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The working hypothesis of this research is that specifics of activities of university that provides remote education does not allow using the same evaluation criteria for assessment of its competitiveness that allow assessing competitiveness of university that provides traditional education. The purpose of this paper is to verify the offered hypothesis, study the modern Russian experience of evaluating the competitiveness of university that provides remote education and develop methodological recommendations for improving this process.

The authors use the existing scientific approaches to determining competitiveness of a company, including university, for complex and comprehensive study of the set problem. The information and analytical basis of this research is formed of methodological materials of the ranking of best universities of Russia for 2017 according to independent analytical agency “RaExpert” and “Announcement of open competition for state support for leading universities of the Russian Federation for the purpose of raising their competitiveness among the leading global scientific and educational centers of the Ministry of Education and Science of the RF.”

The offered hypothesis was proved. It is concluded that modern Russia uses the same (common) criteria for evaluating competitiveness of universities, regardless of the form of provided educational services. This is incorrect from the scientific and methodological point of view, as the work shows that most criteria are characterized by different applicability as to the university that provides traditional education and the university that provides remote education.

Methodological provision of evaluating the university’s competitiveness that provides remote education is elaborated by the authors by development of additional criteria. It is recommended to assign weight coefficients to all criteria depending on the level of applicability (importance) as to the university that provides remote education.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

To promote university education quality, performance measure indicators (PMIs) must be established. These indicators ensure the maintenance of university operating standards, encourage individual universities to work on inadequacies, and promote university competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.

A literature analysis was conducted and European, American and Taiwanese education evaluation indicators were used to develop the PMIs. Data were collected from the following sources: US‐MBNAQ; US News & World Report; two renowned US education journals; UK University Committee Reports; UK‐CVCP/UGC; three renowned UK education evaluation newspapers, opinions from the Ministry of Education and submissions from scholars in Australia and Taiwan. A total of 13 scholars were invited to participate in the literature review and analysis, which employed Delphi methods.

These indicators included 18 measurement dimensions, and 78 PMIs were developed. Applying these PMIs resulted in the creation of key performance indicators and a balanced scorecard (BSC) of performance measures. In addition, BSC represented a self‐evaluation performance indicator that universities could use to achieve the objective of performance management.

The PMI by means of their integration into the BSC, allow management by objectives, a method to build the performance of each department and organization.

Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

This paper aims to examine how Hong Kong universities have responded to a newly included assessment element of socio-economic impact in a government-implemented research evaluation system – Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020 – within the context of tightening audits and forceful knowledge economy objectives.

This paper reports an institutional case study of the institutional-level response to the RAE 2020 impact requirement at a top-ranked comprehensive university in Hong Kong. A qualitative inquiry approach was adopted. The data sources mainly include university documents related to the RAE 2020 socio-economic impact policy, interview data with nine RAE-eligible academics at the case university, documents on the RAE exercises issued by the University Grants Committee (UGC) and field notes taken during the RAE information sessions.

The institutionalisation process of the RAE socio-economic impact agenda could be considered as establishing an indicator-oriented reward and recognition regime for knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange (KT/KE). Overall, two major institutional strategies were identified in operating the RAE 2020 impact agenda at the case university: (1) launching various policy initiatives: driven by the RAE-defined socio-economic impact; (2) incorporating socio-economic impact into faculty evaluation: premised upon the 16 KT performance indicators laid down by the UGC.

This article adds to the theoretical debate on the local reproduction of the global in studies of neoliberalism in higher education by describing a Hong Kong case study, supported by empirical data, of an actual university's responses to the newly included impact requirement in RAE 2020. More specifically, this study reveals that (1) the policy for socio-economic impact might be designed in a neutral or even benevolent manner, but has taken on a neoliberal and managerial dimension in its actual implementation; and (2) the neoliberal discourse underpinning the university's operation can be accounted for and explicated by the local factors embedded in the specific academic environment.

China is currently developing and promoting an industrial cluster policy at the government level. By enacting the ‘Opinion on promoting industrial cluster development’, China is supporting the development of industrial clusters. Building an industrial cluster is done by using a single factor but requires many additional factors like regional characteristics, competitiveness factors are also diversified. To evaluate the competitiveness of the Chinese automobile industry cluster, a competitiveness element index should be developed and a competitiveness evaluation method is needed to evaluate the importance of each element. To accomplish this objective, this research applied the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and focused on the importance of the competitiveness elements.

