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Article
Publication date: 11 April 2024

Brandon A. Smith and Karen E. Watkins

The purpose of this review is to evaluate existing learning agility measures and offer recommendations for their use in organizational and scholarly contexts.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this review is to evaluate existing learning agility measures and offer recommendations for their use in organizational and scholarly contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a general review paper assessing the psychometric qualities of prevalent learning agility measures. Measures were selected based on their predominance and use in the learning agility literature and organizational settings.

Findings

Learning agility measurement is an area requiring further research. Multiple conceptualizations of learning agility exist, making the true structure of learning agility unclear. The learning agility measures in the academic literature deviate from learning agility’s traditional conceptualization and require further validation and convergent validity studies. Commercial measures of learning agility exist, but their development procedures are not subjected to peer review and are not widely used in academic research, given the cost associated with their use.

Practical implications

Learning agility is prevalently used in organizational settings and is receiving increased scholarly attention. Various conceptualizations and measurement tools exist, and it is unclear how these theories and measures relate and differ. This paper contributes to practice by providing practical guidelines and limitations for measuring learning agility.

Originality/value

Learning agility was initially conceived as a multidimensional construct comprising people agility, results agility, change agility and mental agility. As the construct has evolved, the dimension structure of the measure has evolved as well. This study addresses a gap in our current understanding of how to conceptualize and measure learning agility.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2023

Karen Watkins-Fassler, Lázaro Rodríguez-Ariza, Virginia Fernández-Pérez and Guadalupe del Carmen Briano-Turrent

This study analyses interlocking directorates from the perspective of an emerging market, Mexico, where formal institutions are weak, and family firms with high ownership…

Abstract

Purpose

This study analyses interlocking directorates from the perspective of an emerging market, Mexico, where formal institutions are weak, and family firms with high ownership concentration dominate. It responds to recent calls in the literature on interlocks, which urge the differentiation between family and non-family businesses and to complete more research on emerging economies.

Design/methodology/approach

A database was constructed for 89 non-financial companies (52 family-owned) listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) from 2001 to 2014. This period includes normal times and an episode of financial crisis (2009–2010). To test the hypotheses, a dynamic panel model (in two stages) is used, applying GMM.

Findings

In normal times, the advantages of Board Chairman (COB) interlocks for the performance of publicly traded Mexican family firms are obtained regardless of the weak formal institutional environment. By contrast, during financial crisis, interlocking family COBs are more likely to jointly expropriate minority shareholders with actions that further their family objectives, which mitigates the positive effect of interlocks on performance. These findings contrast with the insignificant effects of COB interlocks found for non-family corporates.

Originality/value

A new framework is proposed which, through agency theory, finds points of concordance among resource dependence and class hegemony theories, to understand the effect of interlocking directorates on the performance of family firms operating in Mexico. The results of the empirical exercise for family companies listed on BMV during normal and financial crisis periods suggest its applicability.

Details

Journal of Family Business Management, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-6238

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2024

Azadeh Motevali Zadeh Ardakani, Maura Sellars and Scott Imig

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences and challenges of Middle Eastern refugee mothers in using technology for language learning in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences and challenges of Middle Eastern refugee mothers in using technology for language learning in regional Australian context.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a qualitative research design and used a narrative enquiry technique to understand participants’ experiences of language acquisition with limited access to technology in new resettlement setting.

Findings

The findings presented in this paper were derived from a qualitative investigation conducted on a sample of 21 refugee mothers from Middle Eastern countries. The research aimed to explore the role of a language education programme on their integration within the regional Australian context. Participants discussed a variety of aspects of their everyday lives within their new resettlement context while offering insights on the language education programme and its impacts on their educational progress. The theme “lack of access/use of technology in English language learning” emerged from the narratives. This paper draws on selected interview data from the participants.

Originality/value

This study fills the gap in the literature on Middle Eastern refugees in regional Australia by exploring how lack/limited technology access can impact language acquisition of women from under-represented contexts.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 18 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

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