Lower Levels Of Organization Research Articles

Preparing the Next Generation of Integrative Organismal Biologists.

Pursuing cutting edge questions in organismal biology in the future will require novel approaches for training the next generation of organismal biologists, including knowledge and use of systems-type modeling combined with integrative organismal biology. We link agendas recommending changes in science education and practice across three levels: Broadening the concept of organismal biology to promote modeling organisms as systems interacting with higher and lower organizational levels; enhancing undergraduate science education to improve applications of quantitative reasoning and modeling in the scientific process; and K-12 curricula based on Next Generation Science Standards emphasizing development and use of models in the context of explanatory science, solution design, and evaluating and communicating information. Out of each of these initiatives emerges an emphasis on routine use of models as tools for hypothesis testing and prediction. The question remains, however, what is the best approach for training the next generation of organismal biology students to facilitate their understanding and use of models? We address this question by proposing new ways of teaching and learning, including the development of interactive web-based modeling modules that lower barriers for scientists approaching this new way of imagining and conducting integrative organismal biology.

Symmetry and Historicity in the Game of Life: Modifying Rules to Simulate Evolutionary Dynamics

The Game of Life (GoL) is a paradigmatic computer simulation that exhibits the emergence of complex properties of the whole from relatively simple sets of heuristic rules operating at lower organizational levels. Therefore, it is widely understood as a valuable tool for investigating global properties of evolutionary processes. Cognizant of refined concepts that emerged in recent debates on the central role of historical contingency (historicity) in evolution, we modify the original GoL rules by introducing an updating feedback loop and a probability factor that reflect the degree of historicity in pattern evolution as both stochastic path dependence and sensitivity to initial conditions. We examine this trait in simulations of the emergence and breaking of bilateral and radial symmetries commonly observed in the evolution of life, most prominently as evolving body plans. We show that the implementation of historicity parameters leads to a more realistic sequential and gradual alternating emergence and the breaking of new symmetries than the original set of rules. Apart from its more realistic representations of evolutionary processes, the new approach allows for easier exploration of the parameter space, demonstrates the sequential and gradual emergence and breaking of symmetries, and provides a publicly available and modular simulation tool. We discuss the exploratory potential of the modified GoL platform we designed as an extended thought experiment to study the parameter space defining the historicity of biological processes.

Decision Support System for Mining Machinery Risk Mitigation Driven by Ergonomics and Contextual Theory

Despite being very old, the mining industry continues to be one of the major sources of pollution, with more people killed or injured than in all other industries. Prevention of incidents/accidents on machinery in mining pits and the issues of operator safety on mining machinery largely depend on the ergonomic adaptation of the workplace, compliance with safety procedures and policies, and organizational and other influential factors. Evidently, scarce consideration of those factors in the available literature has not given satisfactory results till now. The aim of this paper is to first set up a comprehensive model based on ergonomic factors and contextual theory, which takes into account all the influencing factors on the occurrence of incidents/accidents and represents a complex system of interdependence of influential variables of diverse, mostly stochastic nature, and then design a software solution on the given basis. In this research, based on the extensive data collected, a model was generated using the structural equations modelling methodology, which was then used to design the reasoning logic in the expert system for mitigating the risks of the operation of mining machines. An innovative solution incorporating a mathematical model of the interdependence of influential variables into the stored knowledge base offers a decision support system that provides recommendations for the maintenance of a particular mining machine, depending on the assessment of model factors in a specific decision-making situation at the higher organizational level and ergonomic suitability for the operator at the lower organizational level, and, in that manner, enables the mitigating of risky/unwanted events.

