Jose D. Meisel, Felipe Montes, Angie M. Ramirez, Pablo D. Lemoine, Juan A. Valdivia and Roberto Zarama
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the access of students to higher education has presented an extraordinary growth over the past fifteen years. This rapid growth has presented a…
Abstract
Purpose
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the access of students to higher education has presented an extraordinary growth over the past fifteen years. This rapid growth has presented a challenge for increasing the system resources and capabilities while maintaining its quality. As a result, the networked universities (NUs) organized themselves as a collaborative network, and they have become an interesting model for facing the complexity driven by globalization, rapidly changing technology, dynamic growth of knowledge and highly specialized areas of expertise. In this article, we studied the NU named Red Universitaria Mutis (Red Mutis) with the aim of characterizing the collaboration and integration structure of the network.
Design/methodology/approach
Network analytic methods (visual analysis, positional analysis and a stochastic network method) were used to characterize the organizational structure and robustness of the network, and to identify what variables or structural tendencies are related to the likelihood that specific areas of a university would collaborate.
Findings
Red Mutis is a good example of regional NUs that could take advantage of the strengths, partnerships, information and knowledge of the regional and international universities that form the network. Analyses showed that Red Mutis has a differentiated structure consisting of academic and non-academic university areas with a vertical coordination (by steering and management) of the different university areas.
Originality/value
The methodology could be used as a framework to analyze and strengthen other strategic alliances between universities and as a model for the development of other NU in local and global contexts.
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Roberto Zarama, Alfonso Reyes, Eduardo Aldana, Jorge Villalobos, Juan C. Bohorquez, Juan P. Calderón, Alonso Botero, Nelson L. Lammoglia, José L. Villaveces, Luis Pinzón, Ricardo Bonilla, Andrés Mejía, José Bermeo, Isaac Dyner, Neil F. Johnson and Juan A. Valdivia
This paper seeks to present a proposal to change the form in which knowledge is produced in Colombia.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to present a proposal to change the form in which knowledge is produced in Colombia.
Design/methodology/approach
Discusses the key issue – to transform the way in which the production of knowledge is currently taking place at the university level.
Findings
To be able to increase the production of knowledge in this country there is a need to create bonds among industrial, governmental, and academic institutions. It is believed that this can be done by the development of a system capable of continuously forming researchers at a doctoral level.
Originality/value
The paper puts forward a proposal for the construction of such a system based on the developments of organizational cybernetics. The proposal is based on the concept of autonomy which is crucial to solve this problem.
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Nelson L. Lammoglia, Camilo Olaya, Jorge Villalobos, Juan P. Calderón, Juan A. Valdivia and Roberto Zarama
The paper considers model‐based management and, based on it, proposes a heuristic‐based management. This paper aims to assert that heuristic‐based management, for complex systems…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper considers model‐based management and, based on it, proposes a heuristic‐based management. This paper aims to assert that heuristic‐based management, for complex systems, a process of free variation, of pairs of models and actions – called organisational strategies, maximizes the chances of improving the system's performance in open environments.
Design/methodology/approach
A conception of complex systems are introduced and characterized as open and self‐organising systems. Then, the proposal to heuristically use pairs of models and actions, called organisational strategies, to manage social systems based on evolutionary thought is supported. Subsequently, a computational experiment is proposed to show that, even in a simple framework, variation processes are required.
Findings
The paper shows that two processes may be required to preserve self‐organising systems. This finding indicates that variation and selection processes, related to evolutionary thought, are necessary for managers to deal with complex systems interacting with complex environments. Finally, it is shown that, even in simple computational environments, variation may be required.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is the first part of an ongoing research agenda on the subject of heuristic‐based management and only refers to variation processes.
Originality/value
The paper links complex systems theories to evolutionary thought. It also relates principles of cybernetics to those of game theory. The proposal has been formalized based on these relations, and has been called heuristic‐based management. Principles first developed in information theory, organisational cybernetics, and evolutionary thought are used so that a complex system can be effective when interacting with a complex environment.
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Jose D Meisel, Olga L. Sarmiento, Camilo Olaya, Juan A Valdivia and Roberto Zarama
Overweight, obesity, and physical inactivity have in recent years become an important public health problem worldwide. Investigations that study obesity using a systemic approach…
Abstract
Purpose
Overweight, obesity, and physical inactivity have in recent years become an important public health problem worldwide. Investigations that study obesity using a systemic approach in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are limited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to study the nutritional stages dynamics within the Colombian urban population.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a population-level systems dynamics (SD) model that captures the transitions of population by body mass index (BMI) categories. The authors proposed a heuristic to estimate the transference rates (TRs) between BMI categories using data from the Colombian Demographic and Health Survey 2005 and 2010.
