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Article
Publication date: 26 October 2020

Rouxelle De Villiers

The business environment is changing and education at university business schools does not appear to keep pace. This paper aims to identify principles to guide educators in…

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Abstract

Purpose

The business environment is changing and education at university business schools does not appear to keep pace. This paper aims to identify principles to guide educators in preparing accounting students for automation and artificial intelligence and sets an agenda for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The seven principles are derived from an extensive literature review and the analysis of qualitative data from focus groups, thought leader discussions, interviews and workshops.

Findings

The derived seven Cs model includes: critical, conceptual thinking and the spirit of enquiry; complicate, grapple and fail; create, innovate and experience; concise communication; collaboration; consciousness, respectfulness and ethical fibre; and curiosity, lifelong learning and specialized generalists. An inclusive list of future research topics related to the seven Cs model is provided to aid researchers’ agendas.

Research limitations/implications

Although every attempt was made to base this study purely on expert opinions, as reflected in journal articles, conference papers, interviews and focus groups, it is impossible to prevent author biases from slipping into the interpretation and reflection involved in creating the model. Readers will also find some overlap in terms of the accounting business competencies development model’s seven Cs, due to the inter-related nature of the concepts and because the various definitions of concepts have some habits of the mind and social competencies in common.

Practical implications

The seven principles will help business schools and higher education policymakers guide future education developments with a focus on new competencies and reframed skills, as opposed to new knowledge. The model ensures that scholars and graduates have insight into the essential knowledge, attributes and skills that apply to the diverse nature of accounting vocations and can adapt to unanticipated changes.

Social implications

This new model can be used by business schools to ensure that graduates can fully contribute to a society impacted by automation and artificial intelligence by entering the workplace with the requisite skills. It also responds to critics’ fears about the role of business schools in preparing graduates for the future of work.

Originality/value

The paper contributes in two ways. First, rather than focussing on particular issues or the shortcomings of current education, it identifies broad-based principles from a literature review, interviews, focus groups and workshops. Second, it sets an agenda for future research.

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2018

Tracy X.P. Zou, Robin S. Snell, Maureen Y.L. Chan and Amy L.Y. Wong

The purpose of this paper is to identify attributes and practices that are salient for effectiveness in middle- and senior-level service leadership positions.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify attributes and practices that are salient for effectiveness in middle- and senior-level service leadership positions.

Design/methodology/approach

Critical incident interviews were conducted with 17 key informants, who were service leaders in various service sectors in Hong Kong, and with ten stakeholders.

Findings

Grounded theory analysis generated a 7 Cs model with seven categories of service leadership attributes and practices: character, choreography, care, creativity, charisma, collaborating and competence self-improvement, and 24 constituent concepts. There was concordance between pairs of key informants and stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

Further research could investigate the impact on frontline service leaders’ performance if one or more of the 7 Cs are perceived to be absent or deficient among leaders at more senior levels, and whether there are acceptable substitutes for particular Cs.

Practical implications

The 7 Cs model identifies service leadership attributes and practices across diverse sectors.

Originality/value

The 7 Cs model provides a map for orienting the developmental preparation of individuals, who are aspiring to become middle- and senior-level leaders in economies that have become highly dependent on service.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 39 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2012

Paul J. Davis

This paper aims to explore the inherent tensions of the franchisor‐franchisee relationship from the viewpoint of business strategy. It also aims to highlight seven areas of the

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the inherent tensions of the franchisor‐franchisee relationship from the viewpoint of business strategy. It also aims to highlight seven areas of the partnership that can be developed to promote cooperation on a shared strategic direction that delivers improved business outcomes

Design/methodology/approach

The literature is reviewed and the author's extensive experience in franchising is drawn on. The Seven C Approach is discussed as a guide.

Findings

The paper finds that by adopting an approach based on communication, cooperation, consultation, collaboration, coordination, concession and competence franchisors and franchisees can work through their differences on strategy formulation and implementation.

Practical implications

The paper has real and immediate practical benefits for franchisors and franchisees in that it provides a seven‐step guide for improving the working relationship between the two. This will result in greater trust and better business outcomes.

Originality/value

This paper distills the theory into a compact, practical and easily implementable seven‐step process for improving the franchising relationship. The result is a useful guide for franchising businesses based on research and experience. A new strategy model is developed for practitioners and is presented here for the first time.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 August 2017

Matt Bower

This chapter unpacks ‘design thinking’ as it relates to educational design, and highlights how developments in the field of Learning Design may be of assistance to educators…

Abstract

This chapter unpacks ‘design thinking’ as it relates to educational design, and highlights how developments in the field of Learning Design may be of assistance to educators. Design is defined as a creative, scientific, and complex process, underpinned by several design thinking qualities. Teaching, it is argued, should be positioned as a design science, based on its nature, practice, and intentions. Learning to design is characterized as a challenging pursuit that is supported through practice, refection, examples, and expert guidance. Based on the literature, the pursuit of designing for learning is explained as a process involving the creation of accessible and aligned designs that cater to students in order to achieve desired learning outcomes. Educational design models by Laurillard, Siemens, and Conole are contrasted and evaluated in order to critically reflect on the general utility of such models. The field of Learning Design is introduced as a discipline area that aims to help educators develop and share great teaching ideas. Six approaches that support the description and sharing of learning designs are briefly described (technical standards, pattern descriptions, visualizations, visualization tools, pedagogical planners, and the Learning Activity Management System) so as to illustrate how the Learning Design field has evolved and how educators can capitalize upon it. Directions forward are recommended, which center around reflection, collaboration, and a design orientation.

