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The purpose of this paper is to clarify which knowledge, skills and behaviors are used to describe excellent performance in professional communication. As the demand for talented communication professionals increases, organizations and educators need an empirically defined set of performance criteria to guide the development of (potentially) excellent communication professionals (ECPs). This research aimed to render a competence profile which could assist in the development of recruitment, training and development to develop relevant programs for high-potential communication practitioners.

This mixed-method research was approached in two phases: first, a series of focus groups (n=16) were held to explore work field perspectives resulting in a concept profile, and second, a series of expert panels (n=30) following the Delphi method were conducted to determine the extent of agreement with the findings.

Participants clarified that excellent performance is characterized by competences which transcend normative technical skills or practical communication knowledge. The five domains, 16 item “SEEDS” competence profile describes that ECPs are distinguished by their compounded ability to be strategic, empathic, expressive, and decisive and to see patterns and interrelationships.

Although a broad range of relevant professionals were involved in both phases, the study could be considered limited in size and scope. Research was conducted in one national setting therefore further research would be necessary to confirm generalizability of the results to other cultural contexts.

Although many competence frameworks exist which describe normative performance in this profession, specific criteria which illustrate excellent performance have not yet been identified. This competence profile clarifies characteristics which typify excellent performance in professional communication and can be helpful to educators and employers who wish to identify and create suitable training programs for ECPs.

The aim of this study was to identify interventions for and mechanisms of the digital transformation of purchasing and supply management (PSM) processes. The digital transformation of tactical and operational PSM processes has often progressed slowly despite the solid knowledge of advanced technologies.

This study used a qualitative exploratory approach based on 14 interviews with PSM executives from firms that are continuously working toward using advanced technologies in their PSM processes but have not yet gained full strategic benefits from digital transformation.

This study formulates five propositions regarding interventions and mechanisms that can positively influence the digital transformation of PSM processes. The main intervention in this regard is the renewal of data infrastructure, including platforms. PSM-related data should meet needs from both tactical and operational viewpoints. When applications serve as a source of data, they support digital transformation. Mechanisms such as supplier measurement and process improvement are outcomes of the digital transformation of PSM processes.

This study highlights the importance of common data sets for tactical and operational purchasing. These purchasing data should be owned and served by a cross-functional team. To create this interoperability, a firm needs global governance of open standards.

This study makes a theoretical contribution to the discussion of what kind of interventions positively influence on the digital transformation of PSM processes. Specifically, this study explains the integration needs of data and applications.

Not all first-year university students possess the academic self-concept necessary for an effective transition from high school to university. This may impact their aptitude for learning so negatively that their engagement in lifelong learning (LLL), a prerequisite for success at and beyond university, may be limited. Therefore, the relationship between self-concept and LLL tendency is critical. This paper aims to describe this relationship among Arab first year university students. 149 students (77 males and 72 females) in two consecutive courses were involved in the study. Data were collected using two surveys, one on students’ self-concept, and another on their LLL tendency. Comparisons were made to determine whether gender and courses attended played a role in students’ academic self-concept and LLL tendency. The relationship between academic self-concept and LLL tendency was also analyzed. Results showed that students possessed a relatively high academic self-concept and that their LLL tendency scores were higher than the scale midpoint. The female students’ scores for academic effort (a sub-scale of self-concept), and for curiosity (a sub-scale of LLL), were comparatively higher than those for males. The courses attended did not make a significant difference in students’ perception of their academic self-concept; however, students in the second level course scored higher for self-regulation, a sub-scale of LLL, therefore receiving a slightly higher rating for LLL. Results also indicated a positive relationship between self-concept and LLL scores. The association between the academic effort and self-regulation domains of the scales was noteworthy. Recommendations are made to enhance students’ academic self-concept and LLL tendency, with an aim to strengthen the relationship between the two concepts.