Findings
The Colombian urban population is moving to overweight and obese categories. The TRs from not overweight to overweight and from overweight to obese (0.0076 and 0.0054, respectively) are higher than the TRs from obese to overweight and from overweight to not-overweight (1.025×10e−7 and 3.47×10e−7, respectively). The simulation results show that the prevalences of overweight and obesity will increase by 6.2 and 7.5 percent by 2015, and by 13.4 and 18.9 percent by 2030, respectively.
Originality/value
Investigations that study obesity using a systemic approach in LMICs are limited. A SD model was proposed to examine changes in the population’s nutritional stages using population accumulation structures by BMI categories. The authors propose a heuristic to estimate the TRs of individuals between BMI categories. The proposed model can be used to study the effects of policy interventions to prevent overweight and obesity. The authors analyze a few policy intervention strategies.
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Irene Huertas-Valdivia, Thais González-Torres and Juan-José Nájera-Sánchez
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive, structured, objective bibliometric review of the main leadership styles investigated in the hospitality industry from 1977 to 2021…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive, structured, objective bibliometric review of the main leadership styles investigated in the hospitality industry from 1977 to 2021 (September) and depicts this field’s conceptual structure.
Design/methodology/approach
Bibliometric analysis techniques such as bibliographic coupling were used using several software applications (VOSviewer, BibExcel and Pajek, among others) to identify trends and research gaps in this literature. The paper provides an overview of the evolution of research activity on different leadership styles that yields important insights into research trends, most-researched themes, main authors and key journals.
Findings
A total of 287 publications on leadership from the Web of Science and Scopus databases were summarized. The number of studies on leadership has been growing since 2013, evincing persistent interest in the topic. Eleven main streams of leadership research in the hospitality literature were detected and characterized, with transformational and servant leadership emerging as the most common approaches. Possible evolution of the topics and future research lines were also identified.
Research limitations/implications
The findings can guide practitioners and scholars to further explore and implement emerging leadership styles in the hospitality sector. The paper also presents future research avenues to advance the field of leadership.
Originality/value
The current review provides a valuable framework for examining key leadership styles, understanding the most-researched styles and illustrating leadership's critical role in organizational and individual outcomes in hospitality businesses.
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Carmen Pedreño-Peñalver, Irene Huertas-Valdivia and Alicia Orea-Giner
The purpose of this study is to explore the paranormal tourist experience on ghost tours, taking into account the participants’ perceptions and their prior knowledge of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the paranormal tourist experience on ghost tours, taking into account the participants’ perceptions and their prior knowledge of the paranormal, in order to determine the principal components of the future of paranormal tourist experience.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is divided into two phases. The first phase is based on participant observation during a ghost tour. The second phase is based on a previously published framework for paranormal tourism. It introduces a qualitative adaptation of the orchestra model to look in-depth at how experiences with paranormal tours might shape the future of tourism as a major subtype.
Findings
Paranormal tourism has external (situational-enchantment, historical, mystical, ghostly and unsolved mysteries) and internal (affective, cognitive, sensory, behavior and relationship) components that are inter-linked. Future paranormal tourist experiences (FPTEs) must be focused on enhancing these aspects in order to offer an immersive experience.
Originality/value
Consequently, this paper proposes the FPTE model.
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Lydia Murillo-Ramos, Irene Huertas-Valdivia and Fernando E. García-Muiña
This study aims to delineate the fast-growing path of human resource management (HRM) research with a sustainable orientation and resolve confusion over the differences and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to delineate the fast-growing path of human resource management (HRM) research with a sustainable orientation and resolve confusion over the differences and interdependences of the various approaches that have emerged: green human resource management (GHRM), sustainable human resource management (Sustainable HRM), and socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM).
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, bibliometrics and science mapping were used to analyze the field's conceptual structure based on 587 related documents extracted from the ISI Web of Science database. Co-word analysis with SciMAT software enabled the authors to map the main themes studied and identify evolution, importance, and relevance.
Findings
SR-HRM is the least developed of the three approaches analyzed and has been overlooked by the journals that publish the most work in the field of HR. The authors identify a lack of sustainability-related HRM studies on higher education and an ongoing need both to explore the role of culture in GHRM implementation and to explain further the potential non-green behavioral outcomes that can result from GHRM's use.
Practical implications
This study demonstrates how human resource factors are key to managing challenges such as aging workforce, unstable employment relationships, implementation of green supply chain management, and Industry 4.0.
Originality/value
This study explores in detail the interrelations among various emerging sustainable human resource approaches and subtopics derived from the interrelations to reveal hotspots, dilemmas, paradoxes, and research gaps.
