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1 – 10 of 111Hanan Kondratjew and Marion Kahrens
Spaced learning (SL) and experiential learning (EL) have been identified as being more efficient to long-term knowledge retention than other forms of learning. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Spaced learning (SL) and experiential learning (EL) have been identified as being more efficient to long-term knowledge retention than other forms of learning. The purpose of this paper is to confirm these benefits of SL and EL in a work-based learning environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study research monitored changes in learning outcomes of a work-based EL training, the Model Warehouse, when adding SL. The Model Warehouse of the Karlsruher Institute for Technology, Germany intends to educate professionals in lean warehouse logistics. Following a pragmatic standpoint, two groups of students were considered and compared by using multiple-choice question based knowledge tests where one group participated in an additional SL session. The experiences and perceptions of students were assessed by conducting in-depth interviews.
Findings
Findings revealed that adding SL to the EL training resulted either in students’ knowledge retention or knowledge improvement. Additionally, participants of the SL session did not perceive it as being required to strengthen understanding of lean warehouse management.
Practical implications
This study recommends considering SL as an effective means to significantly enhance long-term knowledge retention of any work-based or EL training.
Originality/value
This study confirms the benefits of SL and EL drawn from laboratory-based studies in a real business context. Adopting both learning theories in training programmes which converge with realities of the workplace results in a significant improvement of long-term knowledge retention.
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Minna Kaljonen, Marja Salo, Jari Lyytimäki and Eeva Furman
The critical role of diet in climate change mitigation has raised behavioural approaches to the top of the agenda. In this paper, the authors take a critical look at these…
Abstract
Purpose
The critical role of diet in climate change mitigation has raised behavioural approaches to the top of the agenda. In this paper, the authors take a critical look at these behavioural approaches and call for a more dynamic, practice-oriented understanding of long-term changes in sustainable food consumption and supply.
Design/methodology/approach
This approach is based on the experiences from a long-term experiment promoting sustainable eating in a workplace lunch restaurant using a series of informational and nudging techniques. In the experiment, the authors found that focussing solely on eating behaviours did not help to capture the multi-level change processes mobilised. The authors therefore propose a more dynamic, practice-oriented methodology for examining long-term changes in sustainable eating. The emprical data of the experiment are based on qualitative and quantitative data, consisting of customer survey, customer and kitchen personnel focus group discussions and monitoring data on the use of food items in the restaurant and their climate impacts.
Findings
The results draw attention to a series of practical challenges restaurants face when promoting sustainable eating. Directing analytical attention to tinkering helped to reveal the tensions brought about by labelling and nudging in menu planning and recipe development. The results show how tinkering required attentiveness to customers' wishes in both cases. Nudging offered more freedom for the restaurant to develop menus and recipes. In the case scrutinised, however, nudging customers towards tastier and more satiating vegetarian dishes included the use of dairy. This partly watered down the climate benefits gained from reduced meat consumption.
Originality/value
Rather than looking separately at changes in consumer behaviour and in the supply of food, the authors show how we need analytical concepts that enable the evaluation of their mutual evolution. Tinkering can assist us in this endeavour. Its adaptive, adjustive character, however, calls for caution. The development of praxis in food services and catering requires critical companions from the transdisciplinary research community. Research can provide systematic knowledge on the impacts of labels and nudges on kitchen praxis. However, research itself also needs to tinker and learn from experiments. This necessitates long-term speculative research strategies.
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Suzanna Windon and Olga Buchko
The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the relationship between volunteer leadership competencies and stewardship action-taking experiences among Master Gardener…
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the relationship between volunteer leadership competencies and stewardship action-taking experiences among Master Gardener (MG) and Master Watershed (MW) volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected data from 1196 Penn State Extension MG and MW respondents. The mean summative score for the volunteer stewardship action-taking experience was 2.32 (SD = .79), and volunteer leadership competencies was 3.45 (SD = .60). The results of this study showed a significant moderate association between volunteer stewardship action-taking experiences and volunteer leader competencies (r = .34, p ≤ .001). Volunteer leadership competencies can explain approximately 11 % of the variation in volunteer stewardship action-taking experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new knowledge that our research brings can significantly contribute to the practice in leadership teaching and learning of Extension organizations’ volunteers. Future leadership trainings on the enhancement of the MG and MW volunteer leaders’ stewardship action-taking capacity can help contribute to the greater good in their communities in a more confident and efficient manner. Further research should focus on identifying other factors that can affect MG and MW stewardship action-taking experiences, including the impact of the demographics and motivation.
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Nicole L. P. Stedman and Rick D. Rudd
Volunteers play an integral role in supporting the mission of 4-H programs in the southern region. For this reason their proficiency in volunteer administration competence and…
Abstract
Volunteers play an integral role in supporting the mission of 4-H programs in the southern region. For this reason their proficiency in volunteer administration competence and perceived leadership style is important. The researchers sought to examine both the perceived proficiency of 4-H faculty in the southern region in seven competencies associated with volunteer administration leadership (Stedman, 2004) and perceived leadership style based on Full Range Leadership (Avolio & Bass, 1991). Overall respondents’ scores indicated an average proficiency in volunteer administration leadership competence. Yet, their reported scores showed a higher proficiency in the individual competency areas of personal skill and organizational culture. Leadership style was measured based on behavior scores of transformational, transactional, and laissez faire leadership. The 4-H county faculty used transformational leadership most frequently, followed by transactional leadership, and then laissez faire. Implications are 4-H county faculty could use additional professional development opportunities which address accountability and management.
The purpose of this two-part study is to systematically review, analyze and critically synthesize the current state of empirical research on knowledge loss induced by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this two-part study is to systematically review, analyze and critically synthesize the current state of empirical research on knowledge loss induced by organizational member turnover (KLT).
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted based on 91 empirical studies on KLT.
Findings
Part I of the study contributes to the advancement of KLT scholarship by mapping key developments in empirical research on KLT (publication trends, methodological and theoretical foci, heterogeneity of geographical, industrial and organizational contexts); encapsulating KLT antecedents associated with both voluntary and involuntary turnover; and revealing a broad scope of KLT effects at organizational and unit level.
Research limitations/implications
This study has limitations related to inclusion/exclusion criteria used for creating the review sample and the “Antecedents–Phenomenon–Outcomes” logic used to synthesize the findings.
Originality/value
Part I of the study offers a systematic synthesis of KLT empirical research with respect to KLT antecedents, outcomes and factors affecting them.
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Tianxu Chen, Mark Simon, John Kim and Brian Poploskie
A major source of failure for new ventures is the entrepreneurs℉ misunderstanding of the product-market fit. Recently, researchers have suggested that to get a better…
Abstract
A major source of failure for new ventures is the entrepreneurs℉ misunderstanding of the product-market fit. Recently, researchers have suggested that to get a better understanding of the product-market fit, entrepreneurs should “get out of the building” and interview many customers. This approach, while advantageous, is not without drawbacks. This article presents a conceptual model that incorporates the characteristics of “getting out of the building” to conduct customer interviews, and the biases that can arise to influence the entrepreneurs℉ misjudgment of the product-market fit. We provide recommendations to overcome these biases.
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