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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 July 2023

Patrick Arthur and Samuel Koomson

There is evidence of country-level contextual variations regarding the benefits of practical experience acquired by students during higher education. This paper, therefore…

3307

Abstract

Purpose

There is evidence of country-level contextual variations regarding the benefits of practical experience acquired by students during higher education. This paper, therefore, analyses the benefits of student internships in the Ghanaian context.

Design/methodology/approach

In Study 1, two structured but distinct surveys were distributed to senior members and students of six specialised technical education institutions (TIs). Study 2 involved in-depth interviews with the heads of organisations in the tertiary education sector, including trade groups, industries and government agencies.

Findings

Internship provides soft skills, confidence, career development, sense of responsibility, employability, income, knowledge sharing and networking for students/interns. For TIs, it contributes to the professional development of faculty supervisors and helps them to update the content they teach. For employers, it unveils talented and promising students who can be employed immediately after graduation at a relatively cheaper cost.

Research limitations/implications

There is still the need for additional research in different contexts: both developed and developing economies to clear doubts on the controversies surrounding the relevance of internship in the 21st century.

Practical implications

TIs should continue to champion student internship programmes. This study highlights the need for employers to place internship students in areas that relate to their fields of study. It also underscores the need for students to embrace internship since it is the cornerstone to their employability in the labour market.

Social implications

Undeniably, student internships provide a critical platform for career beginners.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to knowledge by offering contextual literature in Ghana on the benefits of student internship programme for interns/students, TIs and employers, all together.

Details

PSU Research Review, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2010

Patrick I. Jeffers

Resource‐based view proposes that possessing valuable, rare information technology (IT) resources that competitors cannot easily reproduce or replicate provides a competitive…

5641

Abstract

Purpose

Resource‐based view proposes that possessing valuable, rare information technology (IT) resources that competitors cannot easily reproduce or replicate provides a competitive advantage, but mere ownership of such resources is no guarantee of competitiveness. There is a need also for a strategy paradigm that embraces the wider concerns of social and environmental sustainability as pressing issues of the twenty‐first century. “Operations‐as‐marketing” is a proven value‐chain based paradigm that calls for transforming operations from merely focusing on internal efficiency into a potent strategic marketing weapon, precisely targeted toward fulfilling customers' needs. Many leading companies have discovered latent economic benefits from adopting the tenets of corporate sustainability. By first establishing that corporate sustainability translates commercially into customer‐centric, lean productivity, the paper examines the potential mediating role of an “operations‐as‐marketing” strategy in framing IT investment decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses path analysis, involving a sample of third‐party logistics (3PL) firms.

Findings

Evidence supports the leading contention, thus outlining a customer‐centrism approach to enhancing the financial performance of 3PL firms.

Research limitations/implications

The research demonstrates a proven decision‐making framework for guiding IT investments that can allow proactive nurturing of a competitive advantage. The main drawback is sample size, although established guidelines suggest adequacy and several diagnostics provided reassurance against any major statistical drawbacks.

Practical implications

In the face of globalization and other social and environmental issues, the model suggests three key areas of focus for IT investments in proactively enhancing firm performance. It should prove a useful extension to existing strategy literature in the face of an impending paradigm shift.

Originality/value

The paper makes two important contributions: it represents one of the first empirical studies to apply the “operations‐as‐marketing” paradigm to the strategic objectives of IT investment decisions, and it addresses a notable void in extant research by exploring a possible strategic link between IT and market orientation.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1984

Douglas J. Ernest

Within the past 20 years hiking and backpacking have enjoyed rapid growth among Americans as favorite outdoor activities. From 1965 to 1977 the number of hikers almost tripled…

Abstract

Within the past 20 years hiking and backpacking have enjoyed rapid growth among Americans as favorite outdoor activities. From 1965 to 1977 the number of hikers almost tripled, from 9.9 million to 28.1 million, while national forest visitor days among hikers and mountaineers increased from 4 million in 1966 to 11 million in 1979. Accompanying this growth in interest has been a boom in books about the sport. These include both “how‐to‐do‐it” volumes and guides to specific geographical areas. Each year brings another spate of books, yet to this compiler's knowledge no bibliography of hiking guides to the Rocky Mountains, one of North America's premier outdoor regions, has yet been attempted. This bibliography is an effort to correct that situation.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1995

John J. Doherty

This bibliography is intended as a guide for librarians, scholars, students, and interested amateurs. It suggests what books or media would be an invaluable starting collection to…

