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1 – 8 of 8Helena Kantanen, Kati Kasanen, Susanna Kohonen, Vesa Paajanen, Sanni Pirttilä and Piia Siitonen
This qualitative study assesses the enablers of the work of a novel, self-managing digital pedagogy peer support team in a Finnish higher education institution.
Abstract
Purpose
This qualitative study assesses the enablers of the work of a novel, self-managing digital pedagogy peer support team in a Finnish higher education institution.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a qualitative methodology with in-depth interviews of five digital pedagogy facilitators. The data collected are analyzed with the ATLAS.ti software. The analytical approach follows a deductive method, applying the categories derived from Magpili and Pazos (2018) who investigated the input variables of self-managing teams through their extensive literature review.
Findings
The primary findings underscore the suitability of Magpili and Pazos' variables for evaluating the performance enablers of self-managing teams. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the significance of leadership and effective communication as essential prerequisites for achieving elevated performance levels.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on the enablers of team performance from the perspective of the team members. To enhance comprehensiveness, subsequent phases should incorporate viewpoints from clients, namely peer instructors, and focus on the mediator and outcome aspects of the team effectiveness framework.
Practical implications
This study offers actionable recommendations for higher education institutions aiming to adopt a peer mentor model akin to the one delineated in the study.
Originality/value
This study analyzes a collaborative approach to advancing digital pedagogy within higher education institutions and discusses the enablers for successful performance within self-managing teams.
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Hannu Räty, Katri Komulainen, Ulla Hytti, Kati Kasanen, Päivi Siivonen and Inna Kozlinska
The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent Finnish university students endorse entrepreneurial intent and the ways in which they position themselves in relation to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent Finnish university students endorse entrepreneurial intent and the ways in which they position themselves in relation to entrepreneurship according to their self-perceived abilities or “ability self”.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted by means of an e-survey, and the participants comprised the sample of students (n =1,819) from two Finnish universities, representing diverse fields of study.
Findings
It was found that a great majority of the students showed a relatively low intent to become an entrepreneur. The perception of abilities, such as innovativeness and ambitiousness-competitiveness, was positively related with entrepreneurial intent, whereas the perception of academic abilities and “conventional” employee skills indicated inverse associations.
Social implications
The findings suggest that in terms of self-perceived abilities, entrepreneurship in an academic context is perceived as a rather restricted category to which only a few specific individuals have access. Accordingly, there is a certain tension between the tenets of entrepreneurship and corresponding abilities, and the ethos of universities and related high-valued abilities such as theoreticality and criticality.
Originality/value
Although employability and entrepreneur intent have been widely studied, little is known about students’ identification with entrepreneurship according to their ability perceptions. The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on university students’ “internal employability” that involves students’ self-assurance and views of work-related relevance with regard to supposed abilities.
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Päivi Tuulikki Siivonen, Katri Komulainen, Kati Kasanen and Paula Kupiainen
The purpose of this paper is to examine the construction of master narratives related to age, gender and entrepreneurship in the context of entrepreneurship education (EE) in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the construction of master narratives related to age, gender and entrepreneurship in the context of entrepreneurship education (EE) in Finnish higher education (HE). This is important as master narratives create and limit our understanding of entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
The data comprises 30 student interviews generated in one multidisciplinary Finnish university. The data were analyzed using narrative positioning analysis to examine what kinds of master narratives are (re)constructed in relation to age and entrepreneurship by Finnish university students and how gender intertwines with age in the construction of entrepreneurship.
