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This study aims to develop a model of learning-by-hiring in which knowledge gains may occur at the time of recruitment but also after recruitment when other incumbent organizational members assimilate a recruit’s knowledge. The author’s model predicts that experienced recruits are more likely to catalyze change to their organization’s core technological capabilities.

The continuous-time parametric hazard rate regressions predict core technological change in a long panel (1970–2017) of US biotechnology industry patent data. The author uses over 140,000 patents to model the evolution of knowledge of over 52,000 scientists and over 4,450 firms. To address endogeneity concerns, the author uses the Heckman selection method and does robustness tests using a difference-in-difference analysis.

The author finds that a hire’s prior research and development (R&D) experience helps overcome inertia arising from her or his new-to-an-organization “distant” knowledge to increase the likelihood of core technological change. In addition, while the author finds that incumbent organizational members resist technological change, experienced hires may effectively induce them to adopt new ways of doing things. This is particularly the case when hires collaborate with incumbents in R&D projects. Understanding the effects of hiring on core technological change, therefore, benefits from an assessment of hire R&D experience and its effects on incumbent inertia in an organization.

First, the author does not recommend managers to hire scientists with considerable distant knowledge only as this may be detrimental to core technological change. Second, the author recommends organizations striving to effectuate technological change to hire people with considerable prior R&D experience as this confers them with the ability to influence other members and socialize incumbent members. Third, the author recommends that managers hire people with both significant levels of prior experience and distant knowledge as they are complements. Finally, the author recommends managers to encourage collaboration between highly experienced hired scientists and long-tenured incumbent organizational members to facilitate incumbent learning, socialization and adoption of new ways of doing things.

This study develops a model of learning-by-hiring, which, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first to propose, test and advance KM literature by showing the effectiveness of experienced hires to stimulate knowledge diffusion and core technological change over time after being hired. This study contributes to innovation, organizational learning and strategy literatures.

Africa has been identified as an area where higher mortality happens due to un-accessibility to health care, drugs and other health facilities. Nigeria, as one of the African countries, is not excluded from such difficulties. This study aims to examine the determinants of efficient last-mile delivery at selected health facilities and the Kaduna State Health Supplies Management Agency (KADSHMA).

The study sourced data from KADSHMA and the health facilities’ staff, with a total of 261 observations used. Likewise, the respondents were picked from warehouses of each health facility and KADSHMA. The data was analysed using the partial least square structural equation modelling analysis to estimate the relationship among the variables of the study.

The study’s findings revealed that all five variables of the study (i.e. determinants) were significantly affecting the efficient last-mile delivery. Four constructs (delivery cost [DC], delivery time [DT], mode of delivery [MD] and facilities technology [FT]) have shown a positive and significant association with efficient last-mile delivery, whereas one variable (product mix [PM]) indicated a negative and significant association with efficient last-mile delivery. The study concludes that DC, DT, MD, FT and PM played significant roles in efficient last-mile delivery.

The study provides that specific means of transportation should always be on standby to transport health supplies. Time schedules should always be prepared and adhered to when transporting health supplies to the facilities, and each facility should network with robust technology to ease communication in terms of order and order planning. Additionally, facilities should try as much as possible to reduce the varieties of products when ordering health supplies, as it will increase the efficiency of the delivery.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that considered these five variables (DC, DT, MD, FT and PM) with impact on the last-mile delivery in one model, especially in the Nigerian case. This is a great contribution to knowledge, more importantly, to the last-mile delivery of the health sector. The result confirmed the importance of these determinants (DC, DT, FT and PM) of last-mile delivery efficiency in saving lives.

This article aims to contribute to a clearer understanding of the importance of mentor preparation and provide recommendations for effective mentor preparation programmes based on the literature.

A narrative review of a range of literature focussing on the importance and characteristics of effective mentor practice and preparation.

