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1 – 10 of over 1000Andromache Gazi, Theodoros Giannakis, Ilias Marmaras, Yiannis Skoulidas, Yannis Stoyannidis, Foteini Venieri and Stewart Ziff
Chris Brown, Ruth Luzmore, Richard O’Donovan, Grace Ji and Susmita Patnaik
Educators need to engage in continuous learning to ensure that their knowledge and practice responds to the changing needs of society and students. Collaborative approaches, in…
Abstract
Purpose
Educators need to engage in continuous learning to ensure that their knowledge and practice responds to the changing needs of society and students. Collaborative approaches, in which social capital resource is exchanged, can serve as an effective way of facilitating such learning. With this systematic review, the authors identify the opportunities and benefits inter-school social capital networks might bring by exploring: (1) what inter-school networks are available internationally for primary and secondary schools, (2) the features and activities present within inter-school networks and (3) evidence of impact of inter-school network activities.
Design/methodology/approach
For this study, the authors employed a systematic review methodology. The review comprised the five stages of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: PRISMA, 2021) protocol. The study findings derived from 111 research outputs (from a total of 1,221 originally identified).
Findings
The review highlights a number of different inter-school networks and their diverse purposes as well as key network features, such as the actors present in networks and the activities network participants engage with. At the same time, however, the authors only identify limited reliable evidence of the impact of inter-school networks.
Originality/value
The study fills a knowledge gap by exploring, for the first time, the presence, features of inter-school social capital networks available to school leaders as well as investigating the impact of these networks.
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Grid Rangsungnoen, Supattra Sroypetch and Rodney W. Caldicott
This paper aims to help understand how community-based social entrepreneurs experience world-class “performance excellence” models and to explore the core values that enable…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to help understand how community-based social entrepreneurs experience world-class “performance excellence” models and to explore the core values that enable social enterprises to become high-performance organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Underpinned by Mindsponge processes, the proposed conceptual framework critiques the Baldrige criteria for performance excellence (BCPE) model in a global south context. The mixed-methods study fosters an in-depth analysis. First, it validates the BCPE mechanism in community-based social enterprises (CBSEs) before identifying the significant core values and concepts of BCPE that influence CBSEs to achieve high performance.
Findings
The BCPE, adapted from global north corporate principles and applied at a community level, can significantly develop global south organization performance excellence. Five core values and concepts from the 11 fundamental beliefs in driving performance excellence were found to support performance excellence in CBSE management. These values and concepts are “customer-focused excellence,” “social responsibility,” “systems perspective,” “visionary leadership” and “focus on success.”
Research limitations/implications
First, factors influencing performance excellence are not limited to the core values elements discussed. Future research may clarify factors extracted from the “Process” category of BCPE to explore further how CBSEs can enhance their performance in a different formation path. Second, this study only considered the Thai-Phuan community in Pho Tak village, Nong Khai, Thailand, to represent as a single case study. However, different, clustered or contrasting CBSEs in other regions remain open for further exploration to enrich the knowledge of “performance excellence” in a community organization. Finally, a longitudinal study would be a welcome addition.
Practical implications
The following must be considered. First is setting a clear direction: the organization’s vision and mission, by purposeful design, should ensure that CBSE managers are leading by example and demonstrating the importance of social and environmental value creation. Second is developing institutional culture: fundamental core values focused predominantly on “customer-focused excellence” and “social responsibility” encourage collaboration by “working together to drive success”. Third is developing integrated management system: CBSEs need to ensure that the management systems can collaborate and complement each component to create performance excellence. Fourth is creating a learning organization: CBSEs need to create a culture of continuous learning through data collection, measurement, analysis and modification.
Social implications
This study clarifies that the implementation of BCPE is crucial to the establishment of performance excellence at both macro- and micro-level organizations. According to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the fundamental drivers of BCPE are the same for all types of organizations and in all sectors, whether in the private sector, education, health care or government (Blazey and Grizzell, 2021). By applying the Baldrige excellence model at the community level, this study found that CBSE can similarly strive for excellence and improved performance. This can lead to strengthened services, increased productivity and enhanced quality of life for the community.
Originality/value
This study provides a novel viewpoint on the Baldrige paradigm. Expressly, BCPE is compatible with global south community-based organizations to enhance performance excellence. Its essential contribution demonstrates that Baldrige model concepts are more widespread within smaller and underdeveloped territories than imagined. The recent (post-study) inclusion of “Community” as an independent sector in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards validates the research findings and recommendations proposed by this study.
