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This article focuses on the assessment of entrepreneurship competence by selected vocational teachers in Italy. The exploratory research question addresses the extent to which entrepreneurship assessments are competence based, and the research seeks to identify fully fledged assessment programmes with both a formative and summative component, and the use of assessment rubrics. It also explores the extent to which entrepreneurship competence is referred to in school documentation and later assessed, and the tools and strategies used for such assessment.

This case study is part of a larger European research project promoted by Cedefop; in Italy it focused on six selected vocational IVET and CVET programmes and apprenticeship schemes. It used a wide range of instruments to ensure triangulation and multiple perspectives: analysed policy documents and undertook online interviews with experts and policy makers. At VET providers' premises it deployed: analysis of school documents; observations of learning environments; interviews and focus groups with (in schools) teachers, directors and vice directors, learners and alumni (in companies) instructors, company tutors and employers, apprentices and alumni.

Assessment tasks were rarely embedded within fully fledged assessment programmes involving both formative and summative tasks, and assessment rubric for grading. Most of the time, entrepreneurship programmes lacked self-assessment, peer assessment and structured feedback and did not involve learners in the assessment process. Some instructors coached the students, but undertook no clear formative assessment. These findings suggest institutions have a testing culture with regard to assessment, at the level of both policy and practice. In most cases, entrepreneurship competence was not directly assessed, and learning outcomes were only loosely related to entrepreneurship.

One limitation concerned the selection of the VET providers: these were chosen not on a casual basis, but because they ran programmes that were relevant to the development of entrepreneurship competence.

At the policy level, there is a need for new guidelines on competence development and assessment in VET, guidelines that are more aligned with educational research on competence development. To ensure the development of entrepreneurship competence, educators need in-service training and a community of practice.

So far, the literature has concentrated on entrepreneurship education at the tertiary level. Little is known about how VET instructors assess entrepreneurship competence. This study updates the picture of policy and practice in Italy, illustrating how entrepreneurship competence is developed in selected IVET and CVET programmes and apprenticeships.

In the face of pressing global challenges, the role of educational institutions in fostering responsible management practices has never been more crucial. Drawing on the preceding chapters, this concluding contribution explores the nexus of innovation and social impact within the realm of responsible management education (RME), offering a synthesis of perspectives and strategies for driving positive change at micro-, meso-, and macro level. The authors argue that the frequent inertia of higher education institutions must be overcome with urgent action in reshaping curricula, teaching methodologies, and institutional policies to foster sustainable development and effect positive social impact. The chapter emphasizes the role of innovation in education and the development and diffusion of responsible business practices as a means to catalyze systemic change.

The purpose of this study is to develop black pigmented ceramic stoneware bodies that integrate various aspects of material composition and color potential. Recent research has explored black pigmented calcium aluminosilicate glass (BPCG), a specialized material known for its unique properties, which holds promise for transforming the color capabilities of traditional ceramics.

In this investigation, initially composite ceramic sample (B-1) was prepared by milling process prior to sieve analysis to attain the particle size within 44 microns. Microanalysis and morphology and thermography were studied by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope and thermogravimetric analysis and found Sample-B-1 received attractive properties like firing shrinkage, porosity, bulk density and firing strength along with good pyro-plastic properties at various temperatures like 950°C, 1050°C, 1000°C and 1180°C. Furthermore, BPCG-assisted pigmented ceramic composites were synthesized with B-1 matrix. CIE lab investigation of the attributed composites (C-series) within selective soaking range of 5–20 min was performed, and the investigation found that prominent black hue appeared (L: 24.09, a*: −0.17, b*: −0.49) for C-10 containing appeared phases of Di-Co-Silicide (26%), Ni-Chromite, Stilpnomelane (rich in iron) as obtained by X-ray diffraction studies.

Ceramic material played a significant role in the realms of art and craft, as well as in technology. The artistic facet reveals concepts or ornamentation, while the craft echoes both traditional and functional appeal. Technology, on the other hand, involves the logical implementation behind the creation.