Findings
Three aged and gendered master narratives were identified: (1) youthful, masculine, startup/growth entrepreneurship; (2) middle-aged feminine, expert entrepreneurship and (3) modest, feminine, senior entrepreneurship. The paper makes visible aged and gendered master narratives and cultural norms related to entrepreneurship in the context of EE and HE. Authors argue that the youthful, masculine startup/growth entrepreneurship is the hegemonic master narrative in the context of EE in Finnish HE. Femininity is mostly excluded from this master narrative.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to critical literature on entrepreneurship as an aged as well as gendered phenomenon in the context of EE and HE. So far research on entrepreneurship as an aged and gendered phenomenon in EE and in the context of HE has been virtually non-existent. Moreover, the theoretical and methodological focus on master narratives in entrepreneurship and EE literature is novel. The master narratives identified in the study show that HE students are not addressed equally in relation to entrepreneurship, but aged and gendered hierarchies are sustained.
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Päivi Tuulikki Siivonen, Kirsi Peura, Ulla Hytti, Kati Kasanen and Katri Komulainen
The purpose of this paper is to critically investigate how collective identity is constructed and regulated by board members and other active members of student entrepreneurship…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically investigate how collective identity is constructed and regulated by board members and other active members of student entrepreneurship societies (ESs).
Design/methodology/approach
A discursive analysis focusing on collective identity construction and regulation based on focus group discussions in two student-led Finnish ESs affiliated with higher education institutions (HEIs).
Findings
ES members construct and regulate collective entrepreneurial identity based on a shared narrative of entrepreneurship and the affective state of positive energy and thinking, i.e. “positive buzz.” Being entrepreneurial was constructed as having the right kind of mentality to cope with uncertain and rapidly changing working life and to break free of old moulds of working. The shared narrative was coherent, and critical reflection on the values or risks of entrepreneurship was mainly silenced.
Research limitations/implications
As ESs are a relatively new phenomenon future research could explore ESs in different cultural and regional contexts and compare the identity construction and regulation of ES student members and non-members.
Practical implications
Strong collective identity and sense of commitment to doing things together may mitigate the pressures of being entrepreneurial and taking charge of one’s life.
Social implications
Educational practice and research could benefit from better understanding of the informal context in which entrepreneurship education takes place.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the relatively new research stream on ESs as student-led entrepreneurial organizations in HEIs. The research demonstrates how ES members participate in constructing a collective and coherent identity that is regulated by shared values and a positive state of mind. This study extends the understanding of ESs from the functional perspective to viewing them as a social community. It contributes to the definition of ESs and the self-understanding of ES actors.
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Kati Stormi, Teemu Laine, Petri Suomala and Tapio Elomaa
The purpose of this paper is to examine how installed base information could help servitizing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) forecast and support their industrial service…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how installed base information could help servitizing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) forecast and support their industrial service sales, and thus increase OEMs’ understanding regarding the dynamics of their customers lifetime values (CLVs).
Design/methodology/approach
This work constitutes a constructive research aiming to arrive at a practically relevant, yet scientific model. It involves a case study that employs statistical methods to analyze real-life quantitative data about sales and the global installed base.
Findings
The study introduces a forecasting model for industrial service sales, which considers the characteristics of the installed base and predicts the number of active customers and their yearly volume. The forecasting model performs well compared to other approaches (Croston’s method) suitable for similar data. However, reliable results require comprehensive, up-to-date information about the installed base.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to the servitization literature by introducing a new method for utilizing installed base information and, thus, a novel approach for improving business profitability.
Practical implications
OEMs can use the forecasting model to predict the demand for – and measure the performance of – their industrial services. To-the-point predictions can help OEMs organize field services and service production effectively and identify potential customers, thus managing their CLV accordingly. At the same time, the findings imply new requirements for managing the installed base information among the OEMs, to understand and realize the industrial service business potential. However, the results have their limitations concerning the design and use of the statistical model in comparison with alternative approaches.
Originality/value
The study presents a unique method for employing installed base information to manage the CLV and supplement the servitization literature.
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Kati Tuulikki Stormi, Teemu Laine and Tuomas Korhonen
The purpose of this study is to reflect upon the feasibility of agile methodologies, Scrum in particular, to supplement the procedural design and implementation of performance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to reflect upon the feasibility of agile methodologies, Scrum in particular, to supplement the procedural design and implementation of performance measurement systems (PMS).