The General Law of Being, Article 3: The Ultimate Cause of Evolution

This is the third article in a series about the General Law of Being, a science philosophy that was introduced by Chinese scholar Wang Dongyue twenty years ago and then expanded upon by Chen Ye, who linked it to other scientific and philosophical traditions as well as to Big History. We encourage readers to review the previous two articles in the Journal of Big History, volume 6, issues 1 and 2. Article 1 addressed how all entities in the universe – ‘beings’ – are finite and dependent. Horizontally, their existence is realized through the structural coupling of their interactive-quality with other being(s)’s interactable-quality, and vertically through the superposition of their historical structural-coupling states. Article 2 reveals the interplay of the two opposite forces that govern evolution – conservation and variation. This evolution / variation progress occurs through the differentiation of beings, level by level – each level of organization results from differentiation of beings at a lower level of organization, with the ‘adaptation task’ distributed to specialized roles at higher levels. However, this ascent comes with a trade-off – the existence of a higher-level being depends on an increasing number of conditions. These conditions not only facilitate its functioning but also expose it to greater risks, which means that higher-level beings have weaker, or more unstable structures. Meanwhile, the increasing number of conditions perplexes the sense-reaction process, giving rise to more advanced cognitive patterns to coordinate the process. In this article, we first examine the situation of the most sophisticated ‘natural’ structure formed by the most complex species – human society, by applying the fundamental principles discussed in Articles 1 and 2. We then systematize various clues in macro-evolution and based on theories previously outlined, we build our model of evolution to address the ultimate driving force behind evolution.

COVID-19 healthcare success or failure? Crisis management explained by dynamic capabilities

IntroductionThis paper presents a structured review of the use of crisis management, specifically examining the frameworks of surge capacity, resilience, and dynamic capabilities in healthcare organizations. Thereafter, a novel deductive method based on the framework of dynamic capabilities is developed and applied to investigate crisis management in two hospital cases during the COVID-19 pandemic.BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic distinguishes itself from many other disasters due to its global spread, uncertainty, and prolonged duration. While crisis management in healthcare has often been explained using the surge capacity framework, the need for adaptability in an unfamiliar setting and different information flow makes the dynamic capabilities framework more useful.MethodsThe dynamic capabilities framework’s microfoundations as categories is utilized in this paper for a deductive analysis of crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic in a multiple case study involving two Swedish public hospitals. A novel method, incorporating both dynamic and static capabilities across multiple organizational levels, is developed and explored.ResultsThe case study results reveal the utilization of all dynamic capabilities with an increased emphasis at lower organizational levels and a higher prevalence of static capabilities at the regional level. In Case A, lower-level managers perceived the hospital manager as brave, supporting sensing, seizing, and transformation at the department level. However, due to information gaps, sensing did not reach regional crisis management, reducing their power. In Case B, with contingency plans not initiated, the hospital faced a lack of management and formed a department manager group for patient care. Seizing was robust at the department level, but regional levels struggled with decisions on crisis versus normal management. The novel method effectively visualizes differences between organizational levels and cases, shedding light on the extent of cooperation or lack thereof within the organization.ConclusionThe researchers conclude that crisis management in a pandemic, benefits from distributed management, attributed to higher dynamic capabilities at lower organizational levels. A pandemic contingency plan should differ from a plan for accidents, supporting the development of routines for the new situation and continuous improvement. The Dynamic Capabilities framework proved successful for exploration in this context.

Geometric phase predicts locomotion performance in undulating living systems across scales

Self-propelling organisms locomote via generation of patterns of self-deformation. Despite the diversity of body plans, internal actuation schemes and environments in limbless vertebrates and invertebrates, such organisms often use similar traveling waves of axial body bending for movement. Delineating how self-deformation parameters lead to locomotor performance (e.g. speed, energy, turning capabilities) remains challenging. We show that a geometric framework, replacing laborious calculation with a diagrammatic scheme, is well-suited to discovery and comparison of effective patterns of wave dynamics in diverse living systems. We focus on a regime of undulatory locomotion, that of highly damped environments, which is applicable not only to small organisms in viscous fluids, but also larger animals in frictional fluids (sand) and on frictional ground. We find that the traveling wave dynamics used by mm-scale nematode worms and cm-scale desert dwelling snakes and lizards can be described by time series of weights associated with two principal modes. The approximately circular closed path trajectories of mode weights in a self-deformation space enclose near-maximal surface integral (geometric phase) for organisms spanning two decades in body length. We hypothesize that such trajectories are targets of control (which we refer to as "serpenoid templates"). Further, the geometric approach reveals how seemingly complex behaviors such as turning in worms and sidewinding snakes can be described as modulations of templates. Thus, the use of differential geometry in the locomotion of living systems generates a common description of locomotion across taxa and provides hypotheses for neuromechanical control schemes at lower levels of organization.

