This article is based on experiences and convictions from teaching leadership to students on the university and college levels. Teaching through leadership rather than about…
Abstract
This article is based on experiences and convictions from teaching leadership to students on the university and college levels. Teaching through leadership rather than about leadership is advocated. Student learning and facilitator teaching are contrasted. Leadership is viewed more as a mutual relationship rather than certain personality traits of the leader. The importance of understanding group processes is stressed.
Ralf T. Münnich and Jan Georg Seger
The purpose of this study is to show the importance of adequately considering quality measures within the use of composite indicators (CIs). Policy support often relies on high…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to show the importance of adequately considering quality measures within the use of composite indicators (CIs). Policy support often relies on high quality indicators. Often, the underlying data of relevant indicators are coming mainly from sample surveys. Obviously, the reliability of the indicators then heavily relies on the sampling design and other quality aspects.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting from the well-known work on sensitivity analysis of indicators, this study integrates the sampling process as an additional source of variability. The methodology is evaluated in a close-to-reality simulation environment using relevant and important surveys with different sampling designs. As an example, this study uses data related to the statistics of income and living conditions (SILC). The study is based on a design-based simulation framework.
Findings
In general, the normalisation method is dominating as source of the total variance of CI. In our study, we show that the sampling process also becomes rather relevant and generally dominates the influence of different weighting methods. We show that in some scenarios approximately 40 per cent of the variability in the sensitivity analysis comes from the sampling process. The quality of ranking derived from CIs then suffers considerably from the sampling design. When using data sources from different quality, e.g. in regional comparisons, one may expect some cases with biased CI values which may become useless for applications.
Research limitations/implications
The impact of sampling heavily depends on the data gathering process. In case of sample data, the sampling designs play an important role. However, the design effect still depends on the variables taken into account and has to be considered carefully.
Practical implications
The findings show the importance of considering the quality framework the European Code of Practice also for CIs. This additional information shall foster to understand possible over- or misinterpretations of CIs, especially when deriving rankings from the indicators. Specialised statistical methods shall be integrated in future research, particularly when focusing on regional indicators.
Originality/value
CIs are often used for policy monitoring. In general, the data gathering process is not considered adequately by end-users. This becomes especially important when being interested in regional indicators. The present paper shows possible implications of the sampling designs on CI outcomes with the focus on comparative studies.
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George Macgregor and James Turner
The use of e‐learning is largely predicated upon the assumption that it can facilitate improvements in student learning and therefore can be more effective than conventional…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of e‐learning is largely predicated upon the assumption that it can facilitate improvements in student learning and therefore can be more effective than conventional techniques. This assumption has been supported by some in the literature but has been questioned by a continuing body of contrary or indifferent evidence. The purpose of this paper is to improve the theoretical understanding of the variables influencing e‐learning effectiveness, the manner in which these variables have been studied to date, and to propose a suitable conceptual model of e‐learning effectiveness to aid its evaluation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper revisits and critically reviews major contributions to the e‐learning effectiveness literature.
Findings
Owing to a variety of issues prevalent in the literature, it is clear that the variables influencing effectiveness are multifarious and few researchers impose adequate controls or factor them into research designs. Drawing on the work of Dewey, Englebart, and Kaplan, a conceptual framework of e‐learning effectiveness is proposed. This model maps out the key variables involved in the study of e‐learning effectiveness and the interactions between variables.
Originality/value
It is anticipated that such a model will assist researchers in developing future evaluative studies which are both sufficiently robust and holistic in design. It is also hypothesised that studies designed using the conceptual model will be more likely to yield results corroborating the ability of e‐learning to affect improvements in student learning.
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The interest in industrial robots is steadily growing, and many articles and papers have been presented in this field. However, many articles concentrate on either mechanical…
Abstract
The interest in industrial robots is steadily growing, and many articles and papers have been presented in this field. However, many articles concentrate on either mechanical systems on one hand or on very sofisticated control systems on the other.
Jan Kleijnen, Diana Dolmans, Jos Willems and Hans van Hout
The purpose of this paper is to explore faculty's perceptions of quality management activities (QMA) within their departments, attention being paid to relevant quality aspects and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore faculty's perceptions of quality management activities (QMA) within their departments, attention being paid to relevant quality aspects and whether quality management contributes to control or improvement of higher education. Furthermore, it examines differences between departments and relationships between the different variables.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire containing items with Likert‐type answer scales was distributed to faculty (n=266) of 18 departments of universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands: 16 items dealt with QMA, 17 with attention paid to relevant quality aspects and ten with the perceived effects.