This research investigated the character is tics regarding cases of clusters and also analyzed the competitiveness of the Changchun automobile cluster located in northeastern China. The purpose of this research is to help Korean enterprises who enter China in the hopes that Korea will emerge as a top automobile production country.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the correlation between university libraries and academic research achievement and analyze if university library resources correlate with academic research achievement.

The paper seeks to verify the correlation between university libraries and academic research achievement and to examine which university library resources relate to research achievement. A variety of research questions were posed concerning the relationship between a university's library resources and academic research achievement. Structural equation models (SEMs) were developed to answer the research questions. Most research questions posed were affirmatively answered using the SEM process.

This study confirmed that labor and budget, investment in e‐resources and an investment in university libraries enhances academic research achievement.

An SEM for verifying the correlation between university libraries and academic research achievement was developed in the study.

This study is the first including an investment factor in e‐resources for verifying the correlation between university libraries and academic research achievement.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for the transformation from a second-generation university to an entrepreneurial university. The work is practical and innovative, which provides the foundation for further work in this field.

Based on a systematic review of relevant studies on entrepreneurial universities, this paper proposed an evaluation framework with clear logic and practicability. This paper also provided a basis for further research. The restrictions of each factor were defined by the readiness framework, and the consequences of entrepreneurial activities on local economic development were analyzed by using the proposed model. The proposed conceptual framework aided policymakers in completing a much-needed assessment of the impact of organizational policies, practices and structures on the entrepreneurial activities and transformation from second-generation universities to third-generation organizations.

The proposed readiness framework led to the development of organizational interventions that facilitated successful entrepreneurial activities. The quantitative indicators of different university types were demonstrated in this study. The quantitative validation of the integrated framework suggested that university heads and policymakers can encourage and develop academic entrepreneurship by using a comprehensive systems approach for the identification, protection and commercialization of university’s intellectual property.

This paper provides a framework for policymakers or decision makers to better understand whether a local university is ready for entrepreneurship. This framework also provides a direction for future quantitative research.

This chapter focuses on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) as a new approach for academic institutions, such as universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UASs) as organizations based on empirical evidence. A University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland was selected as a case. An analysis of the organization's most representative documents, extensive interviews with employees having expertise in the different RRI keys (public engagement, gender equality/diversity, science education, open access, ethics) and Anticipation, Inclusiveness, Reflexivity, Responsiveness (AIRR) dimensions, as well as a focus group produced interesting insights regarding the discourse and institutionalization of the RRI approach in the organization. Furthermore, the drivers, barriers, best practices, and monitoring of each of the RRI keys and AIRR dimensions were further described. The findings suggest that RRI could be a helpful policy framework at a time that universities are going through a systemic change.

The purpose of the paper is to develop a concept of organization of the system of science and education in the form 4.0 based on human and artificial intellectual capital.

The methods of regression and correlation analysis are used. The role of human and artificial intellectual capital for provision of effectiveness and competitiveness of the system of science and education is determined, as well as its correspondence to the modern challenges. Analysis of perspectives and limitations of automatization of the system of science and education based on AI is conducted; a model of organization of the system of science and education in the form 4.0 based on human and artificial intellectual capital is compiled.

It is established that in the system of science and education, the decisive production factor is intellectual capital, but human intellect does not necessarily have to dominate in its structure. AI is one of the most popular technologies of Industry 4.0 in the system of science and education, which has wide perspectives of practical implementation. As experience of the leading world universities, which had the highest level of digitization in 2018, showed, foundation on non-breakthrough digital technologies (computer equipment and Internet) does not allow opening the potential of increase of indicators of effectiveness and competitiveness of the system of science and education and bringing it in correspondence to the modern challenges based on digitization. However, correlation of activity of application of artificial intellectual capital with these indicators is four times higher (0.2), as compared to correlation of these indicators with activity of application of human intellectual capital (0.05). This shows demand for digitization of the system of science and education, but based on breakthrough digital technologies, of which AI should become the key one.

It is substantiated that higher education could be automatized based on AI by 85% and science by 63%. Therefore, on the whole in the system of science and education, the share of AI in the structure of intellectual capital could reach 74% ((85 + 63)/2). It is recommended to use the developed model of organization of the system of science and education in the form 4.0 based on human and artificial intellectual capital.