Many mentors working in educational contexts lack adequate preparation, and a shift in mentoring practice from a mentor as expert approach, which mentors are likely revert to without training, to a more collaborative relationship in line with educative mentoring is recommended. Relationship building, working collaboratively and encouraging critical reflection are essential mentoring capabilities, and can be supported by participation in effective mentoring preparation programmes. Characteristics of these programmes include: providing time for mentors to reflect on their personal capabilities and attitudes; strengthening their knowledge about mentoring and learning a range of approaches and tools.

Implications for mentor preparation include consideration of curricula that focus on the nature of effective mentoring relationships, provision of effective observation-based feedback and the facilitation of critical reflection. Blended learning models appear to have potential and organisational leaders need to recognise and value mentoring to ensure that it is prioritised.

This article makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nature of effective mentor preparation programmes.

An increasing number of last mile deliveries (LMDs) pose many sustainability challenges that retailers and logistics service providers (LSPs) can address. Using cognitive frames (CFs) as a lens, this study explored how retail and LSP managers make sense of sustainable LMDs.

The methodological approach used is a multiple embedded case study. The data were obtained from interviews with retailers and LSPs, supplemented with secondary data for triangulation.

The findings present the operational aspects of LMDs that managers associate with sustainability and indicate that retail and LSP managers frame sustainability primarily as emission reduction. Managers indicate an externalization of responsibility and a compartmentalization of the supply chain, in which social sustainability is not associated with the last mile. Most managers indicate hierarchical CFs regarding sustainability, in which sustainability is an important topic but is subordinate to economic interests.

Collaboration between retailers, LSPs and other stakeholders is viewed as challenging but could alleviate some of the sustainability shortcomings and aid in the paradoxical framing and inclusion of social issues.

A conceptualization of managerial CFs for sustainable LMDs, together with empirical frame indicators and three propositions, is presented, providing novel insights into how paradoxical CFs could make LMDs more sustainable. This approach illuminates the possibilities for how to untangle the operational manifestations of managerial framing and adds to the empirical exploration of CFs in supply chain management.

Estimation of (in)efficiency became a popular practice that witnessed applications in virtually any sector of the economy over the last few decades. Many different models were deployed for such endeavors, with Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) models dominating the econometric literature. Among the most popular variants of SFA are Aigner, Lovell, and Schmidt (1977), which launched the literature, and Kumbhakar, Ghosh, and McGuckin (1991), which pioneered the branch taking account of the (in)efficiency term via the so-called environmental variables or determinants of inefficiency. Focusing on these two prominent approaches in SFA, the goal of this chapter is to try to understand the production inefficiency of public hospitals in Queensland. While doing so, a recognized yet often overlooked phenomenon emerges where possible dramatic differences (and consequently very different policy implications) can be derived from different models, even within one paradigm of SFA models. This emphasizes the importance of exploring many alternative models, and scrutinizing their assumptions, before drawing policy implications, especially when such implications may substantially affect people’s lives, as is the case in the hospital sector.

The purpose of this chapter was to explore how the values of higher education institutions, and ultimately society, are conveyed through the curriculum of an institution. The arguments for focusing on a liberal education grounded in critical thinking are highlighted and then compared to the growing trend of occupational education being the central focus of a college education. The need to understand populist thinking in particular is aligned with the social responsibility that educational institutions carry in their charters. This means that the students and parents who pay tuition for their education want something to show for their investment, namely a level of compensation and employment that is perceived to be correlated with the expense of the degree. The competing views of education and training are then considered in a global context, noting the interconnectedness of the intellectual and business community around the globe. This chapter concludes by highlighting the importance of education and its impact on cultural understanding and engagement as a value, especially calling upon public policymakers to keep higher education leaders in check as they develop plans and expectations for their institutions.

Omni-channel shopping affords consumers a variety of delivery options to receive products based on their preferred times and locations. By considering consumers' contributions (physical, social and attentive efforts) in co-creating delivery services, this study investigates their preferences for parcel delivery.

A scenario-based questionnaire survey is conducted for data collection in Singapore (n = 483). Furthermore, a multinomial logistic regression is performed to assess consumers' choice mode of delivery among five alternatives, that is attended home delivery, unattended home delivery, automated self-collection locker, attended pickup point and click-and-collect.