Managers' Micro-Communities Matter: The Impact of Clinical Supervision Team on Therapist Perception of the Organization.

Positive organizational climate - employee perceptions of their work environment and the impact of this environment on well-being and functioning - is associated with desirable organizational and client-level outcomes in mental health organizations. Clinical supervisors are well-positioned to impact organizational climate, as they serve as intermediaries between higher-level administrators who drive the policies and procedures and the therapists impacted by such decisions. This cross-sectional study examined the role of clinical supervisors as drivers of therapist perceptions of organizational climate within supervisory teams. Specifically, the present study investigated: (1) shared perceptions of organizational climate among therapists on the same supervisory team; (2) predictors of therapist climate perceptions. Eighty-six therapists were supervised by 22 supervisors. Indices of interrater agreement and interrater reliability of therapists on the same supervisory team were examined to determine shared or distinct perceptions of organizational climate. Multi-level models were used to examine whether supervisor attitudes towards evidence-based practices and therapist perceptions of supervisor communication predicted perceived organizational climate. Results showed perceptions of organizational cohesion and autonomy were shared among therapists on the same supervisory team and distinct from therapists on different supervisory teams. Therapist perceptions of their supervisor's communication was positively associated with perceptions of organizational cohesion and autonomy. These findings align with emerging evidence that middle managers shape their employees' experience of their work environment through communication strategies. These findings also point to the potential for intervening at lower organizational levels to improve overall organizational climate.

Mathematical Description of Harmful Industrial Factors for Assessing the Quarry Workers' Occupational Risk

Mining industry is highly important in the economy of each country. At the same time, the mining industry is an industry with a high level of morbidity among workers. Quarry workers are often exposed to hazardous environments, while at the same time a low level of process safety organization. This study aims to develop a mathematical description of modelling the values of harmful factors in the production environment at the workplaces of quarry workers, which will help ensure high-quality engineering control during the work shift. The initial statistical data for the development of mathematical models were obtained directly by the authors through personal observations of the technological process and measurements of the level of harmful factors in the working environment. Measurements were taken using portable digital devices. To develop mathematical description based on accumulated statistical data, polynomial regression was used. The construction of models using polynomial regression is based on the property of functional dependencies, which can be formulated as follows: with a gradual increase in the complexity of the model (polynomial degree), the magnitude of errors (approximation error, forecast error) monotonically decreases. As a result, fourth-order polynomial equations were obtained to model the values of dust concentration and noise level at certain time intervals of the work shift. The correlation coefficient of these models is R = 0.98 and R = 0.99, and the relative error is 9.76% and 6.11% of dust concentration and noise level respectively, which indicates sufficient accuracy of the model. It was established that the studied harmful factors during a normal production process, have a level of impact at which early forms of occupational diseases develop. The proposed mathematical description of modelling the values of these factors makes it possible for high-quality engineering control over current technology processes in order to avoid abnormal excesses of the values. Further research, according to the authors, should be aimed at identifying and mathematically describing other potentially harmful and dangerous factors in the working environment. The originality of the current study lies in the fact that an attempt was made to propose a non-classical approach to quickly identify deteriorating working conditions directly in the work process using mathematical modelling.

