Search results
1 – 10 of over 1000
This paper aims to examine how a social entrepreneurial organisation in Sweden collectively learned to adapt itself to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how a social entrepreneurial organisation in Sweden collectively learned to adapt itself to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an abductive approach, this study conducted single case fieldwork on a social entrepreneurial organisation called SFE. The following research questions were asked: What are the changes in collective learning conditions that SFE has to face during the pandemic? What are the outcomes of collective learning during the pandemic in SFE?
Findings
This study results indicate that collective learning conditions were changed by restructuring the organisation’s design and teamwork during the pandemic, which facilitated sharing of knowledge and experiences. This collective learning helped the organisation develop new virtual projects during the pandemic. Another result of this collective learning was the members’ new shared understanding of the organisation’s vision.
Research limitations/implications
This study hopes to broaden the understanding of the relationship between collective learning in organisations and organisational adaptation in times of crisis.
Practical implications
This study can help leaders of social entrepreneurial organisations understand what changes are necessary to create a team that collectively learns.
Originality/value
The data had the advantage of being gathered as a real-time process, and the researcher witnessed how the organisation achieved adaptation as it happened and not just through its members’ reflection of it as a past phenomenon.
Details
Keywords
Shahrokh Nikou, Candida Brush and Birgitte Wraae
Entrepreneurship education (EE) is critical for developing the skills of tomorrow's entrepreneurs and leaders. While significant research examines the content, student learning…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurship education (EE) is critical for developing the skills of tomorrow's entrepreneurs and leaders. While significant research examines the content, student learning processes and outcomes, less studied are the entrepreneurship educators and their pedagogical preferences. Following a cognitive process model of decision-making, this study explores how self-efficacy, philosophy of teaching, entrepreneurship training and teaching experience influence entrepreneurship educator preferences to follow either a teacher-centric or a student-centric approach. This study also includes gender in a secondary analysis of the relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 289 entrepreneurship educators in 2021, and fuzzy-set comparative qualitative analysis (fsQCA) was used to obtain configurations of conditions (causal recipes) that lead to teacher-centric or student-centric model. A secondary analysis explores whether there are different configurations of conditions when gender is added to the analysis.
Findings
The results of our fsQCA analysis reveal multiple configurations of conditions (causal recipes) that result in a preference for either a teacher-centric or student-centric approach to teaching entrepreneurship. The authors find that teaching experience is the main condition for the teacher-centric model, while self-efficacy and entrepreneurship training are the main conditions for the pathways leading to student-centric model. The fsQCA results also show that the configurations are affected when gender is taken into account in the analysis.
Originality/value
This study, one of the first of its kind, uses a configurational approach to examine pathways that contribute to the teaching preferences of entrepreneurship educators. This paper uses self-efficacy, teaching philosophy, teaching experience and entrepreneurship training as conditions to identify multiple unique pathways that result in either a teacher-centric or student-centric pedagogical model in EE. Notably, differences by gender are also found in this study.
Details
Keywords
Angela França Versiani, Pollyanna de Souza Abade, Rodrigo Baroni de Carvalho and Cristiana Fernandes De Muÿlder
This paper discusses the effects of enabling conditions of project knowledge management in building volatile organizational memory. The theoretical rationale underlies a recursive…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper discusses the effects of enabling conditions of project knowledge management in building volatile organizational memory. The theoretical rationale underlies a recursive relationship among enabling conditions of project knowledge management, organizational learning and memory.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs a qualitative descriptive single case study approach to examine a mobile application development project undertaken by a major software company in Brazil. The analysis focuses on the project execution using an abductive analytical framework. The study data were collected through in-depth interviews and company documents.
Findings
Based on the research findings, the factors that facilitate behavior and strategy in managing project knowledge pose a challenge when it comes to fostering organizational learning. While both these factors play a role in organizational learning, the exchange of information from previous experience could be strengthened, and the feedback from the learning process could be improved. These shortcomings arise from emotional tensions that stem from power struggles within knowledge hierarchies.
Practical implications
Based on the research, it is recommended that project-structured organizations should prioritize an individual’s professional experience to promote organizational learning. Organizations with well-defined connections between their projects and strategies can better establish interconnections among knowledge creation, sharing and coding.
