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1 – 10 of 83Reyes Vargas, María Inmaculada Sánchez-Queija, Andrew Rothwell and Águeda Parra
The purpose of this paper is to validate the self-perceived employability (SPE) scale (Rothwell et al., 2008) and explore its relationship with sociodemographic variables in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to validate the self-perceived employability (SPE) scale (Rothwell et al., 2008) and explore its relationship with sociodemographic variables in Spain. The SPE is an employability scale designed to examine undergraduates’ expectations and self-perceptions of employability. The SPE includes internal and external dimensions of employability and has been satisfactorily tested in a variety of contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample comprised 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students from a broad range of subject areas. Confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory factor analyses were conducted. Finally, the Spanish-self-perceived employability (S-SPE) was studied in relation to a set of demographic variables.
Findings
The results revealed similar findings to those reported by Rothwell et al. (2008), namely, four factors labeled: the external labor market’s demand for people in my subject field, my confidence in my skills and abilities, the status and credibility of my field of study and my engagement with my studies and academic performance. The external and internal employability dimensions were obtained by forcing a two-factor solution. Men scored higher than women in the S-SPE; science students scored higher than arts and humanities undergraduates and students with higher perceived income levels scored higher than those with lower perceived income levels.
Originality/value
The S-SPE can be used with Spanish speaking university students (Spanish being the second most widely spoken language in the world) and allows cross-cultural comparisons of undergraduates’ SPE. The S-SPE may help guide the development of social policies and programs designed to enhance employability. It can be used with undergraduates as a diagnostic instrument in career counseling, and as a self-assessment instrument which will enable undergraduates to acquire a greater degree of self-knowledge in relation to their employability.
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María Inmaculada Sánchez-Queija, Laura Sánchez-García, Andrew T. Rothwell and Águeda Parra
The present study analyzes differences in self-perceived employability (SPE) among Spanish university and vocational education and training (VET) students. It also aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study analyzes differences in self-perceived employability (SPE) among Spanish university and vocational education and training (VET) students. It also aims to determine whether factors such as gender, work experience and perceptions of the precariousness of the job market have a differential effect on SPE in accordance with the training pathway chosen by emerging adults.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 1,715 university students (64.7% women) and 488 VET students (37.1% women) aged between 18 and 29 years completed a self-administered questionnaire that included measures of perceived employability and precarious employment.
Findings
The results indicate higher SPE among VET students than among their university counterparts. Female university students scored lower also than their male colleagues, an effect that was not observed among VET students. Prior work experience improved internal SPE among students on both training pathways. However, among university students, work experience and precarious employment reduced external SPE, an affect that was not observed among VET students.
Practical implications
The analysis of differences in SPE between university and VET students highlights the importance of an educational curriculum that includes practical competences for enhancing employability. The results also reflect the negative consequences of precarious employment on feelings of employability during this life stage, particularly among those studying at university.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to analyze the perceived employability of emerging adults on two different training pathways in Spain.
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Andrew Rothwell and Brandon Charleston
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of individuals in transition between education and work during international volunteering expeditions. While it was…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of individuals in transition between education and work during international volunteering expeditions. While it was expected that outcomes might include employability enhancement and skill development, the authors aimed to clarify what the main factors were, examine employability related factors in relation to other groups of variables, investigate development needs perceived by individuals, and evaluate the extent to which factors explored were influenced by participant attributes. Finally, the authors aim to integrate these findings into a series of recommendations for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved 406 respondents in three countries, where data were collected in the field. Survey design was based on previous related studies in volunteering and employability. Principal components analyses revealed a four‐component structure relating to leadership and teamwork, the environment and empathy, values and volunteering, and personal skills.
Findings
Employability enhancement was not a primary motive for engaging in the expeditions. Data suggest that respondents had much more altruistic motivations, with perceived benefits more associated with emotional capital development and authentic leadership, although respondents also acknowledged an enhanced ability to deal with selection processes due to their enriched experiences.
Research limitations/implications
In undertaking this work using quantitative methods, the authors acknowledge that they have limited access to the richness of data that might emerge from more in depth narrative analysis. Further research could engage respondents in focus group studies.
Practical implications
The implications of this research are for individuals, that engagement with international volunteering for disingenuous reasons such as CV enhancement is likely to lead to failure, and for employers that individuals who have engaged are likely to have benefited from significant development in leadership skills. For international volunteering organisations, promotion of the employability‐enhancing attributes of the expedition may be less relevant to potential participants than the richness of the experience itself.
Social implications
Engagement with international volunteering is personally transformative as well as delivering benefits in the context of the communities where the volunteering took place. While some respondents were drawn from a “widening participation” background there were no significant differences in their responses.
Originality/value
The authors believe this is the first study to attempt a detailed analysis of the range of attributes potentially held by individuals engaging in international volunteering expeditions.
