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Despite the widespread use of excellence models as a self-assessment tool in the past two decades, little is known about the underlying logic behind the way that promoting organizations give weight to their criteria, and whether these scores align with business reality. This paper aims to analyze whether these scores coincide with the vision of managers and the real situation of business today.

This paper uses three different methods and two kinds of data to review the evolution of scores on criteria in excellence models since their creation and empirically analyses and compares the results with the vision of the managers.

The results show that the estimated weight of criteria in the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model (both directly perceived by managers and obtained with the statistical analysis) do not coincide with the value that the promoting organization has given to them, in its current version or in the previous versions.

This paper is focused exclusively on industrial companies so one discussion point that can serve as a basis for future research is to study whether there is any difference in the distribution of points between industrial organizations and services, or between private and public organizations.

The results show that, depending of the methodology used to evaluate the weight of each element of the excellence model, these weights could be different and are different from those proposed by EFQM. Therefore, if managers want to use the EFQM model of excellence for self-evaluation purposes, they should define their own weights for each element, in accordance with their own company characteristics. Leadership, strategy, people, partnership & resources and processes could have more or less importance in promoting the success of a business, according to the specific situation of each company.

This study has been made using three different methods and two kinds of data.

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model is widely used as a management tool in companies. Consequently, it is of great importance to understand the relationships within it, and inform managers about appropriate ways to manage events in order to get the desired results in general, and for specific interest groups (stakeholders). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper analyzes the internal relationships of the EFQM model using empirical data from a sample of 199 Spanish companies. Four managers in each company were interviewed, to eliminate single respondent bias. Structural equation modeling is used for the analysis.

The results obtained from the empirical analysis provide evidence of an underlying logic in the EFQM model that does not match the official model. New significant relationships between the enablers and results not considered in the official model have been found.

The study focusses on Spanish industrial companies with 50-500 workers and uses a cross-sectional design.

Managers should look at the EFQM model as a tool for finding their own way to excellence, but it is not a precise map, because the model may have some problems of definition. Managers should introduce its elements only after deep reflection on its benefit for their company.

Despite the previous research on this issue, there is still no clear consensus. Relationships that are not reflected in the theoretical model have been identified.

As with the ISO 9000 standard, some doubts arise from the scientific literature about the impact of the EFQM model in companies' success. This paper aims to present an analysis of the relationships in the 2003 version of the EFQM model using data from the actual self‐evaluations of 68 organizations. It also analyzes if there are possible differences in the EFQM implementation between public and private organizations.

The Partial Least Squares (PLS) method is used to test hypotheses.

Results show that the model does not behave in the way that the designers of the EFQM expected. Two of the results variables are not sufficiently correlated with the others to be part of the complete model. When the model is tested without these two variables, the connection between enablers fails, since policy and strategy, people, and partnership and resources do not have statistically significant effects on the process. There is a slightly higher achievement in the group of manufacturing/private companies compared with the group of public/educational institutions.

This paper is an exploratory study. A deeper analysis of the agency criteria might produce improved results. It would also be possible to examine sub‐criterion levels. Each enabler in the model is composed of different sub‐criteria and the relationships among them have not been explored in the literature. The question that needs to be addressed is whether the inclusion of enablers in the EFQM Excellence Model can be justified on empirical grounds.

Previous research has been conducted using secondary data. The study has been made using the real self‐evaluations of organizations, evaluations that have been validated by official staff of the EFQM organization. In addition, whereas much of the previous research analysed the 1999 version of the model, this paper focuses on the latest version of 2003.

Higher education (HE) systems in Europe have been identified as an essential element for promoting economic competitiveness since the Bologna Declaration in 1999. The aim of the Bologna Process was to expand access to educational opportunities, fostering participation in post-compulsory education by creating the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Inequalities in training because of geographic, ethnic or social origin, and inequalities in job opportunities, salaries, and incomes are critical dimensions of social development in HE. The development of policies, including those concerning education, that extend access to opportunities is essential to prevent such exclusion becoming permanent. The Access4All project aims to promote the educational and social inclusion of underrepresented groups as well as of non-traditional learners.

In this chapter, the project’s main results are reviewed, with: (1) a brief overview of inclusion policies and practices in European HE; (2) an operational definition of “good practice” and criteria for selecting examples of good practice for inclusion in HE; (3) a self-assessment tool enabling the characterization of institutional capacity for innovation and of inclusion policies and practices; and (4) a model for promoting strategic planning, focusing on inclusion in HE.