Originality/value
The primary contribution is to provide a comprehensive view that incorporates the conditions required to manage project knowledge, organizational learning and memory. The findings lead to four propositions that relate to volatile memory, intuitive knowledge, learning and knowledge encoding.
Details
Keywords
Linda Lidman, Maria Gustavsson and Anna Fogelberg Eriksson
The purpose of this study is to examine learning and employee-driven innovation (EDI) in the public sector, with a particular focus on the interplay between employee engagement…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine learning and employee-driven innovation (EDI) in the public sector, with a particular focus on the interplay between employee engagement and organisational conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The material consists of qualitative interviews with 23 participants from three municipal sites of innovation support that participated in a national programme aiming to strengthen municipalities’ innovation work.
Findings
The study found numerous constraining organisational conditions resulting in consequential loss of employee engagement for EDI. The conclusion drawn is that employee engagement and enabling organisational conditions are central to EDI in public sector workplaces, and that incorporating EDI into municipal daily operations requires paying attention to the interplay between organisational conditions and employee engagement.
Originality/value
This paper provides important guidance for supporting EDI in the public sector. Implementing EDI into operations requires employee engagement to be successful. However, employees’ engagement should not be overlooked or taken for granted. A practical implication of this study is that EDI in the workplace must be encouraged by creating a learning environment that supports innovative learning in the workplace. In practice, measures should be taken to support employee engagement by creating organisational conditions that provide a more expansive learning environment to ensure the continuity and perpetuation of EDI in public sector organisations.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to enrich the scholarly discourse on learning within small social entrepreneurial organisations by examining how leadership can facilitate conditions conducive to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to enrich the scholarly discourse on learning within small social entrepreneurial organisations by examining how leadership can facilitate conditions conducive to collective learning during crises.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal single-case study was conducted on a social entrepreneurial organisation in Sweden, operating within the integration field. The study involved comprehensive interviews and observations. Using a longitudinal approach facilitated an in-depth analysis of the organisation’s development over time.
Findings
The findings underscore that shifts in leadership can significantly influence collective learning. Specifically, the results suggest that establishing trust between the CEO and team members is a pivotal factor in cultivating conditions for collective learning and fostering the related processes, which persisted even during the pandemic. This trust catalysed inclusive and interactive actions that encouraged team members’ participation in day-to-day decision-making and strategic planning. Consequently, the organisation successfully leveraged its diverse knowledge resources, promoting knowledge sharing and experience exchange, crucial components of successful collective learning.
Research limitations/implications
This paper advocates for a departure from conventional leadership perspectives, proposing that a focus on team–leader relationships – a form of leadership in practice – can offer valuable insights into cultivating collective learning. This approach underscores the significance of collaboration and engagement among team members in promoting collective learning and accentuates the role of leadership in creating these conditions.
Practical implications
The examples provided on structuring, organising and leading virtual meetings could offer valuable insights for leaders. With the increasing adoption of hybrid workplaces combining remote and office environments, communication challenges within teams may arise. Therefore, these examples can aid leaders in formulating effective communication strategies that bridge the gap between remote and in-person team members, ensuring that everyone stays informed and engaged.
Originality/value
This study seized a unique opportunity to explore how leadership can create favourable conditions for collective learning during crises by collecting data both before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Details
Keywords
Creating suitable learning conditions in university classrooms continues to be a topical issue in higher education. The above means that a continued search for innovative teaching…
Abstract
Purpose
Creating suitable learning conditions in university classrooms continues to be a topical issue in higher education. The above means that a continued search for innovative teaching and learning strategies in universities remains a priority issue. The study therefore investigated conditions that facilitate the effective implementation of cooperative learning (CL) as well as how CL influences the academic performance of students in universities in Zimbabwe.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted a quantitative research approach located in the descriptive research design. A sample of 341 undergraduate students selected using a simple random sampling strategy from a sample frame of 701 undergraduate students participated in the study. The study first used a pre-test and later, a post-test to determine the initial and end of semester (EOS) academic performance levels of students, respectively, on a Calculus 1 course. A self-constructed structured questionnaire was also used for data collection on the views of students towards the use of CL with particular reference to the 5 dimensions of positive interdependence (PDI), promotive interaction (PI), individual and group accountability (IGA), social and interpersonal skills (SS) and group processing (GP). The questionnaire was validated using confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to test proposed relationships. A total of 341 questionnaires were administered through an email survey. Of the total, 149 completed questionnaires were received from the students, giving a return rate of 43.7%.
