Ernesto R. Wagner and Eric N. Hansen
Aims to explain the effect of firm size on company innovation inside one industry context: the wood products industry.
Abstract
Purpose
Aims to explain the effect of firm size on company innovation inside one industry context: the wood products industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The strategic issues under study (innovation, corporate strategy) are typically managed by the firm's top executives. Also important is the fact that the response rates of questionnaires targeting this group are generally very low. Consistently, the data for the project were obtained from 43 in‐person interviews with top executives of wood products companies of different sizes in two countries, i.e. the USA and Chile.
Findings
Finds that firm size does impact the innovation type pursued by companies, at least in the wood products industry. Indeed, large companies of this study clearly outrun smaller companies in process innovation. However, our analysis also shows that small companies level the field with larger companies when considering all three innovation types (process, product, business systems).
Practical implications
The capital enjoyed by large companies allows them to excel in process innovation. This article suggests that managers of small companies should compete in a different arena from large companies and emphasize product and business systems innovation, as they can do very well in these areas even with limited resources.
Originality/value
There is very little research about innovation in the wood products industry. This article contributes to the knowledge in this area, also providing new insights about the validity of Schumpeter's assertions regarding the role of company size in innovation.
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Derek W. Thompson, Rajat Panwar and Eric N. Hansen
The aim of this paper is to examine the social responsibility orientation (SRO) gaps between the forest industry executives and societal members in the US Pacific Northwest.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to examine the social responsibility orientation (SRO) gaps between the forest industry executives and societal members in the US Pacific Northwest.
Design/methodology/approach
Using mail survey responses to pre‐existing SRO scales, the two samples are grouped into distinct social orientation clusters and compared based on demographic and firm characteristic variables.
Findings
The forest industry executives were found to have a significantly lower SRO than societal members, indicating a more individualistic social orientation. Demographic analyses suggested that individualistic beliefs were more prominent in males and rural residents among general society respondents. However, SRO among business executives showed no significant differences based on demographics or firm characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted within a specific region of the USA and as such these findings may not be generalized to other regions. The paper argues that one's SRO may have an impact on one's corporate social responsibility orientation; however, this remains an area that must be empirically investigated, both within and beyond the geographic and industrial context presented here.
Practical implications
Previous research has shown that executives with more egalitarian orientations can be more successful and inclusive problem‐solvers and negotiators. As businesses continue to face the challenge of balancing multiple stakeholders' demands, an understanding of gaps in SRO between business executives and general society provides a preliminary basis for companies to understand their misalignment with societal values and to find appropriate ways to narrow these gaps, wherever feasible.
Originality/value
The study represents the first region‐specific assessment of SRO. Additionally, the originality of the study lies in examining the SRO gap between industry executives and general society. Results prompt discussion surrounding the influence of social responsibility orientation gaps on an executive's ability to balance the demands of the firm and stakeholders.
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This article aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Strategic design is increasingly at the heart of organizations' corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Immediate evidence of this, as Koo and Cooper point out, can be seen in the way that the term is heard increasingly these days in the business world. In other words, a previously philanthropic term has become an ever more strategic one.
