Maryann Wu, Dabrick A. Brill, Mrunmayee Prakash Shirodkar, Jianxuan Tan, Mukesh Poptani, Ying Wang and Ian S. Haworth
With a growing need to assess multiple aspects of healthcare education, the goal of this study was to develop an innovative web-based application to streamline assessment…
Abstract
Purpose
With a growing need to assess multiple aspects of healthcare education, the goal of this study was to develop an innovative web-based application to streamline assessment processes and meet the increasingly complex role of the educational manager.
Design/methodology/approach
AARDVARC (Automated Approach to Reviewing and Developing Valuable Assessment Resources for your Curriculum) was created with the core function of standardizing course syllabi through the use of a web-based portal and the ability to query fields within the portal to collect multiple points of data. AARDVARC permits quick and efficient gathering of programmatic, curricular, faculty, teaching, preceptor and financial data to facilitate meaningful change and a shared responsibility of assessment. This software has allowed automatic completion of complex analytics each semester, including coverage of program outcomes, course learning objectives, teaching and assessment methods, course readings, topics covered in the curriculum, faculty teaching hours, experiential activities, coverage of disease states and scheduling of peer observation of teaching.
Findings
Three years after its initial launch, AARDVARC is now used by 520 faculty, 60 staff, 44 preceptors and over 2,000 students across multiple health profession and science programs. Data analytics through AARDVARC have allowed the School to reimagine how assessment can be conducted and have provided a pathway for making evidence-based programmatic and curricular changes.
Originality/value
This original software has provided an innovative approach to conduct assessment that combines best practices in curriculum, assessment, data analytics and educational technology while improving the overall quality, speed, and efficiency of academic and business operations.
Details
Keywords
Victoria Okpukpara, Benjamin Chiedozie Okpukpara, Emmanuel Ejiofor Omeje, Ikenna Charles Ukwuaba and Maryann Ogbuakanne
Providing loans, particularly to small-scale farmers, is one of the roles of formal financial institutions. Lending to small farmers is risky. An institution's health is closely…
Abstract
Purpose
Providing loans, particularly to small-scale farmers, is one of the roles of formal financial institutions. Lending to small farmers is risky. An institution's health is closely related to the institution's ability to manage credit and portfolio risk. Expanding smallholder farmers' access to finance while maintaining a sustainable financial system is essential; however, pandemics present additional challenges. Accordingly, as reported in the literature, the pandemic's high loan default rates and decreases in return on assets (ROAs) call for further credit risk management research. There have been limited studies on credit risk management during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), so this article aims to provide useful information on its influences.
Design/methodology/approach
Researchers used data from formal financial institutions in 2018 (before COVID-19) and in 2021 (during COVID-19) to accomplish the study's broad objective. Descriptive and inferential statistics were the main analytical tools. The credit risk management indicators were categorized into collateral management, loan management, loan recovery management, governance and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Weights were assigned to each category based on the importance to credit risk management. A binary logit model was employed in assessing the factors influencing credit risk management as proxied to loan repayment, while Ordinary Least Square (OLS) was used to examine factors that influence ROAs.
Findings
One of the most noteworthy findings is that credit risk management is affected by different factors and magnitudes before and during the COVID-19 era. Loan recovery and ICT management indicators were most influential during the pandemic. In addition, the study noted that low agricultural productivity during the pandemic contributed to an additional challenge in loan default rates because of various COVID-19-containing measures. Additionally, there was a lack of governance and ICT management capacity to drive credit and portfolio risk management during the epidemic.
Originality/value
The paper presents new empirical findings on credit risk management during the COVID-19 era. The study used a methodology which has not been used previously in credit risk management in Nigerian financial institutions. Therefore, this research could become the cornerstone of further academic research in other developing countries using this methodology.
Details
Keywords
Navid Mohammadi and Asef Karimi
As the main factor for sustainable development of countries, entrepreneurship is a difficult path only chosen by those who have a high level of risk-taking. On this path…
Abstract
Purpose
As the main factor for sustainable development of countries, entrepreneurship is a difficult path only chosen by those who have a high level of risk-taking. On this path, entrepreneurship requires an ecosystem that welcomes this type of thinking and eliminates the barriers on the path as much as possible. This ecosystem comprises various components that attempt to pave the way in a private and public manner. The entrepreneurial ecosystem still has many latent aspects after several years. This study aims to provide a big picture of all studies published in the Web of Science database to help future researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, 765 scientific papers published in the database were analyzed using 3 main approaches of network analysis, co-occurrence analysis of keywords and co-citation clustering.
Findings
In the end, four major clusters were identified for articles in this field in the clustering section, including the entrepreneurial ecosystem, academic entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystem and institutional entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
This paper used a new approach for reviewing the entrepreneurial ecosystem and made a big picture of all previous research studies. In the end, an unsupervised machine learning approach was used to clustering the research studies and four major clusters were identified.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of China's health biotech clusters from an interregional perspective. By treating clustering as the result of firms'…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of China's health biotech clusters from an interregional perspective. By treating clustering as the result of firms' localization choices, the paper examines whether and why different types of firms agglomerate in the various locations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a demographic approach that is inspired by the 2006 work of Romanelli and Feldman on cluster development in the USA. It categorizes China's clusters based on differences in the degree of policy support and the nature of the science base. Then, it draws a sample of 75 of China's most visible firms and analyses them in terms of entrepreneurial origin, their location and, if applicable, the location of their subsidiaries. By matching types of firms with types of clusters, the paper highlights some characteristics of China's regional development.
Findings
Studies on China's high‐tech agglomerations unanimously complain about a lack of “creative buzz” compared to the vibrant clusters of for example, the Bay Area in the USA. The analysis indicates that the lack of a creative culture is associated with the anatomy of cluster development. China's clusters grow to a significant extent by attracting enterprise subsidiaries to their sites. The authors argue that these particular cluster anatomies are founded on China's capital market. As the capital market is not prepared to provide pre‐revenue firms with sufficient funds, firms have to earn revenue quickly in order to ensure their viability. Therefore, they concentrate on building up manufacturing capacity and exploiting given technologies. The main point is that local governments as major providers of financial support are instrumental in this process. The establishment of manufacturing subsidiaries in various locations rests on the rationale of collecting funds. This leads to the conclusion that national capital markets either reinforce or inhibit clustering depending on how much it allows the mobility of financial capital. Local government funds do not travel far. This has an impact on the firms' localization decisions and their business strategies, which, in turn, affects the “culture” inside the clusters.
Research limitations/implications
This argument is based on a limited number of interviews conducted by the authors or other researchers. In order to corroborate the link between the capital market and local development trajectories, more evidence needs to be collected via interview surveys and other means to extract financial information.
Originality/value
Unlike other research on Chinese clusters, this paper offers an interregional perspective based on a demographic approach. The argument is original in linking regional cluster dynamics with the national institutional set‐up.