Andrew Paul Clarke, Clare Cornes and Natalie Ferry
A case study was undertaken to evaluate the use of self-reflection in enterprise education in a UK university, where the taught content was tailored to ensure relevance to the…
Abstract
Purpose
A case study was undertaken to evaluate the use of self-reflection in enterprise education in a UK university, where the taught content was tailored to ensure relevance to the students who were from a variety of subject disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
Enterprise taught content was established in masters level 7 programmes across a range of subject disciplines. Taught content was designed using problem based learning, and evaluated using self-reflective methodologies. The paper reflects on the current position of enterprise education and asks the research question of whether the use of self-reflective teaching methodologies are valid for enterprise education.
Findings
Results suggest that the students appreciated the introduction of enterprise into their course and in the main did not view it as disjointed or irrelevant to their wider aims. More so, the students commented favourably towards the integration of enterprise into their primary discipline, and noted an enhanced learning experience because of this integration.
Research limitations/implications
For the University: A novel approach to enterprise teaching has been developed at a UK university, focusing on teaching non-business students how to be more valuable to a business within their degree subject context. This has empowered the students with an enhanced understanding of commercial issues and increased employability (Rae 2007; Huq and Gilbert 2017). This has also led to enhanced relationships with industry and given students a wider understanding of their degree area.
Practical implications
For the educator: The use of self-reflective teaching methodologies (Hayward 2000) are noted to be vital in order to deliver enterprise education in a way that is relevant to the student cohort body. By reflecting on one’s teaching style and delivery method, the authors were able to engage non-business students in enterprise education, and receive a high level of student satisfaction. It is noted that self-reflection was a valuable process for delivery to each degree discipline. By employing problem based learning and self-reflective teaching methodologies, an increased synergy between the business taught elements and the science subjects was created.
Originality/value
This approach is shown to empower the students with an enhanced understanding of commercial issues and an increased employability. This has led to enhanced relationships between academia and industry, and given students a wider understanding of their degree area; the enhanced relationships with industry offer students a wider commercial understanding of their degree area. A gap in the current knowledge base in enterprise education has been identified: enterprise education with the aim of educating the student to be more valuable to a business as opposed to starting a business. The use of self-reflective methodologies has offered a novel approach to enterprise teaching in a UK university.
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Shashwati Sanjay Vahadane and Andrew Paul Clarke
An investigation of the marketing approaches for biomedical science small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and organisations in the United Kingdom (UK) was carried out; the…
Abstract
Purpose
An investigation of the marketing approaches for biomedical science small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and organisations in the United Kingdom (UK) was carried out; the research question is as follows: Should the marketing approaches for biomedical science SMEs change as their product or service moves along the development life cycle?
Design/methodology/approach
An online questionnaire was used, which petitioned biomedical science SMEs and organisations in the UK to investigate the marketing tactics or approaches used for the different products and services they offered; the results were analysed by comparing the results to recognised marketing approaches in the literature and by mapping those approaches against the established technology readiness levels (TRLs).
Findings
A direct relationship was seen between the status of a product or service in relation to its development life cycle, and therefore the relevant TRL of the product and service, and the appropriate marketing approach for that product or service.
Originality/value
This paper offers a contribution to the literature, in which a theoretical framework is proposed for determining the appropriate marketing approach for biomedical science SMEs by understanding the maturity of the products offered by a company using the established TRL. The theoretical framework maps the TRL against known marketing approaches; this framework should be used as a guide for biomedical science SMEs as a tool to refine and evolve their overall marketing approach as the product portfolio matures along the TRL.
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Christiana Adeola Olawunmi and Andrew Paul Clarke
This study aims to explore marketing strategies that UK fish farming businesses can use to gain a competitive advantage. The marketing strategies examined include product branding…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore marketing strategies that UK fish farming businesses can use to gain a competitive advantage. The marketing strategies examined include product branding and core competencies, sales promotion, market positioning and segmentation.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey through an online questionnaire was mailed to five randomly selected trade associations of UK fish farming businesses and distributed to their registered members, of which 200 responded. Both male and female genders with different age groups and levels of experience in the UK fish farming business participated. In addition, ten articles were sampled for a systematic review.
Findings
Results show that UK fish farming businesses could increase sales by using ecolabels in product branding to attract premium prices, build consumer confidence and using high-quality packages for fish products will keep fish fresh for a longer period.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of this research is limited to the UK. The findings cannot be generalised and used for other jurisdictions because of variable economic and market conditions.
Originality/value
A significant recommendation from this case study is that fish farming businesses need to be creative and innovative in ways such as leveraging branding, sales promotions and core competencies to win the trust and confidence of consumers. Most importantly, each fish farming business should know the specific marketing strategy that works for them; this case study shows that not all branding and sales promotion techniques enhance competitiveness. The scope of this research is limited to the UK. The findings cannot be generalised and used for other jurisdictions because of variable economic and market conditions.