The chapters in this book focus on student experiences in higher education (HE) and how these experiences shape their future as contributors to the knowledge economy, which is being gradually replaced by natural resources. The chapter authors in this volumes stress on the value of mentorship program with a focus toward mentoring those who are neglected and underprivileged. Programs that help students with visual or audio impairment has been discussed along with bridge programs, which might help in imparting an inclusive and equitable HE with accessibility to all. Case studies from Ghana to South Africa, Glasgow, and Australia are discussed to increase motivation and willingness among educators and students to apply new skills and foster new teaching experiences that can help shape effective learning outcomes for students.

The purpose of this paper is to study the internationalization of family firms, exploring specifically if the transition from family control to non-family control (losing family managerial influence) affects a firm’s export activity.

Based on panel data for Spanish firms from 2006 to 2012, a random effect tobit and probit regression and a propensity score matching were run on a sample of 225 firms moving from family to non-family control (switchers) matched with 4,213 firms remaining under family control (non-switchers).

Although from a static viewpoint family controlled firms export less than their non-family counterparts, from a dynamic perspective family firms remaining under family control (non-switchers) are associated with a fall in export activity in comparison with family firms transitioning to non-family control (switchers). Both findings are related back to the socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective.

The findings of this study shed light on the trade-offs that family firms experience in order to balance their desire to increase their internationalization (and the risk associated with it) and their wish to maintain SEW.

The findings should encourage family owners and managers to take long-term strategic decisions leading to internationalization which, although risky, will prevent subsequent loss of SEW in terms of family control.

This work provides evidence concerning family firms’ willingness to undertake risky activities, such as internationalization, considering the threats to their wealth.

There has been a great interest in the literature in understanding the incidence of information technology capabilities (ITC) on innovation performance (IP). Recently, it has been proven that this relationship is mediated by organizational factors requiring an additional effort in terms of information processing in a rational and analytical manner, including strategic market orientation and absorptive capacity; however, the role of emotions in this discussion has not been widely addressed. A scenario in which emotions are inhibited, in particular, emotional capability (EC), prevents the activation of other forms of cognition relating to intuition, experience and empathy. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the mediating effect of EC on the relationship between ITC and IP.

The authors analyzed the statistical significance of the indirect effects through structural equations.

The results show the existence of partial mediation of EC. Therefore, it is evidenced that less rational constructs, such as EC, serve as a bridge between ITC and IP, on account of the improvement in information processing, the level of information technology (IT) use and virtual communication.

This finding is quite significant because it forces innovation researchers and practitioners to reconsider the prevailing study perspective that explores only analytical mediators, which implies an additional effort in terms of rational processing of information. All this because there is a risk of accentuating the cognitive overload and increasing the levels of stress that lead employees to stop receiving and using information provided by IT services, which compromises the possibility of obtaining better results in innovation.

En la literatura ha habido un gran interés por analizar la incidencia de las capacidades de tecnologías de información (CTI) en el desempeño innovador (DI). Recientemente ha quedado claro que esta relación está mediada por factores organizacionales que implican un esfuerzo adicional en términos de procesamiento racional y analítico de información, entre ellos, la orientación estratégica al mercado y la capacidad de absorción. Sin embargo, el papel de las emociones en esta discusión no ha sido considerado. Un escenario en el que la capacidad emocional (CE) no está siendo considerada supone la no activación de otras formas de cognición relacionadas con la intuición, la experiencia y la empatía. Por lo tanto, el propósito de este artículo es analizar el efecto mediador de CE en la relación entre CTI y DI.

Se analizó la significancia estadística de los efectos indirectos mediante ecuaciones estructurales

Los resultados muestran la existencia de una mediación parcial de CE. Por lo tanto, queda evidenciado que constructos menos racionales como la capacidad emocional sirven como un puente entre CTI y el DI, por cuenta de la mejora en el procesamiento de la información, el nivel de uso de tecnologías de la información y la comunicación virtual.

Este hallazgo es bastante interesante dado que obliga a los investigadores y profesionales dedicados a la innovación a reconsiderar la perspectiva de estudio hegemónica que explora únicamente mediadores analíticos, lo cual implica un esfuerzo adicional en términos de procesamiento racional de la información. De este modo, se maximiza el riesgo de acentuar la sobrecarga cognitiva e incrementar los niveles de estrés que llevan a los empleados a dejar de recibir y utilizar la información proveniente de los servicios de TI, lo que compromete la posibilidad de obtener mejores resultados en innovación.