Abstract

This bibliography is intended as a guide for librarians, scholars, students, and interested amateurs. It suggests what books or media would be an invaluable starting collection to understanding the Arthurian legend, which has been over a millennium in the making.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2005

Patrick D. Robbins and Alicia G. Huffman

To provide guidance to investment companies on document retention policies based on Section 802 of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002, codified as Section 1519 of the United States…

Abstract

Purpose

To provide guidance to investment companies on document retention policies based on Section 802 of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002, codified as Section 1519 of the United States Code.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews the conviction of Arthur Andersen for obstruction of justice based on the way the firm implemented its document retention/destruction policy as Enron was collapsing, and the Supreme Court reversal of that conviction. Explains why the Supreme Court decision should no longer guide an investment company's document retention/destruction policy in light of more recently enacted Section 1519, which imposes stiff penalties on anyone who knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, or covers up any record or document with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence any federal investigation, or in contemplation of such a proceeding.

Findings

Suggests a few straightforward rules for an investment company's document retention/destruction policy with a warning to err on the side of caution.

Originality/value

In light of Section 1519, every investment company needs to review its document retention/destruction policy. This article provides useful guidelines for doing so.

Details

Journal of Investment Compliance, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1528-5812

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Inside Major East Asian Library Collections in North America, Volume 2
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-140-0

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1987

Daniel J. O'Neil

There exists a rich sociological literature dealing with secularisation. Such nineteenth‐century sociologists as Weber and Durkheim and twentieth‐century sociologists as Greeley…

Abstract

There exists a rich sociological literature dealing with secularisation. Such nineteenth‐century sociologists as Weber and Durkheim and twentieth‐century sociologists as Greeley, Bellah, Berger and Wilson have contributed. Berger refers to secularisation as “the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols”, while Wilson defines it as “the process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose social significance”. These definitions represent the thrust of academic thinking about secularisation. Generally, social scientists interpret secularisation as the decline of religiosity — a movement from faith to reason. They cite numerous indicators of the change: decline in such areas as church attendance, praying, use of religious rites and rituals, recruitment to the church bureaucracy, church construction. Often they suggest a kind of inevitability relating to urbanisation and industrialisation. The focus of the process involves man becoming less concerned with the spiritual and more concerned with the mundane. Eventually, the spiritual becomes irrelevant; the Age of Enlightenment triumphs over the Age of Faith.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Article
Publication date: 12 December 2023

Patrick Amfo Anim, Emmanuel Arthur and George Kofi Amoako

This study examines the role of social media adoption (SMA), opportunity recognition (OR) and opportunity exploitation (OE) in mediating the relationship between entrepreneurial…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the role of social media adoption (SMA), opportunity recognition (OR) and opportunity exploitation (OE) in mediating the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the performance of newly established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies, with a particular emphasis on Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a post-positivist philosophical stance and uses a quantitative approach and a survey design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 336 SME owners and managers from Ghana’s manufacturing, trading and service sectors. Questionnaires were administered to source the empirical data for this study. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The results reveal that EO positively and significantly influences the performance of new-born SMEs. SMA, OR and OE partially mediated this relationship.

Practical implications

This study is a wakeup call to policymakers, practitioners, managers and owners of recently established businesses. Policymakers should provide support and resources for newly established SMEs to adopt effective social media marketing strategies, bolstering their online presence and customer engagement. Simultaneously, they should invest in entrepreneurship education and create an environment conducive to innovation to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among fresh SMEs. Business owners and managers should proactively monitor market trends and consumer preferences, adapting their strategies to identifying and seizing emerging opportunities.

Originality/value

This study introduces a significant novelty to previous literature and one of the first to employ the dynamic capability theory to examine the interplay between EO, SMA, OR and OE in influencing the performance of new SMEs in the context of emerging markets. Furthermore, it extends the scope of understanding of the mechanisms through which SMEs can prosper in these dynamic environments. This unique combination of theoretical framework, comprehensive variables and contextual focus sets this study apart from existing research, enriching the literature on SME performance in emerging markets.

Details

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, vol. 16 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-4323

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 July 2009

Ross B. Emmett and Kenneth C. Wenzer

Our Dublin correspondent telegraphed last night:

Abstract

Our Dublin correspondent telegraphed last night:

Details

Henry George, the Transatlantic Irish, and their Times
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-658-4

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