Lutz Kaufmann and Yvonne Schneider
Intangibles are becoming increasingly important to the scientific community as well as the business world. This is mainly due to a highly competitive business environment combined…
Abstract
Intangibles are becoming increasingly important to the scientific community as well as the business world. This is mainly due to a highly competitive business environment combined with exceptionally limited resources and the growing importance of knowledge as a commodity. The fluctuating differences between market and book values of companies indicate the extent of the intangibles' rising importance. By focusing on major publications since 1997, this paper critically analyzes current trends and differing views in this field. The publications are analyzed according to their content and methodologies. Review of the literature clearly shows that most publications in this area still lack a theoretical foundation. A large number of differing terms and definitions are present. Much of the literature analyzed here also fails to provide detailed suggestions for the management of intangibles, be they theory‐based or empirically‐derived. Discussion of these issues generally remains on a very abstract level. Research on intangibles is characterized by a large variety of views and interpretations – dominant schools of thought have yet to develop. This situation offers much opportunity for further research in this important field of management.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine first-year principals’ sense-making about two potentially conflicting demands as they take over low-performing urban schools: the demand to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine first-year principals’ sense-making about two potentially conflicting demands as they take over low-performing urban schools: the demand to exert control over their teachers’ practice, and the need to build their teachers’ trust, collegiality, and commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on a series of surveys and interviews with 12 first-year principals that took over some of the lowest-performing public schools in one large urban district.
Findings
Some principals begin their first year seeing their work to build accountability and commitment as complementary, while others see these two areas as in tension. Principals remain relatively consistent in these approaches over their first year on the job, although some principals change their views, generally coming to see these two areas as increasingly separate over time.
Research limitations/implications
Future work should examine principals’ work to balance the demands of accountability and commitment in a variety of organizational contexts.
Practical implications
Principal preparation may benefit from training principals on the particular challenges they may face as they work with teachers in low-performing schools. Accountability systems may also seek to alter the demands placed on novice principals.
Originality/value
Despite the centrality of principals to school improvement, the prevalence of high-stakes school accountability, and findings on the importance of commitment to school success, little empirical research has examined how principals make sense of the potentially conflicting demands of accountability and commitment in highly pressured circumstances.
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Yvonne Lagrosen and Stefan Lagrosen
An innovative technology called consciousness-based education (CBE) is being introduced in schools worldwide. The approach includes both an experiential and an intellectual…
Abstract
Purpose
An innovative technology called consciousness-based education (CBE) is being introduced in schools worldwide. The approach includes both an experiential and an intellectual component. However, research studies exploring learning in CBE are rare. The purpose of the paper is to explore how organizational learning takes place in schools, which adopt CBE in addition to their ordinary curriculum. Moreover, the ambition of the approach regarding quality is examined.
Methodology/approach
A multiple-case study has been carried out. Four schools using CBE have been studied: a private school in Fairfield, Iowa, USA; a governmentally funded free school in Skelmersdale, United Kingdom; an independent school in Melbourne, Australia, and a primary school in Lelystad, the Netherlands. In total, 26 in-depth interviews have been performed, mainly with teachers and students but also with principals and experts in the CBE pedagogy. In addition, three focus-group interviews with primary school pupils were conducted and observation during classes was included. The data were analyzed by the constant comparative technique from the grounded theory approach.
Findings
Categories characterizing organizational learning in the CBE schools have been identified. These findings are related to theories of the learning organization, resulting in a framework depicting different components of learning.
Research limitation/implication
The study provides a framework illustrating organizational learning in schools that utilize CBE which affords an overview of the technology and can serve as a vantage point for further research. Since this is a qualitative case study, the effectiveness of the CBE approach and its impact on learning outcomes were not assessed, and the possibilities to generalize the findings are limited.
Originality/value
CBE has not previously been studied from an organizational learning perspective.
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Kennedy Kam Ho Chan, Cuiling He, Richard Chi Keung Ng and Jessica Shuk Ching Leung
The purpose of this paper is to explore the emotions reported by a group of student teachers (STs) after viewing their own teaching videos and those of their peers, as well as the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the emotions reported by a group of student teachers (STs) after viewing their own teaching videos and those of their peers, as well as the reasons for those emotions. It also investigated the perceived influence of the STs’ emotions on their learning from the videos.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study involved 12 STs, and was situated in the context of a science methods course on a postgraduate teaching diploma program. The emotions associated with watching different types of video materials were investigated using a variety of data-collection methods, including written surveys, student-generated metaphors, and interviews. The emotion labels/words (e.g. horrible, joyful) and metaphors the STs used to describe their video-viewing experience, as well as the reasons for their emotions, were analyzed. The perceived influence of the participants’ emotions on their learning from the different types of video material was also analyzed qualitatively.
