“Skills” is a central concept in a number of academic and policy debates. Yet measurement of skills of labour force remains highly problematic. The dominant approach uses signals…
Abstract
Purpose
“Skills” is a central concept in a number of academic and policy debates. Yet measurement of skills of labour force remains highly problematic. The dominant approach uses signals of individual capacities (e.g. level of education) as a proxy of skills. This paper develops and tests a methodology for more direct measurement of skills by focusing on how individuals perform their tasks rather than what they could be capable of doing.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed theoretical framework assumes that skills used at workplace represent the skills an individual has. This is captured by the analysis of how tasks are performed. Level of skills-in-use is measured at three dimensions: degree of uncertainty, level of autonomy and opportunities for continuous skill-building. Empirical analysis utilises survey data on 29 European countries.
Findings
First, the paper proposes a novel methodology for measuring skills. Second, it uses data from European Working Conditions Survey to measure skills of workforce in 29 European countries.
Research limitations/implications
The depth of indicators used for measurement of skills could be further expanded, if additional questions could be inserted in the pan-European surveys.
Practical implications
Findings suggest that the quality of employment domain (tasks, technologies, work organisation, etc.) could be as important as formal education systems in upgrading the skills of labour force.
Originality/value
The paper proposes and tests a methodology for more direct measurement of skills than the ones previously employed in academic and policy debates.
Details
Keywords
Giustina Secundo, Susana Elena- Perez, Žilvinas Martinaitis and Karl-Heinz Leitner
The public sector is one of the least addressed areas of intellectual capital (IC) research. Universities are an interesting area of investigation because they are considered…
Abstract
Purpose
The public sector is one of the least addressed areas of intellectual capital (IC) research. Universities are an interesting area of investigation because they are considered critical players in the knowledge-based society. The purpose of this paper is to develop a more general, flexible and comprehensive “IC Maturity Model” for Universities (ICMM), a framework for defining and implementing IC measurement and management approaches, as part of the whole strategic management of universities. Thus, the ICMM proposes a staged framework to initiate a step-by-step change within a university based upon its current level of IC management maturity. The different steps of maturity might be an answer to cope with the huge diversity of European universities, some of which have strong managerial orientation, while others follow collegial forms of governance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach is based on what has been called the “third stage” of IC research (Dumay and Garanina, 2013), focused on the practices of IC approaches rather than on its theoretical conceptualisation. The ICMM has been developed under the “Quality Assurance in Higher Education through Habilitation and Auditing” project framework, initiated by the Executive Agency for Higher Education and Research Funding of Romania (EUFISCDI). Three Mutual Learning Workshops (MLWs) were organised as a mean to bring together 15 international experts and practitioners to share their views and experience on IC reporting and setting up task forces.
Findings
An ICMM, which is a flexible model of implementing IC approaches within public universities, is developed. The ICMM provides a theoretical continuum along which the process of maturity can be developed incrementally from one level to the next, moving from IC data collection, awareness of IC, adjustment of IC specific indicators, measurement of IC, reporting of IC, interpretation and decision making, strategy and planning.
Research limitations/implications
Future research needs to conduct empirical studies in universities to generalise the effectiveness of the ICMM model and guidelines for implementation.
Practical implications
The ICMM provides a staged framework to initiate a step-by-step change within a university based upon its current level of IC management maturity and its IC value creation dynamics. It allows universities to follow different paths, not necessarily a linear sequence.
Originality/value
Although several methods for IC measurement and management exist, most of these cannot accommodate the trade-off between the comparability aims and the efforts to capture the institution’s uniqueness when designing an IC model.
Details
Keywords
Giustina Secundo, Rosa Lombardi, Johannes Dumay and James Guthrie A.M.
This paper aims to critically review intellectual capital (IC) accounting research and practices in European public universities, specifically in Spain, Austria and Italy. These…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to critically review intellectual capital (IC) accounting research and practices in European public universities, specifically in Spain, Austria and Italy. These three countries represent the majority of IC accounting research related to universities.
Design/methodology/approach
This study critically reviews a selection of university-based IC accounting research, applying Alvesson and Deetz’s (2000) critical perspectives of insight, critique and transformative redefinition.
Findings
The analysis reveals that European public universities follow the Humboldtian model of higher education, integrating a third mission to society into their traditional roles as teaching and research institutions. This study explored how the emergence of a third mission for the university was conceptualised. This study also provided insights, critique and a transformative redefinition to advance IC as a strategic resource in European public universities.
Originality/value
The findings provide academics and policymakers with insights, critique and a transformative redefinition of IC as a strategic resource for European public universities to meet future challenges in an ever-changing world.