Sara Bonesso, Fabrizio Gerli and Elena Bruni
Analytics technologies are profoundly changing the way in which organizations generate economic and social value from data. Consequently, the professional roles of data scientists…
Abstract
Purpose
Analytics technologies are profoundly changing the way in which organizations generate economic and social value from data. Consequently, the professional roles of data scientists and data analysts are in high demand in the labor market. Although the technical competencies expected for these roles are well known, their behavioral competencies have not been thoroughly investigated. Drawing on the competency-based theoretical framework, this study aims to address this gap, providing evidence of the emotional, social and cognitive competencies that data scientists and data analysts most frequently demonstrate when they effectively perform their jobs, and identifying those competencies that distinguish them.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is exploratory in nature and adopts the competency-based methodology through the analysis of in-depth behavioral event interviews collected from a sample of 24 Italian data scientists and data analysts.
Findings
The findings empirically enrich the extant literature on the intangible dimensions of human capital that are relevant in analytics roles. Specifically, the results show that, in comparison to data analysts, data scientists more frequently use certain competencies related to self-awareness, teamwork, networking, flexibility, system thinking and lateral thinking.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted in a small sample and in a specific geographical area, and this may reduce the analytic generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
The skills shortages that characterize these roles need to be addressed in a way that also considers the intangible dimensions of human capital. Educational institutions can design better curricula for entry-level data scientists and analysts who encompass the development of behavioral competencies. Organizations can effectively orient the recruitment and the training processes toward the most relevant competencies for those analytics roles.
Originality/value
This exploratory study advances our understanding of the competencies required by professionals who mostly contribute to the performance of data science teams. This article proposes a competency framework that can be adopted to assess a broader portfolio of the behaviors of big data professionals.
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Annachiara Scapolan, Fabrizio Montanari, Sara Bonesso, Fabrizio Gerli and Lorenzo Mizzau
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the behavioural competencies of directors and managers working for cultural organizations and their relationship with organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the behavioural competencies of directors and managers working for cultural organizations and their relationship with organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts an ESC competency modelling process and the technique of the Behavioural Event Interview as the primary source of data collection. In particular, the authors interviewed 14 directors and managers of six performing arts organizations operating in Emilia-Romagna, a region located in Northern Italy.
Findings
Findings show that directors and managers of cultural organizations are characterized by a specific set of social and emotional (e.g. persuasion and empathy), whereas cognitive competencies, such as quantitative analysis, are less frequent. Findings highlight also that a balanced portfolio of behavioural competencies emerges as importantly correlated with high organizational performance.
Practical implications
Findings offer relevant managerial implications for the design and implementation of a coherent set of human resource management practices, which allow cultural organizations to reach above-average performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between managerial competencies and the performance of cultural organizations, taking into account specific kinds of competencies – namely, behavioural competencies – which have been neglected by the previous literature.
Objectivo
Este estudio pretende investigar las competencias comportamentales de los directores y managers que trabajan en las organizaciones culturales, y la relación entre estas competencias y la el desempeño organizacional.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Este estudio usa el proceso ESC competency modelling y la técnica de la Behavioral Event Interview. Sobre todo, entrevistamos 14 directores y managers de seis organizaciones de espectáculos en vivo que operan en Emilia-Romagna, una región del Norte de Italia.
Hallazgos
Encontramos que los directores y managers de las organizaciones culturales muestran un conjunto especifico de competencias sociales y emocionales (persuasión, empatía, etc.), mientras que las competencias cognitivas son menos frecuentes. Hallazgos muestran también que un portfolio balanceado de competencias comportamentales está correlacionado con alto desempeño organizacional.
Implicaciones prácticas
Los Hallazgos ofrecen relevantes implicaciones administrativas por el diseño y la implementación de un sistema coherente de prácticas de recursos humanos, que permite a las organizaciones culturales conseguir un alto rendimiento organizacional.
Originalidad y valor
Este articulo contribuye a una mejor comprensión de la relación entre las competencias de los managers y el desempeño de las organizaciones culturales, sobre todo considerando competencias específicas (las competencias comportamentales) que los estudios pasados han descuidado.
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Laura Cortellazzo, Sara Bonesso and Fabrizio Gerli
The entrepreneur is the main decision-maker in small and medium-sized enterprises and is the principal force in the implementation of a firm's international strategy. Research has…
Abstract
Purpose
The entrepreneur is the main decision-maker in small and medium-sized enterprises and is the principal force in the implementation of a firm's international strategy. Research has paid limited attention to the intangible aspects of human capital, namely behavioural competencies that may have an impact on the entrepreneur's ability to take advantage of international opportunities. This study addresses this gap, identifying the behavioural competencies that distinguish entrepreneurs who pursue a stronger internationalisation expansion beyond the European market.
Design/methodology/approach
A competency modelling process is implemented for a sample of Italian entrepreneurs. Data on behavioural competencies are obtained through the coding of behavioural event interviews administrated to the entrepreneurs. Export intensity is adopted as a performance criterion to classify the entrepreneurs.
Findings
Three behavioural competencies (change catalyst, teamwork and organisational learning orientation) emerged as more significantly activated by entrepreneurs who show a higher export intensity in the global market.
Research limitations/implications
The exploratory nature of the study, conducted in a small sample and in a specific geographical area, may reduce the generalisability of the findings.
Practical implications
Entrepreneurs can become aware of the behavioural competencies needed for the implementation of internationalisation processes. Additionally, training programmes can be designed to promote the development of these behaviours.
Originality/value
Bridging the literature on international entrepreneurship, cross-cultural studies and competency-based research, this study highlights the role of behavioural competencies in the internationalisation process from a micro level of analysis. This article proposes a competency framework that can be adopted to assess a broader portfolio of entrepreneurs' behaviours.
