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Book part
Publication date: 18 August 2006

Mariann Jelinek

U.S. industry–university (I–U) relations around intellectual property (IP) have become increasingly contentious since the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, while especially lucrative patents…

Abstract

U.S. industry–university (I–U) relations around intellectual property (IP) have become increasingly contentious since the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, while especially lucrative patents and licenses resulting from biomedical and pharmaceutical discoveries capture the headlines. Some assert that I–U relations around IP are in crisis, others suggest that no such problem exists, and still others bemoan the “increasing commercialization” of U.S. education. This chapter develops a multi-level model of I–U IP dynamics, drawing on pluralistic, multi-theory perspectives, field interviews, and secondary data. The model includes three levels: the institutional (economy) level, I–U (sector) level, and the organizational level. These levels jointly affect the immediate context of any deal. The chapter closes with a discussion of this model's implications for further research and some theoretical speculations.

Details

Multi-Level Issues in Social Systems
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-432-4

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2013

Marie Boitier and Anne Rivière

This paper seeks to extend the understanding of how formal management control systems (MCSs) contribute to the construction of performance management systems (PMSs) in the French…

2577

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to extend the understanding of how formal management control systems (MCSs) contribute to the construction of performance management systems (PMSs) in the French higher education (HE) sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data are gathered both at the global level and at the local (university) level through an in‐depth case study. This allows a dynamic multi‐level analysis based on a neo‐institutional framework.

Findings

This article shows how formal MCSs contribute to the institutionalisation of a wider PMS at the global level of the HE sector. The social context then has a determining influence on universities, through the diffusion of values and norms drained by formal MCSs, calling into question the effectiveness of the autonomy supposed to be given to universities under the new PMS. Moreover, within universities, the complex interactions between MCS and PMS resulting from learning, political interactions and conflicts of values, lead to still uncertain outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The paper focuses on one main case‐study, which is still undergoing change. Analysis could be reinforced by further longitudinal and comparative research.

Social implications

Steering organisations within a framework where the State defines strategic priorities requires both appropriate performance indicators and a dialogue allowing objectives to be shared at both the social and local levels.

Originality/value

Institutionalisation of MCSs and accountability are discussed in the specific French context of cultural centralisation.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 September 2022

Judith Frei, Dorothea Greiling and Judith Schmidthuber

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Austrian public universities (APUs) respond to the challenge of maintaining academic freedom while complying with legal requirements…

1401

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Austrian public universities (APUs) respond to the challenge of maintaining academic freedom while complying with legal requirements and enhancing competitiveness by using Management Control Systems (MCSs). Specifically, it examines how APUs respond to the co-presence of academic, government and business logic.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The perspective of institutional logics as a theoretical lens and the framework of MCSs by Malmi and Brown (2008) serve to analyse how APUs respond to the existence of different institutional field-level logics. In-depth expert interviews from the perspective of APUs’ research management are conducted to identify the applied management control practices (MCPs) and APUs’ responses to the different institutional field-level logics.

Findings

This study identifies how academic, government and business logic are represented in field-level-specific MCPs and field-level-specific corresponding narratives. Reflecting upon APUs’ responses to the co-existence of academic and government logic, compliance or rather, selective coupling with government logic or decoupling from government logic became obvious.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study at higher education institutions representing academic, government and business logic in the applied MCPs in research management. The study reveals that APUs have developed specific responses and narratives regarding the existence of different institutional field-level logics.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 December 2020

Leila Jabbari, Ali Jalali Dizaji and Mila Malekolkalami

The purpose of this study is to measure the gap and compare the quality of services provided by the Central Library of the University of Tehran and Allameh Tabataba'i University

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to measure the gap and compare the quality of services provided by the Central Library of the University of Tehran and Allameh Tabataba'i University and identify the components of service that need improvement in these libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, a descriptive survey method is used for data collection. The study sample contains 205 people selected out of 31,000 members of Tehran University and 100 people out of 15,000 members at Allameh Tabataba'i University. The LibQual tool is used to measure different levels of users' perceptions of library service quality.

Findings

Based on the findings of the study, the level of service received at the University of Tehran was higher than the minimum expected level, and at Allameh Tabataba'i University, the level of service received was lower than the minimum level of expected, which indicates users' satisfaction at this index at the University of Tehran and users' dissatisfaction at Allameh Tabataba'i University. In the index of information control and library as a place in Tehran University, the level of service received was higher than the minimum level and in Allameh Tabataba'i University, the level of service received was lower than the minimum level, which indicates the satisfaction of users in this index at the University of Tehran and users' dissatisfaction at Allameh Tabataba'i University.

Practical implications

Service quality, or quality of service, is the measurement and comparison of the size of service provided with users' expectations. The following principles illustrate the dimensions of service quality: Quality of service is much more difficult to measure than the quality of goods. The quality of service is based on users' expectations. Quality of service varies in status, meaning that the quality of a service is measured against the customer's initial expectations of that service (Parasuraman et al., 1985).