Details

Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-183-4

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2024

Achakorn Wongpreedee and Tatchalerm Sudhipongpracha

Village health volunteers are community health volunteers in Thailand that have helped the government deliver public health services for many years, particularly during the…

Abstract

Purpose

Village health volunteers are community health volunteers in Thailand that have helped the government deliver public health services for many years, particularly during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Though labeled as “volunteers,” the village health volunteers are recruited, trained and supervised in a manner similar to how a government agency recruits, trains and supervises its street-level bureaucrats (SLBs). This study examines the two factors that affect how these street-level quasi-bureaucrats use their professional discretion: transformational leadership and public service motivation (PSM). Transformational leadership means a leadership style that develops, shares and sustains a vision to elevate SLBs to higher levels of performance, while PSM is defined as an SLB’s predisposition to make a difference by working in the public sector with a sense of calling. This study attempts to analyze the mediating role of psychological empowerment in the relationship between transformational leadership, PSM and professional discretion.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a three-wave survey-based quantitative method to avoid common method biases. This method provides evidence gathered from 105 subdistrict health promotion hospitals and 798 village health volunteers (VHVs) in five provinces in Thailand.

Findings

PSM and transformational leadership influence the village health volunteers' use of professional discretion indirectly through the psychological empowerment mechanisms that make them feel positive toward their village health volunteer role and responsibility. The authors' findings suggest that the hospital directors' transformational leadership induces the village health volunteers' use of professional discretion by making them feel competent to do their work and feel fulfilled and valuable about their work. Similarly, the village health volunteers' PSM leads them to use professional discretion by making them feel fulfilled and valuable and by convincing them of the social and community impact of their work.

Research limitations/implications

While existing research focuses on VHVs' role in alleviating capacity constraints on the health care system, this study revealed an equally important role played by hospital directors. These directors' transformational leadership was instrumental in enhancing VHVs' psychological empowerment – particularly their perceptions of the meaning of their work and their competence – that ultimately enabled them to use professional discretion in their work. This study also highlighted the importance of VHVs' PSM, which leads to their use of professional discretion via the meaning and impact dimensions of psychological empowerment. Based on this study, PSM should also be incorporated into the community health volunteers' recruitment criteria. Also, public health agencies should consider including transformational leadership in the hospital directors' training programs and their promotion criteria.

Practical implications

As VHVs' high-PSM level was found to enhance their professional discretion, the process of recruiting ordinary citizens to serve as community health volunteers should incorporate assessment of the candidates' PSM. Also, the Ministry of Public Health should design and assign tasks that citizen volunteers, particularly VHVs, consider meaningful and at which they feel competent.

Social implications

Aside from technical training, directors of the subdistrict health promotion hospitals should regularly receive soft skill training (i.e. leadership training) and transformational leadership characteristics should be included in the government criteria for promotion.

Originality/value

While past research has examined the impact of other leadership styles on psychological empowerment, this study took a further step by examining the mediating effects of psychological empowerment on the relationship between transformational leadership and professional discretion among VHVs. The authors analyzed the mechanism linking PSM to the VHVs' professional discretion. In addition, by examining the relative importance of different dimensions of psychological empowerment, this study offers a nuanced understanding of the psychological processes by which transformational leadership and PSM shape the SLBs' use of professional discretion in their work.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 44 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2023

Yung-Kuei Huang, Ning-Kuang Chuang and Linchi Kwok

Guided by the social exchange theory, this study aims to examine the mediating relationship among trust in employee, felt trust, and trust in supervisor, and these trust-related…

Abstract

Purpose

Guided by the social exchange theory, this study aims to examine the mediating relationship among trust in employee, felt trust, and trust in supervisor, and these trust-related factors’ direct and indirect effects on frontline hotel employees’ customer-focused voice and silence.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey questionnaires were distributed to collect 307 valid paired supervisor–employee responses from 32 hotels in Taiwan. Structured equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

First, treating trust-related variables as two-dimensional constructs (reliance and disclosure), the results confirmed that reliance-based trust in employee increases trust in supervisor through felt trust. Second, supervisor trust in employee was generally stronger than employee felt trust. Third, while felt reliance and disclosure-based trust in supervisor were found to promote customer-focused voice and discourage silence, such opposite effects on voice and silence were not observed for reliance-based trust in employee, felt disclosure and reliance-based trust in supervisor. Fourth, indirect effects of trust in employee and felt trust on voice and silence through trust in supervisor received partial support.

Practical implications

This study provides business insights into managing frontline hotel employees’ voice/silence behaviors through trusting relationships.