Findings
The findings suggested that most of the STs experienced negative emotions when viewing their own videos, whereas all of them reported positive emotions when viewing their peers’ videos. Distinct groups of STs displaying similar emotions while viewing the different video materials were distinguished. Their characteristics and the reasons for their emotions were identified. Analysis of the perceived influence of emotions suggested that they exert differential influences on learning from video materials, with the negative emotions associated with viewing one’s own videos reported to hinder such learning in most cases.
Originality/value
This study represents one of the few attempts to investigate the emotions related to STs’ video-viewing experience. The case study problematizes the lack of attention to the emotions associated with ST’s video-viewing experience in existing scholarship and highlights the fact that research findings on in-service teachers’ emotions associated with viewing different types of video material might not be transferable to novice teachers. The identification of distinct groups of STs who experience particular emotions when viewing different types of video material, as well as the differing perceived influence of those emotions on their learning, has implications for the effective use of videos to enhance learning in initial teacher education.
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Huong Lan Nguyen, Belle Dang, Yvonne Hong and Andy Nguyen
This study aimed to utilize Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) for a thorough evaluation of policy documents concerning the digital transformation in Vietnam's higher education…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to utilize Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) for a thorough evaluation of policy documents concerning the digital transformation in Vietnam's higher education sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a quantitative ethnography approach, this research employed ENA to analyse a curated collection of 21 documents that specifically addressed higher education (HE) and digital transformation within Vietnam. The study also incorporated qualitative content analysis, utilizing the constant comparison method as outlined by Onwuegbuzie et al. (2009), for data coding. ENA facilitated the examination of connections among various policy aspects.
Findings
The study revealed a consistent overarching theme in Vietnam's digital transformation policies during and post-pandemic, focusing on key areas such as ADMINISTRATION, VISION, QUALITY, and INFRASTRUCTURE. However, a temporal shift in emphasis was observed: during the pandemic, policies were more focused on ADMINISTRATION and INFRASTRUCTURE, while post-pandemic, there was an increased emphasis on COLLAB, VISION, and TEACH_LEARN.
Originality/value
This research represents one of the initial efforts to showcase the utility and significance of ENA in analysing policy documents. It underscores ENA's potential in elucidating the complex interplay of policy elements in the context of digital transformation in higher education, particularly within a developing country setting.
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Kagiso Matjila, Leeford Edem Kojo Ameyibor and Yvonne Saini
This paper aims to estimate the effects of three socialization agents in the form of advertising exposure, parental influence and peer influence and effects of personal attitude…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to estimate the effects of three socialization agents in the form of advertising exposure, parental influence and peer influence and effects of personal attitude on youth alcohol consumption behaviour in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A structural equation model was used to test the proposed conceptual model of four hypotheses based on the validated survey data gathered from 300 youth in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Findings
Empirical results show that advertising, parental influence, peer influence and personal attitude has positive effects on youth alcohol consumption behaviour, with advertising and personal attitude exhibiting statistical significance on alcohol consumption behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
The study involves only youthful demographic in the age range of 18–35 and hence suffers from generalizability. The cross-sectional design also limits the findings with respect to time.
Practical implications
It provides policymakers insights into important factors to focus on changing drinking behaviour in South Africa.
Social implications
It also improves the understanding of how consumer socialization agents and personal attitudes affect alcohol consumption of young people in South Africa and help deal with the problem through policy changes and social marketing interventions.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to estimate three socialization agents and personal attitude of youth in alcohol consumption behaviour in an emerging market context.
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I build on a strong foundation of prior studies about expatriate compensation in general to provide an overview of changes in expatriate compensation, from home- to host-based…
Abstract
Purpose
I build on a strong foundation of prior studies about expatriate compensation in general to provide an overview of changes in expatriate compensation, from home- to host-based approaches, during the past 10 years.
Methodology/approach
Underpinned by findings from academic and practitioner literature, I review and integrate studies of expatriate compensation and global talent management to outline the challenges and opportunities home- and host-based compensation approaches present to MNEs.
Findings
Home-based compensation is becoming an outdated and overly expensive model that is often ineffective in moving MNEs’ global competitive advantage to where it needs to be, leaving host-based approaches as the only alternative. But the use of host-based “cheaper” compensation approaches can also lead to unintended outcomes for MNEs in terms of unforeseen opportunity costs (such as the loss of critical talent) arising from shortsighted compensation decisions.
