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KADO Associates is operated by two principals: Karen Arnold
and David Oborne who, between them, have nearly 50 years experience
of teaching, training, and project development and support.
KADO has recently:
- under taken research for the Government's Millennium Volunteers
Programme,
- investigated the impact of volunteering on young people
and issues relating to the local organisation of such programmes,
- been appointed research directors of a project to understand
issues surrounding interviewing disabled people,
- been appointed as the External Evaluation organisation
for a project in the Equal Programme dealing with life-long
learning opportunities for excluded people.
Associated Organisation: TOUCAN
Europe Ltd
KADO work, past and current
Project
leadership
Project
research
Project
evaluation
Project
leadership
PATRA
(Psychological Aspects of Teleworking in Rural Areas)
This R&D project, undertaken within the EU's ORA (Opportunities
for Rural Areas) programme, established the social and psychological
issues confronting users operating within the new teleworking
developments. A range of techniques, including questionnaires,
interviews, attitude scales, and intensive panel studies,
was employed to consider how all kinds of users - from managers
to those who are managed - respond to the new ways of working
demanded by the new technologies.
Detailed analysis of the results from people across Europe
showed that user needs change as the organisation inevitably
changes. The 'flattening' of the organisation's communication
and influence structures that occur mean that work changes,
often in unpredicted ways.
KADO Associates showed how these changes can be accommodated
as long as people understand what is likely to happen. Appropriate
training and skills developments of all people in the system
can reduce the negative impact of the new technology and
ensure that its introduction brings the anticipated benefits.
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EDIT
(Employment Development through Innovative Technologies)
The EDIT project had two objectives: first to understand
the needs of trainers when developing and executing training
systems for disabled people who intend to operate within
a teleworking scenario, and second to understand the needs
of human resource personnel who may employ suitably trained
disabled people.
Using workshops and focus groups KADO Associates obtained
detailed information about the nature of the training material
needed for each of the two groups. From the work, effective
training courses and other information dissemination opportunities
were developed with the ultimate goal of providing disabled
people with employment opportunities they would otherwise
not have.
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HYPIT
(Human Resources and Management Product Interfaces)
The Hypit project (within the TIDE - Telematics Integration
of Disabled and Elderly People programme) considered the
social and psychological issues that surround opportunities
for teleworking by disabled people, and developed a management
interface to facilitate effective workflow from disabled
people.
Using questionnaires, interviews, workshops, and focus
groups, KADO Associates determined the needs of both disabled
people and the management for working within a teleworking
system, and the nature of the interface that should be produced.
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TELEWEB
(A Web-based Telework Support System)
A consistent concern that emerges from discussions with
teleworkers and flexible workers, as well as from management,
is of a lack of support available when the decision to telework
is taken. The TELEWEB project (which won one of the UKDepartment
of Trade and Industry's Multimedia Awards) developed a complete
social and informational support system for teleworkers
using the World Wide Web.
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DEIS
(Developing Employment in the Information Society)
This large project, undertaken for the European Social
Fund's ADAPT programme, studied the impact of the Information
Society (IS) on employment in SMEs within the growth sectors
of services and manufacturing. It anticipated labour market
developments and considered the impact of the IS on organisations,
work and employees. From this it was possible to predict
the higher level training needs of individuals both within
and out of work for successful implementation of IS applications.
The project identified ways to re-skill to reduce job losses
and increase job opportunities, reduce the impact of change,
and increase the effectiveness and growth potential of SMEs.
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TELETRAIN
(A telematics-based training course for managing the information
society)
This project, undertaken for the Welsh Development Agency
and the European Regional Development Fund, took the outputs
from the DEIS project and applied the knowledge to the development
of a comprehensive series of web-based training courses.
The courses were designed to help users understand how new
technology affects their company and workforce. They showed
them how to develop the skills they will need to take advantage
of these changes, and then provided a range of short courses
to help them and their company adapt. The courses can be
viewed online at www.oltuk.com.
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Project
research
CL4K
(Cyberspace Learning for Kids)
The internet can provide a valuable learning resource for
children as well as adults. The CL4K project, within the
Education and Training programme, sought to understand how
the information society could be developed to help children
learn and understand.
A pan-European network of information sources and teaching
opportunities was developed, and the needs of all users
in the system - particularly the children themselves, their
parents and teachers - were assessed using questionnaires,
interviews and factor analytic techniques.
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What
Does Your Head In?
KADO Associates directed the research for this project,
looking into the issues facing young people. The project
was one of three pieces of work through which young people
were consulted about their needs and informed about local
services and information. The work was part of a ten year
programme of change in Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Services in Wigan and Bolton, driven by an audit commission
report into these services. The phrase "What does your
head in" encapsulates not just the issues that most
people would think of as mental health problems but the
issues that affect young people mentally in the widest possible
sense. Therefore, "What does your head in" may
be your teacher, or your brother, sister, mother, best friend,
having no friends, or perhaps even Manchester United. Further
details about the project can be read at http://gmynet.org.uk/head-in.
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Millennium
volunteers (MV)
The Millennium Volunteer programme (MV) is a youth initiative
established by the Department for Education and Skills (DFES)
to encourage young people to engage in their communities
through volunteering, an activity which they have not traditionally
been involved in. Young people aged 16 - 24 years are supported
to make a sustained commitment to volunteering. The initiative
was announced by the Prime Minister in January 1999 and
was presented as an opportunity for young people to develop
themselves while, at the same time, providing a service
to the community. KADO Associates were asked to undertake
research to investigate the impact of volunteering on the
volunteers themselves Further information about the ongoing
MV project can be read at http://millenniumvolunteers.org.uk.
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Barriers
and Futures (B&F)
Although disabled people often have few difficulties reaching
the stage of being interviewed for a job, the proportion
of successful candidates is known to be low. KADO Associates
is directing the research for the B&F project, in Association
with Disability West Midlands. This seeks to study the interactions
that occur between interviewer and interviewee to understand
how attributions between the two may develop. Armed with
this kind of information, good practice guidelines can be
produced that will help both 'parties' understand better
the processes that take place.
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Project
evaluation
TELEMART
(A Telework Brokerage Service)
KADO Associates were called in by the TELEMART Consortium
to advise on the market and user potential of a pan-European
telework brokerage service, while data were gathered for
Wales.
The protocol developed, of detailed questionnaires and
in-depth interviews, elucidated a number of valuable conclusions
that enabled the consortium to target more clearly both
the advertising and market development of the brokerage
service. Important issues were raised concerning the understanding
that people have about such services and their needs for
information and technological development.
A detailed semantic differential study was also able to
help determine the nature of the brokerage service that
should be developed, particularly in relation to how people
view brokerage opportunities and 'feel' about such services.
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EDEN
KADO Associates are currently the external evaluators for
the EDEN project, a large EU-funded project within the European
Social Fund's EQUAL programme to develop a network of projects
within the theme 'life-long learning'. Using questionnaires
and face-to-face meetings, KADO provides both summative
and formative evaluations of the project's direction and
success.
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