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Burcu Üzüm, Osman Seray Özkan and Irene Huertas-Valdivia
A quantitative study sought to better understand responsible leadership (RL) style in the private security sector. The authors analyzed RL’s mediating role in the relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
A quantitative study sought to better understand responsible leadership (RL) style in the private security sector. The authors analyzed RL’s mediating role in the relationship between rules climate (RC) and employees' perceived organizational support (POS).
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected through an online questionnaire administered to full-time private guards in Ankara (Turkey). A mediation model was proposed, and research hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The results indicate a significant positive relationship between the company’s RC and managers' RL, and a positive significant relationship between managers' RL and employees' POS. RL mediates the relationship between company’s RC and employees' POS.
Research limitations/implications
The theoretical framework draws on conservation of resources (COR) theory to consider RL an effective resource. The organization’s RC was a key factor the affecting leader’s responsible behaviors.
Originality/value
This study explores a thriving leadership style, gaining research attention across fields. To the authors' knowledge, no prior research has studied this leadership style in the security sector. The authors use COR to increase understanding of an important antecedent (company’s RC) and consequence (employees' POS) of RL, highlighting this emerging style’s mediating role.
Propósito
Este artículo de enfoque cuantitativo favorece una mayor comprensión del liderazgo responsable (RL) en el sector de la seguridad privada. Analiza el papel mediador de este estilo de liderazgo en la relación entre un clima de regulación (RC) y la percepción de los trabajadores del apoyo organizacional (POS).
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Los datos fueron recolectados a través de un cuestionario online que se administró a guardas de seguridad privados empleados a tiempo completo en la región de Ankara (Turquía). Se propone un modelo de mediación y se comprueban las hipótesis propuestas a través de ecuaciones estructurales con el software (SEM).
Resultados
Los resultados obtenidos indican una relación positiva y significativa entre el RC y el liderazgo responsable de los superiores, así como una relación también positiva y significativa entre el RL y la POS de los empleados. Se encuentra que el RL media la relación entre el RC y el POS.
Implicaciones de la investigación
Bajo el marco teórico de la Teoría de Conservación de Recursos (COR) se considera que el RL es un recurso altamente efectivo para las organizaciones. El RC de la organización se perfila como un factor clave que afecta los comportamientos del líder responsable.
Limitaciones del trabajo
El diseño transversal del estudio (datos recogidos en un memento del tiempo) y el uso de una muestra de conveniencia son las principales limitaciones del trabajo.
Originalidad/valor
Este estudio explora un estilo de liderazgo aún desconocido, pero con gran potencial, que está ganando fuerza en el ámbito de la investigación científica en los últimos años. Según nuestro conocimiento, se trata del primer estudio que explora este novedoso estilo de liderazgo en el sector de la seguridad privada. El empleo de la Teoría COR favorece la comprensión del RC como un antecedente de este estilo de liderazgo (RL), y también contribuye a comprender la POS de los empleados como clara consecuencia, destacando el papel mediador de este estilo de liderazgo emergente.
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Julianna Paola Ramirez Lozano, Kelly Rojas Valdez and Juan Carlos Sosa Varela
This study aims to analyze the effects of microentrepreneurs’ knowledge transfer (KT) on personal improvement (PI) and business improvement (BI).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the effects of microentrepreneurs’ knowledge transfer (KT) on personal improvement (PI) and business improvement (BI).
Design/methodology/approach
The study was developed in two stages: a literature review based on KT and the learning process in microenterprises to have managerial competence and PI and BI to acquire the managerial competence that entrepreneurs need. The second stage was constructing a structural model based on 107 questionnaires and bootstrapping of 5,000 replications of microentrepreneurs who went through a training program (quantitative) and a focus group (qualitative). This study had a mixed approach, exploratory scope and experimental design.
Findings
The research showed real evidence about the performance level of microentrepreneurs when they passed through the process of KT and its impact on PI and BI. This research considers their managerial competencies, and the findings show a relationship between the theory of individual and organizational learning.
Research limitations/implications
This study considered Peruvian microentrepreneurs who participated in a virtual training program that included several courses related to their current environments and topics of interest. The analyzed period covered the years affected by COVID-19.
Practical implications
The model reveals that KT is relevant to PI and BI. Performance was measured regarding growth, income, innovation, productivity and responsibility before and after the program.
Social implications
This research analyzed the need for training microentrepreneurs for personal and private reasons under a COVID-19 scenario to foster their businesses and assume financial responsibilities. This study considered Peru’s reality, a country in which 94.9% of companies are microenterprises. The study revealed that microentrepreneurs improved their personal and professional lives and addressed relevant social problems that affect their environments because of the KT effects.
Originality/value
This study bridges the gap in the literature on how the theory of KT can be applied to entrepreneurs. This study revealed significant findings in terms of PI and BIs. The impact of KT indicates the relevance of managerial competencies related to the performance level obtained in terms of growth, income, innovation, productivity and responsibility.