Factors for increasing the efficiency of using working time for knowledge workers in water transport

Working time is the most valuable resource in the field of production and labor. The effectiveness of its use has always been given special attention not only by economists, but also by sociologists and psychologists. According to labor legislation, working time is the time during which an employee, in accordance with the rules of the internal labor regulations and the terms of the employment contract, must perform labor duties, as well as other periods of time related to the worker. Thus, working time includes not only the time of the main, but also auxiliary work, the time of regulated breaks and some other types of expenses of the working day.
 According to research, the loss of working time at domestic enterprises is sufficient. The reasons are: low level of labor organization, violations of labor discipline, and circumstances beyond the control of the employee, for example, poor quality of management function implementation. The elimination of at least unjustified losses of working time, at the existing level of labor organization, can increase the efficiency of domestic enterprises by more than 10%

Теория эволюции в «Происхождении видов» Чарлза Дарвина как основа современной «эволюционной» психиатрии

The article analyzes the main provisions of the fundamental work of the famous English naturalist Charles Darwin “The Origin of Species” from the point of view of their significance for the relatively new “evolutionary” (or “ethological”) direction in psychiatry. At the same time, the influence of Lamarck’s evolutionary theory of “gradation” and “degradation” of various species on both Darwin’s theory of “evolution” and B. Morel’s theory of “degeneration” is emphasized. The support of the evolutionary direction in psychiatry by E. Kraepelin in Germany and the significance of the work of P.I. Kropotkin “Mutual assistance as a factor of evolution” for Russian “ethological” psychiatrists are noted. The most important notion in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is the concept of “natural selection”, by which Darwin understood the preservation of favorable individual differences and the destruction of harmful ones, without excluding, however, that a huge number of animals and plants die from random causes, having been created even more “adapted” to life. At the same time, according to Darwin, rare forms in the struggle of life are defeated by “ordinary” ones, which are more variable. The most stubborn competition occurs between the closest forms. If a form cannot derive any benefit from a higher organization, it can remain indefinitely long at a low level of organization, since under very simple conditions a high organization can even be harmful. Separate from natural selection, Darwin distinguished sexual selection, by which action he did not deny aesthetic feelings in animals. Of particular importance for psychiatry and psychology is Darwin's doctrine of instincts, according to which natural selection preserves variations in instincts to any degree of utility, causing a variety of instincts in the same species, and each individual seeks to benefit from the instincts of another. Instincts are rarely perfect and can lead to mistakes. Although natural selection tends to make the organization of each creature more specialized and, in this sense, higher, it may in some cases even lower the organization, which makes such simplified creatures better adapted to the new conditions of their life.

Office gossip related to gays and lesbians: An ‘otherness’ perspective

Cross-cultural encounters with diverse individuals, such as gays and lesbians, has resulted in these persons often encountering a sense of otherness. Within the workplace context, there exists a preferable cultural identity of heteronormativity, where heterosexual individuals dominate and represent the ‘we,’ while those who are ‘different,’ including gays and lesbians, represent the ‘cultural other.’ The study that informs this article investigated how Black African gay and lesbian people, as the ‘cultural other,’ experience otherness through workplace gossip, and why gossipers engage in such behavior. Using a qualitative research approach comprising semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 18 Black African gay and lesbian persons, in various South African organizations, thematic analysis was the basis for data analysis. Findings suggest that Black African lesbian women at lower organizational levels experience greater marginalization in the form of gossip compared to Black African gay men. Furthermore, the perception among gay and lesbian participants is that gossip related to the sexual orientation of the other is more rooted in the Black African than the White, Coloured and Indian South African communities. It was also found that intersecting identities (socio-economic class; educational qualifications; geographic location) result in marginalized, lower educated employees from Black African townships gossiping to a greater extent about gay and lesbian people, than those with higher qualifications and socioeconomic profiles residing in suburbs. Organizational cultures where people were rooted in religious beliefs produced more intense office gossip than workplace cultures where managers and peers embraced diversity. We recommend that in embracing cross-cultural management practices, training of employees regarding cross-cultural adjustment and understanding the other, will bring positive outcomes in the workplace environment.