Practical implications
I argue that expatriate compensation works best when it is not based on an employees’ home-country status but instead on the role that he or she performs locally. I suggest a host-based compensation approach — global compensation — that is based on the worth of the position rather than where the individual has come from. Such an approach is more equitable because it is performance-based thereby eliminating overpaying and perceived unfairness. It is much simpler to administer than home-based compensation because it represents an extension of most MNEs already existing domestic (home country) pay-for-performance model.
Originality/value
Despite more than 10 years of new compensation practices being implemented and reported by global mobility practitioners, very little has been studied or written by scholars about some of the recent changes in expatriate compensation over the past decade. The chapter addresses this gap in academic literature.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the changes in gender‐biased employment practices that it is perceived have occurred in New Zealand accountancy workplaces over the last 30…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the changes in gender‐biased employment practices that it is perceived have occurred in New Zealand accountancy workplaces over the last 30 years, using Oliver's model of deinstitutionalization.
Design/methodology/approach
Sequential interviewing was carried out with 69 experienced chartered accountants and three human resource managers, and at a later date with nine young female accountants.
Findings
Evidence is presented of perceived political, functional and social pressures cumulatively contributing to deinstitutionalization of overt gender‐biased employment practices, with social and legislative changes being the most influential. Deinstitutionalization appears incomplete as some more subtle gender‐biased practices still remain in New Zealand's accountancy workplaces, relating particularly to senior‐level positions.
Research limitations/implications
This study adds to understanding of how professions evolve. The purposeful bias in the sample selection, the small size of two of the interviewee groups, and the diversity in the interviewees' workplaces are recognized limitations.
Practical implications
Identification of further cultural change is required to deinstitutionalize the more subtle gender‐biased practices in accountancy organizations. This could help to avoid a serious deficiency of senior chartered accountants in practice in the future.
Originality/value
This paper represents one of a limited number of empirical applications of the deinstitutionalization model to organizational change and is the first to address the issue of gender‐biased practices in a profession. The use of sequential interviewing of different age groups, in order to identify and corroborate perceptions of organizational change is a novel approach.
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Victoria P. Weale, Yvonne D. Wells and Jodi Oakman
The purpose of this paper is to explore job satisfaction, and how the work-life interface might affect job satisfaction, among residential aged care staff. The statistical package…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore job satisfaction, and how the work-life interface might affect job satisfaction, among residential aged care staff. The statistical package PROCESS was used to analyse the impacts of workplace stressors (poor safety climate, poor relationships with colleagues and poor relationships with management) and potential mediating variables that measured aspects of the work-life interface, specifically work-family conflict (WFC) and work-life balance.
Design/methodology/approach
This survey research was carried out through distribution of a paper-based questionnaire to approximately 800 permanent, fixed term and casual employees working in residential aged care. All job roles, including both direct care and support staff, were represented in the sample.
Findings
WFC and work-life balance act serially to mediate the relationships between workplace stressors and job satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Study participants were restricted to residential aged care facilities in the metropolitan Melbourne area, Australia, limiting generalisability of the findings.
Practical implications
The work-life interface is a legitimate concern for human resources managers. Implications include need for greater understanding of the contribution of work-life fit to job satisfaction. Interventions to improve job satisfaction should take into account how workplace stressors affect the work-life interface, as well as job-related outcomes. Enhanced work-life fit should improve job-related outcomes.
Originality/value
This paper explores the potential mediating roles of WFC and work-life balance on job satisfaction and demonstrates a pathway through which the work-life interface affects job satisfaction for workers in residential aged care.
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Yvonne Lagrosen, Frederick T. Travis and Stefan Lagrosen
In this paper, research leading to quality management success is examined, elaborated, and highlighted in a new profound way by focusing on the most fundamental aspect of the…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, research leading to quality management success is examined, elaborated, and highlighted in a new profound way by focusing on the most fundamental aspect of the human dimension, the brain. The purpose is to examine the relationship between brain functioning and quality management success. In this examination, the role of core values, profound organizational learning and values of quality management are explained.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds on a conceptual review of research in the areas of quality management success, values of quality management, core values and neurophysiology with focus on brain integration.
Findings
The relation of core values with brain functioning is described based on previous research. A framework with logical steps from brain integration, via core values, quality management values and quality management practices to quality management success is developed.
Research limitations/implications
The paper adds to the understanding of the role brain integration has for success in quality management efforts. A limitation is that it only builds on previous research.
Practical implications
The findings provide a deeper understanding of quality management success and should thus be valuable for quality managers and leaders striving for excellence for their organisations.
Originality/value
The importance and crucial role of brain integration for quality management success has not been elaborated in the literature of quality management before.