power in the workplace - both functional and dysfunctional - how to enhance responsibility and 'response-ability' at work - how to resolve differences of scale, from 'I' to 'We' to 'Us' to 'Them' - how to avoid 'power-traps' that could put the enterprise at risk - how to design systems that improve purpose-fulfilment, relationship-management and knowledge-technology in the enterprise The book includes a diagnostic checklist on power, property and responsibility, and also describes the background to other Tetradian tools and techniques such as the SEMPER whole-of-enterprise metric. If you want to include the human side of systems in your enterprise-architecture, this is one book you'll definitely need. Tom Graves has been an independent consultant for almost three decades, in business transformation, enterprise architecture and knowledge management. His clients in Europe, Australia and the USA have covered a broad range of industries including banking, utilities, logistics, engineering, media, telecoms, research, defence and government. He has a special interest in architecture for non-IT-centric enterprises, and integration between IT-based and non-IT-based services.

REAL LEAN - The Keys to Sustaining Lean Management (Volume Three), finally answers the question that Lean practitioners have been asking for decades: "How do you sustain Lean management?" Volume 3 of the REAL LEAN book series explains in new and unique ways why sustainability has been so elusive and offers many surprising and even jarring new insights. It dissects conventional management thinking and practice which so strongly hinders managers' ability to become Lean leaders. Major obstacles are revealed, culminating in the identification of 14 key commitments that executives must make in order to sustain the Lean management system. Managers will find this book contains a wealth of practical new information and is amazingly insightful. It will help them better comprehend and put REAL LEAN into practice every day.