Power to the people—And then? A multilevel leadership perspective on organizational decentralization

AbstractAs organizations strive for more flexibility, decentralized decision‐making has been at the core of many modern HR approaches. Yet, on a company‐wide scale, it remains unclear whether decentralized decision‐making structures improve organizational performance. Our study aims to illuminate prior ambiguous evidence by examining an employee‐level mechanism underlying the organizational‐level relationship between decentralization and performance, and scrutinizing the critical role of formal leaders for empowering employees in decentralized structures. Integrating the perspective of organizational structure as opportunities and constraints with social information processing theory, we argue that transferring decision‐making authority to lower organizational levels positively affects employees' emergent leadership, but only to the extent that direct supervisors engage in empowering leadership and guide employees' behaviors in decentralized structures. Our predictions are supported by a multilevel, multisource field study of 5807 individuals across 144 companies. We further find that emergent leadership yields a positive effect on organizational performance. By developing a multilevel model that explicates both an employee‐level mechanism and a contingency of the decentralization–organizational performance link, our study enriches understanding of the key role that formal leaders play for achieving the strategic goals of decentralized decision‐making in organizations.

ANALYTICITY OF MARKOV PROCESSES FOR DESCRIPTION OF COEFFICIENT OF TECHNICAL READINESS OF GRAIN HARVESTERS COMBINES

The article presents the results of a study of the influence of operating conditions and modes on the technical condition of grain harvesters. The grain harvester gradually loses its performance during operation. To ensure stable operation of the fleet of agricultural machines, maintain its technical condition and increase operational reliability, technical control of grain harvesters is carried out. The analysis of the technical condition of combine harvesters showed that there remains a high percentage of defective combine harvesters, downtime for all types of repairs and the number of unplanned repairs. One of the main reasons for this condition is the low level of organization and quality of technical control, insufficient mechanization of technological processes. The basic element of the technological preparation of repair production is the development of a technological process that ensures the availability of a complete set of technological documentation at the enterprise for organizing and carrying out technical maintenance and repairs of traction rolling stock. During the development of technological processes of repair, the selection of technological operations and means of their technological equipment, normative documents of requirements for tolerances, clearances, forces of landings, pressings, threaded connections, processing quality, assembly accuracy, etc. is carried out. Technical conditions for the development of non-standard technological equipment are determined from the developed technological operations. As a target function, the rational periodicity of maintenance of grain harvesters was taken, namely, the rational time between services. The analysis of the results of known works on mathematical modeling and periodicity of repair and maintenance of complex technical systems based on Markov and semi-Markov processes allowed us to propose complex criteria as criteria for modeling the objective function: the functional of readiness, which is used to estimate the allowable time, and the functional of technical use, which allows determining the value of the optimal time between services of the combine harvester according to the technical parameter at the maximum point.

Transient Dynamics of a Food Chain Model with Vigilance in the Biparameter Spaces

This article focuses on the asymptotic and transient behavior of a food chain model with vigilance in the biparameter spaces. Firstly, the local asymptotic stability conditions of the positive equilibrium point are obtained. Then, the transient dynamical behavior of the positive equilibrium point is analyzed based on eight parameters. Using numerical simulation, the stable regions of the model with single and double parameters are plotted, as well as the value changes of resilience, reactivity, and amplification envelope within the stable regions. The results show that the coexistence equilibrium point is always reactive, and the corresponding parameter ranges for system stability are large, but the resilience values are small. The vigilance parameter of the middle- and lower-level organisms has the greatest impact on the system’s resilience and reactivity, and the lowest vigilance corresponds to the maximum resilience and reactivity. Our results provide important references for effective management and protection of wild animal populations by the potential for transient amplification, disturbance growth time, and amplitude.