ﻻ ﯾﻣﺗﻠ ك ﺟﻣﯾ ﻊ طﻼب اﻟ ﺳﻧﺔ ا ﻷوﻟ ﻰ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ﺟﺎ ﻣﻌﺔ ﻣﻔﮭوم اﻟذا ت ا ﻷﻛﺎدﯾﻣ ﻲ اﻟ ﺿ رور ي ﻟ ﻼﻧﺗﻘﺎ ل اﻟﻔﻌﺎ ل ﻣ ن اﻟ ﻣد رﺳﺔ اﻟﺛﺎﻧ وﯾﺔ إﻟ ﻰ اﻟ ﺟﺎ ﻣﻌﺔ. ﻗد ﯾؤ ﺛ ر ھذا ﻋﻠ ﻰ ا ﺳﺗ ﻌدا دھم ﻟﻠﺗ ﻌﻠ م ﺑ ﺷﻛ ل ﺳﻠﺑ ﻲ ﻟ د رﺟﺔ أ ن ﻣ ﺷﺎ رﻛﺗ ﮭم ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺗ ﻌﻠ م ﻣد ى اﻟ ﺣﯾﺎة ) LLL (، وھ و ﺷرط أ ﺳﺎ ﺳﻲ ﻟﻠﻧ ﺟﺎ ح ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ﺟﺎ ﻣﻌﺔ وﺧ ﺎ رﺟﮭﺎ، ﻗد ﯾ ﻛو ن ﻣ ﺣدودًا. وﻟ ذﻟ ك، ﻓﺈن اﻟ ﻌ ﻼ ﻗﺔ ﺑﯾ ن ﻣﻔﮭوم اﻟ ذا ت واﺗ ﺟ ﺎه LLL أﻣر ﺑﺎﻟ ﻎ ا ﻷھﻣﯾ ﺔ. ﺗ ﮭد ف ھذه اﻟ ورﻗﺔ إﻟ ﻰ و ﺻ ف ھذه اﻟﻌ ﻼ ﻗﺔ ﺑﯾ ن ط ﻼ ب اﻟﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌﺎ ت اﻟﻌر ب ﻓﻲ اﻟﺳ ﻧ ﺔ ا ﻷ و ﻟ ﻰ . ﺷ ﺎ ر ك ﻓ ﻲ اﻟد ر ا ﺳ ﺔ 149 ط ﺎ ﻟ ﺑًﺎ ) 77 ﻣن اﻟذﻛور و 72 ﻣن اﻹ ﻧﺎ ث( ﻓ ﻲ دورﺗﯾ ن ﻣﺗ ﺗﺎﻟﯾﺗﯾ ن. ﺗم ﺟﻣﻊ اﻟﺑﯾﺎﻧﺎ ت ﺑﺎ ﺳﺗ ﺧدا م ﻣﺳ ﺣﯾن ، أﺣدھﻣﺎ ﻋن ﻣﻔ ﮭوم اﻟ ذا ت ﻟ د ى اﻟط ﻼ ب ، وا ﻵﺧر ﻋن اﺗ ﺟﺎه LLL . أ ﺟرﯾ ت ﻣﻘﺎ رﻧﺎ ت ﻟﺗ ﺣدﯾد ﻣ ﺎ إ ذ ا ﻛ ﺎ ن ا ﻟ ﺟ ﻧ د ر و ا ﻟ د و ر ا ت ا ﻟ ﺗ د ر ﯾ ﺑ ﯾ ﺔ ﻗ د ﻟ ﻌ ﺑ ت د و ر اً ﻓ ﻲ ﻣ ﻔ ﮭ و م ا ﻟ ط ﻼ ب ا ﻷ ﻛ ﺎ د ﯾ ﻣ ﻲ ا ﻟ ذ ا ﺗ ﻲ و ا ﺗ ﺟ ﺎ ه LLL . ﻛﻣﺎ ﺗم ﺗ ﺣﻠﯾ ل اﻟ ﻌ ﻼ ﻗﺔ ﺑﯾ ن ﻣﻔ ﮭوم اﻟذا ت ا ﻷ ﻛﺎ دﯾ ﻣ ﻲ و اﺗ ﺟ ﺎه LLL . أ ظ ﮭر ت اﻟﻧﺗﺎﺋ ﺞ أ ن اﻟ ط ﻼ ب ﯾ ﻣ ﺗ ﻠ ﻛ و ن ﻣ ﻔ ﮭ و ﻣً ﺎ ذ ا