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1 – 10 of over 65000Charitha Harshani Perera, Long Thang Van Nguyen and Rajkishore Nayak
The rapid adoption of social media has resulted in a fundamental shift in the way communication and collaboration take place. While social media is recognized as an important…
Abstract
Purpose
The rapid adoption of social media has resulted in a fundamental shift in the way communication and collaboration take place. While social media is recognized as an important marketing communication tool, it has become overlooked how social media marketing activities (user-generated and firm-generated content) influence brand equity creation in the higher education sector. Drawing from social identity theory, this study identifies how higher education institutions develop customer-based brand equity using social media marketing and social brand engagement, taking cross-comparison between high and low subjective norms.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was used to collect data from a sample of 936 undergraduates of private higher education institutions in Sri Lanka and Vietnam. These data were gathered using purposive sampling, and in testing the hypothesis and structure among the variables, structural equation modeling was used to determine the relationship between the study variables.
Findings
For the conceptual framework, the authors found that the structural equation model complies with the empirical data. The structural equation model shows that social brand engagement mediates the relationship between user-generated content, firm-generated content and brand equity. Further, the subjective norms were found to moderate the relationship between user-generated content, firm-generated content and social brand engagement, highlighting that the lower the subjective norms the higher the influence on social brand engagement as students receive low pressure and influence from external parties.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted at private higher education institutes in Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Future research could benefit from the perceptions of undergraduates in public higher education institutes. Future researchers could widen the diversity of service settings in the sample and replicate this investigation to discover if the results are consistent across the whole services sector.
Originality/value
The current research contributes to the services marketing and branding literature in the higher education context. The paper presents the crucial elements in building brand equity for higher education institutes to fill the existing gaps in higher education branding literature. The findings of the current study provide strategies to improve the higher education sector.
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Mohammed Aboramadan, Khalid Dahleez and Mohammed H. Hamad
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of servant leadership on work engagement and affective commitment among academics in higher education. Moreover, the paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of servant leadership on work engagement and affective commitment among academics in higher education. Moreover, the paper highlights the role of job satisfaction as an intervening mechanism among the examined variables.
Design/methodology/approach
Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to academics working in the Palestinian higher education sector. We used structural equation modelling to examine the hypotheses.
Findings
A positive relationship was found between servant leadership and affective commitment. The relationship between servant leadership and work engagement is fully mediated by job satisfaction, whereas partial mediation was found between servant leadership and affective commitment. Both work engagement and affective commitment have a positive impact on academics’ job performance.
Practical implications
The paper provides a fertile ground for higher education managers concerning the role of leadership in stimulating work engagement and organisational commitment among academics.
Originality/value
First, the paper is one of the few studies that empirically examines servant leadership in higher education using data coming from a non-Western context because most of the servant leadership research is conducted in the Western part of the world (Parris and Peachey, 2013). Second, we empirically provide evidence for the argument that servant leadership is needed in higher education. Third, the paper contributes to the limited body of research on work engagement and commitment in the higher education sector.
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Emma O’Brien, Bojana Ćulum Ilić, Anete Veidemane, Davide Dusi, Thomas Farnell and Ninoslav Šćukanec Schmidt
This paper aims to examine the development and piloting of a novel European framework for community engagement (CE) in higher education, which has been purposefully designed to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the development and piloting of a novel European framework for community engagement (CE) in higher education, which has been purposefully designed to progress the CE agenda in a European context.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed framework was co-created through the European Union (EU)-funded project towards a European framework for community engagement in higher education (TEFCE). The TEFCE Toolbox is an institutional self-reflection framework that centres on seven thematic dimensions of CE. This paper follows the development of the TEFCE Toolbox through empirical case study analysis of four European universities and their local communities.
Findings
The findings in this paper indicate that the TEFCE Toolbox facilitates context-specific applications in different types of universities and socioeconomic environments. Incorporating insights from engagement practitioners, students and community representatives the TEFCE Toolbox was successfully applied in universities with diverse profiles and missions. The process facilitated the recognition of CE achievements and the identification of potential areas for improvement.
