Giustina Secundo, Christle De Beer, Felicia M. Fai and Cornelius S.L. Schutte
Successful promotion of academic entrepreneurship is a determining factor in the pursuit of university entrepreneurialism. This paper aims to illustrate how qualitative data on…
Abstract
Purpose
Successful promotion of academic entrepreneurship is a determining factor in the pursuit of university entrepreneurialism. This paper aims to illustrate how qualitative data on the performance of the technology transfer office (TTO), based on access to intellectual capital (IC) indicators, can be transformed into a metric to provide insights that assist in strategy development for a university moving towards a more entrepreneurial configuration.
Design/methodology/approach
The TTO performance metric takes the form of a self-assessment of access to IC indicators, which are determinants of effectiveness. This study involves the use of the metric through the completion of an online survey and follow-up interviews, to collect and analyse the data.
Findings
The performance of 34 TTOs in continental Europe and the UK are measured, and insights into the success of promoting academic entrepreneurship were gained. The qualitative data are studied in detail to illustrate how the university can strategically leverage IC to enhance academic entrepreneurship.
Research limitations/implications
This study recommends that the university align the mission statement and organisational structure of the TTO, to enable access to IC. This, in turn, may result in increased academic entrepreneurship activities, which will drive the university towards increased entrepreneurialism.
Practical implications
The interpretation of the qualitative data relating to the performance of the TTO, and which factors influence it, aids in understanding the performance of the entrepreneurial university and illustrates, which strategic interventions can be made.
Originality/value
Understanding the link between IC, academic entrepreneurship (as encapsulated in the performance of the TTO) and the characteristics of the entrepreneurial university is particularly useful for university management decisions.
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Giustina Secundo, Christle De Beer, Cornelius S.L. Schutte and Giuseppina Passiante
Universities concerned with third mission activities are engines that increase regional competitiveness since their primary role in the knowledge-based economy is to stimulate…
Abstract
Purpose
Universities concerned with third mission activities are engines that increase regional competitiveness since their primary role in the knowledge-based economy is to stimulate innovation by transferring new knowledge and technologies to industry and society. The purpose of this paper is to show how IC can be mobilized by university technology transfer offices (TTOs) due to the correlation between efficient university technology transfer and intellectual capital (IC), thus contributing to the third stage of IC research.
Design/methodology/approach
The application of the Maturity Model developed by Secundo et al. (2016) is expanded by collecting data from 18 universities in the European countries to illustrate how IC can be used as a strategy and solution to the barriers faced by TTOs.
Findings
TTOs with increased access to and utilization of IC tend to have higher maturity levels. This new application of the Maturity Model, proves that IC can be utilized to manage and improve the efficiency of TTOs.
Research limitations/implications
An indication of the level of access that TTOs have to university IC is given leading to recommendations to improve university technology transfer. Future research should include a wider sample of universities to increase the validation of the Maturity Model and to prove it as a suitable and strategic approach for IC management at TTOs.
Practical implications
Knowing which IC components are essential for the efficiency of TTOs, and which IC needs greater utilization, will provide insights into policy and practical interventions to improve their efficiency, resulting in increasing universities’ competitiveness.
Originality/value
A new approach and perspective on utilizing IC to improve university technology transfer to contribute to the third stage of IC research calling for more practice-oriented research.
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Clara Maria Schutte, Sunayna Sasikumar, Keorapetse Nchoe, Mandisa Kakaza, Veronica Ueckermann and Cornelius H. Van der Meyden
In South Africa, many illicit drugs have only recently been introduced and drug-related complications are often new to treating physicians. Heroin-induced leukoencephalopathy has…
Abstract
Purpose
In South Africa, many illicit drugs have only recently been introduced and drug-related complications are often new to treating physicians. Heroin-induced leukoencephalopathy has been reported elsewhere in patients who inhale heated heroin vapors, a method known as “chasing the dragon.” The purpose of this paper is to present two patients, known to have inhaled heroin a few weeks prior to presenting with progressive neurological deficits.