Originality/value

Being the first performance evaluation, community synchronization, economic justification, user satisfaction and customer orientation are the values of the present study.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1992

Nicholas S. Rashford and David Coghlan

Levels of complexity are constituent elements in living systems.The organization as a complex living system comprises four levels– individual, face‐to‐face team, group‐divisional…

5038

Abstract

Levels of complexity are constituent elements in living systems. The organization as a complex living system comprises four levels – individual, face‐to‐face team, group‐divisional, and policy‐strategy. Applies one framework of organizational levels to the university context and shows how a focus on the successful completion of the tasks on each level provides a paradigm for effective administration.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 May 2023

Elena Casprini, Tommaso Pucci, Niccolò Fiorini and Lorenzo Zanni

Focusing on the adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in universities, this research paper explores how the “soft” dimensions of TQM trigger its “hard” dimensions…

Abstract

Purpose

Focusing on the adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in universities, this research paper explores how the “soft” dimensions of TQM trigger its “hard” dimensions considering them at the individual (micro-) and the university (meso-), and eventually at cluster (system-), levels.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a qualitative approach, this study presents an in-depth, longitudinal case study of University of Siena, one of the oldest Italian universities, that has been at the core of the research-based cluster on vaccines, today converged in the Tuscan Life Science Cluster. In particular, data were collected between 2018 and February 2022 and consists of archival data (press articles, websites, books), nine interviews to key informants, multiyear experience of the Life Sciences sector by two of the authors and other material put at disposal by university offices, and emails. Data analysis relied on a timeline, a coding procedure that considered three levels of analysis (individual, organization and cluster). Finally, the authors looked at the “how” and “why” the emerged themes have contributed to academic excellence.

Findings

This paper unveils how “soft” and “hard” sides of TQM are blended across multiple levels for reaching academic excellence. The grounded model emerged enlightens the importance of an individual “soft” dimension, academic passion (composed by its three subdimensions of individual research, teaching and entrepreneurial passion) and also sheds light on the organizational “soft” and “hard” sides that the university has been able to design for encouraging research, teaching and third mission quality. Academic excellence has been possible thanks to the capitalization of the individual and organizational “soft” sides into real outcomes as represented by the organizational and individual “hard” sides.

Practical implications

The paper suggests the importance of TQM principles applied at universities' level, providing an in-depth description of “soft” and “hard” sides dimensions of TQM and their impact on all the three pillars of academic excellence. The study findings suggest implications for managers and professionals in the higher education domain as well as for policymakers emphasizing the importance of supporting the individual and organizational soft sides of TQM. The authors provide practical implications recommending universities to consider not only the organizational dimensions but also individual ones when pursuing higher education excellence. In particular, individual passion plays a crucial role and universities need to identify ways of nurturing it. The authors also recommend policymakers to think about new ways to sustain universities as crucial actors in boosting a cluster development, as well as to consider higher education institutions, especially in more rural areas, as a privileged player not only capable of nurturing academic excellence but also able of creating an internationally renowned cluster.

Originality/value

TQM principles have been intensively analysed from an industrial perspective focusing on manufacturing and services, while this paper focuses on TQM in universities, presenting a grounded model that blends the individual and organizational “soft” and “hard” sides.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 September 2019

Mette Lindahl Thomassen, Karen Williams Middleton, Michael Breum Ramsgaard, Helle Neergaard and Lorraine Warren

Context impacts the design and practice of entrepreneurship education, but there is limited focus on context in entrepreneurship education literature. The purpose of this paper is…

2806

Abstract

Purpose

Context impacts the design and practice of entrepreneurship education, but there is limited focus on context in entrepreneurship education literature. The purpose of this paper is to review the entrepreneurship education literature to understand how context has been addressed, derives contextual elements from prioritized literature and explores how context can be adapted to and designed with in entrepreneurship education.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review is undertaken to explore context in entrepreneurship education literature. Context entrepreneurship education yielded 239 items. After refinement, 232 entrepreneurship education associated publications were reviewed by the team of authors. Using selection criteria, 26 prioritized publications were analyzed and categorized according to a theoretical framework.

Findings

Context has been addressed both conceptually and empirically, quantitatively and qualitatively, and can be categorized across three sociological phenomena levels – micro, meso and macro. Within these levels, more specific context elements emerge from the entrepreneurship education literature. The findings assert that while context is highly influential in relation to entrepreneurship education, it is arbitrarily described, and holds a variety of documented and diffuse elements. Educators have a limited span of control in relation to context elements, however, for the most parts elements can be adapted to or designed with. Finally, due to the influence of context it is difficult to identify a universal best practice of entrepreneurship education because there simply is no ceteris paribus.

Research limitations/implications

Contextual elements which emerged from the literature consider various subjects, spaces, structures and networks. Context is complex and has had limited treatment in entrepreneurship education literature, thus additional analysis and experimentation is necessary.