ﺗ ﯾًﺎ ﻋ ﺎ ﻟ ﯾًﺎ ﻧ ﺳ ﺑ ﯾًﺎ ، وأ ن د رﺟﺎ ت ﻣﯾﻠ ﮭم ﻟﻠﻐﺔ ا ﻹ ﻧ ﺟ ﻠﯾ ز ﯾ ﺔ ﻛﺎﻧ ت أﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﻣ ن ﻣﻧﺗ ﺻ ف اﻟﻧ طﺎ ق. ﻛﺎﻧ ت ﻧﺗﺎﺋ ﺞ اﻟ طﻼب ا ﻹﻧﺎ ث ﻟﻠ ﺟﮭد ا ﻷﻛﺎدﯾ ﻣ ﻲ )ﻣﻘﯾﺎ س ﻓ رﻋﻲ ﻟ ﻣﻔﮭوم اﻟ ذا ت(، وﻓﺿ ول )ﻣﻘﯾﺎ س ﻓ رﻋﻲ ﻣ ن LLL (، أﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﻧ ﺳﺑﯾﺎ ﻣ ن ﺗﻠ ك ﺑﺎﻟﻧ ﺳﺑ ﺔ ﻟﻠ ذﻛور. ﻟ م ﺗ ؤد اﻟ دورا ت اﻟﺗ ﻲ ﺣ ﺿ رو ھﺎ ﻓ رق ﻛﺑﯾ ر ﻓ ﻲ إ د را ك اﻟ طﻼب ﻟ ﻣﻔ ﮭوﻣﮭم اﻟ ذاﺗ ﻲ اﻷﻛﺎدﯾ ﻣ ﻲ؛ وﻣ ﻊ ذﻟك ، ﻓﺈن اﻟ ط ﻼ ب ﻓ ﻲ دورة اﻟ ﻣ ﺳ ﺗ و ى اﻟﺛﺎﻧ ﻲ ﺣ ﺻ ﻠ وا ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ د رﺟ ﺎ ت أ ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺗﻧ ظ ﯾم اﻟذاﺗ ﻲ ، وھ و ﻣﻘﯾﺎ س ﻓ رﻋﻲ ﻟـ LLL ، وﺑ ﺎﻟﺗﺎﻟ ﻲ ﺣ ﺻ ﻠ و ا ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﺗ ﺻ ﻧ ﯾ ف أ ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﻗ ﻠ ﯾ ﻼً ﻟ ﻠ ـ LLL . أ ﺷﺎ ر ت اﻟﻧﺗﺎﺋ ﺞ أﯾ ﺿ ﺎ إﻟ ﻰ وﺟود ﻋﻼ ﻗﺔ إﯾ ﺟﺎﺑﯾ ﺔ ﺿ ﻌﯾﻔﺔ ﺑﯾن ﻣﻔﮭوم اﻟذا ت وﻧﺗ ﺎﺋﺞ ا ل LLL . ﻛﺎ ن ا ﻻ ر ﺗ ﺑ ﺎ ط ﺑ ﯾ ن ا ﻟ ﺟ ﮭ د ا ﻷ ﻛ ﺎ د ﯾ ﻣ ﻲ و ﻣ ﺟ ﺎ ل ا ﻟ ﺗ ﻧ ظ ﯾ م ا ﻟ ذ ا ﺗ ﻲ ﻓ ﻲ ا ﻟ ﻣ ﻘ ﺎ ﯾ ﯾ س ﺟ د ﯾ رً ا ﺑ ﺎ ﻟ ﻣ ﻼ ﺣ ظ ﺔ . ﻟذ ا ﻧ و ﺻ ﻲ ﺑﺄ ھﻣﯾ ﺔ ﻟ ﺗﻧﻣﯾ ﺔ ﻣﻔ ﮭوم اﻟ طﻼب ا ﻷﻛﺎ دﯾ ﻣ ﻲ اﻟذاﺗ ﻲ و اﺗ ﺟ ﺎه ال LLL ، ﺑﮭ د ف ﺗﻌزﯾ ز اﻟ ﻌ ﻼﻗﺔ ﺑﯾ ن اﻟ ﻣﻔ ﮭوﻣﯾ ن.