Design/methodology/approach
Case presentations: two young males presented independently within eight weeks of one another with progressive slurring of speech, incoordination and weakness of the limbs over a period of two to three weeks. Both were known heroin addicts, and were known to one another, and both had inhaled heroin prior to the onset of symptoms.
Findings
The patients presented with a pancerebellar syndrome with marked bilateral upper motor neuron signs. CT scans showed diffuse symmetrical hypodense lesions involving the cerebral and cerebellar white matter with normal CSF. Both patients deteriorated neurologically, became cardiovascularly unstable and demised. Postmortem in one of the patients showed a prominent spongiform leukoencephalopathy consistent with reports of heroin-inhalation injury to the brain.
Research limitations/implications
Toxic leukoencephalopathy due to heroin vapor inhalation was first described in the Netherlands in 1982. It has not been reported to occur with other modes of heroin use; an unknown toxin contained in heroin pyrolysate which forms when heroin is heated, may be causative. Brain MRI typically shows diffuse, symmetrical white matter hyperintensities on T2 and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences in the cerebellum, posterior cerebrum and posterior limbs of the internal capsule with a posterior-anterior gradient. Pathologically, spongiform degeneration with relative sparing of subcortical U-fibers is seen. No treatment has been proven effective, but antioxidants and Vitamin E may be beneficial. Mortality is high at 23-48 percent.
Practical implications
This report emphasizes that spongiform leukoencephalopathy as a rare consequence of inhaling heroin vapors does occur in South Africa and clinicians should consider this disorder in their differential diagnosis of acutely developing leukoencephalopathy.
Social implications
An awareness program regarding this grave condition is planned.
Originality/value
The cardiovascular complications of patients inhaling heroin vapor has not been highlighted previously. These are the first patients from Africa described with this condition. A toxic component appears likely.
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ALTITUDE supercharging of aeroplane engines by means of turbo‐blowers driven by exhaust‐gas turbines differs from ordinary charging of internal combustion engines because the…
Abstract
ALTITUDE supercharging of aeroplane engines by means of turbo‐blowers driven by exhaust‐gas turbines differs from ordinary charging of internal combustion engines because the process is much more accentuated. Whilst the output of stationary engines can be increased by 50 per cent, that of rail‐car engines by 80 per cent, by supercharging, an aeroplane engine, to give its full output at 12,000 m. altitude, has to be supercharged so as to give four times its output without supercharging. Thus altitude supercharging offers certain peculiarities.
Up until 1993, the South African armed forces were an essentially all-white conscript force, fighting a war ‘in proxy’ in neighbouring states and within the country, against a…
Abstract
Up until 1993, the South African armed forces were an essentially all-white conscript force, fighting a war ‘in proxy’ in neighbouring states and within the country, against a perceived communist onslaught. During this period, the former South African Defence Force (SADF) was central to state functioning and funding. With the end of the Cold War and the subsequent demise of Apartheid, the armed forces were forced to adapt not only to the new security environment, but to the imperatives spelt out in the newly forged Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. This was to be a traumatic time for the newly established South African National Defence Force (SANDF), which came into being in April 1994. The challenge of having to integrate seven former enemies into one cohesive force has been no mean task, and the legacies of past loyalties continue to divide the forces. The challenges stretched beyond just the need to integrate, thereby swelling the size of the SANDF, but to downscale the forces to affordable levels in years to come. As Seegers (1996, p. 280) states, “the SANDF encountered two big problems simultaneously, integration and a desperate popular need for employment”. Therefore, rationalisation would inevitably be met with some collective resistance. Adapting to the principles enshrined in the Constitution also meant that the SANDF had to adapt its policies and practices to meet the democratic imperatives spelt out in the Bill of Rights. Without doubt, one of the most contentious issues was the pressure exerted on the SANDF, even before 1994, to amend its labour relations mechanisms for uniformed personnel. The Constitution provided the legal sanction for military unions and despite vehement resistance, the SANDF eventually had to concede to this right when it lost the case in the Constitutional Court in 1998. Even so, the shock of having to deal with trade unions within its ranks and to bargain with the unions over “all matters of mutual interest” has been no mean feat.