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Sara Bonesso, Fabrizio Gerli, Anna Comacchio and Laura Cortellazzo
Research has extensively underlined the positive impact of emotional, social and cognitive competencies on leadership effectiveness. Despite the fact that literature acknowledges…
Abstract
Research has extensively underlined the positive impact of emotional, social and cognitive competencies on leadership effectiveness. Despite the fact that literature acknowledges that these competencies can be learned from different experiences over a person’s lifetime, research has mainly focused on leadership development in adulthood. Through the case study of the Ca’ Foscari Competency Centre, this chapter advances the understanding on how higher education can favour leadership development at the early stage, in terms of identity formation and self-regulation, through the implementation of the intentional change theory, considering that this learning process varies according to different developmental trajectories.
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Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour, this research aims to investigate systemically if and how incumbents and successors share attitudes, social norms and perception of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour, this research aims to investigate systemically if and how incumbents and successors share attitudes, social norms and perception of the feasibility of their business succession.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative research carried out on a group of small Italian family firms (N = 10).
Findings
This study provides evidence of background mechanisms (attitudes, social norms and perception of feasibility) affecting the implementation of business succession planning in family SMEs. Moreover, this study provides further evidence supporting the role of social norms in strategic decision-making processes within family firms.
Research limitations/implications
Findings from this study contribute to current literature in multiple ways and have several research implications.
Practical implications
This study highlights that it is more appropriate to adopt a systemic rather than an individualistic approach in investigating/managing business succession.
Social implications
Family firms are the most widespread type of firms in the world; thus, a systematic failure in business transmission represents a prominent socioeconomical problem for policy-makers and institutions.
Originality/value
This study leads to further developments in exploring business succession from a psychological point of view. Findings also highlight the limits of how a theory applied in order to predict individual behaviour can provide insight into collective behaviour involving a family.
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Vincenzo Cavaliere, Sara Sassetti and Sara Lombardi
Building on the importance of students becoming entrepreneurs of their own career, this research aimed to achieve two main objectives: to empirically test the sequential…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on the importance of students becoming entrepreneurs of their own career, this research aimed to achieve two main objectives: to empirically test the sequential relationship between the three dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness as proposed by Tang et al. (2012) and to link such dimensions to self-perceived employability.
Design/methodology/approach
A web survey data were obtained among a sample of 404 universities students. The test of the theoretical framework was performed by running a structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The results show that the three entrepreneurial alertness components are sequentially related. Moreover, the results demonstrated that among the examined dimensions, only evaluation and judgment had a direct effect on self-perceived employability, with the remaining dimensions having an indirect influence.
Originality/value
There has been rarely any previous empirical attempt at investigating a framework that consider the relationship between entrepreneurial attitudes, such as alertness, on employability. The investigation of the entrepreneurial attitudes as antecedents of employability is particularly vital to graduates who will soon enter the labor market as “entrepreneurs of their own career”.
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Deborah M. McPhee and Francine K. Schlosser
The authors contribute to scholarship on motivation for late-career transition, by examining how older executives drew on individual ambidexterity (IA) in the stigmatized…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors contribute to scholarship on motivation for late-career transition, by examining how older executives drew on individual ambidexterity (IA) in the stigmatized, Canadian-licensed recreational cannabis industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology utilizes a qualitative method, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 15 late-career executives. Inductive examination of data uncovered subthemes related to motivations for late-career transition, exploring and exploiting competencies, and known and unknown boundary conditions.
Findings
Motivations explained the impetus to join, while ambidexterity allowed executives to employ explorative and exploitive competencies to weather boundary conditions. Late-career transitioning to a stigmatized emerging industry presents an unprecedented mode of bridging employment for older workers.
Research limitations/implications
This small exploratory study of a nascent industry is limited in its generalization across different contexts but relevant to others in cannabis and other emerging industries. Increased focus on Human resources management (HRM) related research on late-career transition due to limited studies and IA.
Practical implications
Cannabis can be a risky employment venture for older workers that may affect future job prospects due to stigmatized views or present devastating financial risk. Older workers with knowledge, experience and skill remain relevant utilizing IA and their ability to manage difficult boundary conditions. Older experienced workers can bridge novel new opportunities before retiring.
Originality/value
The authors incorporated IA, expanding on literature related to boundary conditions in the late-career transition of executives into stigmatized recreational Cannabis. The authors introduce a new mode of bridge employment for late-career workers.
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Tamer H. Elsharnouby, Heba Younis, Said Elbanna and Nasrina Mauji
This study explores local Qatari job seekers' and employees' perceptions of the workforce nationalization strategy to address an inadequacy in the workforce nationalization…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores local Qatari job seekers' and employees' perceptions of the workforce nationalization strategy to address an inadequacy in the workforce nationalization literature in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. It also unpacks the factors that attract or discourage local job seekers and employees when considering a new job.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 28 local job seekers who were either currently unemployed or employed and seeking another job at the time of the interviews.
Findings
The data revealed that nationals perceive Qatarization as a means to replace expatriate employees with nationals, particularly in the public sector and leadership positions. This misinterpretation of the strategy leads to complications, such as the waithood phenomenon and a sense of entitlement for guaranteed employment. The findings also provide insights into nationals' attitudes toward employment, including job attraction and discouraging factors.
Research limitations/implications
The results provide policymakers with insights into the misinterpretation surrounding nationals' perceptions of workforce nationalization and remedies for better implementation of the strategy.
Originality/value
The study addresses two clear gaps in the workforce nationalization literature: (1) examining how nationals perceive the workforce nationalization strategy and (2) unpacking the factors that make employment attractive or unfavorable for nationals.