The Effect of Job Burnout on Generating Organizational Silence - an Analytical Study in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

Diagnosing the nature of the correct relationship between the variables studied (functional burnout, organizational silence) for their expected relationships after testing them empirically at the level of the sample studied within the research community. The research was conducted in the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and (100) questionnaires were distributed to employees working in the ministry. At the middle and lower organizational levels, the questionnaires were collected and analyzed statistically by adopting the ready-made data package (SPSS V26), using several statistical tools, including the arithmetic mean, median, standard deviation, and confirmatory factor analysis. And social affairs, they feel satisfied with their job, self-confidence, high morale, and willingness to work with vigor and activity. Accordingly, the researcher recommends the ministry continue on the same path of interest in providing a work environment based on cooperation and good communication between it and the workers.

Evolution of Intrinsic Disorder in Protein Loops.

Intrinsic disorder accounts for the flexibility of protein loops, molecular building blocks that are largely responsible for the processes and molecular functions of the living world. While loops likely represent early structural forms that served as intermediates in the emergence of protein structural domains, their origin and evolution remain poorly understood. Here, we conduct a phylogenomic survey of disorder in loop prototypes sourced from the ArchDB classification. Tracing prototypes associated with protein fold families along an evolutionary chronology revealed that ancient prototypes tended to be more disordered than their derived counterparts, with ordered prototypes developing later in evolution. This highlights the central evolutionary role of disorder and flexibility. While mean disorder increased with time, a minority of ordered prototypes exist that emerged early in evolutionary history, possibly driven by the need to preserve specific molecular functions. We also revealed the percolation of evolutionary constraints from higher to lower levels of organization. Percolation resulted in trade-offs between flexibility and rigidity that impacted prototype structure and geometry. Our findings provide a deep evolutionary view of the link between structure, disorder, flexibility, and function, as well as insights into the evolutionary role of intrinsic disorder in loops and their contribution to protein structure and function.

DIRECTIONS MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMIC SECURITY OF THE STATE IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION PROCESSES

For the current state of Ukraine's economy as an independent state and its establishment as a subject of the world community, the problems of ensuring sustainable socio-economic development, formation of a mechanism for counteracting internal and external threats, raising the living standards of the population, and developing the system of international economic interdependence are particularly relevant. As the world experience shows, damage to economic interests is caused by various attempts: disruption of the normal state of international trade (application of embargoes, introduction of excessive quantitative and tariff restrictions, artificial increase or decrease in prices for certain goods), creation of obstacles to the international movement of technologies, violation of commercial practices, etc. In the current conditions of development of the Ukrainian economy, especially against the background of globalization, this problem is particularly acute. At the same time, the problem of economic security in the context of further globalization is gaining the status of the highest priority in public policy. It is of exceptional importance in the argumentation of political decision-making. Scientific and conceptual foundations of economic security ensure the formation of appropriate policies at the level of the state or lower organizational levels. The system of ensuring economic security involves continuous monitoring of socio-economic processes in terms of their impact on the state of economic security, assessment of strategic programs and regulations from this perspective, and analysis of the effectiveness of current decisions in the field of economic policy. The aim of the article is to study the main areas of management of the economic security of the state in the context of globalization processes. The article analyzes the conceptual foundations and conceptual and categorical apparatus of the problem of ensuring economic security of Ukraine in modern conditions, analyzes the peculiarities of economic security of Ukraine in the processes of world globalization, and identifies the main directions of economic security management in the context of globalization processes.