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Adriana I. Martinez Calvit and Donna Y. Ford
The purpose of this paper is to present insights from the implementation of a dialogic social studies curriculum and its potential to support diverse learners. Policymakers and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present insights from the implementation of a dialogic social studies curriculum and its potential to support diverse learners. Policymakers and educators must attend to the learning needs of diverse/minoritized (Note: In this paper, the authors use minoritized and diverse interchangeably) students who have been marginalized in public education. A critical goal is to close racial, ethnic and socioeconomic achievement gaps by increasing, for example, students’ engagement with curriculum and instruction. In this paper, the authors bridge research on dialogic instruction and culturally relevant and responsive education with the goal of informing curricular design and instructional practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper discusses the utility of dialogic instruction in improving learning outcomes for minoritized student populations. While some researchers have examined the positive effects of dialogic instruction on underperforming students (e.g. Murphy et al., 2009; Pillinger and Vardy, 2022), few scholars have examined dialogic instruction through a culturally relevant and responsive lens. The authors argue that the application of this critical lens may improve learning outcomes for diverse learners who have been marginalized in public education systems.
Findings
The authors present illustrative vignettes and insights from a pilot study of a novel social studies curriculum. This curriculum applies a social justice lens by guiding students in the exploration of complex social issues that affect them. Given the diversity of their collaborating teachers’ classrooms (55% are racially minoritized students), the authors applied principles of culturally relevant and responsive education (e.g. Ford, 2010; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1995) when designing and piloting the curriculum. Prior personal and professional experiences by the first author point to the potential of dialogic instruction to meaningfully support minoritized students’ learning.
Originality/value
This paper builds on two bodies of literature – dialogic instruction and culturally relevant and responsive education – to identify how an innovative social studies curriculum may improve learning for diverse student populations. It calls for the advancement of a research agenda that applies a culturally relevant and responsive lens to inform instructional practice. The authors begin this discussion with two vignettes.
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Harshleen Kaur Duggal, Puja Khatri, Asha Thomas and Marco Pironti
Massive open online courses (MOOCs), a Taylorist attempt to automate instruction, help make course delivery more efficient, economical and better. As an implementation of Digital…
Abstract
Purpose
Massive open online courses (MOOCs), a Taylorist attempt to automate instruction, help make course delivery more efficient, economical and better. As an implementation of Digital Taylorism Implementation (DTI), MOOCs enable individuals to obtain an occupation-oriented education, equipping them with knowledge and skills needed to stay employable. However, learning through online platforms can induce tremendous amounts of technology-related stress in learners such as complexity of platforms and fears of redundancy. Thus, the aim of this paper is to study how student perceptions of DTI and technostress (TS) influence their perceived employability (PE). The role of TS as a mediator between DTI and PE has also been studied.
Design/methodology/approach
Stratified sampling technique has been used to obtain data from 305 students from 6 universities. The effect of DTI and TS on PE, and the role of TS as a mediator, has been examined using the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling approach with SMART PLS 4.0. software. Predictive relevance of the model has been studied using PLSPredict.
Findings
Results indicate that TS completely mediates the relationship between DTI and PE. The model has medium predictive relevance.
Practical implications
Learning outcomes from Digitally Taylored programs can be improved with certain reforms that bring the human touch to online learning.
Originality/value
This study extends Taylorism literature by linking DTI to PE of students via technostress as a mediator.
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José Félix Yagüe, Ignacio Huitzil, Carlos Bobed and Fernando Bobillo
There is an increasing interest in the use of knowledge graphs to represent real-world knowledge and a common need to manage imprecise knowledge in many real-world applications…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an increasing interest in the use of knowledge graphs to represent real-world knowledge and a common need to manage imprecise knowledge in many real-world applications. This paper aims to study approaches to solve flexible queries over knowledge graphs.
Design/methodology/approach
By introducing fuzzy logic in the query answering process, the authors are able to obtain a novel algorithm to solve flexible queries over knowledge graphs. This approach is implemented in the FUzzy Knowledge Graphs system, a software tool with an intuitive user-graphical interface.
Findings
This approach makes it possible to reuse semantic web standards (RDF, SPARQL and OWL 2) and builds a fuzzy layer on top of them. The application to a use case shows that the system can aggregate information in different ways by selecting different fusion operators and adapting to different user needs.
Originality/value
This approach is more general than similar previous works in the literature and provides a specific way to represent the flexible restrictions (using fuzzy OWL 2 datatypes).
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The burgeoning population has an adverse impact on the employability prospects in the emerging economies and has triggered entrepreneurial activities to steer this predicament…
Abstract
Purpose
The burgeoning population has an adverse impact on the employability prospects in the emerging economies and has triggered entrepreneurial activities to steer this predicament. The purpose of this study is to explicate the major entrepreneurial competencies that drive firm competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Three industrial estates were selected from the two major industrial districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. The study used a cross-sectional design and responses from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) entrepreneurs were collected by employing a structured questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was applied to empirically validate the proposed hypotheses in the study.