Design/methodology/approach
The study is an interventionist case study that applied agile methodologies in the PMS development. Researchers actively participated in the PMS development, e.g. researchers designed some of the performance measurement prototypes in order to facilitate the agile development.
Findings
The study outlines an agile approach suitable for PMS development. The paper answers the topical needs for adaptability and agility in management accounting, by applying agile methodologies into PMS development. PMS development does not take place only as a project or process that systematically progresses from the measure selection to measure implementation. Instead, as the requirements for the PMS change during the development project, management may reject some measures and new measures emerge as the understanding about changing situations increase. Agile methodologies are a methodological way to respond to the inevitable change and to enhance management accounting adaptability.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the PMS literature by proposing that agile development methodologies can advance organizational features that increase management accounting adaptability. As a result, the study proposes a new approach for PMS development to supplement existing ones. Agile methodologies are especially suitable for extending the PMS in new, yet relatively immature areas of performance measurement. The new approach applies Scrum principles in PMS development. By drawing from the theories of performance measurement (system) development and enabling PMS, the paper furthers academic understanding about agile development of accounting information systems.
Practical implications
Companies can use the proposed approach in PMS development, particularly after the initial system implementation in redesigning the system. The approach may increase the PMS impact in organizations and prevent PMS implementation failures.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the potential of using agile methodologies to enhance PMS adaptability and provides preliminary evidence of the potential of such approach in supplementing processual PMS development frameworks.
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Several scholars have recently highlighted the narrowness of accounting research regarding it as a threat to scholarly developments in the field. The aim of this study was to…
Abstract
Purpose
Several scholars have recently highlighted the narrowness of accounting research regarding it as a threat to scholarly developments in the field. The aim of this study was to chart progress in management accounting research using a sample of doctoral dissertations published in Finland. In particular, the study examines the range and diversity of research strategic choices in Finnish dissertations over time, including the topics and methodological and theoretical approaches chosen. The authors also briefly compare findings over time and with other progress studies.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal historical investigation was selected. All of the 80 management accounting doctoral dissertations published in Finnish business schools and departments during 1945-2015 were analysed.
Findings
The findings reveal that an expansion of doctoral education has led to an increasing diversity of research strategic choices in Finland. Different issues have been of interest at different times; so, it has been possible to cover a wide range of cost, management accounting and other topics and to use different methodological and theoretical approaches over time. Consequently, management accounting has become a rich and multifaceted field of scientific research.
Research limitations/implications
While this analysis is limited to doctoral research in Finland, the results should be relevant in advancing the understanding of the development of management accounting research.
Practical implications
Overall, the findings support the view that there have been, and continue to be, many ways to conduct innovative research in the field of management accounting.
Social implications
Dissertation research in this field has been extensive and vital enough to educate new generations of academics, guarantee continuity of the subject as an academic discipline and make management accounting a significant academic field of research.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to current research on management accounting change by an analysis of a sample of doctoral dissertations.
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This paper investigates how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship and academia in an entrepreneurship training programme.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship and academia in an entrepreneurship training programme.
Design/methodology/approach
By employing a sensemaking approach, the paper inductively analyses materials from a business idea development camp organised for academic teachers.
Findings
In collective sensemaking during the camp, non-academic facilitators strongly influenced the reflection-in-experience via normative ideas of entrepreneurship and their othering of entrepreneurship from academic work. In their post-camp individual essays, the academic teachers reflect-on-experience and draw parallels between entrepreneurship and academic work constructing sameness.
Research limitations/implications
Longitudinal research is needed in identity work and sensemaking among academic teachers in relation to entrepreneurship.
Practical implications
Universities need to offer arenas for teachers and other faculty to support identity work and sensemaking.
Originality/value
This study generates new understanding of how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship in training when interacting with others. It underscores the importance of time needed for reflection-on-action.
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