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Challenges facing researcher development are explored in relation to three UK case study initiatives of building research capacity in Education. Drawing evidence from evaluations of these initiatives, we argue that expansive research workplaces build research capacity particularly effectively. The nature of expansiveness is dependent upon the range of learning opportunities, engagement with research communities and interpersonal support. The importance of inter‐institutional collaboration to promote capacity across the academic discipline is also highlighted. We conclude that the development of, engagement with, and investment in inter‐institutional, interproject communities is imperative to the effective building of research capacity.

This study aims to explore how some researchers become successful in the research context of a transitional country despite the resource- and training-related limitations imposed by an immature research system.

The research uses Unger’s ideas within agency theory, specifically, his concepts of “negative capability” and “formative context” as its framework. The study adopts a descriptive qualitative approach, whereby the data collected from 19 in-depth interviews with successful researchers from various universities of Kazakhstan is analyzed using emergent thematic coding.

The study findings are consistent with Unger’s agency theory. The theory predicts that researchers can achieve their goals by adapting to the constrained context and can take steps to transform the context in desirable ways. Specifically, the Kazakhstani researchers have successfully adapted the Soviet mechanism of research schools to the new realities by “exploiting” a recently introduced government-funded mobility program for doctoral students for their own purposes. This mechanism is conductive to junior researchers’ capacity building, as well as to increasing the productivity of the leading researchers and their research teams.

The contribution of the study consists in the fact that it explores the process of researcher development, more specifically, individual level research capacity building in the context of a transitional post-Soviet country. The study pays special attention to the role of international mobility and research schools in the development of research skills. The conclusions of the paper are of interest to the scholars of researcher development in general and to the specialists in individual research capacity building in Eurasia in particular.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an action research intervention in the outpatient department of a National Health Service (NHS) Hospital. It investigates the perceived and actual problems of measuring capacity at a UK hospital.

An action research methodology was adopted: relevant literature on capacity measurement and performance was reviewed; the motivation behind its usage explored. Systems requiring improvement were identified and the adoption and implementation of new working methods initiated and explored. In addition to considering capacity measurement and performance issues, the authors examined the effects this may have on the long‐term potential of the organisation.

The research identified gaps in the capacity and activity measures used and in the dissemination of performance information. To address these problems and meet the changing needs of the department a new performance measurement and reporting tool was implemented.

The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and draw specific conclusions from. A perceived limitation is the single case approach, however, Remenyi argues this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge.

The paper gives details about the introduction of new performance measures and the development of a performance measurement tool for the Outpatient Department of the Hospital. The conclusions drawn add substantially to previous commentaries, and develop interesting questions for future research.

Specific recommendations for the implementation of a new performance tool for healthcare organisations are made.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic picture of how and to what extent Cohen and Levinthal’s (1990) seminal article on absorptive capacity was used in knowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC) research from 1990 to 2013.

In this paper, 186 articles extracted from eight KM and IC journals were reviewed by conducting both content and text analyses. To facilitate research comparison, content analysis followed the method used by Roberts et al. (2012) and thus was based on categories, conceptualizations, levels of analysis and, additionally, temporal evolution of absorptive capacity from 1990 to 2013 was looked at. Text analysis was performed to identify major research themes developing the absorptive capacity construct.

Finding showed that absorptive capacity was largely underdeveloped in the KM and IC fields. KM, knowledge transfer and innovation were the top three research areas investigating absorptive capacity in the KM and IC fields.

This study had limitations related to time frame, covering a period from April 1990 to November 2013, and accessibility of articles due to specific restrictions in journal subscriptions.

This paper is a first attempt to review absorptive capacity in KM and IC research. It represented a primary reference for those interested to research absorptive capacity in the KM and IC fields.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the definitions of global leadership and indigenous leadership, identify leadership capacities inherent in human resource development (HRD) and determine relationships of the three as a means to develop a model to aid and guide opportunities for future research.

Following a two-stage integrative literature review of HRD, global and indigenous leadership literature, the grounded theory constant comparative method established 31 positive and 1 negative leadership domains, and respective capacities, and compare domains from literature.

The Global Leadership Capacity Wheel informs researchers of strengths and areas for additional research, has resulted in a more complete model of global leadership and calls for increased clarity for leadership capacity model development, especially for complex, global environments and local constructs and theories.

Although the literature had adequate representation in the business and organizational acumen and managing people and relationships central global leadership domains, more research and reporting is required for managing self and indigenous leadership capacity development subdomains.

Leadership development is a high priority and core function of HRD. The Global Leadership Capacity Wheel provides a tool for scholars and practitioners to guide global leadership development programs and research.

Understanding the relationships of leadership capacities from global and indigenous perspectives is helpful to examine cultural, identity and macro-contextual dimensions and their influence on leadership.

The Global Leadership Capacity Wheel provides a type of road-map, a holistic representation, in the context of developing global leaders in today’s complex environment.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (HM Government, 2005) introduced safeguards to protect people who lack capacity from intrusive research. While these safeguards stemmed from predominantly medical ethical review concerns and developments aimed to protect people from physical and psychological damage and harm, the Act relates to all forms of research. The implications of the requirements of the Act for the conduct of social care research and the identification of helpful approaches or development of new knowledge concerning people who may lack capacity are, as yet, unknown. There are some concerns that the Act does not fully account for social research, does not recognise its importance to and differences from health‐related research, and may even hamper such research from taking place. This paper describes the findings and implications from a research project funded by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the Department of Health that considered the impact of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on the ethical scrutiny and development of social care research. The particular focus of the study was processes relating to university research ethics committees (URECs). The study was undertaken in two stages, beginning with an online survey of UREC policies and procedures and was followed by interviews with social care researchers working in areas in which people may lack capacity according to the terms of the Act. Recommendations for research ethics review are made that will be of importance to practitioners, policy‐makers and researchers.