Stand-up paddling: A case study on the effect and impact pathway of information and appeals to reduce ecological conflicts

Water bodies form important habitats for animals and plants. At the same time, they offer special recreational benefits, through nature experiences, their scenic quality or as a basis for sport activities. However, high visitor numbers and problematic behaviour can lead to disturbances in nature. To maintain the recreational benefits of such public spaces and to protect nature, campaigns are a useful means, in addition to spatial interventions and legal regulations. This study evaluates a campaign to reduce negative effects on nature due to the increasingly popular activity of stand-up paddling. A written pre-post survey of the treatment group at Lake Greifensee was completed by the stand-up paddlers on site on tablets or location-independently on their own device. The control survey took place at Lake Lauerzersee, but mainly via various disseminators and social media in German-speaking Switzerland, starting with the pre-survey and ending with the post-survey at Lake Greifensee. The total sample comprised 334 people. To evaluate the campaign, behavioural predictors - based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) - and self-reported behaviour of stand-up paddlers with and without exposure to the campaign were compared. Exposure to the campaign influenced the predictor “perceived control” the most; the two variables “knowledge” and “self-assessed skills” increased significantly with exposure to the campaign. The poster, which was present on site throughout the campaign, was the communication tool most perceived by stand-up paddlers. The variables that best predicted self-reported behaviour were behavioural knowledge, relevance, and self-assessed ability. The results indicate that TPB-predictors tend to be positively influenced by campaign exposure, and they point to a relationship between TPB-predictors and behaviour. However, not all components of the TPB-predictors are statistically significantly improved by campaign exposure, nor do they all significantly influence self-reported behaviour. Nonetheless, the results show that persuasive work improves self-reported ecological behaviour and largely confirm the impact path for persuasion as it has been theoretically proposed. Management implications•A combination of information and behavioural recommendations reduce conflicts between stand-up paddlers and nature. To improve all TPB-predictors, additional efforts such as persuasion on an emotion-related basis are recommended.•Due to the low level of organization of the activity and because information is rarely obtained in advance, paddlers are best informed on site or in the beginning of their activity career (e.g., when buying/renting equipment).

Models of formation of professional competence of future teachers

The aim of the work was to develop and determine the effectiveness of the model for building future teachers’ professional competence. The aim was achieved through the use of calculations of the efficiency coefficient, the coefficient of practical effectiveness, the Cohen’s kappa coefficient. It was established that the interactive approach, which was used before the beginning of studies among 15% of students, enabled obtaining a higher level of their knowledge. The traditional education system made it possible to achieve a high level of knowledge among 31% of students. The development of a model for building professional competence of future secondary school teachers provided for the use of non-standard approaches and digital technologies (Coursera, Prometheus). It was found that students showed a high quality of material presentation (3.41) and a lower level of organization of the educational process (0.91) during teaching practice. The results contributed to highly effective knowledge of ecology, informatics, pedagogy/educational methodology acquired by high school students. It was determined that 62% of students developed high professional competence skills. The practical significance of the work is the developed system of future teachers’ professional competence through the introduction of non-standard approaches. The prospects of the research may be related to the provision of options for increasing the level of professional competence for future teachers of secondary and higher educational institutions.

Digital Transformation and Digital Culture: A Literature Review of the Digital Cultural Attributes to Enable Digital Transformation

Abstract Digital transformation is unavoidable for organizations nowadays. The promise of financial success pushes organizations to speed up their digital transformation, by increasing the budgets allocated to it. Organizations understand more and more that digital transformation is not only an IT endeavor and that it implies, among others, the important aspect of digital culture. Digital culture goes hand in hand with the process of digital transformation, being both a premise to, and an outcome of it. As a premise, digital culture can be either an enabler for, or a barrier to digital transformation, which is why digital culture is receiving increased attention in scientific literature. This study analyzes the scientific literature to create a well-rounded definition of digital culture, categorizing and describing in detail the attributes of digital culture, both the ones mentioned by previous studies with a similar purpose and adding new categories to provide a more comprehensive understanding of what digital culture entails. Digital culture is characterized by collaboration, both internal and external, customer-centricity, seamless flow of information, decision making at lower organizational levels, responsiveness and rapid action, innovation and entrepreneurial mindset, risk-affinity, flexibility, agility and adaptability, learning and growth orientation, as well as datadriven decisions, digital-first mindset, openness to unusual career developments and change openness and readiness.