Transformación digital, Procesamiento de información, Pensamiento intuitivo y analítico, Innovación digital, Inteligencia emocional, COVID-19

Trabajo de investigación

Tem havido um grande interesse, na literatura, em compreender a incidência das capacidades das tecnologias da informação (CTI) no desempenho da inovação (DI). Recentemente, ficou comprovado que esta relação é mediada por fatores organizacionais que demandam um esforço adicional em termos de processamento da informação de uma forma racional e analítica, incluindo a orientação estratégica do mercado e a capacidade de absorção. Contudo, o papel das emoções nesta discussão não tem sido amplamente abordado. Um cenário em que as emoções são inibidas, em particular, a capacidade emocional (CE), impede a ativação de outras formas de cognição relacionadas com a intuição, a experiência e a empatia. Portanto, o objetivo do documento é analisar o efeito mediador da capacidade emocional na relação entre a CTI e a DI.

Analisámos o significado estatístico dos efeitos indiretos através de equações estruturais.

Os resultados mostram a existência de uma mediação parcial da CE. Portanto, é evidenciado que construções menos racionais como a CE servem de ponte entre o CTI e a DI, devido à melhoria do processamento da informação, do nível de utilização das TI e da comunicação virtual.

Esta descoberta é bastante significativa porque obriga os investigadores e profissionais da inovação a reconsiderarem a perspectiva de estudo predominante que explora apenas os mediadores analíticos, o que implica um esforço adicional em termos de processamento racional da informação. Tudo isto porque existe o risco de acentuar a sobrecarga cognitiva e aumentar os níveis de estresse que levam os funcionários a deixarem de receber e utilizar a informação fornecida pelos serviços de TI, o que compromete a possibilidade de obter melhores resultados na inovação.

Transformação digital, Processamento da informação, Pensamento intuitivo e analítico, Inovação digital, Inteligência emocional, COVID-19

Artigo de pesquisa

The purpose of this study is to examine how family governance and technological capabilities influence the conversion of new knowledge obtained from exports into various innovation outputs, a phenomenon called “learning-by-exporting (LBE).”

To properly examine the causal links proposed in the study, first, the control for endogeneity. Second, a propensity-score matching longitudinal analysis is conducted, a particularly robust empirical method that enhances reliability in non-experimental data, over an average sample of 663 manufacturing companies for the period 2007 to 2014.

Family firms’ innovation strategies and abilities render them more likely to convert the new knowledge from exporting into product innovation and more efficient in this endeavor than non-family firms. This diverts family firms’ typically limited resources from process innovation, and they have a smaller LBE effect than non-family firms in terms of process innovation.

The study contributes to the internationalization literature by producing a more nuanced view of the learning-by-exporting effect which considers the type of innovation outcomes developed following export activity. It also helps to identify some of the firm-specific factors that shape the relationship between exports and innovation, by empirically examining for the first time the role of family governance in innovation capabilities and decisions.

The purpose of this study is to focus on the informal learning (IL) processes of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Spain. Its objective is to study the strategies currently used by teachers to generate IL, identifying the factors that condition such learning and the changes that must be introduced to enhance it.

The methodology is qualitative, with information from interviews with school principals (n = 21) and teachers (n = 60) from 22 primary and secondary schools in Spain and from 3 discussion groups with experts (n = 17). The topics used refer to strategies to generate and promote IL and its conditioning factors.

The findings suggest that, regardless of the stage (primary/secondary) and ownership of the centre (state/private), the teaching staff use IL strategies that, beyond individual actions, involve meeting, sharing and reflecting with other teachers. The challenge is that IL facilitates both professional development and the development and improvement of the organizations. School principals play a central role in achieving this relationship and promoting the institutionalization of changes and educational administration in facilitating the right conditions for their development and recognition.

Given that the participation of schools in the research was voluntary, as was that of the teachers who agreed to be interviewed, some bias may exist. To refine the analyses it would also have been interesting to contrast with the people interviewed some of the assessments which appeared in the focus groups. Finally, future work might focus on analysing in greater detail the effect of different management styles on IL.

The results presented point to the need for decisive support from school leadership teams for collaborative work processes and joint reflection, which are one of the basic conditions for facilitating IL and, at the same time, for encouraging organizational learning. Furthermore, in the Spanish context, there is the challenge of combining the participation of teachers in formal training actions with the recognition of IL generated in the development of daily professional activity.

The data provided complements and reaffirms the findings of research carried out in other types of organizations, at the same time highlighting the importance of horizontal relationships among education professionals and the difficulty of creating a solid foundation for organizational changes. Improvements are, on the other hand, highly conditioned by the role adopted by school principals.