Compared to attended home delivery, consumers who choose the alternatives are found to be more willing to contribute physical effort but less interested in responding attentively to informational updates. Efforts required for social interactions discourage consumers from choosing attended deliveries, prompting unattended alternatives (e.g. home delivery and self-collection) as more attractive choices. Additionally, socio-demographic factors and product value also influence consumers' preferences.

This study contributes to the literature by integrating the theoretical concept of consumer logistics into omni-channel studies, providing a new approach to examining consumers' channel behaviour. With detailed profiling that links product value and consumers' socio-demographics to their choice mode of delivery, the authors create practical insight into the optimal design of omni-channel distribution systems that best harness consumers' voluntary contributions.

Technology-enabled business-to-business (B2B) services contribute the largest share to GDP growth and are fundamental for an economy’s value creation. This article aims to identify key service- and digital technology-driven B2B innovation modes and proposes a research agenda for further exploration.

This conceptual paper adopts a techno-demarcation view on service innovation, encompassing three core dimensions: service offering (the service product, or the “what”), service process (the “how”) and service ecosystem (the “who/for whom”). It delineates the implications of three digital technologies – the internet-of-things (IoT), intelligent automation (IA) and digital platforms – for service innovation across these core dimensions in B2B markets.

Digital technology has immense potential ramifications for value creation by reshaping all three core dimensions of service innovation. Specifically, IoT can transform physical resources into reconfigurable service products, IA can augment and automate a rapidly expanding array of service processes, while digital platforms provide the technical and organizational infrastructure for the integration of resources and stakeholders within service ecosystems.

This study suggests an agenda with six themes for further research, each linked to one or more of the three service innovation dimensions. They are (1) new recurring revenue models, (2) service innovation in the metaverse, (3) scaling up service innovations, (4) ecosystem innovations, (5) power dependency and lock-in effects and (6) security and responsibility in digital domains.

Introduction: The growing body of research on employee engagement (EE) has resulted in a new human resource management paradigm. Human resource management researchers are investigating how EE can help with employee retention in higher education.

Purpose: The purpose of this chapter was to determine the quantity, growth trend, global distribution, top journals and authors, dominant countries, and dominant subject areas in EE in the higher education sector.

Methodology: The researcher employed a bibliometric analysis technique using VOS viewer software on one of the worldwide used databases, Scopus. Four combinations of the words were combined in this work using the logical operators TITLE-ABS-KEY (‘Employee engagement’ AND ‘Higher education’ OR ‘Higher educational institutions’ OR ‘universities’), thereby broadening the scope. This bibliometric analysis analysed 139 documents on EE scholarship.

Findings/Practical Implications: EE in higher education is still a developing phenomenon; this review aims to educate and inform contemporary researchers by providing an overview of the field’s current state.

Digital service innovation (DSI) is a type of technological innovation that is recognized in practice in the innovation structure of companies. Given the breadth of digital technologies that enable digital services and the variety of these services, analysis is needed to discern the nature of these services, as well as the process that culminates in co-innovation. The literature on DSI is fragmented and spread across multiple research areas. This fragmentation impedes conceptualization of the elements that constitute DSI. This paper describes the nature of DSI through the process and elements of initiation, adoption and routinization of DSI in the context of digital service platforms (DSPs).

This paper presents a single exploratory case study of a provider of a leading digital solution in customer relations. The data analysis is based on abductive reasoning.

The paper conceptualizes the nature of DSI and describes the process and elements of DSI (phases, actors, functions and interactions). It contributes to building a common language for DSI research in service management. The analysis shows that DSI in DSPs is synonymous with co-innovation. This paper offers insight into how co-innovation occurs, using hybrid agile methodologies with the coordination of multiple actors and multilateral interactions.

The originality and value of the study reside in its conceptualization and analysis of what is meant by DSI. The components of the service and the technological requirements for not only provision but also ideation and development appear to be inseparable. The study unveils the mechanisms that turn a digital service solution into a co-innovative proposal. This knowledge can facilitate scalability in digital services.