This chapter aims to provide an overview of the ethical framework and decision-making in clinical dementia research, and to analyze and discuss the ethical challenges and issues that can arise when conducting clinical dementia research.

Informed consent is the most scrutinized and controversial aspect of clinical research ethics. In clinical dementia research, assessing decision-making capacity may be challenging as the nature and progress of each disease influences decision-making capacity in diverse ways. Persons with dementia represent a vulnerable population deserving special attention when developing, implementing, and evaluating the informed consent process. In this chapter, particular attention will be given to vulnerability categories and how these influence decision-making capacity. Ethical frameworks with a pragmatic contour and implication are needed to protect vulnerable patients from potential harms and ensure their optimal participation in clinical dementia research.

In addition, this chapter analyses important ethical challenges and issues in clinical dementia research. If handled thoughtfully, they would not pose insuperable barriers to research. But if they are ignored, they could slow the research process, alienate potential study subjects and cause harm to research participants. Ethical considerations in research involving persons with dementia primarily concern the representation of the interests of the participants with dementia and protection of their vulnerabilities and rights.

A core set of ethical questions and recommendations are drawn to aid researchers, institutional review boards and potential research participants in the process of participating in clinical dementia research.

The research purpose is to analyse when and how innovation support programmes (ISPs) can affect collaboration between universities and established small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper specifically considers SME’s absorptive capacity.

A Swedish research centre is studied in the context of innovation support and two of its SME-ISPs are examined with regards to industry–university collaboration and impact on firm innovation capabilities. Data collection and analysis are performed, using interviews, survey answers, document search and reflectional analysis to evaluate processes and effects of the centre and the programmes.

A developed research centre, integrated into both academia and industry, can support translational collaboration and promote SME innovation absorptive capacity. The action learning elements and the organisational development approaches used when coaching in the ISPs contribute to the SMEs internal absorption capacity and collaborational skills. Organising collaboration into ISPs can provide a relational path to future collaboration with universities, which, for example start with student projects.

The study, though limited to one Swedish region, adds to empirical innovation research as it connects industry–university collaboration and absorptive capacity to organisational learning.

The empirical results indicate possible long-term gains for industry and universities in building collaborative innovation into SME-ISPs.

The contribution of this study pertains to the practice of innovation support for established SMEs with the inclusion of absorption capacity and collaborative innovation development.

The risks of natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, tornado, coastal erosion and volcano are apparent in Auckland because of its vulnerability to multiple risks. The coping capacity of individuals serves as a precursor to the adaptation to inherent challenges. The purpose of this paper was to examine the coping capacity of the South African community in Auckland to a disaster event.

This study gathered information from both primary and secondary sources. Interviews and survey were the main sources of primary data. The research used parametric and non-parametric statistical tools for quantitative data analysis, and the general inductive process and a three-step coding process to analyse qualitative data. The research findings are discussed in line with existing studies.

The results indicated that the aggregate coping capacity of the community was above average on the scale of 1-5 with communication and economic domains having the highest and least capacities, respectively. An improvement in disaster response activities and economic ability among the vulnerable population should be considered in future policy to enhance coping capacity.

The study was limited to the time of the investigation. The practical coping capacity of the community during challenges will be determined. This study excludes the roles of institutions and the natural environment in coping capacity because the unit of analysis was the individual members of the community.

The research is a pioneer study on the coping capacity of the South African community in Auckland.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role and the relevance of knowledge‐based capital as a strategic resource and a source of regional innovation capacity. The paper identifies human, relational, structural and social capital as the four main knowledge‐based categories building the knowledge‐based capital of a region. The role of each knowledge‐based category in determining regional innovation capacity is analyzed. Specifically, the authors discuss the relationships among the knowledge‐based categories and a regional innovation capacity.

The paper is based on an in‐depth literature review of the knowledge management and regional innovation research stream. The fundamental underlying research questions that have driven the research are: “What are the knowledge‐based capital categories affecting a region's innovation capacity?” and “How do knowledge‐based categories influence regional innovation capacity?”. The paper is conceptual in its nature and aims to delineate a theory‐based framework to drive further empirical research.

The paper first clarifies the concept of knowledge‐based capital and of regional innovation capacity. These are two key concepts for understanding the role and relevance of the knowledge assets bundles in the creation, development and management of innovation capabilities at regional level. Then the paper explores how knowledge‐based components affect the innovation capacity of a region. This is an issue of great relevance for both theory and practice. From the theory point of view it allows the identification of the main factors characterising the links between knowledge assets and innovation capacity, while from a practical point of view it can provide implications for policy makers for the definition of policies oriented towards the development of regional knowledge asset domains to develop regional innovation capacity.

The paper provides an answer to the need to develop a holistic view of the links between a region's knowledge‐based capital and its innovation capacity. Indeed, most of the studies in the literature have analysed the links between isolated knowledge asset categories and innovation capabilities. The paper, on the basis of a clear definition of knowledge‐based capital and innovation capacity, analyses why regional knowledge foundations make differences in the innovation capacity of regions.