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1 – 10 of 10Common pedagogical approaches to entrepreneurship education include business plan writing, case studies, consulting, and simulations. Yet, in effect, these learning vehicles are…
Abstract
Common pedagogical approaches to entrepreneurship education include business plan writing, case studies, consulting, and simulations. Yet, in effect, these learning vehicles are simply proxies for the venture launch process. Operating under the assumption that learning entrepreneurship is a complex endeavor best addressed by a portfolio of pedagogical techniques, some instructors have experimented with launching student businesses in addition to traditional approaches.The challenge is how to do this with inexperienced undergraduate students within the confines of a 15-week semester. Included in the article are an outline of the process, a qualitative assessment of student learning, and suggestions for further research.
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David S. Bedford, Markus Granlund and Kari Lukka
The authors examine how performance measurement systems (PMSs) and academic agency influence the meaning of research quality in practice. The worries are that the notion of…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors examine how performance measurement systems (PMSs) and academic agency influence the meaning of research quality in practice. The worries are that the notion of research quality is becoming too simplistically and narrowly determined by research quality's measurable proxies and that academics, especially manager-academics, do not sufficiently realise this risk. Whilst prior literature has covered the effects of performance measurement in the university sector broadly and how PMSs are mobilised locally, there is only little understanding of whether and how PMSs affect the meaning of research quality in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is designed as a comparative case study of two university faculties in Finland. The role of conceptual analysis plays a notable role in the study, too.
Findings
The authors find that manager-academics of the two examined faculties have rather similar conceptual understandings of research quality. However, there were differences in the degree of slippage between the “espoused-meaning” of research quality and “meaning-in-practice” of research quality. The authors traced these differences to how the local PMS and manager-academics’ agency relate to one another within the context of increasing global and national performance pressures. The authors developed a tentative framework for the various “styles of agency”. This suggests how the relationship between the local PMS and manager-academics’ exerted agency shapes the “degrees of freedom” of the meaning of research quality in practice.
Originality/value
Given that research quality lies at the heart of academic work, the authors' paper indicates that exploring the three matters – performance measurement, the agency of manager-academics and the meaning of research quality in practice – in combination is crucial for the sustainability of the academe. The authors contribute to the literature by detailing the way in which local PMS and manager-academics' agency have material impacts on what research quality means in practice. The authors conclude by highlighting the pressing need for manager-academics to exercise the agency in efforts to safeguard a broad and pluralistic understanding of research quality in practice.
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Adelaide Lusambili, Joyline Jepkosgei, Jacinta Nzinga and Mike English
The purpose of this paper is to provide a situational overview of the facility-based maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality audits (MPMMAs) in SSA, their current efficacy…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a situational overview of the facility-based maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality audits (MPMMAs) in SSA, their current efficacy at reducing mortality and morbidity rates related to childbirth.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a scoping literature review based on the synthesis of secondary literature.
Findings
Not all countries in SSA conduct MPMMAs. Countries where MPMMAs are conducted have not instituted standard practice, MPMMAs are not done on a national scale, and there is no clear best practice for MPMMAs. In addition, auditing process of pediatrics and maternal deaths is flawed by human and organizational barriers. Thus, the aggregated data collected from MPMMAs are not adequate enough to identify and correct systemic flaws in SSA childbirth-related health care.
Research limitations/implications
There are a few published literature on the topic in sub-Saharan Africa.
Practical implications
This review exposes serious gaps in literature and practice. It provides a platform upon which practitioners and policy makers must begin to discuss ways of embedding mortality audits in SSA in their health systems as well as health strategies.
Social implications
The findings of this paper can inform policy in sub-Saharan Africa that could lead toward better outcomes in health and well-being.
Originality/value
The paper is original.
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