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1 – 10 of over 11000Zafar Iqbal, Michael Clarke and David J. Taylor
Aim: To assess the potential for improved clinical effectiveness through the use of research‐based evidence in obstetric care. Design: A questionnaire survey to obtain evidence…
Abstract
Aim: To assess the potential for improved clinical effectiveness through the use of research‐based evidence in obstetric care. Design: A questionnaire survey to obtain evidence about (i) the usage of reviews of controlled perinatal trials, and (ii) the attitudes of professionals towards the reviews and their practice, relating to 27 areas of clinical care addressed by the reviews. Subjects and setting: All doctors and midwives working in two teaching hospital maternity units (Units X and Y). Main outcome measures: The use of the reviews. For each of the 27 areas of clinical care, (i) whether a majority of professionals were in agreement with research‐based evidence, and (ii) how perceived current practice compared with research‐based evidence. Results: For most areas of clinical care (21/27 in unit X, 20/27 in unit Y) a majority of professionals agreed with the research‐based evidence. However, for a large proportion of these areas (16/21 in unit X, 12/20 in unit Y), practice appeared to be inconsistent with research‐based evidence. Conclusion: There is a considerable opportunity to improve clinical effectiveness, as in many of the areas of care examined professionals agree with research‐based evidence, but clinical practice appears to be inconsistent. The approach used in this study could be used to help develop practices for promoting clinical effectiveness.
Wim Lambrechts and Peter Van Petegem
The purpose of this paper is to explore how competences for sustainable development and research interrelate within a context of competence-based higher education. Specific focus…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how competences for sustainable development and research interrelate within a context of competence-based higher education. Specific focus is oriented towards strengthening research competences for sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a hermeneutic–interpretive methodology, this paper builds upon a critical literature review to demarcate the theoretical framework and an in-depth analysis of a case study exploring the interrelations between both types of competences.
Findings
The paper discusses current issues in the integration of competences and explores the contribution of research-based methods to acquire competences for sustainable development. The analysis shows that research skills are often mentioned to contribute to this acquisition, though from a general perspective, or from the sidelines of the learning process. A holistic view on how both concepts are linked is missing.
Research limitations/implications
First, the complex nature of competences and their integration in higher education could lead to difficulties in interpreting and analysing them. Second, the analysis is based on a single-case study, limiting possibilities to generalise the results. Third, this study is not looking at curriculum practices in these fields.
Practical implications
There is a need to holistically (re-)frame research competences within the concepts of education for sustainable development and, to a wider extent, sustainable development.
Social implications
Framing research competences within the concept of sustainable development enables a thorough and “conscious”, rather than coincidental, acquisition of competences for sustainable development.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the fact that there is little literature about the interrelations between competences for sustainable development and research competences.
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Karen Venturini and Chiara Verbano
The purpose of this paper is to verify and improve the framework assessing the evolution and importance of the technological, human, social and financial resources of an Indian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to verify and improve the framework assessing the evolution and importance of the technological, human, social and financial resources of an Indian research-based spin-off (RBSO) throughout its four stages of development by Vohora et al. (2004).
Design/methodology/approach
The open innovation (OI) phenomenon is spreading among public organizations. One of the OI practices used by the public research centers to market their technologies is to set up new business entities called RBSOs. Many studies have focused on spin-offs but there are still some gaps. To overcome the existing limitations, the authors built a framework which they tested on three previous case studies.
Findings
The results obtained show how a parent organization and its incubator can play fundamental roles in creating and developing a successful RBSO. This is done by supplying managerial staff and providing access to skills, funds and other material and immaterial resources.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this study are related to the sectoral and geopolitical factors of the single case analyzed. For this reason, the observations that emerge should be supported by other empirical analyses.
Originality/value
The findings of this study can offer a better understanding of the spin-off life to managers, researchers, public organizations and government agencies. They can learn how to improve policies and practices of technology transfer and strengthen the national industrial system.
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Hanne Nørreklit, Lennart Nørreklit and Falconer Mitchell
The purpose of this paper is to enhance the relationship between research and practice. It addresses the question: How can practitioners’ use of generalisations be understood…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to enhance the relationship between research and practice. It addresses the question: How can practitioners’ use of generalisations be understood, with a view towards producing research-based generalisations that facilitate use in practice?
Design/methodology/approach
Language games are used to explore generalisation in practice, and the framework of pragmatic constructivism is adopted to characterise the generation of practice generalisation.