Findings
The results showed that positive interdependence, promotive interaction, social and interpersonal skills, individual and group accountability as well as group processing were important antecedents to the effective implementation of CL in universities. The results further showed that CL plays a significant role in improving the academic performance of university students; hence, academic performance was viewed as a significant consequence of CL.
Research limitations/implications
This is the first study on the application of CL to enhance the academic performance of university students in the context of Zimbabwe. As a result, caution should be exercised when generalising the results as more studies to either confirm or disconfirm these results in the context of Zimbabwe may still be required.
Practical implications
These results have implications on policy and practice with regards to active teaching strategies in universities. With regards to practice, the results demonstrated that the use of group activities that allow students to share knowledge and support each other while the teacher plays a facilitating role is important for enhancing students' academic performance. With regards to policy, the results showed that universities can enhance the academic performance of students if policies that promote student-centered teaching and learning approaches to ensure that teaching in universities is more student-led than lecturer-led are developed.
Originality/value
While many studies have been conducted in other contexts, to establish the influence of CL on the academic performance of university students, there is no known study on the influence of CL that has been conducted in the context of Zimbabwean universities. The results of this study therefore are an eye opener on the role of CL in enhancing the academic performance of students in Zimbabwean universities.
Details
Keywords
Viola Deutscher and Anke Braunstein
This study aims to support researchers and practitioners in finding suitable instruments for future research studies and organizational quality assessments.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to support researchers and practitioners in finding suitable instruments for future research studies and organizational quality assessments.
Design/methodology/approach
Employees’ success of learning at work is strongly influenced by the quality of the workplace learning environment. In the recent decades growing effort has been given to the development of surveys to measure the quality of workplace learning, resulting in a large number of available survey instruments. This study conceptually draws on a 3-P model and uses a qualitative metasynthesis to collect and categorize n = 94 surveys that intend to measure the quality of workplace learning (WPL).
Findings
The results underline that research on WPL environments is a highly interdisciplinary endeavor, where every discipline enriches the field by a new perspective and own foci. Overall, this study finds a focus on learning culture and working conditions, on social and functional inclusion of the learner and on support and feedback during training. Products of WPL such as professional competences or career aspirations play a minor role.
Originality/value
With the integration of quality measurement instruments from various research studies, this study produces an interactive online instrument map that gives a broad, yet organized overview of available quality measures in the WPL field.
Details
Keywords
This research clarifies the birth and evolution of “Social Study” in Myanmar through analyzing the differences of contents and approaches between “Social Studies” under the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research clarifies the birth and evolution of “Social Study” in Myanmar through analyzing the differences of contents and approaches between “Social Studies” under the military administration and that under the recent democratic administration.
Design/methodology/approach
The author obtained “Social Studies” textbooks that were used both in the past as well as in present day and translated them into English. The textbooks’ contents were analyzed in detail while referring Japanese and American “Social Studies” textbooks. Specifically, the author focused on the content structure of the textbooks and the learning objectives and approaches used. Each textbook was analyzed in accordance with the era in which they were used considering the social and political conditions at those times. In addition, the author clarified the necessary competencies for the people of Myanmar during the new era through discussions with many Myanmar educators. Based on this research, the author advised the Ministry of Education on the content of new “Social Studies” textbooks and supported their development.
Findings
The idea of child-centered education introduced under the military administration was further strengthened in the recent new “Social Studies” textbooks allowing students to learn by tapping into their interests and also encouraging deep thinking and creativity. This approach changed their learning from memorization without deep thinking in the past to contemplating things and creating new ideas.
