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1 – 10 of 109Jakob Mainert, Christoph Niepel, Thomas Lans and Samuel Greiff
This study aims at the employees’ view on organizational learning (OL). OL is originally assessed in the Strategic Learning Assessment Map (SLAM) at the level of the firm by…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at the employees’ view on organizational learning (OL). OL is originally assessed in the Strategic Learning Assessment Map (SLAM) at the level of the firm by addressing managers, who rated OL in the SLAM on five dimensions of individual, group, organizational, feed-forward and feedback learning. However, as employees are getting their jobs done discretely and are increasingly making their own decisions, their perspective on OL genuinely matters. Hence, the authors assessed OL at the level of the individual by addressing employees on all levels, who rated OL in a short form of the SLAM (SF-SLAM).
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors focused on the construct validity of this SF-SLAM by investigating its reliability, factorial validity and nomological network. First, they asked whether the SF-SLAM reliably measures OL on five dimensions of individual, group, organizational, feed-forward and feedback learning. Next, they asked whether the SF-SLAM was associated with its nomological network of engaging in innovation-related learning activities, behaving innovatively on the job and showing higher educational levels, intelligence and individual job performances. They used a diverse German employee sample of skilled and unskilled workers and managers (N = 434) and analyzed the data with structural equation modeling.
Findings
The SF-SLAM was reliable, but revealed both constrained factorial validity and validity on the basis of its nomological network. First, five dimensions found support in the employee sample, but their correlations were high or very high, except for individual learning. Second, the SF-SLAM showed only few differential relations with variables from its nomological network.
Originality/value
Taken together, the SF-SLAM is short, reliable and only valid for examining individual learning.
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Rodrigo Garza Burgos, James P. Johnson and Misty L.L. Loughry
This paper aims to investigate organizational learning (OL) at the individual, group and organizational levels in service and manufacturing firms in Mexico to determine if there…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate organizational learning (OL) at the individual, group and organizational levels in service and manufacturing firms in Mexico to determine if there are differences in how OL operates or in the link between OL and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed experienced managers from 1,093 Mexican firms across a range of service and manufacturing industries, using the Strategic Learning Assessment Map (Bontis et al., 2002).
Findings
Organizational learning processes (OLPs) were highly similar in service and manufacturing firms and OL had a strong positive association with performance in both types of firms. OLPs at the individual level had a slightly greater impact on performance for service firms.
Research limitations/implications
The results provide further evidence of the strong link between OL and firm performance. There were no significant correlations of firm size or age with the OLPs or firm performance. However, the micro-companies that constitute 95% of Mexican firms were under-represented in the sample.
Practical implications
OLPs are equally important in manufacturing and service firms and across developed and developing economies. Therefore, OL should pervade all organizations. Managers should create cultures that encourage employees to produce new ideas and share those ideas with peers and supervisors through both formal and informal communication processes.
Social implications
The findings indicate that the individual employees’ contributions to OL are the main driver of the impact of OLPs on firm performance and that individual-level learning processes are even more relevant for service firms than for manufacturing firms. As value co-production takes place simultaneously at the moment of the service delivery/service consumption, the individual learning stock is fundamental for enhanced firm performance.
Originality/value
The authors believe this to be the first large-scale study to compare OLPs in manufacturing and service firms across industries in a major emerging market.
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Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles and Robert Detmering
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.
Findings
Information about each source is provided. The paper discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.
Originality/value
The information in the paper may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
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This paper is structured into four sections. The first section proposes a conceptual framework to analyze organizational learning and its outcomes. It focuses on the strategy…
Abstract
This paper is structured into four sections. The first section proposes a conceptual framework to analyze organizational learning and its outcomes. It focuses on the strategy perspective of organizational learning – with special attention to the resource and capabilities theory of the firm – addressing its ontology, contributions and problematic. The second section is focused on a particular type of knowledge – the structural capital – that is institutionalized knowledge in the form of organizational processes, structures, technologies, policies and culture. In sum, it represents all forms of knowledge deposits that are not supported by the human being such as organizational routines, strategies and processes and is the result of learning at organizational level. This section studies the map of different types of organizational structural capital of companies: idiosyncratic, core, ancillary and compulsory. Section three shows the results of a case study done in pioneer learning organizations in Europe regarding knowledge measuring and reporting. It analyzes the main indicators used for quantifying the knowledge embedded in the organization and its processes. Finally, the last section explores the main results and implications for knowledge management drawn from this paper.