Findings
Practice is conceptualised as a complex set of clusters of organised actions run by a set of applied generalisations and driven by human intentions. Practice also encompasses reflective activities that aim to create the generalisations and reflect them into the specific circumstances to create functioning practice. Generalisations depend on underlying concepts. The formation and structure of concepts is explored and used to create the construction and use of different types of generalisation. Generalisations function as cognitive building blocks in constructing strings of interconnected functioning activities. Managers make their own functioning generalisations that, however, do not satisfy the research criteria for acceptable generalisations. The research/practice gap is shaped by the very different language games played.
Research limitations/implications
If research is to be useful to practice, the generalisations produced must methodologically articulate the types of generalisation that pervade the methods with which practitioners construct functioning activities. Further research has to give more insight into such processes.
Originality/value
The paper contributes insight into both the generalisation debate and the research/practice gap debate.
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There are few challenges as daunting as achieving positive outcomes for students with emotional disabilities. A major obstacle is the generally poor quality of classroom…
Abstract
There are few challenges as daunting as achieving positive outcomes for students with emotional disabilities. A major obstacle is the generally poor quality of classroom instruction. Too few general education teachers or special education teachers possess the knowledge and skills to adequately serve this population of learners. Various factors account for the inadequate level of teacher preparation, including licensure requirements that emphasize quantity over quality, the research-to-practice gap, a train-and-hope rather than a train-and-coach approach to teacher preparation, and the absence of an infrastructure to support sustained use of evidence-based practices. I discuss each of these factors and offer some recommendations for improving the quality of teacher preparation and, in turn, the potential for more positive student outcomes.
Baharudin Othman, Sharifudin Md. Shaarani and Arsiah Bahron
The purpose of this research is to observe how the industry’s knowledge, attitude and sensitivity of the industry to the government’s current policy regarding the halal…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to observe how the industry’s knowledge, attitude and sensitivity of the industry to the government’s current policy regarding the halal certification process influence the organization performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions to measure the human capital factors and the practice of halal requirements. The questionnaire was distributed to multinational companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, of which 206 responses were usable for analysis. The respondents were halal committee members in the respective companies. Smart PLS version 2.0 was used to analyze the relationship of each construct using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The outcome of this study showed a positive relationship between knowledge of and attitude and sensitivity toward government policies and organizational performance.
Findings
The outcome of this study showed a positive relationship between knowledge, attitude, sensitivity to government policy and organizational performance. The R2 value for the main model is 0.419, indicating that 41.9 per cent of the variance in the extent of collaboration can be explained by knowledge, attitude and sensitivity to government policies. Result also showed that all the hypotheses were supported and were significant at p < 0.01. It also showed that the control of an organization’s internal resources through human factors ranging from knowledge, attitude and sensitivity to government policies should be emphasized, as it is a contributing factor and it strives to improve organizational performance.
Research limitations/implications
There were a limited number of respondents. A larger number of respondents would reflect a more accurate study. Besides, this study only focused on the halal food industry operators, while the presence of halal now covers other schemes such as logistics, consumer products and others. Moreover, this study only focused on two main groups: multinational companies and SMEs.
Practical implications
This study has provided some major implications. First, on behalf of the state, the results of this study clearly show that the human capital factor should be prioritized. Second, on behalf of the industry, this study can fill the void that exists in strengthening the industry through efforts to improve internal controls related to organizations including attending halal food courses and applying values among members of the organization. Third, the implication to theory and literature that the research-based view is suitable for use even in the food industry has been proved.
Social implications
The results of this study can increase consumer confidence in the management of an organization, especially in the halal food industry.
Originality/value
Halal’s rapid development has led many researchers to study halal. Till now, there is no research on three major areas of human capital aspects, namely, knowledge, attitude and sensitivity to governmental policies that involve internal halal committee members in the industry as subject of study in one model. Moreover, this research attempts to cover the latest acts, standards, procedures and guidelines provided by the government.
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Frank Alpert, Mark Brown, Elizabeth Ferrier, Claudia Fernanda Gonzalez-Arcos and Rico Piehler
This study aims to investigate marketing managers’ views on the existence and nature of the academic–practitioner gap in the branding domain.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate marketing managers’ views on the existence and nature of the academic–practitioner gap in the branding domain.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a purposive sampling method, the researchers conduct semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 experienced marketing managers from a wide range of industries and organisations, whose roles are focussed on the planning, implementation and management of broad marketing and branding strategies.