This C-10 Sample comprised the lower percentage of mullite which attributed that the BPCG homogeneously mixed in the matrix of base (B-1) and appeared as spinal staff. Therefore, BPCG was a potential candidate for ceramic metallization, and this traditional metallization processes often faced some challenges like uniformity and mixing in the ceramic composite domain practices. This study aimed to open up new avenues for artistic decoration and bridging the gap between traditional craftsmanship and modern technology. Furthermore, BPCG’s role in color assessment through shocking techniques added an exciting concept for the ceramic practitioners, designers or ceramic educators.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of “BroncoCut-X” (copper core-ZnCu50 coating) electrode on the machining of Ti-3Al-2.5V in view of its extensive use in aerospace and medical applications. The machining parameters are selected as Spark-off Time (ST_off), Spark-on Time (ST_on), Wire-speed (S_w), Wire-Tension (WT) and Servo-Voltage (S_v) to explore the machining outcomes. The response characteristics are measured in terms of material removal rate (MRR), average kerf width (KW) and average-surface roughness (SA).

Taguchi’s approach is used to design the experiment. The “AC Progress V2 high precision CNC-WEDM” is used to conduct the experiments with ϕ 0.25 mm diameter wire electrode. The machining performance characteristics are examined using main effect plots and analysis of variance. The grey-relation analysis and fuzzy interference system techniques have been developed to combine (called grey-fuzzy reasoning grade) the experimental response while Rao-Algorithm is used to calculate the optimal performance.

The hybrid optimization result is obtained as ST_off = 50µs, ST_on = 105µs, S_w = 7 m/min, WT = 12N and S_v=20V. Additionally, the result is compared with the firefly algorithm and improved gray-wolf optimizer to check the efficacy of the intended approach. The confirmatory test has been further conducted to verify optimization results and recorded 8.14% overall machinability enhancement. Moreover, the scanning electron microscopy analysis further demonstrated effectiveness in the WEDMed surface with a maximum 4.32 µm recast layer.

The adopted methodology helped to attain the highest machinability level. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first investigation within the considered parametric range and adopted optimization technique for Ti-3Al-2.5V using the wire-electro discharge machining.

The purpose of this study is to present a methodical procedure on how to prepare event logs and analyse them through process mining, statistics and visualisations. The aim is to derive roots and patterns of quality deviations and non-conforming finished products as well as best practice facilitating employee training in the food processing industry. Thereby, a key focus is on recognising tacit knowledge hidden in event logs to improve quality processes.

This study applied process mining to detect root causes of quality deviations in operational process of food production. In addition, a data-ecosystem was developed which illustrates a continuous improvement feedback loop and serves as a role model for other applications in the food processing industry. The approach was applied to a real-case study in the processed cheese industry.

The findings revealed practical and conceptional contributions which can be used to continuously improve quality management (QM) in food processing. Thereby, the developed data-ecosystem supports production and QM in the decision-making processes. The findings of the analysis are a valuable basis to enhance operational processes, aiming to prevent quality deviations and non-conforming finished products.

Process mining is still rarely used in the food industry. Thereby, the proposed method helps to identify tacit knowledge in the food processing industry, which was shown by the framework for the preparation of event logs and the data ecosystem.

It has been 50 years since the publication of Studs Terkel’s groundbreaking book, Working, which consists of a compilation of interviews carried out with over 130 workers in the United States. In this chapter, the author revisits this masterpiece, which offers a penetrating analysis of the dehumanization and degradation of work. The author argues that Working is an ode to, and guide for, ethnographic scholarship on work and that it remains as powerful and relevant today as when it was originally published a half of a century ago.

This paper aims to reduce waste management and generate wealth by investigating the novelty of combining chicken feather fiber and bamboo particles to produce hybrid biocomposites. This is part of responsible production and sustainability techniques for sustainable development goals. This study aims to broaden animal and plant fiber utilization in the sustainable production of epoxy resins for engineering applications.

This research used two reinforcing materials [chicken feather fiber (CFF) and bamboo particles (BP)] to reinforce epoxy resin. The BPs were kept constant at 6 Wt.%, while the CFF was varied within 3–15 Wt.% in the composites to make CFF-BP polymer-reinforced composite (CFF-BP PRC). The mechanical experiment showed a 21% reduction in densities, making the CFF-BP PRC an excellent choice for lightweight applications.

