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1 – 10 of 840Behnam Soltani and William E. Donald
Drawing on a theoretical framework of sustainable career ecosystem theory, our paper aims to consider how domestic and international postgraduates can enhance their employability…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on a theoretical framework of sustainable career ecosystem theory, our paper aims to consider how domestic and international postgraduates can enhance their employability through participation in a landscape of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed an exploratory, longitudinal case study design to capture students' lived experiences on an 18-month Master of Professional Practice course at a higher education institution in New Zealand. The data collection procedure involved field note observations (months 1–4), a focus group (month 13) and narrative frames (months 16–18). The sample was domestic students from New Zealand (n = 2) and international students from Asia (n = 5).
Findings
One’s participation in multiple communities of practice represents their landscape of practice and a commitment to lifewide learning. Through participation in various communities of practice, domestic and international students can enhance their employability in three ways: (1) boundary encounters to develop social capital, (2) transcending contexts to enhance cultural capital, and (3) acknowledging the development of psychological capital and career agency.
Originality/value
Our work offers one of the earliest empirical validations of sustainable career ecosystem theory. Expressly, communities of practice represent various contexts whereby employability capital is developed over time. Additionally, the postgraduate students themselves are portrayed as interconnected and interdependent actors, presenting a novel framing of such dependencies at the micro-level of the ecosystem. The practical implications come from informing universities of the value of a landscape of practice to enhance the employability of domestic and international students in preparation for sustainable careers and to promote the sustainability of the career ecosystem.
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Yin Ma, P.M. Nimmi, Maria Mouratidou and William E. Donald
This study aims to explore the impact of engaging in serious leisure (SL) on the well-being (WB) and self-perceived employability (PE) of university students while also…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of engaging in serious leisure (SL) on the well-being (WB) and self-perceived employability (PE) of university students while also considering the role of career adaptability (CA) as a mediator.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 905 domestic undergraduate students from China completed an online survey.
Findings
The findings reveal that participation in SL positively influences WB and PE. Additionally, the results indicate that CA mediates the SL-WB relationship but not the SL-PE relationship.
Originality/value
The theoretical contribution of this research comes from advancing our understanding of sustainable career theory through empirical testing of SL, PE, and CA on WB outcomes within a higher education setting. The practical implications of this study involve providing universities with strategies to support domestic Chinese undergraduate students in enhancing their WB and PE through active engagement in SL pursuits and the development of CA. Moreover, our findings serve as a foundation for future research investigating whether insights gained from domestic Chinese undergraduate students can provide solutions on a global scale to address the persistent challenges of improving student WB and PE.
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Donald W. Jackson, Thomas Hollmann and Andrew S. Gallan
The purpose of this article is to explore career development programs for the sales force including benefits, implementation and managerial implications.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore career development programs for the sales force including benefits, implementation and managerial implications.
Design/methodology/approach
Career development programs are viewed through a conceptual model consisting of assessment, direction and development.
Findings
This paper provides a comprehensive list of the benefits of a career development program for sales forces.
Practical implications
The conceptual model can serve as a checklist for sales managers to evaluate, add to or modify their programs. The conceptual model also provides a framework for tying together many disparate areas of career development that have been handled separately or ignored in the sales management literature.
Originality/value
This paper provides a comprehensive conceptual model of career development that has not been present in the sales management literature. This should be useful to sales managers in evaluating their own career development efforts. The framework should also be useful to sales management scholars who teach and do research in this area.
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James M Loveland, John W Lounsbury, Soo-Hee Park and Donald W Jackson
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between personality traits and both job and career satisfaction among salespeople. The authors also wished to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between personality traits and both job and career satisfaction among salespeople. The authors also wished to examine the extent to which biologically based personality traits provided insights into job and career satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used latent profile analysis (LPA) to assess a sample of 299 salespeople along the dimensions of emotional stability, extraversion, work drive, teamwork orientation, customer service orientation, optimism and both job and career satisfaction.
Findings
The findings revealed two distinct groups, and these groups were markedly different along the biologically based traits of optimism, extraversion, emotional stability and along both job and career satisfaction. The differences across these groups were especially pronounced for career satisfaction.
Practical implications
Our findings suggest that firms might wish to devote limited resources to improving the skill sets of salespeople with the “right” disposition, rather than attempting to train candidates to cope with the emotional and visceral aspects of sales.
Originality/value
The relationship between biologically based traits and job/career satisfaction has not yet been examined. Moreover, the use of LPA provides interesting insights that regression or structural equation modeling-based approaches would not.