Practical implications
The article provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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Five groups of searchers each performed two of four pre‐selected searches on the DIALOG system using ONTAP, the 1975 subset of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC…
Abstract
Five groups of searchers each performed two of four pre‐selected searches on the DIALOG system using ONTAP, the 1975 subset of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database. The groups were novices, moderately experienced searchers without ERIC experience, moderately experienced searchers with ERIC experience, very experienced searchers without ERIC experience, and very experienced searchers with ERIC experience. Data were collected on the education, online training, online experience, institutional setting, and personal characteristics of the rearchers. Variables that describe the search process (e.g. number of commands used) and variables that describe the outcome of searches (e.g. recall) were measured by examination of the search transcripts. The results showed that, compared to the experienced subjects, the novices performed surprisingly well. Although, as a group, they searched more slowly than the experienced subjects and scored lower on most (but not all) outcome measures, the differences were not as great as might be expected. Three meaningful patterns were identified among the experienced subjects' searches: (1) the group with the greatest overall experience and the greatest ERIC database experience achieved the highest recall and had the highest values of a subset of search process variables designated ‘search effort’ variables (e.g. number of commands and descriptors, connect time); (2) in general, the moderately experienced searchers with ERIC experience performed the briefest, most cost effective searches (when cost effectiveness is measured in terms of time per relevant reference retrieved). This pattern is attributed to the fact that 75 percent of this group work in academic libraries that charge individual users for online connect time. In this situation pressure to keep costs low appears to be great; (3) the subjects with ERIC experience used more thesaurus terms than the subjects without ERIC experience. The subjects without ERIC experience tended to prefer free text to thesaurus terms. In regard to outcome, only slight evidence was found to support the hypothesis that ERIC database experience leads to greater success in searching.
Saraswata Chaudhuri, Eric Renault and Oscar Wahlstrom
The authors discuss the econometric underpinnings of Barro (2006)'s defense of the rare disaster model as a way to bring back an asset pricing model “into the right ballpark for…
Abstract
The authors discuss the econometric underpinnings of Barro (2006)'s defense of the rare disaster model as a way to bring back an asset pricing model “into the right ballpark for explaining the equity-premium and related asset-market puzzles.” Arbitrarily low-probability economic disasters can restore the validity of model-implied moment conditions only if the amplitude of disasters may be arbitrary large in due proportion. The authors prove an impossibility theorem that in case of potentially unbounded disasters, there is no such thing as a population empirical likelihood (EL)-based model-implied probability distribution. That is, one cannot identify some belief distortions for which the EL-based implied probabilities in sample, as computed by Julliard and Ghosh (2012), could be a consistent estimator. This may lead to consider alternative statistical discrepancy measures to avoid the problem with EL. Indeed, the authors prove that, under sufficient integrability conditions, power divergence Cressie-Read measures with positive power coefficients properly define a unique population model-implied probability measure. However, when this computation is useful because the reference asset pricing model is misspecified, each power divergence will deliver different model-implied beliefs distortion. One way to provide economic underpinnings to the choice of a particular belief distortion is to see it as the endogenous result of investor's choice when optimizing a recursive multiple-priors utility a la Chen and Epstein (2002). Jeong et al. (2015)'s econometric study confirms that this way of accommodating ambiguity aversion may help to address the Equity Premium puzzle.
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Little is known about how assistive technology standards have been implemented in preservice teacher preparation. This chapter provides a review of the literature concerning the…
Abstract
Little is known about how assistive technology standards have been implemented in preservice teacher preparation. This chapter provides a review of the literature concerning the importance of evidence-based practice and the research base supporting assistive technology in order to set the context for reporting the results of a comprehensive national study of the status of assistive technology state standards for teachers in all of the 50 states (plus Washington, DC). This chapter includes the findings of the study, the research that the study was based upon, and a review of relevant research in the fields of assistive technology, educational technology, and evidence-based practice. Only six states reported having AT standards and six states reported having AT competencies. Three states reported having both standards and competencies, yielding nine unique states (out of 51) with AT standards and/or AT competencies. Regression analyses to determine the relationship between the study variables and national reading and math performance of students with disabilities were inconclusive. The implications of the study findings and recommendations for future research are presented.
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Rebecca Reynolds, Sam Chu, June Ahn, Simon Buckingham Shum, Preben Hansen, Caroline Haythornthwaite, Hong Huang, Eric M. Meyers and Soo Young Rieh
Many of today’s information and technology systems and environments facilitate inquiry, learning, consciousness-raising and knowledge-building. Such platforms include e-learning…
Abstract
Purpose
Many of today’s information and technology systems and environments facilitate inquiry, learning, consciousness-raising and knowledge-building. Such platforms include e-learning systems which have learning, education and/or training as explicit goals or objectives. They also include search engines, social media platforms, video-sharing platforms, and knowledge sharing environments deployed for work, leisure, inquiry, and personal and professional productivity. The new journal, Information and Learning Sciences, aims to advance our understanding of human inquiry, learning and knowledge-building across such information, e-learning, and socio-technical system contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This article introduces the journal at its launch under new editorship in January, 2019. The article, authored by the journal co-editors and all associate editors, explores the lineage of scholarly undertakings that have contributed to the journal's new scope and mission, which includes past and ongoing scholarship in the following arenas: Digital Youth, Constructionism, Mutually Constitutive Ties in Information and Learning Sciences, and Searching-as-Learning.