Originality/value
Despite a range of international initiatives, there remains an absence of initiatives within the European higher education area that focus on developing tools to comprehensively support CE. The TEFCE Toolbox and case-study analysis presented in this paper address this gap in knowledge. The broader societal contribution and social responsibility of higher education have become increasingly prominent on the European agenda. The TEFCE Toolbox represents an innovative, robust and holistic European framework with the potential to support universities in reflecting upon their pursuit of addressing grand societal challenges, whilst promoting CE.
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While being largely studied in organizational research, job engagement has rarely been empirically investigated in the context of higher education. In this study, this paper aim…
Abstract
Purpose
While being largely studied in organizational research, job engagement has rarely been empirically investigated in the context of higher education. In this study, this paper aim to examine the effects of leader performance expectation and coworker pressure on research engagement of lecturers and the moderation of achievement value.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors based the survey on the data collected from public higher educational institutions in Vietnam.
Findings
The findings contribute to the literature of job engagement in higher education from an organizational behavior perspective by explaining the mid-level impacts of departmental factors affecting research engagement.
Originality/value
The authors develop an organizational behavior perspective related to middle-level factors to understand factors influencing one specific research job of lecturers in higher education in a non-Western developing nation.
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Julia A. Fehrer, Herbert Woratschek, Claas Christian Germelmann and Roderick J. Brodie
The purpose of this paper is to extend existing engagement research in two directions: first, it operationalizes the dynamic nature of the engagement process within a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend existing engagement research in two directions: first, it operationalizes the dynamic nature of the engagement process within a customer-brand dyad and, second, it tests the interrelationships with other network actors in a triadic network setting.
Design/methodology/approach
A 2×2 experimental design models the iterative nature of the engagement process based on repeated measures at three points in time, considering the contextual effects of connections with other customers and crowding-in effects based on monetary incentives.
Findings
This research demonstrates that in a utilitarian service setting, customer engagement does not emerge per se in the dyadic interaction between the customer and the brand. For high levels of engagement behavior to occur, incentives and ties to other network actors are essential. Further, the findings suggest a non-linear relationship between engagement behavior and its antecedents and consequences: engagement behavior must overcome a certain intensity threshold to unfold its effect.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is needed to explore the dynamic nature of the engagement process in experiential and interactive service settings, and more complex network settings that may involve more actors and more complex relationships.
Practical implications
By facilitating connections between customers and compensating for low intrinsic interest, managers can facilitate actual engagement behavior even in utilitarian service contexts. Once engagement behavior has been triggered, an increased engagement disposition, higher satisfaction, higher involvement and higher loyalty follow.
Originality/value
This study empirically tests the dynamic nature of the engagement process within and beyond the dyad, and has revealed a non-linear pattern of customer engagement behavior within its nomological network.
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Owais Nazir and Jamid Ul Islam
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between perceived organizational support, employee engagement, employee performance and affective commitment in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between perceived organizational support, employee engagement, employee performance and affective commitment in the context of Indian higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 410 employees from various higher educational institutes of India using a self-administered questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.
Findings
The results revealed a positive influence of perceived organizational support on employee performance and affective commitment. Moreover, these relationships have also been found to be mediated by employee engagement.
Practical implications
The study serves as guide for the development of influential strategies to develop and retain a well engaged, competent and committed workforce at higher educational institutes in India.
Originality/value
The study enriches the organizational behavior literature by identifying and empirically validating some antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in the context of Indian higher education where such studies are scant.
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Khushboo Raina and Puja Khatri
The purpose of this paper is to explore the available literature on engagement of faculty members teaching in higher education institutions and present forth a strong foundation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the available literature on engagement of faculty members teaching in higher education institutions and present forth a strong foundation for researchers of the same area to gain insight into the available literature and prospects of faculty engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Exploratory study has been conducted using different keywords to draw a list of relevant research papers on Google Scholar and several online databases like Emerald Management, EBSCO Host, Elseiver, etc.
Findings
Various definitions of the major constructs have been captured from which dimensions have been explored. Identification of dimensions and factors has been done by performing extensive literature review. Studies so conducted on the major construct have been tabulated to present a comprehensive picture. Universities across the world have been studied to find out differences with respect to India in terms of their higher education system and practices related to faculty.