It was discovered that fabricated composites with 10 mm CFF length had improved properties compared with the 15 mm CFF length and pristine samples, which confirmed that short fibers are better at enhancing randomly dispersed fibers in the epoxy matrix. However, the ballistic properties of both samples matched. There is a 40% increase in tensile strength and a 54% increase in flexural strength of the CFF-BP PRC compared to the pristine sample.

According to the literature review, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a novel study of chicken fiber and bamboo particles in reinforcing epoxy composite.

The purpose of the paper is to produce new knowledge about the positions that public libraries both take and are given in the conflicts over politics and identity that play out in contemporary cultural and library policy debates. Using conflicts over drag story hour at public libraries as case, the study seeks to contribute to an emerging body of research that delves into the challenges that public libraries as promoters of democracy are confronting in the conflictual political landscape of today.

The paper presents an analysis of debates reported in news articles concerning Drag story hour events held at Swedish public libraries. Utilizing the analytical lenses of discourse theory and plural agonistics, the analysis serves to make visible the lines of conflicts drawn in these debates – particularly focusing on the intersection of different meanings ascribed to the notion of the reading child, and how fear is constructed and used as an othering devise in these conflicts.

Different imaginings of the reading child and the construction and imagination of fear and safety shapes the Drag story hour debates. The controversies can be understood as a challenge to the previous hegemony regarding the direction and goals of Swedish cultural and library policy and the pluralistic democratic society these policies are meant to promote.

The paper offers new insights into the consequences of the revival of radical right politics, populism and societal polarization, and the different responses from public libraries.

Drawing on interviews with two types of essential workers – wound clinicians and care workers – the chapter examines stigma management in dirty care work through the lens of emotion management. The study combines two dimensions of dirty work: physical taint in relation to bodywork and social taint linked to working in close proximity to socially stigmatized clients. Hence, stigma management extends to dealing with the physically and socially dirty features of essential care work. In addition, the authors’ assessment of social stigma includes how essential care workers also sought to alleviate the social stigma encountered by their clients. In so doing, the authors extend the literature on dirty work to identify how emotion management skills are central to the stigma management strategies of the essential care workers in this study. The authors demonstrate how both groups deal with their stigma by emphasizing the emotion management skills in ‘doing’ dirty work and in the ‘purpose’ of this work, which includes acknowledging how the authors attempt to address the social taint encountered by their clients. Additionally, by comparing two occupations with different contexts and conditions of work, the authors show how complex emotion management skills are gendered in care work to expand the understanding of gender and stigma management. Furthermore, these emotion management skills emanate from the deep relational work with clients rather than through occupational communities. The authors argue that by focussing on emotion management, the hidden skills of dirty work in gendered care work are illuminated and contribute to contemporary debates about whether stigma can be overcome.

Organizations are confronted with problems and political risks to which they have to respond, presenting a need to develop tools and frames of understanding requisite to do so. In this article, we argue for the necessity of cultivating “political judgment” with a “sense of reality,” especially in the upper echelons of organizations. This article has two objectives: First to highlight how a number of recent interlinked developments within organizational analysis and practice have contributed to weakening judgment and its accompanying “sense of reality.” Second, to (re)introduce some canonical works that, although less in vogue recently, provide both a source of wisdom and frames of understanding that are key to tackling today’s problems. We begin by mapping the context in which the need for the cultivation of political judgment within organizations has arisen: (i) increasing proliferation of political risks and “wicked problems” to which it is expected that organizations adapt and respond; (ii) a wider historical and contemporary context in which the exercise of judgment has been undermined – a result of a combination of economics-inspired styles of theorizing and an associated obsession with metrics. We also explore the nature of “political judgment” and its accompanying “sense of reality” through the work of authors such as Philip Selznick, Max Weber, Chester Barnard, and Isaiah Berlin. We suggest that these authors have a weighty “sense of reality”; are antithetical to “high,” “abstract,” or “axiomatic” theorizing; and have a profound sense of the burden from exercising political judgment in difficult organizational circumstances.