Maria Beatriz Gonzalez-Sanchez, Cristina Gutiérrez-López and Mercedes Barrachina Palanca
There is an increasingly growing interest in treading beyond the traditional university goals of teaching and research to focus on their contribution to society through knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an increasingly growing interest in treading beyond the traditional university goals of teaching and research to focus on their contribution to society through knowledge transfer (KT) performance activities. This paper aims to determine how performance management systems (PMSs) encourage lecturers to engage in the transfer of knowledge from higher education institutions (HEIs) to society.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a sample of 3,812 Spanish university lecturers surveyed about different PMS tools – strategic plans, budgeting, meetings and reward systems – and different KT activities – research and development contracts, patents, extended patents, licenses, services and spin-offs – for the 2011–2016 period. A logit model was applied for the statistical analyzes.
Findings
As expected, enabling the use of these tools generally increases the probability of producing KT while only in some cases does coercive use reduce it. Moreover, combining enabling and coercive uses does not increase the likelihood of KT performance.
Practical implications
University policymakers and managers should reduce the gap between KT and research and teaching by, for example, examining the effects of their performance management practices on scholars’ perceptions and their subsequent behavior.
Originality/value
Despite previous literature states that coercive use decreases performance, the authors reveal that this is not the case for KT performance in HEIs. According to the findings, a specific record of KT, i.e. a coercive strategic plan tool, has a consistently positive effect on all four KT activities as follows: R&D contracts, patents, extended patents and licenses.
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Cassandra Berbary, Camila Fernandes, Cory A. Crane and Caroline J. Easton
Research suggests that homework compliance within cognitive behavioral therapy is associated with treatment adherence and positive treatment outcomes through generalization of…
Abstract
Purpose
Research suggests that homework compliance within cognitive behavioral therapy is associated with treatment adherence and positive treatment outcomes through generalization of learned skills. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there were differences in aggression and substance use between participants who did and did not complete therapy homework assignments.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary analyses were conducted using data from Easton et al.’s (2017) randomized controlled trial of substance abuse domestic violence (SADV) treatment among substance dependent intimate partner violence (IPV) offenders. Analyses of covariance were conducted in order to determine whether homework completion had a significant effect on aggression and substance use. Correlational analyses were conducted to determine the association between quality of homework and outcomes.
Findings
Participants (n=63) who completed at least two homework assignments had fewer days of alcohol use during treatment compared to those who did not complete any assignments, p=0.03. There was not a difference in the number of days participants engaged in violence based on homework completion. Analyses indicated that those who displayed aggression proximal to alcohol use during treatment completed significantly fewer homework assignments compared to those who did not display aggression proximal to alcohol use (p=0.04).
Research limitations/implications
This research was limited to a sample of male substance using offenders of IPV within the US additional research utilizing a larger sample size in order to investigate differences in homework completion across treatment groups is needed. Further analysis of the barriers to and predictors of homework compliance among this population is recommended.
Originality/value
This research highlights the need for incorporation of homework and further exploration of methods and treatment modalities to ensure homework compliance among substance using male offenders of IPV.
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Jennifer Hedlund and Robert J. Sternberg
Intelligence has been the most widely studied and controversial factor used to explain individual differences in job performance. Measures of general cognitive ability are used in…
Abstract
Intelligence has been the most widely studied and controversial factor used to explain individual differences in job performance. Measures of general cognitive ability are used in all types of personnel decisions, from selection to training assignments, and are well-established as valid predictors of performance. There is increasing evidence, however, that traditional intelligence tests do not fully capture the abilities associated with performance of real-world tasks. The focus of this work is on the role of practical intelligence as an augmented conceptualization of the abilities needed for real-world success. We review various approaches to understanding practical abilities and describe a program of research centered on the role of experience-based tacit knowledge as an aspect of practical intelligence. We consider the implications that practical intelligence has for applied and theoretical work in the area of human resource management.