Findings
The study discerns the enablers of firm competitiveness and pursuit of excellence. The results reveal that the need for achievement and locus of control competencies strikingly augment firm competitiveness while risk-taking capability and innovativeness competencies aggrandize pursuit of excellence competency. The study further adduces that pursuit of excellence partially mediates between the liaison of risk-taking capability and innovativeness on the one end and firm competitiveness on the other.
Research limitations/implications
The study demonstrates the compelling determinants of firm competitiveness and pursuit of excellence that might embolden training institutes and banks to emphasize the identified competencies for enhancing firm competitiveness and advancing loans.
Originality/value
There is a paucity of literature on “pursuit of excellence” and “firm competitiveness” regarding the MSME sector in India. Therefore, the study contributes to the literature by synthesizing these constructs in an epigrammatic conceptual model. The study is distinctive because it is one of the rare studies to explore the mediating effects of the pursuit of excellence entrepreneurial competency.
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Namita Jain, Vikas Gupta, Valerio Temperini, Dirk Meissner and Eugenio D’angelo
This paper aims to provide insight into the evolving relationship between humans and machines, understanding its multifaceted impact on our lifestyle and landscape in the past as…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide insight into the evolving relationship between humans and machines, understanding its multifaceted impact on our lifestyle and landscape in the past as well as in the present, with implications for the near future. It uses bibliometric analysis combined with a systematic literature review to identify themes, trace historical developments and offer a direction for future human–machine interactions (HMIs).
Design/methodology/approach
To provide thorough coverage of publications from the previous four decades, the first section presents a text-based cluster bibliometric analysis based on 305 articles from 2,293 initial papers in the Scopus and Web of Science databases produced between 1984 and 2022. The authors used VOS viewer software to identify the most prominent themes through cluster identification. This paper presents a systematic literature review of 63 qualified papers using the PRISMA framework.
Findings
Next, the systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis revealed four major historical themes and future directions. The results highlight four major research themes for the future: from Taylorism to advanced technologies; machine learning and innovation; Industry 4.0, Society 5.0 and cyber–physical system; and psychology and emotions.
Research limitations/implications
There is growing anxiety among humankind that in the future, machines will overtake humans to replace them in various roles. The current study investigates the evolution of HMIs from their historical roots to Society 5.0, which is understood to be a human-centred society. It balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems through a system that radically integrates cyberspace and physical space. This paper contributes to research and current limited knowledge by identifying relevant themes and offering scope for future research directions. A close look at the analysis posits that humans and machines complement each other in various roles. Machines reduce the mechanical work of human beings, bringing the elements of humanism and compassion to mechanical tasks. However, in the future, smart innovations may yield machines with unmatched dexterity and capability unthinkable today.
Originality/value
This paper attempts to explore the ambiguous and dynamic relationships between humans and machines. The present study combines systematic review and bibliometric analysis to identify prominent trends and themes. This provides a more robust and systematic encapsulation of this evolution and interaction, from Taylorism to Society 5.0. The principles of Taylorism are extended and redefined in the context of HMIs, especially advanced technologies.
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Mercy Toni, K.K. Jithina and K.V. Thomas
The main purpose of this paper is to outline the antecedents of patient satisfaction in the field of medical tourism (MT) applying extant literature and to develop a conceptual…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to outline the antecedents of patient satisfaction in the field of medical tourism (MT) applying extant literature and to develop a conceptual model based on the review.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a thorough review of prior studies related to the antecedents of patient satisfaction in the MT sector. Moreover, it provides the theoretical base that helped the researcher to identify significant relationship between the patient satisfaction and its antecedents.
Findings
The researchers identified the prominent antecedents of patient satisfaction and present the potential interrelationships between different antecedents of patient satisfaction such as treatment quality, cost attractiveness, destination image and service quality with patient satisfaction based on the review.
Practical implications
The results have momentous practical implications as they will help researchers to better understand the antecedents of patient satisfaction and their potential inter linkages with patient satisfaction in MT sector. The conceptual model derived from the review may guide the actions of researchers as well as practitioners in the MT industry as a whole. The present study provides insights for further research in the MT sector and thereby helps to further enrich the existing theoretical base of the MT.
Originality/value
The study brings together the scattered knowledge from the broad and extensive range of medical or health tourism and cognate literature which indicate ideological differences among various aspects of MT as well as potential factors determining patient satisfaction in MT sector (antecedents of satisfaction). The newly developed model incorporates a new construct called “treatment quality” as different from “service quality,” which is a widely used construct to explain customer satisfaction. The antecedents of patient satisfaction and their inter-linkages with patient satisfaction provide a sound theoretical foundation for the future studies.
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