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Christine Rexworthy and Andrew Rothwell
Considers the development of an innovative award for first‐line managers. Points out that, unlike other first‐line management prog‐ rammes, it is an education‐based programme…
Abstract
Considers the development of an innovative award for first‐line managers. Points out that, unlike other first‐line management prog‐ rammes, it is an education‐based programme, full‐ or part‐time, placed in the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) framework; but, unlike other GNVQs, directed at mature candidates, including returners to education or employment, and those not yet in a job role that allows them to meet the NVQ criteria. Explains that the qualification aims to meet gaps in the current MCI standards; and, as a GNVQ, to provide the knowledge base and progression seen as weaknesses of NVQs, as well as progression on to NVQs. States that the qualification is perceived as meeting real needs and a gap in the market; however, notes that take‐up of the pilot year has been disappointing. Emphasizes that the intention is to provide meaningful and practical training for a front‐line managerial role in an education context, but that only further evaluation of the pilot will determine the extent to which this has succeeded.
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Andrew Rothwell and John Arnold
Employability concerns the extent to which people possess the skills and other attributes to find and stay in work of the kind they want. It is thought by many to be a key goal…
Abstract
Purpose
Employability concerns the extent to which people possess the skills and other attributes to find and stay in work of the kind they want. It is thought by many to be a key goal for individuals to aim for in managing their careers, and for organisations to foster in workforces. The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of a self‐report measure of individuals' perceived employability. It also seeks to examine its construct validity and correlates.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the analysis of relevant literature, this study developed 16 items which were intended collectively to reflect employability within and outside the person's current organisation, based on his or her personal and occupational attributes. This study administered these items by questionnaire to 200 human resources professionals in the UK, along with established measures of career success and professional commitment, as well as questions reflecting demographic variables.
Findings
This article retained 11 of the 16 items for assessing self‐perceived employability. Concludes that self‐perceived employability can usefully be thought of as either a unitary construct, or one with two related components – internal (to the organisation) and external employability. The measure very successfully distinguished employability from professional commitment, and fairly successfully from career success. Only slight variations in employability could be attributed to demographic characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
This research has begun to address the gap in the literature for a brief yet psychometrically adequate measure of self‐perceived individual employability.
Practical implications
This author believes that the scale can be applied to other occupational groups, in organisational consultancy, and in individual career development. It can be used either as one scale or two, depending on the purpose of the investigation.
Originality/value
Concludes that this research represents a psychometrically adequate contribution in an under‐researched field, and will lead to future research with other occupational samples, and in other settings.
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Vincent M. Ribiere and Francis D. (Doug) Tuggle
The purpose of this paper is to present a general framework describing how new generations of agile innovation processes can benefit from using KM 2.0 technologies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a general framework describing how new generations of agile innovation processes can benefit from using KM 2.0 technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive literature review coupled with expert interviews and combined with the authors' experiences and models were used to develop the framework.
Findings
A framework including the past and recent concepts and trends in terms of innovation management was developed. It is centered on the new critical roles that customers and the crowd can play in the innovation process. Knowledge management, Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 technologies are important enablers of this framework.
Originality/value
The paper presents the framework of a KM environment that can enable agile innovation management processes. Very few frameworks have been developed to support the full innovation process.
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Elizabeth Shaw, Andrew O'Loughlin and Elspeth McFadzean
To extend the discussion held in part 1, and develop a two‐tier fifth‐generation model of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation.
Abstract
Purpose
To extend the discussion held in part 1, and develop a two‐tier fifth‐generation model of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The components that have been synthesized from a review of the literature in Part 1 are extended using evidence from the literature. These components are used to construct a two‐tier model of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation; a macro model which presents the high‐level environmental drivers of innovation and a micro model that discusses the contextual factors that underpin the corporate entrepreneurship and innovation process.
Findings
From the analysis conducted in part 1 it is evident that there is a strong relationship between the role of the corporate entrepreneur and the innovation process. It is suggested that by separating the corporate entrepreneur from the innovation process previous models have been overly reductionist in their construction, and their utility has, as a consequence, been severely constrained. The study therefore combines the role and activities of the entrepreneur with the innovation process into a unified framework. In doing so the paper develops a two‐tier fifth‐generation model of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation. The final sections of the paper present the model's implications for management and suggestions for further research.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified gap in the literature, namely the development of a new holistic model of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation, which illustrates the environmental and contextual relationships between the corporate entrepreneur and the innovation process.
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Nelson K.H. Tang, Andrew Agnew and Oswald Jones
Small and medium‐sized firms (SMFs) can make valuable economic and social contributions through their distinctive capabilities for innovation. However, SMFs rarely possess…
Abstract
Small and medium‐sized firms (SMFs) can make valuable economic and social contributions through their distinctive capabilities for innovation. However, SMFs rarely possess adequate R&D resources and are therefore dependent upon external technological information. We believe that collaboration between higher education institutions (HEIs) and SMFs has considerable potential for strengthening innovatory activity in the UK. However, very little detailed information is available about the process of technology transfer from the perspectives of HEIs and SMFs. This paper examines ways in which HEIs establish links with SMFs as a means of commercializing their scientific and technological research. A questionnaire was used to obtain data from 37 HEIs on technological alliances with SMFs. In addition, a number of interviews were carried out with individuals responsible for marketing HEI science and technology.