Findings
Faculty were neutral about the degree to which sufficient QMA were conducted within their departments. They were positive about the attention paid to relevant quality aspects. Furthermore, they were positive about the effects in terms of improvement and negative about the effects in terms of control. Significant differences were found between departments. Finally, positive correlations were found between management activities, attention being paid to quality aspects and the perceived effect in terms of improvement.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this study is that only faculty's perceptions were measured, thus it is not clear whether these QMA really result in improvement in educational practice.
Practical implications
Departments paying little attention to quality aspects and with few QMA could really benefit from further increasing their quality management efforts.
Originality/value
Quality management is often seen as mainly contributing to control and managerialism. This study demonstrates that according to faculty, quality management is influencing improvement positively.
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Sam Jan Cees Krouwel, Anna van Luijn and Marjolein B.M. Zweekhorst
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a practical model for the evaluation and adaptation of educational programmes in order to incorporate employability development focussed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a practical model for the evaluation and adaptation of educational programmes in order to incorporate employability development focussed on enabling graduates to self-manage their career.
Design/methodology/approach
The model integrates several perspectives on and conceptualisations of the nature of employability and its development. The integration of various elements is justified on the basis of existing research and the experience of local educational practitioners.
Findings
The model integrates insights from the Graduate Employability Development model (Harvey et al., 2002), the CareerEDGE model (Dacre Pool and Sewell, 2007), the Career Management Employability model (Bridgstock, 2009) and adopts three career competencies as outcome indicators (Akkermans et al., 2013). The resulting model describes in simple terms what educational practitioners may adapt in the process of employability development to enhance the ability of prospective graduates to manage their own careers.
Research limitations/implications
The model remains theoretical and the relations it implies require further validation. Involving graduates and students in evaluating the model may contribute to validating its scope and applicability.
Practical implications
The model provides a practical tool to retrospectively and prospectively evaluate the institutional provision of employability development education. It may serve as a basis for adaptation to other programmes.
Originality/value
By adopting a processual perspective on employability, the model shifts away from the possession of a predefined set of characteristics, and towards enabling students to actively influence their own employability.
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WE are happy to publish a very interesting and practical little article on a simplified system of borrowers' registration. Such a question may seem to have been settled long ago…
Abstract
WE are happy to publish a very interesting and practical little article on a simplified system of borrowers' registration. Such a question may seem to have been settled long ago and not to deserve further discussion, but Miss Wileman makes it quite clear that there is still a little more to be said. Not all librarians will agree with her on one point, although recently it seems to be accepted by some librarians that the numbering of borrowers' tickets is unnecessary, and especially the decimal numbering of them. This matter has been discussed at various meetings of librarians who use these numbers, and they arc, we understand, unanimous in their desire to retain them. They are not intended for a single library such as is at present in operation at Hendon, from which our contributor writes. They are for a system of many branch libraries with a central registration department, and where there is telephone charge and discharge of books. The number is simply intended to give an accurate and rapid definition of an actual person. This we have said several times before, we think, and to dismiss a method which has been found successful with the statement that it is surely unnecessary rather implies that the writer has not fully understood the question. That, however, does not reduce the value of our article.
The successful placing of long‐range technology planning decisionsin the context of overall corporate strategic planning requires amechanism for synthesizing R&D strategy and…
Abstract
The successful placing of long‐range technology planning decisions in the context of overall corporate strategic planning requires a mechanism for synthesizing R&D strategy and business strategy. This article argues that formalized technology forecasting has an important operational role to play in achieving the synthesis. Descriptive guidelines for an integrative framework are developed on the basis of a literature review and the author′s technology forecasting work which has been conducted to help devise long‐term research strategy in the offshore industry. Several factors are discussed which are considered to have an important integrative role. Technology forecasting is discussed with respect to these factors and the influence they have on the planning process.
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Simon Lundh, Karin Seger, Magnus Frostenson and Sven Helin
The purpose of this study is to identify the norms that underlie and condition the decisions made by preparers of financial reports.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify the norms that underlie and condition the decisions made by preparers of financial reports.
Design/methodology/approach
This interview-based study illustrates how financial report preparers engage in behaviors linked to the perception of recognition and measurement of internally generated intangible assets by important stakeholders. All of the companies included in the study adhere to International Financial Reporting Standards when creating their consolidated financial statements. The participants selected for the study are involved in accounting decisions related to research and development in accordance with International Accounting Standard (IAS) 38.
Findings
The authors identify the normative assumptions underlying the recognition and measurement of internally generated intangibles, which are based on concerns of consistency, credibility and reasonableness. The authors find that the normative basis for legitimacy in financial accounting is primarily related to cognitive legitimacy and is not of a moral or pragmatic nature.
Originality/value
The study reveals that recognition and measurement of internally generated intangibles in financial accounting relate to legitimacy. The authors identify specific norms that form the basis of this legitimacy, namely, consistency, credibility and reasonableness. These identified norms serve as constraints, mitigating the risk of judgment misuse within the IAS 38 framework for earnings management.