Originality/value
The paper is original and holds significance as not much literature is available on faculty engagement in published domain and higher education has become an area of keen interest in present times. This paper will give a strong foundation of literature to future researchers who want to pursue their studies in this area.
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Whereas the influence of engagement on learning outcomes has been extensively investigated, this has not been studied for undergraduate students of sports science major field. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Whereas the influence of engagement on learning outcomes has been extensively investigated, this has not been studied for undergraduate students of sports science major field. The objective of this study was to measure the extent of student engagement and learning outcomes and further examine their relationships in the context of a sports science program in the Ethiopian public higher education system.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a cross-sectional survey design collecting quantitative data from a random sample (n=83) of volunteered undergraduate sports science students from four public universities in Ethiopia. The student engagement theories were used as guiding frameworks.
Findings
Findings reveal above-average levels of engagement and learning outcome scores and low to moderate relations between the scores of engagement and outcomes measured. Both independently and interdependently, the student engagement factors reveal statistically significant relationships with all the measured outcomes, adjusted R2 ranging between 17 and 50 percent (p < 0.001).
Research limitations/implications
Because of disciplinary focus on sports science and small sample size, generalization is limited in scope.
Practical implications
Higher education teachers and administrators who work with undergraduates of sports science major should take into consideration the contexts and the relevance of student engagement for greater learning outcomes, especially student-teacher relationships. Hence, mandating instructional interventions to promote engagement through authentic faculty development and increasing academic rigor should be serious concerns.
Originality/value
Undergraduate students of sports science major field have received little attention in the higher education research literature, and discipline-based education research is a growing field of inquiry. This study addresses this gap.
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Aleksandra Bujacz, Claudia Bernhard-Oettel, Thomas Rigotti and Petra Lindfors
Self-employed workers typically report higher well-being levels than employees. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanisms that lead to differences in work engagement…
Abstract
Purpose
Self-employed workers typically report higher well-being levels than employees. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanisms that lead to differences in work engagement between self-employed and organizationally employed high-skilled workers.
Design/methodology/approach
Self-employed and organizationally employed high-skilled workers (N=167) were compared using a multigroup multilevel analysis. Participants assessed their job control (general level) and reported their work engagement during work tasks (task level) by means of the Day Reconstruction Method. Aspects of job control (autonomy, creativity, and learning opportunities) and task characteristics (social tasks and core work tasks) were contrasted for the two groups as predictors of work engagement.
Findings
Self-employed workers reported higher levels of job control and work engagement than organizationally employed workers. In both groups, job control predicted work engagement. Employees with more opportunities to be creative and autonomous were more engaged at work. Self-employed workers were more engaged when they had more learning opportunities. On the task level, the self-employed were more engaged during core work tasks and social tasks.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that self-employment is an effective way for high-skilled workers to increase the amount of job control available to them, and to improve their work engagement. From an intervention perspective, self-employed workers may benefit most from more learning opportunities, more social tasks, and more core work tasks. Organizationally employed workers may appreciate more autonomy and opportunities for creativity.
Originality/value
This study contributes to a better understanding of the role that job control and task characteristics play in predicting the work engagement of high-skilled self-employed and organizationally employed workers.
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Sahil Malik, Deepti Dabas Hazarika and Amandeep Dhaliwal
Student engagement is a multifaceted concept that directly impacts students and their education. The purpose of this paper is to discuss student engagement conceptually by…
Abstract
Purpose
Student engagement is a multifaceted concept that directly impacts students and their education. The purpose of this paper is to discuss student engagement conceptually by offering a framework to better understand the deliverables of engagement in the form of generic and targeted outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The design of the study is based on a detailed literature review, to identify different types of engagement which graduates are expected to experience during their higher education studies. These types of engagement(s) are mapped with their outcomes.
Findings
The findings of this study would be an analysis of relevant studies to create an outcome-oriented conceptual framework for student engagement.
Practical implications
The practical implications of the study would be to provide a guide for enhancing student engagement through which both generic competencies and higher order competencies of students may be augmented.
Originality/value
The available literature suggests that many students lack focus when learning on campus, especially in meeting targeted outcomes, and do not engage in the community. The current study has incorporated generic and targeted outcomes expected as a result of the different types of engagement. The study has put forward certain propositions, suggesting new dimensions of research in the domain of student engagement.
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