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The aim of this paper is to describe how academic institutions that focus improvement of student learning do much better than those that focus on compliance and assessment.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to describe how academic institutions that focus improvement of student learning do much better than those that focus on compliance and assessment.
Design/methodology/approach
A reflective observation of institutional interaction with the North Central Association Higher Learning Commission, especially the 264 colleges and universities that have participated in the Commission's assessment workshops, provides insight into the characteristics that make the most positive difference.
Findings
The paper finds that academic institutions do better when: assessment is best understood as the means and student learning itself as the end; shared responsibility and collective capacity are intentionally developed; internal leaders, of different types, are identified and developed; collaborative processes that actively engage people replace concerns about buy‐in; institutions jump in and learn as they go along; program review becomes an area of shared faculty/administration interest; changed, parallel or separate core processes permit attention to enduring issues; and institutions begin wherever they chose to begin and from there develop the means to complete a full cycle of outcomes assessment. Another more recent emphasis is the need to inform the public and other stakeholders about what students are learning.
Originality/value
This paper draws on the insights of those who work at the Higher Learning Commission, who share the unusual perspective of having experience of dealing with hundreds of academic institutions.
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Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles and Latisha Reynolds
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.
Findings
The findings provide information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
Details
Keywords
Arthur P. Preston, Susan M. Inglis and Peter Horchner
To achieve change in the Australian red meat processing industry it is necessary to address the tyranny of distance in a dispersed industry, a culture of “firefighting” rather…
Abstract
To achieve change in the Australian red meat processing industry it is necessary to address the tyranny of distance in a dispersed industry, a culture of “firefighting” rather than root cause problem solving and a low investment in staff training and development. Internet‐based learning offers potential where off‐the‐job training is not feasible or efficient. Hence our decision to design a management development initiative for the industry. $LAM (pronounced “slam” – may be viewed at URL: http://www.bus.qut.edu.au/$lam/) is the name coined for the learning process that uses interactive Internet‐based decision support systems. $LAM integrates high quality content, state‐of‐the‐art instructional design principles and motivational strategies. The goal was the delivery of an industry specific cost of quality tutorial and activity based projects able to promote learners’ ability to formulate conceptual generalisations and promote change in developing new responses to industry issues.
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Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the…
Abstract
Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.
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Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the…
Abstract
Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.
Details
Keywords
Nicholas C Coops, Jean Marcus, Ileana Construt, Erica Frank, Ron Kellett, Eric Mazzi, Alison Munro, Susan Nesbit, Andrew Riseman, John Robinson, Anneliese Schultz and Yona Sipos
Delivery of sustainability-related curriculum to undergraduate students can be problematic due to the traditional “siloing” of curriculum by faculties along disciplinary lines. In…
Abstract
Purpose
Delivery of sustainability-related curriculum to undergraduate students can be problematic due to the traditional “siloing” of curriculum by faculties along disciplinary lines. In addition, while there is often a ready availability of courses focused on sustainability issues in the later years of students’ programs, few early entry-level courses focused on sustainability, broad enough to apply to all disciplines, are available to students in the first year of their program.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, we describe the development, and preliminary implementation, of an entry-level, interdisciplinary sustainability course. To do so, the authors describe the development of a university-wide initiative designed to bridge units on campus working and teaching in sustainability areas, and to promote and support sustainability curriculum development.
Findings
The authors describe the conceptual framework for organising course content and delivery. The authors conclude with an informal assessment of the successes and challenges, and offer learning activities, student assessments and course administration recommendations for consideration when developing courses with similar learning goals.
Originality/value
The positive and negative experiences gained through developing and offering a course of this nature, in a large research-focused university, offers knew insights into potential barriers for implementing first-year cross-cutting sustainability curriculum.
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