Judith Prantl, Susanne Freund and Elisabeth Kals
In recent decades, higher education institutes (HEIs) have come under pressure to cooperate with society as a whole. This shift towards an increased focus on third mission and…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent decades, higher education institutes (HEIs) have come under pressure to cooperate with society as a whole. This shift towards an increased focus on third mission and social innovation activities implies a substantial organizational change process for many HEIs, as they need to initiate both structural and cultural changes. This paper provides guidance for such change processes by examining the views and attitudes of academic and administrative staff, as well as students within the HEIs over a period in which the HEIs increase their focus on social innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a longitudinal quantitative approach consisting of a survey of administrative and academic staff, as well as students at two German HEIs. The authors studied members’ attitudes towards third mission and social innovation activities (N = 3470).
Findings
Results suggest that the university members’ attitudes towards third mission and social innovation are positive but change to some extent over time. Different aspects shape the attitudes within the three groups (administrative staff, academic staff and students). Furthermore, attitudes vary among academic employees who are involved in the process and those who are not.
Practical implications
The findings provide useful information for university managers and anyone aiming to promote social innovation at HEIs.
Originality/value
The study examines how attitudes of university members change whenever social innovation takes place at HEIs. This study includes data on the participation and empowerment of all HEI members in view of the important role that HEIs can play as supporters of social innovation.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the German labor market situation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the German labor market situation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is focusing on the German archive labor market for the year 2019 and examines the job postings.
Findings
Many postings in 2019; problems in posts such as different salaries and quality of tasks.
Originality/value
This is an original source-based study.
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Richard Hazenberg, Jaigris Hodson, Robert Mittelman and Jieun Ryu
Susanne Scheibe and Hannes Zacher
Researchers in the field of occupational stress and well-being are increasingly interested in the role of emotion regulation in the work context. Emotion regulation has also been…
Abstract
Researchers in the field of occupational stress and well-being are increasingly interested in the role of emotion regulation in the work context. Emotion regulation has also been widely investigated in the area of lifespan developmental psychology, with findings indicating that the ability to modify one’s emotions represents a domain in which age-related growth is possible. In this chapter, we integrate the literatures on aging, emotion regulation, and occupational stress and well-being. To this end, we review key theories and empirical findings in each of these areas, summarize existing research on age, emotion regulation, and stress and well-being at work, and develop a conceptual model on how aging affects emotion regulation and the stress process in work settings to guide future research. According to the model, age will affect (1) what kinds of affective work events are encountered and how often, (2) the appraisal of and initial emotional response to affective work events (emotion generation), and (3) the management of emotions and coping with affective work events (emotion regulation). The model has implications for researchers and practitioners who want to understand and facilitate successful emotion regulation and stress reduction in the workplace among different age groups.
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Tarlan Ahmadov, Susanne Durst and Wolfgang Gerstlberger
This study aims to identify and understand critical success factors for implementing and sustaining circular economy (CE) practices in manufacturing small and medium-sized…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify and understand critical success factors for implementing and sustaining circular economy (CE) practices in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). More precisely, this study examines the complex interplay between micro-, meso- and macro-level success factors that are deemed critical for implementing and sustaining CE practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a two-stage methodology that combines a comprehensive literature review and an interview study with 12 Swedish manufacturing SMEs that implement CE practices.
Findings
The study identifies and categorizes success factors for implementing and sustaining CE practices in manufacturing SMEs. Based on the findings, a holistic framework is proposed that takes into account multiple perspectives, i.e. at the micro, meso and macro levels. This framework enables a deeper understanding and thus a more nuanced discussion of the complexity inherent in the transition to a CE from the perspective of manufacturing SMEs.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the growing body of research on CE transition. By focusing on SMEs in particular, the paper adds the needed diversity to the study of CE practices and influencing factors at different levels.
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AFTER some unsuccessful negotiations during the period when the first full‐time schools of librarianship were being established, the Birmingham School was founded in the autumn of…
Abstract
AFTER some unsuccessful negotiations during the period when the first full‐time schools of librarianship were being established, the Birmingham School was founded in the autumn of 1950. Circumstances were not entirely favourable—the immediate post‐war generation of enthusiastic ex‐service students had already passed through other schools; the accommodation available was indifferent; the administrative support was bad; resources were weak, both in books and in equipment. There was, more importantly, a strong local tradition of part‐time classes in librarianship and little or no conviction that full‐time study was necessary or desirable.
This paper aims to offer scholars and practitioners critical arguments on the strengths and weaknesses of the shared value concept and of the mental model of economics that lies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer scholars and practitioners critical arguments on the strengths and weaknesses of the shared value concept and of the mental model of economics that lies at its heart. On the basis of these arguments, it proposes the paradigm of ethicological value-added creation as a new economic framework extending the shared value concept into a concept of lastingly viable business strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual and philosophical analysis of the mental model of economics and of basic concepts and premises regarding scarcity, competition, growth and raising value. Application of this analysis to the re-design of the shared value approach and to the development of practical guidelines for sustainably viable business models.
Findings
This paper highlights how the shared value approach can be transformed into an even stronger strategic tool for the design of viable business models.
Practical implications
Scholars, entrepreneurs and managers receive a new conceptual framework to design lastingly viable business models on the basis of re-defined tools and concepts.
Originality/value
Leading texts on strategy and business development as well as CSR-driven texts on designing sustainable business models do not bridge the paradox of destructive wealth creation, i.e. the fact that individually rational and, in itself, highly successful economic behaviors lead, on the group level and the level of the whole system, to an outcome that by and large is highly destructive, as it places the social, ecological and economic sources of this wealth creation process in existential jeopardy. The paper proposes a new framework of economic reasoning for solving the paradoxes that shape current economic models and the shared value approach. It offers a first set of indicators, the parameters by which the shared value approach can be transformed into a living model for generating resource growth and added value creation cycles that stop the present downward spiral of acceleration, disruption, concentration and resource depletion. The paper thus presents forms of shared value creation that are more holistic and sustainable.
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Nadine Schlömer-Laufen and Andreas Rauch
Despite much progress in the field of family business research, there is still no unequivocal quantitative evidence on how many family businesses are generally transferred within…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite much progress in the field of family business research, there is still no unequivocal quantitative evidence on how many family businesses are generally transferred within the family and how many are sold to nonfamily members. Accordingly, the purpose of our paper is to overcome this data problem and to try to get a better estimate of these rates.
Design/methodology/approach
To determine a better estimate of intrafamily successions in Germany, we conducted a meta-analysis of 33 samples from 27 studies covering 75,522 firms facing or having already faced a business transfer.
Findings
Our results indicate that 62% of these family firms are (planned to be) transferred to family members. This type of industry strongly determines the mode of succession. However, methodological issues like study quality and sample design also influence estimated succession rates.
Practical implications
Policymakers need robust statistics so they can base their actions and economic policies on reliable information. However, in the absence of official statistics – as in the case of family firms handing over their company within or outside the family – information is difficult to generate. Our findings provide a generalizable estimate of prevalence rates, providing German policymakers, and those in other countries when applying these methods, with useful information.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that a theory of family firm succession needs to consider more deeply the context in which succession decisions occur. By exploring variables affecting succession rates such as firm size and industry but also methodological issues like sample design and study quality, our analysis also provides a better understanding of central determinants of successions within and outside the family.