Originality/value

This study verified employee felt trust as a mediating mechanism in their trusting relationships with supervisors as well as supervisors’ roles in initiating trust in vertical dyads. Using a two-dimensional trust measure, our analysis illustrated the differential effects of trust-related variables on customer-focused voice and silence, shedding light on the double-edged effects of felt trust and trust in supervisor as well as the conceptual distinction between voice and silence.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 March 2022

Wei Zhang, Yuan Jiang, Wenkai Zhou and Wei Pan

This study aims to examine the antecedents of knowledge-seeking intentions (SIs) and efforts within new product development (NPD) teams.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the antecedents of knowledge-seeking intentions (SIs) and efforts within new product development (NPD) teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected from 331 employees affiliated with 29 NPD teams across 18 Chinese firms in five high-tech and knowledge-based industries via an online assessment and a survey. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to test the hypotheses using HLM and Mplus software.

Findings

The results of this study show that intrinsic task motivation (IM) and personal task experience (TE) positively relate to SIs, whereas leadership support (LS) and shared culture (SC) negatively relate to knowledge-seeking efforts (SEs). SIs partially mediate the relationship between IM and SEs, while they fully mediate the relationship between TE and SEs. Additionally, customer orientation (CO) positively moderates the relationship between SIs and SEs.

Research limitations/implications

Data collection was completed online by relying on an existing version of the Abedi Creativity Test. The samples involve 18 companies in a High-Tech Development Zone in China, which indicates limited generalizability.

Practical implications

Effective NPD depends on successful marketing–R&D integration and knowledge exchange within the NPD team. Besides, organizations need to find ways to stimulate NPD team members’ IM and also through various ways to inspire more efforts from team members under the condition of supportive leadership and culture.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the knowledge management and marketing literature on NPD teamwork by examining knowledge-seeking phenomena from the perspective of the internal knowledge market and contributes to knowledge-seeking research by revealing the antecedents of SIs and SEs at both the individual and organizational level.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 3 August 2017

Matt Bower

Abstract

Details

Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-183-4

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2018

Ryan Chesnut, Jennifer M. DiNallo, Melina T. Czymoniewicz-Klippel and Daniel F. Perkins

Parent-focused interventions (PFIs) are a promising method for supporting parents and promoting children’s well-being. Few PFIs in the USA, however, include physical health…

Abstract

Purpose

Parent-focused interventions (PFIs) are a promising method for supporting parents and promoting children’s well-being. Few PFIs in the USA, however, include physical health promotion content and are universal programs. The purpose of this paper is to describe a universal health-promoting PFI for parents of elementary school-aged children and demonstrate proof of concept.

Design/methodology/approach

The program emphasizes positive parenting practices, stress management skills and physical health promotion strategies and recommendations, and is part of a larger initiative that includes a continuum of universal, developmentally appropriate, health-promoting PFIs for civilian and military parents. The program was implemented at two community sites in rural Pennsylvania with 20 civilian parents completing pretests and posttests. Study measures assessed parenting, stress and stress management and physical health promotion related outcomes.

Findings

Parents reported decreases in suboptimal discipline and feeding practices, stress and child internalizing behavior. They also reported increases in their sense of control in managing child behavior, coping socialization, child’s outdoor playtime and health recommendations met.

Research limitations/implications

While these preliminary findings may not be generalizable, they serve as proof of concept, which suggests that more rigorous research on the program is warranted.

Practical implications

Implementing a universal, health-promoting PFI within the USA is viable and has the potential to impact multiple short-term outcomes.

Originality/value

Parents are among their child’s earliest and most influential educators, and this study lends further support to their role as health educators. Given the significant public health benefits of holistically promoting child health, the time has come for universal PFIs to begin including physical health promotion content.

Details

Health Education, vol. 118 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-4283

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2023

Yufan Shang, Ruonan Zhao and Malika Richards

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanism through which stressors influence job crafting. Based on regulatory focus theory, this study explores the mediating role…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanism through which stressors influence job crafting. Based on regulatory focus theory, this study explores the mediating role of work regulatory focus between the challenge-hindrance stressors and approach-avoidance job crafting and the moderating role of trait regulatory focus.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected survey data in a northwestern city of China from 578 employees working in the finance, real estate and IT industries. Results were analyzed using Mplus 7.

Findings

The results reveal that challenge stressors have a positive effect on both approach job crafting (i.e. increasing structural job resources, increasing social job resources and increasing challenging job demands) and avoidance job crafting (i.e. decreasing hindering job demands) via work promotion focus. On the other hand, hindrance stressors have a positive effect on only avoidance job crafting via work prevention focus. In addition, trait promotion focus accentuates the influence of challenge-hindrance stressors on work regulatory focus, as well as the indirect effect of challenge-hindrance stressors on approach-avoidance job crafting respectively. Trait prevention focus only weakens the influence of challenge stressors on work promotion focus.

Research limitations/implications

This study unfolds how stressors relate to job crafting. However, the cross-sectional design may limit the causal inferences.

Originality/value

This study provides new insight into the relationship between stressors and job crafting by explicating the motivational mechanism and boundary conditions.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

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