Knowledge- and communication-intensive domains still long for a better support of creativity that considers legal requirements, compliance rules and administrative tasks as well, because current systems focus either on knowledge representation or business process management. The purpose of this paper is to discuss our model of integrated knowledge and business process representation and its presentation to users.

The authors follow a design science approach in the environment of patent prosecution, which is characterized by a highly standardized, legally prescribed process and individual knowledge study. Thus, the research is based on knowledge study, BPM, graph-based knowledge representation and user interface design. The authors iteratively designed and built a model and a prototype. To evaluate the approach, the authors used analytical proof of concept, real-world test scenarios and case studies in real-world settings, where the authors conducted observations and open interviews.

The authors designed a model and implemented a prototype for evolving and storing static and dynamic aspects of knowledge. The proposed solution leverages the flexibility of a graph-based model to enable open and not only continuously developing user-centered processes but also pre-defined ones. The authors further propose a user interface concept which supports users to benefit from the richness of the model but provides sufficient guidance.

The balanced integration of the data and task perspectives distinguishes the model significantly from other approaches such as BPM or knowledge graphs. The authors further provide a sophisticated user interface design, which allows the users to effectively and efficiently use the graph-based knowledge representation in their daily study.

Recent years have witnessed the rapid development of massive open online courses (MOOCs). With more and more courses being produced by instructors and being participated by learners all over the world, unprecedented massive educational resources are aggregated. The educational resources include videos, subtitles, lecture notes, quizzes, etc., on the teaching side, and forum contents, Wiki, log of learning behavior, log of homework, etc., on the learning side. However, the data are both unstructured and diverse. To facilitate knowledge management and mining on MOOCs, extracting keywords from the resources is important. This paper aims to adapt the state-of-the-art techniques to MOOC settings and evaluate the effectiveness on real data. In terms of practice, this paper also tries to answer the questions for the first time that to what extend can the MOOC resources support keyword extraction models, and how many human efforts are required to make the models work well.

Based on which side generates the data, i.e instructors or learners, the data are classified to teaching resources and learning resources, respectively. The approach used on teaching resources is based on machine learning models with labels, while the approach used on learning resources is based on graph model without labels.

From the teaching resources, the methods used by the authors can accurately extract keywords with only 10 per cent labeled data. The authors find a characteristic of the data that the resources of various forms, e.g. subtitles and PPTs, should be separately considered because they have the different model ability. From the learning resources, the keywords extracted from MOOC forums are not as domain-specific as those extracted from teaching resources, but they can reflect the topics which are lively discussed in forums. Then instructors can get feedback from the indication. The authors implement two applications with the extracted keywords: generating concept map and generating learning path. The visual demos show they have the potential to improve learning efficiency when they are integrated into a real MOOC platform.

Conducting keyword extraction on MOOC resources is quite difficult because teaching resources are hard to be obtained due to copyrights. Also, getting labeled data is tough because usually expertise of the corresponding domain is required.

The experiment results support that MOOC resources are good enough for building models of keyword extraction, and an acceptable balance between human efforts and model accuracy can be achieved.

This paper presents a pioneer study on keyword extraction on MOOC resources and obtains some new findings.

This article investigates whether accounting, a tool that affects the actions of both organisations and society, can contribute to further developing the concept of sustainability. Exploiting real-time accounts of management speeches, termed “managerial talk” in the context of this paper, the study is among the first to include technology within a sustainability framework.

A data structure with first-order and second-order categories was created using a methodology elaborated by Van Maanen (1979) and Gioia et al. (2012). The empirical data was collected during 20 presentations delivered by senior managers from companies, the financial industry, the Swedish government and non-profit organisations to the Swedish Society of Financial Analysts between November 2016 and February 2020.

The study develops an inductive model that emerges as a result of the data analysis process. It emphasises that technology can be both an enabler for, and an interference with, sustainability according to the application of steering mechanisms. The latter include governance and regulations, analysis and evaluation tools, and disclosure practice.

