This study provides an insight on education skills for digital age that could be considered by higher education institutions (HEIs) toward sustainable development. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides an insight on education skills for digital age that could be considered by higher education institutions (HEIs) toward sustainable development. This study summarizes academic literature and provides a proposal for integrating a set of educational skills toward United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are aligned with competencies mapped with international practices delivered by qualification frameworks. This paper will act as guiding tool for academics while revising or developing academic curricular for Business Education Sector.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a combination of academic literature, published practices of HEIs and policy/regulatory standards as well as academic frameworks used as drivers for implementing educational skills for sustainable development.
Findings
HEIs need to rethink its curricular design and revisit the graduate attributes in sync with set of evaluation mechanisms to assess key educational skills for digital age and sustainable development to create a societal impact particularly in Business Education Sector with the focus on interdisciplinary for digital age including technology and management skills.
Research limitations/implications
The method used is exploratory. Future research could be developed with a structured approach to validate the findings.
Practical implications
HEIs could use the proposed set of educational skills for digital age to be inculcated within the curricular of business education sector, at policymaking level HEIs may revisit their current strategies and include different policies and procedures to assess the impact of integrating key educational skills for digital age skills toward sustainable development.
Social implications
Student, parents, employers will have better understanding of expected education skills for digital age toward sustainable development which will support learning progression and career pathways.
Originality/value
Little research has been conducted on the impact of education skills for digital age toward sustainable development in line with competencies related to national framework, the outcome of this study provides original contribution to support HEIs adaptation.
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Yusuf Mohamed Janahi, Esra AlDhaen, Allam Hamdan and Waleed Ahmed Nureldeen
Academic institutions, for the most part, discontinued face-to-face classes in favor of adopting and deploying online learning modalities that allowed for immediate participation…
Abstract
Purpose
Academic institutions, for the most part, discontinued face-to-face classes in favor of adopting and deploying online learning modalities that allowed for immediate participation. The pandemic has hastened the pace of implementation as well as the utilization of and reliance on technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) is important for higher education business continuity. Currently, some institutions are utilizing these resources to strengthen their student recruitment and retention efforts. Others use them to make the classroom more accessible or to construct tailored learning programs.
Design/methodology/approach
The rapid spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has compelled many countries to enact stringent measures to halt the virus’s spread. The pandemic has hastened the adoption of online teaching and remote work technology. While a combination of online and face-to-face learning is the way of the future, it will necessitate additional resources to support program development and delivery, as well as increased collaboration between IT and subject matter experts.
Findings
This successful technological integration, which includes a smooth transition from face-to-face training to digital e-courses, provides a variety of benefits, including money saved on travel expenses. Top technological developments will continue to enhance company innovation and efficiency while also improving service efficiency. The top strategic technology trends for this year fall into three categories: human centricity, location independence, and resilient delivery, and are expected to be significant for the next five to ten years. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will need to establish a technological ecosystem that is dependable, cloud-based, data-integrated, and learning-focused to compete successfully in this “new normal.” After the epidemic, when classes resume on campus, a hybrid approach to virtual learning is likely to become the new normal. While it is unlikely that campuses would be totally virtual, they will also be unlikely to be entirely physical.
Originality/value
A blend of actual and virtual classrooms, as well as online learning, is the long-term solution, and strategic decisions made now will be critical in preparing for a post-pandemic world.
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Accreditation represents a quality of academic standards and validation, and its impact on business schools is multifaceted. Accredited institutions are widely acknowledged for…
Abstract
Purpose
Accreditation represents a quality of academic standards and validation, and its impact on business schools is multifaceted. Accredited institutions are widely acknowledged for their higher quality, financial stability, stakeholder acceptance and overall growth compared to non-accredited educational institutions. Given these positive outcomes, this study aims to explore the role of accreditation in fostering financial innovation and business sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative design to understand this relationship, engaging 36 leaders from Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-accredited business schools in the Gulf Cooperation Council region as participants to collect data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of the topic. Data were analysed using the content analysis method.
Findings
That accreditation significantly influences the business sustainability of these schools. In addition, although the direct impact of accreditation on financial innovation may not be immediately apparent, it was observed that financial inflows experienced remarkable growth after obtaining accreditation.
Originality/value
While the effects of accreditation have been thoroughly researched, its influence on financial innovation and business sustainability remains unexplored. This study aims to discern if accredited educational institutions excel in financial innovation and maintaining sustainable business practices. These findings have important implications as they guide university administrators to maximise the benefits of accrediting their business schools.
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Merlin Stone, Eleni Aravopoulou, Geraint Evans, Esra Aldhaen and Brett David Parnell
This paper reviews the literature on information mismanagement and constructs a typology of misinformation that can be applied to analyse project planning and strategic planning…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper reviews the literature on information mismanagement and constructs a typology of misinformation that can be applied to analyse project planning and strategic planning processes to reduce the chances of failure that results from information mismanagement. This paper aims to summarize the research on information mismanagement and provide guidance to managers concerning how to minimize the negative consequences of information mismanagement and to academics concerning how to research and analyse case studies that might involve information mismanagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review accompanied by conceptual analysis.
Findings
Information mismanagement is widespread in organizations, so all those involved in managing and researching them need to be far more aware of the damage that can be done by it.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on the Western society (Europe and North America). The same research should be carried out in other parts of the world. Also, all the case studies could usefully be investigated in more depth to apply the taxonomy.
Practical implications
Managers should be much more aware of their own and others’ tendencies to mismanage information to their own benefit.
Social implications
Stakeholders in public sector activities, including citizens, should be much more aware of the tendency of the government and the public sector to mismanage information to justify particular policy approaches and to disguise failure.
Originality/value
The taxonomy on information mismanagement is original, as is its application to project planning and strategic decision-making.
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Amina Buallay, Gagan Kukreja, Esra Aldhaen, Muneer Al Mubarak and Allam Mohammed Hamdan
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and firms' operational, financial and market performance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and firms' operational, financial and market performance (measured in the form of return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin's Q (TQ), respectively) in the Mediterranean countries from a stakeholder perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Research is quantitative in nature, based on a cross-sectional and time-series analysis of 203 firms listed in six Mediterranean countries for 10 years from 2008 to 2017, with 1,689 observations. The theoretical model is built on a stakeholder theory. The practical model is built on the independent variable (CSR) and the dependent variables ROA, ROE and TQ.
Findings
The findings deduced from the empirical results indicated that CSR disclosure negatively affects operational and market performance but does not affect financial performance.
Practical implications
Studying the relationship between CSR disclosure and firms' operational, financial and market performance, with the consideration of variations, can bring many benefits internally by being more conscious of important activities that should be undertaken and externally by detecting what regulators and other stakeholders want for better sustainable development.
Originality/value
This research adds value to the existing limited literature of CSR disclosure on firm's performance in the Mediterranean countries, and it gives tips of advice for firms to manage CSR disclosure wisely.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate how the digital competence of academicians influences students’ engagement in learning activities in the face of the pandemic outbreak…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the digital competence of academicians influences students’ engagement in learning activities in the face of the pandemic outbreak. In addition to this, the paper investigates how digital competence influences each dimension of student engagement (cognitive, affective and behavioural).
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional, quantitative and explanatory research design was used to conduct the study. Data were gathered with an adopted questionnaire administered to a randomly selected sample of 500 university faculty members who were not digitally literate prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. Apart from the goodness of data tests, inferential statistics were applied to test hypotheses.
Findings
Results indicate a significant influence of teachers’ digital competence on student engagement and the pandemic outbreak positively moderates the relationship. Digital competence equally influences all three dimensions of student engagement.
Practical implications
The outbreak of COVID-19 made the adoption of digital life more compulsive and the nations with already available digital infrastructure and digital competence effectively minimized the adverse effect of social distancing as a result of the pandemic outbreak. Findings emphasize practitioners to focus on the digital capacity building of academicians and the provision of digital infrastructure to facilitate student engagement.
Social implications
Society is transforming into a hi-tech lifestyle and technological advancement is penetrating almost every sphere of life at an unprecedented pace. From the digitalization of day-to-day affairs to e-governance, the adoption of technology is becoming a new normal. The outbreak of the pandemic overtook academic institutions equally. So, the social distancing compelled academicians and other stakeholders of universities to switchover from in-campus classes to online classes. The findings enrich the existing body of literature by explaining how digital competence has a determining role in ensuring student engagement amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Originality/value
This research is a seminal work, as it tests the influence of digital competence on student engagement with the moderating role of the pandemic outbreak. To the best of the author’s knowledge, existing literature does not present this kind of research.