Findings
Branding practitioners have little or no contact with academics and their theories-in-use with regard to brand management suggest they do not consider academic research relevant to their work.
Research limitations/implications
The process of describing and explaining the gap provides valuable insights into bridging the gap; it provides actionable branding strategies that include raising awareness, building relationships, improving the benefits offer and communicating more effectively.
Practical implications
This research has practical implications for branding academics. The interviewed practitioners confirm the gap, viewing it as academics’ (not practitioners’) problem and responsibility. They characterise it as a branding problem that academics can overcome using branding strategies, to establish themselves as credible sources of branding expertise for practitioners. Key areas for increasing collaboration stem from practitioners’ desire for independent, credible, ethical and timely third-party advice on branding issues; relevant, timely and shorter professional branding education across their organisations; and closer connections with universities to identify new branding talent and ideas.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to empirically examine and recommend solutions to the academic-practitioner gap in the branding domain by studying marketing professionals with branding responsibilities, using in-depth interviews.
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Joseph Calvin Gagnon and Brian R. Barber
Alternative education settings (AES; i.e., self-contained alternative schools, therapeutic day treatment and residential schools, and juvenile corrections schools) serve youth…
Abstract
Alternative education settings (AES; i.e., self-contained alternative schools, therapeutic day treatment and residential schools, and juvenile corrections schools) serve youth with complicated and often serious academic and behavioral needs. The use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and practices with Best Available Evidence are necessary to increase the likelihood of long-term success for these youth. In this chapter, we define three primary categories of AES and review what we know about the characteristics of youth in these schools. Next, we discuss the current emphasis on identifying and implementing EBPs with regard to both academic interventions (i.e., reading and mathematics) and interventions addressing student behavior. In particular, we consider implementation in AES, where there are often high percentages of youth requiring special education services and who have a significant need for EBPs to succeed academically, behaviorally, and in their transition to adulthood. We focus our discussion on: (a) examining approaches to identifying EBPs; (b) providing a brief review of EBPs and Best Available Evidence in the areas of mathematics, reading, and interventions addressing student behavior for youth in AES; (c) delineating key implementation challenges in AES; and (d) providing recommendations for how to facilitate the use of EBPs in AES.
Sonal Devesh and Abhishek Nanjundaswamy
To determine the factors influencing the perception of undergraduate students toward research–teaching nexus and also to examine its impact on the attitude of the students.
Abstract
Purpose
To determine the factors influencing the perception of undergraduate students toward research–teaching nexus and also to examine its impact on the attitude of the students.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a quantitative design to examine the perceptions of students in higher education institutions in India. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe the data and test the hypothesis. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire for a sample of 188 students from higher education institutions (HEIs). Further, in line with the purpose of the study and to test the hypotheses, the study used descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and multivariate regression analysis.
Findings
The study demonstrates that the factors influencing the perception of undergraduate students toward research teaching nexus were identified using principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation, conducted on 27 measurement items. In addition, the results of the multivariate regression analysis indicated that research-based, research-tutored and research motivation dimensions, significantly impact the graduate students' perception of research–teaching nexus.
Practical implications
The outcomes of this research may become valid input to HEI regulators, researchers and teachers while framing the policies and implementation of the same about the pertinent issues discussed in the paper. Further, it contributes to the existing theory that teaching–research quality and level of motivation are also the predominant factors influencing the teaching–research nexus among students. In addition, the outcome of this paper also supports HEIs to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) at large.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the ongoing debate and scarce literature on research–teaching nexus at the higher education level. The factors derived in this paper propose a framework for aligning teaching and research in academic programs to create high-quality human resource in the nation.
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Aims to bring a new angle to, in fact to complete the triangle of, industrial training studies, which have focused on training institutions and the firms. The third angle, the…
Abstract
Aims to bring a new angle to, in fact to complete the triangle of, industrial training studies, which have focused on training institutions and the firms. The third angle, the trainees, has often been neglected, appearing only as figures, enrolment, drop‐outs, graduates, etc. A comprehensive policy on industrial training would be incomplete without appraising experience of trainees and taking their views seriously. Examines research based on three surveys among potential, current and past trainees. The experience and views of the trainees should be taken as a major parameter in technical and vocational education (TVET) strategy, planning and programme implementation. Finds that trainees have expressed clear views on the relevance of the TVET programmes they have attended/are attending, and on the quality of public and private training. Findings of the surveys have some relevance to labour market policy, specifically on mobility, labour turnover, labour market information and employment of women.
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