Acknowledging the role of technology in sustainable development can potentially assist in the implementation of sustainability and, arguably, in fostering an alignment between the three pillars of sustainability.

Interrelationships between sustainability, technology and accounting comprise a relatively unexplored research setting that has seldom been at the centre of academic studies.

The concept of trust suffers from conceptual confusion. The current perspectives on trust within the B2B marketing domain could be visualised as a big box of which the borders are defined by the disciplines marketing, economics, psychology and sociology. The purpose of this paper is to enlarge the box by introducing neuroscientific insights on trust to the B2B marketing domain.

By a literature study on neuroscientific insights on trust, this paper examines how neuroscience can help to solve existing problems within trust research and how it can address problems that otherwise might not be considered.

The neural coordinates of trust not only show that trust entails cognitive and affective elements, but also that these elements are so intertwined that they cannot be completely separated. What can and should be separated are the concepts of trust and distrust: the neural coordinates of trust are clearly different from the neural coordinates of distrust. Furthermore, there are personal differences in the ease of trusting others, which are not only caused by previous experiences but also by differences in resting patterns of frontal electroencephalographic asymmetry and by differences in hormonal state.

Specifically, the neural difference between trust and distrust might shape the future research agenda for trust research within industrial marketing. It is likely that the process of distrust goes quick, whereas trust comes more slow. This is reflected in the dual processing theory, which is seen as a paradigm shift in the psychology of reasoning.

New perspectives and directions for trust research are presented. The distinction between trust and distrust is connected to approach- and avoidance-motivated behaviour, which is highly relevant for deepening the studies on trust within industrial marketing.

Research on cultural entrepreneurship has explored the role of language in making and giving sense to novel ventures and market categories and in legitimating them. We analyze how an emerging de novo market category, quantum computing, is constructed through the use of analogies and metaphors. Through a multimodal analysis of interview and newspaper data, we find that in addition to using analogies and metaphors to highlight familiarity, actors also use such tropes to expound the weirdness of the new category, thus marking it as profoundly different and novel. Such tropes have a dual function; they draw the boundaries between science and laypeople but also arouse awe and curiosity among the audiences. Our study thus casts light on the cultural work during de novo category emergence.

Opportunity recognition and opportunity exploitation are two central concepts in the entrepreneurial process. However, there is a lack of both a clear specification of the content domains of the constructs and valid and reliable multi-item scales for their measurement. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper first reveals existing issues around the definitions and measures relating to the concepts, then defines their content domains, and also proposes scale items to measure the concepts. Four samples are used to develop the measurement instruments.

Two scales are suggested, one to measure opportunity recognition, and other to measure opportunity exploitation. The scales demonstrate reliability and construct, discriminant, and nomological validity.

The resulting instruments provide tools for research and practice that could prove valuable when examining the antecedents and consequences of both opportunity recognition and opportunity exploitation.

The purpose of this study is to apply the concept of organizational ambidexterity as a conceptual lens to increase the understanding of tensions between exploitation (continuity) and exploration (change) in Agile software development (ASD) project teams, and particularly the balancing (ambidextrous) strategies utilized.

A conceptual framework was constructed from interdisciplinary sources on ambidexterity. A literature review of publications on ambidexterity in ASD was then performed, and the results from the selected publications were classified according to an extension of the conceptual framework.

Contextual ambidexterity in ASD is affected by the four basic coherent concepts: time, task, team and transition. The study found that most ambidextrous factors and strategies were task and team-related. In addition, a mixture of hard (performance) strategies and soft (social) strategies is needed in order for people/teams to (be able to) become ambidextrous.

To provide a better understanding of ASD, it is important to identify a broader set of ambidextrous factors and strategies that can impact ASD project teams. The expanded conceptual framework can serve as a basis for future empirical research and provide insights to practitioners on how to strengthen ambidexterity in ASD projects.

The contribution is of great importance for ASD research and practice, as ASD methods are a popular method for managing projects within ASD and in other nonsoftware organizations. In addition, as more and more organizations struggle to deal with rapidly changing environments, interest in the phenomena of paradoxical tensions and the strategy (ambidexterity) to deal with these tensions increase.