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Donald W. Jackson and Stephen S. Tax
The concept of culture has been an important subject of managerialinterest over the past decade, yet little has been written about howculture can be managed within the industrial…
Abstract
The concept of culture has been an important subject of managerial interest over the past decade, yet little has been written about how culture can be managed within the industrial salesforce. Describes the key components of a salesforce culture and explains the characteristics of a well‐managed salesforce culture. Finally, develops suggestions for managing the industrial salesforce culture around three strategic factors: planning, implementation and control. Concludes by providing some guidelines for further research in this important area.
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Transaction cost economics is an important anchor for analyzing a wide range of economic and organizational issues and is complemented by various theories, resulting in a…
Abstract
Transaction cost economics is an important anchor for analyzing a wide range of economic and organizational issues and is complemented by various theories, resulting in a perception shift of transaction governance structure from a polar classification toward a continuum (John & Reve, 1982; Heide & Miner, 1992; Hennart, 1993). Despite conceptual framework developments, empirical studies based on the continuum are scarce. This research is an initial effort toward TGS dimensionalization and operationalization and reviews theoretical developments since 1930, surveys empirical studies from 1982 to 2004, presents Williamson’s framework (1991), and proposes a set of items for instrument design.
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Marie Elaine Gioiosa, Cathryn M. Meegan and Jill M. D'Aquila
Given the implementation of a new Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensure exam and the CPA Evolution Model Curriculum, accounting educators must integrate more advanced skills…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the implementation of a new Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensure exam and the CPA Evolution Model Curriculum, accounting educators must integrate more advanced skills in their coursework. We illustrate how a commonly-used project in accounting classes, which teaches technical accounting content, can address skills and competencies identified by the Pathways Commission and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and, as a result, enhance skills all business school graduates need in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
We incorporate a financial statement analysis research project under a group work format in three levels of financial accounting classes. Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, we evaluate changes in student perceptions of skills and competencies important for business graduates.
Findings
We find students perceive improvement in critical thinking, problem-solving, the ability to work with other people, their understanding of the course material, and data analysis abilities after completion of the project. We also find statistically significant increases pre-to post-project in student perceptions of their knowledge, confidence, competence, and enthusiasm with respect to accounting material.
Originality/value
We provide an example of how educators can align a commonly-used project with the CPA Evolution Model Curriculum, yet still meet the needs of non-accounting majors and prepare all students for future business careers. Group work has been studied and similar financial statement analysis projects have been implemented in the classroom for years. We contribute by not only extending and updating this research, but also by re-evaluating a project to determine whether it meets the shifting needs of a rapidly changing profession. By doing so, we answer recent researchers’ call for research in higher education that addresses employability and workplace skills.
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Martha Rogers and Richard W. Buchanan
Examines the problem of selecting new marketing directors and thehigh failure rate among new marketing personnel. Contends that thefailure of first‐time marketing directors is not…
Abstract
Examines the problem of selecting new marketing directors and the high failure rate among new marketing personnel. Contends that the failure of first‐time marketing directors is not automatic; identifies the problems involved in hiring first‐time directors and offers specific steps that a first‐time marketing director can take and that a firm can support to increase the possibility of success for the new marketing executive, as well as the firm′s overall marketing effort. Concludes that first time marketing executives are not doomed to fail.
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In the past decade or so, workplace organisation and restructuring processes, have been subjected to the most intense scrutiny. Driven by rapidly intensifying competitive…
Abstract
In the past decade or so, workplace organisation and restructuring processes, have been subjected to the most intense scrutiny. Driven by rapidly intensifying competitive pressures, work organisations sought increased flexibility, especially from labour, as they struggled to maintain market shares in an economic environment increasingly characterised by excess in labour supply. Pressures for change were probably most evident in the public sector where economic and ideological forces combined to limit the growth of government services and increase their exposure to competitive forces.
Martha Rogers and Richard W. Buchanan
Discusses the reasons for the high number of failures of firstmarketing directors within organizations. Analyses the problems involvedin hiring first‐time marketing directors and…
Abstract
Discusses the reasons for the high number of failures of first marketing directors within organizations. Analyses the problems involved in hiring first‐time marketing directors and offers solutions that increase both the chances of survival of the marketing director, and the firm′s marketing effort. Concludes that survival depends on the creation of a marketing‐receptive environment through training, recruitment, management structure, and well‐defined marketing expectations.
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