Originality/value
The findings can provide curriculum developers and educators in other countries with a broad direction on how to reform “Social Studies” and related subjects curricula and textbooks in their own countries in the future.
Details
Keywords
Armando Di Meglio, Nicola Massarotti and Perumal Nithiarasu
In this study, the authors propose a novel digital twinning approach specifically designed for controlling transient thermal systems. The purpose of this study is to harness the…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, the authors propose a novel digital twinning approach specifically designed for controlling transient thermal systems. The purpose of this study is to harness the combined power of deep learning (DL) and physics-based methods (PBM) to create an active virtual replica of the physical system.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve this goal, we introduce a deep neural network (DNN) as the digital twin and a Finite Element (FE) model as the physical system. This integrated approach is used to address the challenges of controlling an unsteady heat transfer problem with an integrated feedback loop.
Findings
The results of our study demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed digital twinning approach in regulating the maximum temperature within the system under varying and unsteady heat flux conditions. The DNN, trained on stationary data, plays a crucial role in determining the heat transfer coefficients necessary to maintain temperatures below a defined threshold value, such as the material’s melting point. The system is successfully controlled in 1D, 2D and 3D case studies. However, careful evaluations should be conducted if such a training approach, based on steady-state data, is applied to completely different transient heat transfer problems.
Originality/value
The present work represents one of the first examples of a comprehensive digital twinning approach to transient thermal systems, driven by data. One of the noteworthy features of this approach is its robustness. Adopting a training based on dimensionless data, the approach can seamlessly accommodate changes in thermal capacity and thermal conductivity without the need for retraining.
Details
Keywords
Anne Sliwka, Britta Klopsch, Janina Beigel and Lin Tung
This research aims to explore leadership approaches that foster deeper learning and facilitate the transition from traditional schooling to a model aligned with the demands of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explore leadership approaches that foster deeper learning and facilitate the transition from traditional schooling to a model aligned with the demands of the post-industrial digital knowledge society.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a mixed-methods approach, the authors conducted surveys among school principals within a network of schools embracing deeper learning based on ten distinct but interlocking criteria that define this particular model of deeper learning. Through in-depth follow-up interviews with school leaders, the authors investigated the factors and obstacles that support sustainable implementation and scalability of deeper learning, with a specific focus on the role of transformational leadership.
Findings
During the implementation of transformative practices like deeper learning, school leaders demonstrate diverse perspectives on the necessary changes for their successful integration. Leaders inclined toward a “transactional” leadership style concentrate on changes within individual classrooms. Conversely, leaders exemplifying “transformational leadership” possess a broader vision and address systemic factors such as teacher collaboration, assessment regulations and the effective utilization of time and space within schools. To achieve widespread adoption of deeper learning across schools and the education system, it is essential to recruit more transformational leaders for formal leadership positions and reorient leadership training toward transformational approaches.
Practical implications
The deeper learning model developed for this intervention encompasses a four-stage process: Teachers initially collaborate in small teams to co-design interdisciplinary, deeper learning units. The actual units consist of three sequences: knowledge acquisition, where students gain knowledge through direct instruction supplemented by personalized learning on digital platforms; team-based co-creative and co-constructive tasks facilitated by teachers once students have acquired a solid knowledge base and the completion of authentic tasks, products or performances in sequence III. While small groups of intrinsically motivated teachers have successfully implemented the model, achieving broader scalability and dissemination across schools requires significant “transformational leadership” to challenge traditional norms regarding teacher collaboration, assessment practices and the efficient use of time and space in schools.
Originality/value
This paper presents a structured model of deeper learning based on ten distinct but interlocking quality criteria tested within a network of 26 schools. The model has demonstrated transformative effects on participating schools, albeit primarily observed in smaller substructures of large secondary schools. Teachers who previously worked independently have begun to collaboratively design learning experiences, resulting in “hybrid” classrooms where physical and digital spaces merge and extend to include maker spaces and out-of-school learning environments. Traditional summative assessments have been replaced by various forms of embedded formative assessment. However, these innovations are currently driven by small groups of intrinsically motivated teachers. The research provides insights into the type of school leadership necessary for comprehensive scaling and system-wide dissemination of deeper learning.
Details