Findings
The article offers examples of ways in which the two fields stand to enrich each other towards a greater holistic advancement of scholarship. The article also summarizes the inaugural special issue contents from the following contributors: Caroline Haythornthwaite; Krista Glazewski and Cindy Hmelo-Silver; Stephanie Teasley; Gary Marchionini; Caroline R. Pitt; Adam Bell, Rose Strickman and Katie Davis; Denise Agosto; Nicole Cooke; and Victor Lee.
Originality/value
The article, this special issue, and the journal in full, are among the first formal and ongoing publication outlets to deliberately draw together and facilitate cross-disciplinary scholarship at this integral nexus. We enthusiastically and warmly invite continued engagement along these lines in the journal’s pages, and also welcome related, and wholly contrary points of view, and points of departure that may build upon or debate some of the themes we raise in the introduction and special issue contents.
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Josephine Ofosu-Mensah Ababio, Eric Boachie Yiadom, Daniel Ofori-Sasu and Emmanuel Sarpong–Kumankoma
This study aims to explore how institutional quality links digital financial inclusion to inclusive development in lower-middle-income countries, considering heterogeneities.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how institutional quality links digital financial inclusion to inclusive development in lower-middle-income countries, considering heterogeneities.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses dynamic generalized method of moments to analyze a balanced panel data set of 48 lower-middle- income countries (LMICs) from 2004 to 2022, sourced from various databases. It assesses four variables and conducts checks for study robustness.
Findings
The study reveals a positive link between digital financial inclusion and inclusive development in LMICs, confirming theoretical predictions. Empirically, nations with quality institutions exhibit greater financial and developmental inclusion than those with weak institutions, emphasizing the substantial positive impact of institutional quality on the connection between digital financial inclusion and inclusive development in LMICs. For instance, the interaction effect reveals a substantial increase of 0.123 in inclusive development for every unit increase in digital financial inclusion in the presence of strong institutions. The findings provide robust empirical evidence that the presence of quality institutions is a key catalyst for the benefits of digital finance in inclusive development.
Originality/value
This study offers significant insights into digital financial inclusion and inclusive development in LMICs. It confirms a positive relationship between digital financial inclusion and inclusive development, highlighting the pivotal role of institutional quality in amplifying these benefits. Strong institutions benefit deprived individuals, families, communities and businesses, enabling full access to digital financial inclusion benefits. This facilitates engagement in development processes, aiding LMICs in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
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This paper aims to explore the extent to which knowledge management practices, that is the process of developing and sharing organisational knowledge, can enhance intellectual…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the extent to which knowledge management practices, that is the process of developing and sharing organisational knowledge, can enhance intellectual capital (IC) in the context of school education.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method approach was adopted as the research strategy. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted to collect data from 445 teachers at 13 primary schools in Hong Kong. A structural equation model (SEM) was applied to confirm the predictive effective of knowledge strategies on school IC. Interviews were conducted in a case school to explore the process for capitalising the knowledge by Lesson Study.
Findings
The result of the SEM shows that personalisation and codification strategies are predictors of human capital and structural capital at schools. The findings from interviews with the principals and teachers show that personalisation and codification strategies could be put into operation as a Lesson Study to leverage knowledge for school development.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the management practices of school organisation for enhancing their IC by conducting Lesson Study for the development of their schools effectively.
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The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online…
Abstract
The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories: