Huong Thi Pham and Louise Starkey
Vietnam is experiencing rapid expansion in the provision of higher education that requires quality assurance appropriate for the Vietnamese-centralised Confucian cultural context…
Abstract
Purpose
Vietnam is experiencing rapid expansion in the provision of higher education that requires quality assurance appropriate for the Vietnamese-centralised Confucian cultural context. This paper aims to examine the concept of quality from the perspectives of academic leaders, quality assurance members and academics at three higher education institutions in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an interpretative study, semi-structured interviews were used as a major research instrument augmented with document analysis across three case studies. Interviews were conducted with 35 participants from three groups of stakeholders.
Findings
The concept of quality was found to be under-conceptualised in this Vietnamese context. Quality was conceptualised as meeting societal needs across the case studies underpinned by the belief that the purpose of higher education is to prepare graduates for employment.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted in similar disciplines at three state-owned universities in Vietnam in 2011. This provides insight within this context and timeframe that may not be generalised. It is suggested to extend this research to other disciplines, the private sector and other groups of stakeholders.
Practical implications
The paper discusses the necessity of revisiting the philosophy of higher education and re-conceptualising quality in Vietnam that informs quality assurance processes that are relevant to the cultural context.
Originality/value
This paper provides a centralised Confucian perspective to the literature on quality assurance in higher education. How quality is perceived by academic leaders, quality assurance members and, in particular, academic staff can be used to inform policy. In a centralised country such as Vietnam, academic leaders and quality assurance members may indicate their “obedient” attitudes to policies, leading to the same view with what is centrally enacted, while the academic staff have a different perception of quality.
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Matthew R. Leon and Jonathon R. B. Halbesleben
One particular egregious type of workplace mistreatment is supervisor abuse, which has received extensive attention due to its heavy cost to organizations including up to 23…
Abstract
One particular egregious type of workplace mistreatment is supervisor abuse, which has received extensive attention due to its heavy cost to organizations including up to 23 billion dollars in annual loss resulting from increases in absenteeism, health care costs, and productivity loss. Employees attribute causes to abusive supervision, and these attributions impact subsequent reactions. In some cases, employees may feel that abusive supervision is justified, leading to the reaction of Schadenfreude, or pleasure in another’s pain. In this chapter, we discuss antecedents to Schadenfreude, its role in observed mistreatment, and propose a conceptual model based on attribution theory.
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Alex Veen, Timothy Bartram and Fang Lee Cooke
This qualitative narrative review aims to identify and evaluate the potential, challenges and pitfalls of pay-for-performance (P4P) schemes for the home care of adults with a…
Abstract
Purpose
This qualitative narrative review aims to identify and evaluate the potential, challenges and pitfalls of pay-for-performance (P4P) schemes for the home care of adults with a disability. Due to a limited experimentation with P4P schemes in the context of the home and disability care sectors, the authors conducted a narrative review focusing on related areas of care, primarily nursing home care, to better understand the effectiveness of P4P schemes as a care intervention and evaluate the challenges associated with the introduction of these schemes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed a narrative review approach to examine the effectiveness of P4P schemes as a care intervention. The approach included a manual content analysis of the relevant academic and grey literature, focusing on the potential, challenges and pitfalls of P4P for care funders and providers.
Findings
There is some, albeit limited, evidence from other related areas of care to support the effectiveness of P4P to improve the quality of care or the efficiency of its delivery for the home care sector. The results of prior studies are, however, often mixed and inconclusive, due to flaws with the design of schemes, including the nature of the incentives. Limited duration and poor-quality evaluations have further hampered the ability of studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of P4P schemes, which diminishes the credibility of these care interventions. When undertaken systematically, there seems to be some evidence that P4P can work; however, it requires careful design, implementation, measurement and evaluation.
Practical implications
Based on the challenges associated with the successful implementation of P4P schemes, the authors identified lessons for the design, implementation, measurement and evaluation of P4P schemes for care funders and policymakers.
Originality/value
This study critically evaluates the potential of P4P as a care intervention for the home care and disability sectors. By evaluating the potential, challenges and pitfalls associated with P4P in related areas of care, the study provides guidance to home care funders, providers and policymakers in care settings.
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Andre Anugerah Pekerti, Quan Hoang Vuong and Nancy K. Napier
The purpose of this paper is to bring to light the double edges faced by individuals who have international and multicultural experiences. The implication is that these…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to bring to light the double edges faced by individuals who have international and multicultural experiences. The implication is that these individuals encounter acculturation challenges, and also gain from their multiculturality. The authors adopt Berry’s (2011) integration and multiculturalism framework to analyze the experiences and challenges that multi-culturals face. This paper suggests ways to glean the silver lining within organizations to help manage and master multicultural experiences in the workplace to benefit both individuals and organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used empirical materials from expatriates who have worked across multiple cultural contexts. Based on these the authors present three examples to illustrate how expatriates and multicultural individuals place themselves in situations where they experience contact and challenges associated with adopting multiple cultures. The authors then analyze these examples to show how the experiences involve psychological-level integration challenges for Multi- and n-culturals.
Findings
The three multicultural expatriate examples suggest that individuals with international and multicultural experiences who are successful at managing their experiences develop cognitive and behavioral complexity. However, these individuals also face continuous acculturation including cognitive and ethno-cultural identity conflicts such as, rejection from multiple cultural perspectives because they continually cross-multiple cultural microcosms. Suggestions are presented to help maintain one’s sense of self-worth and minimizing ethno-cultural conflicts.
Research limitations/implications
Notwithstanding the value of analyzing the examples of expatriate acculturation experiences, the limitation to the examples is that it is limited to the experience of three individuals. However, the examples were effective in raising points to discuss relevant challenges and/or the double-edged reality faced by boundary spanners, multi-, and n-culturals.
Practical implications
The paper presents possible ways multi- and n-culturals navigate through their multiculturalism, including suggestions to help individuals who struggle with their multiculturalism through mentoring.
Social implications
The paper highlights the challenges of acculturation and suggests ways that individuals can overcome these challenges. It further suggests how organizations can take advantage of such individuals by utilizing existing personnel within the organization.
Originality/value
The paper is one of the few that acknowledge multiculturalism is highly challenging even for successful multi-culturals and n-culturals. Currently the literature is scant concerning how individuals can manage and master multicultural experiences in the workplace. The paper suggests a number of useful strategies for individuals and organizations to manage the challenges.
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Nga D. Tran, Thanh T. Nguyen and My T.N. Nguyen
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the Standard of Quality for higher education institutions in Vietnam which was developed in response to an urgent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the Standard of Quality for higher education institutions in Vietnam which was developed in response to an urgent call for a fundamental reform to enhance the quality of educational provision, particularly of teaching and learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The standard and some related legislative documents such as the Education Act 2005 and the national curriculum frameworks are critically reviewed against a student‐centred approach in education, the theory of constructive alignment, and definitions of quality. In addition, the experiences of the second author, who was involved in the first phase of the Accreditation Program, proved to be invaluable in shedding light onto the evaluative criteria proposed in the standard.
Findings
While the establishment and development of the standard have been welcomed as the right step in addressing quality‐related concerns across the sector, its evaluative criteria do not appear to point in the right direction. Throughout the standard, criteria on outcomes of student learning are not given due priority. Owing to the lack of emphasis on the presence of students and their learning – core components in any educational activities – it seems less likely that implementation of this standard will lead to radical changes towards a student‐centred approach in teaching and learning.
Originality/value
Analysis presented in the paper lends itself to examination of the decision making process concerned with quality assurance and its implementation. Lessons learned from Vietnam in this quality assurance exercise may be useful for countries seeking to adopt a similar approach.
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William S. Harvey, Vince-Wayne Mitchell, Alessandra Almeida Jones and Eric Knight
A major part of knowledge management for knowledge-intensive firms such as professional service firms is the increasing focus on thought leadership. Despite being a well-known…
Abstract
Purpose
A major part of knowledge management for knowledge-intensive firms such as professional service firms is the increasing focus on thought leadership. Despite being a well-known term, it is poorly defined and analysed in the academic and practitioner literature. The aim of this article is to answer three questions. First, what is thought leadership? Second, what tensions exist when seeking to create thought leadership in knowledge-based organisations? Third, what further research is needed about thought leadership? The authors call for cross-disciplinary and academic–practitioner approaches to understanding the field of thought leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors review the academic and practitioner literature on thought leadership to provide a rich oversight of how it is defined and can be understood by separating inputs, creation processes and outcomes. The authors also draw on qualitative data from 12 in-depth interviews with senior leaders of professional service firms.
Findings
Through analysing and building on previous understandings of the concept, the authors redefine thought leadership as follows: “Knowledge from a trusted, eminent and authoritative source that is actionable and provides valuable solutions for stakeholders”. The authors find and explore nine tensions that developing thought leadership creates and propose a framework for understanding how to engage with thought leadership at the industry/macro, organisational/meso and individual/micro levels. The authors propose a research agenda based on testing propositions derived from new theories to explain thought leadership, including leadership, reducing risk, signalling quality and managing social networks, as well as examining the suggested ways to resolve different tensions.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, they are the first to separate out thought leadership from its inputs, creation processes and outcomes. The authors show new organisational paradoxes within thought leadership and show how they can play out at different levels of analysis when implementing a thought leadership strategy. This work on thought leadership is set in a relatively under-explored context for knowledge management researchers, namely, knowledge-intensive professional service firms.
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Duc Khuong Nguyen and Mondher Bellalah
This paper aims to empirically reexamine the dynamic changes in emerging market volatility around stock market liberalization.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically reexamine the dynamic changes in emerging market volatility around stock market liberalization.
Design/methodology/approach
First, a bivariate GARCH‐M model which counts for partial market integration is developed for modeling stock market volatility in emerging market countries. Second, the Bai and Perron stability test in a linear framework and a pooled time‐series cross‐section model were employed to examine the empirical relationship between stock market liberalization and volatility.
Findings
Structural breaks detected in emerging market volatility series did not take place at the time of official liberalization dates, but they rather coincide with alternative events of liberalization process. The effects of official liberalization on return volatility are on average insignificant. The stock return volatility is however lowered when the participation of the US investors becomes effective and important on emerging markets, and when emerging markets increase in size.
Research limitations/implications
The study assumes a static degree of market integration. Future research should extend our model by using a time‐varying measure of market integration.
Practical implications
Policymakers in frontier markets should open up local stock markets to attract foreign investments and to allow local firms to benefit from international risk sharing. Also, the gradual embankment of market‐liberalization is necessary to gain investors' confidence and to prevent the harmful effects of foreign capital flows.
Originality/value
The consideration of alternative events of liberalization process and the use of a powerful stability test to examine the time‐series properties of conditional volatilities.