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Christopher Hargreaves, Andrew Paul Clarke and Karl Robert Lester
This study aims to evaluate the impact the introduction of Microsoft Teams has had on team performance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic within a National Health Service (NHS…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the impact the introduction of Microsoft Teams has had on team performance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic within a National Health Service (NHS) Community Service.
Design/methodology/approach
Microsoft Teams was rolled out across the NHS over a period of four days, partly in response to the need for social distancing. This case study reviews how becoming a virtual team affected team performance, the role Microsoft Teams had played in supporting staff to work in higher virtuality, understand what elements underpin a successful virtual team and how these results correlate to the technology acceptance model (Davis, 1985).
Findings
The findings indicate that Teams made a positive impact to the team at a time of heightened clinical pressures and working in unfamiliar environments without the supportive benefits of face-to-face contact with colleagues in terms of incidental knowledge sharing and health and well-being.
Originality/value
Further developments were needed to make virtual meetings more accessible for introverted colleagues, support asynchronous communication, address training needs and support leaders to adapt and operate in higher virtuality.
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Interviews Paul Jackson, chairman of Media Smart, which is a UK media literacy programme founded in 2002 and focusing on advertising; it is aimed at schoolchildren aged six to 11…
Abstract
Interviews Paul Jackson, chairman of Media Smart, which is a UK media literacy programme founded in 2002 and focusing on advertising; it is aimed at schoolchildren aged six to 11, is funded by the media industry and supported by Ofcom, the UK government and the European Commission. Introduces the Responsible Advertising and Children group, which Jackson also chairs and which represents European advertisers, agencies and media; it believes that media literacy for children is more effective than outright advertising bans. Outlines the Media Smart programme, which consists of three modules with materials and a DVD, and includes an introduction to advertising, commercial advertisements aimed at children, and non‐commercial advertising; perhaps the most interesting section is on controversies. Notes Jackson’s intention that Media Smart stay focused on advertising, rather than widening its scope in the way that Concerned Children’s Advertisers has done in Canada.
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Looking beyond the immediate future, which for the world of information and computing means the next five years, is hazardous. This paper attempts to present a vision of some…
Abstract
Looking beyond the immediate future, which for the world of information and computing means the next five years, is hazardous. This paper attempts to present a vision of some aspects of the information world of the medium future. 2010 has been chosen as the date, rather than 2001, since the likely events of the earlier date can be fairly well predicted.
Kathleen K. Clarke and Paul M. Miller
In late January 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules for investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) requiring…
Abstract
In late January 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules for investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) requiring them to adopt and disclose to clients proxy voting policies and procedures. Concurrently, the SEC adopted new rules for registered investment companies (funds) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act) requiring them to disclose their proxy voting policies and procedures to their shareholders and to file their voting records with the SEC. The compliance dates for the new Rules are approaching fast. The Rules should have a significant impact on disclosure of proxy voting by advisers and funds. In a recent survey it conducted, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) noted that, of the approximately 3,700 fund groups that will be affected by the Rules, only eleven funds publicly disclose their proxy voting policies on their public websites. Of the eleven funds, seven disclose their proxy voting records and none discloses its policies with respect to conflicts of interest.
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Multicore Solders Ltd are pleased to announce that Jack Saw, Paul Salmon, Gordon Clarke and Tom Perrett have joined their commercial division. The decision of Billiton Solders…
Abstract
Multicore Solders Ltd are pleased to announce that Jack Saw, Paul Salmon, Gordon Clarke and Tom Perrett have joined their commercial division. The decision of Billiton Solders, UK, to sell the assets of their profitable solder division to the Cookson group released the aforementioned personnel who will be pleased to maintain their contacts in the industry and offer the same personal service as is the Multicore tradition.
Ross L. Chapman, Paul Clarke and Terry Sloan
The implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles and practices in continuous‐process manufacturing operations is described from initial consideration through to TQM…
Abstract
The implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles and practices in continuous‐process manufacturing operations is described from initial consideration through to TQM becoming part of the normal operations of the company. The importance of management‐led project teams in the early phases of implementation and the subsequent shift to operator‐initiated and ‐controlled quality improvements is detailed. Accreditation to international quality system standards (ISO 9002) and the interaction of such accreditation with the cultural change required for successful TQM implementation is discussed. Problems confronting effective TQM implementation or quality‐system accreditation are discussed such as: relationships between the multinational parent company and the domestic subsidiary, and the geographical separation of sections of the company between head offices and manufacturing site. A detailed examination is made of the organisational structure utilised to develop a TQM culture within the company, and the dynamic nature of such an organisational structure in the early phases of implementation is observed. The major requirement for increasing employee involvement in quality‐improvement activities is found to be an increasing commitment to employee training in the areas of: TQM principles; statistical tools; group problem‐solving skills; and leadership skills.