Practical implications

Context shapes understanding and influences learning. Addressing entrepreneurship education across three levels – micro, meso and macro – and through four framing questions – who, what, where and when – guides educators in how context influences and can be used when designing education.

Originality/value

The paper gives new insight into how context is addressed in entrepreneurship education literature, and how this can influence educational design.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 October 2019

Tariq H. Ismail

This study aims at investigating the extent to which Egyptian universities disclose information on social responsibility to different stakeholders, which leads to the enhancement…

2335

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims at investigating the extent to which Egyptian universities disclose information on social responsibility to different stakeholders, which leads to the enhancement of sustainable development.

Design/methodology/approach

An index of social responsibility that fits the Egyptian universities is established, comprising four dimensions: organizational governance, energy and environment resource sustainability, human resource development and community participation and community development. This index has been used to score the disclosure level of social responsibility of Egyptian universities. This study uses information available on websites of Egyptian universities as of the end of December 2018. Frequencies provide the basis for discussion.

Findings

The results reveal that the level of disclosure of universities on social responsibility is low, but, in favor of private universities vs public universities. At the university level, only a few numbers of public universities disclosed high volume of information on social responsibility, such as Cairo University, Ain Shams University, Alexandria University and Assiut University. Furthermore, the results manifest that public universities disclose higher level of information related to organizational governance, energy and environment resource sustainability and community participation and community development, whereas, private universities disclose higher level of information related to human resource development.

Research limitations/implications

The results are constrained with the social responsibility dimensions and attributes used to establish a disclosure index that fits Egyptian universities, as well as the information disclosed on universities websites.

Originality/value

This study provides insights to Egyptian higher education regulators and the rectors of Egyptian universities that may help in planning and monitoring social responsibility activities in a way that could lead to sustainable development.

Details

Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2632-279X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Samuel C. Avemaria Utulu and Ojelanki Ngwenyama

The study aims to identify novel open-access institutional repository (OAIR) implementation barriers and explain how they evolve. It also aims to extend theoretical insights into…

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to identify novel open-access institutional repository (OAIR) implementation barriers and explain how they evolve. It also aims to extend theoretical insights into the information technology (IT) implementation literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted the interpretive philosophy, the inductive research approach and qualitative case study research method. Three Nigerian universities served as the case research contexts. The unstructured in-depth interview and the participatory observation were adopted as the data collection instruments. The qualitative data collected were analysed using thematic data analysis technique.

Findings

Findings show that IR implementation barriers evolved from global, organisational and individual implementation levels in the research contexts. Results specifically reveal how easy access to ideas and information and easy movement of people across international boundaries constituted globalisation trend-driven OAIR implementation barriers given their influence on OAIR implementation activities at the organisational and individual implementation levels. The two factors led to overambitious craving for information technology (IT) implementation and inadequate OAIR implementation success factors at the organisational level in the research contexts. They also led to conflicting IR implementation ideas and information at the individual level in the research contexts.

Research limitations/implications

The primary limitation of the research is the adoption of qualitative case study research method which makes its findings not generalisable. The study comprised only three Nigerian universities. However, the study provides plausible insights that explain how OAIR implementation barriers emanate at the organisational and individual levels due to two globalisation trends: easy access to ideas and information and easy movement of people across international boundaries.

Practical implications

The study points out the need for OAIR implementers to assess how easy access to information and ideas and easy movement of people across international boundaries influence the evolution of conflicting OAIR implementation ideas and information at the individual level, and overambitious craving for IT implementation and setting inadequate OAIR implementation success factors at the organisational level. The study extends views in past studies that propose that OAIR implementation barriers only emanate at organisational and individual levels, that is, only within universities involved in OAIR implementation and among individuals working in the universities.

Social implications

The study argues that OAIR implementation consists of three implementation levels: individual, organisational and global. It provides stakeholders with the information that there is a third OAIR implementation level.

Originality/value

Data validity, sample validity and novel findings are the hallmarks of the study's originality. Study data consist of first-hand experiences and information derived during participatory observation and in-depth interviews with research participants. The participants were purposively selected, given their participation in OAIR implementation in the research contexts. Study findings on the connections among global, organisational and individual OAIR implementation levels and how their relationships lead to OAIR implementation barriers are novel.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 45 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2011

Abdullah M. Abu‐Tineh

Two main purposes guide this study. The first is to assess the level of individual, group, and organizational learning at Qatar University (QU), and the level of career resilience…

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Abstract

Purpose

Two main purposes guide this study. The first is to assess the level of individual, group, and organizational learning at Qatar University (QU), and the level of career resilience among its faculty members. The second is to explore the relationships between these levels of learning at QU and the career resilience of its faculty members.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is quantitative in nature and was conducted using a survey methodology as its research design. A variety of statistical techniques were utilized in this research. A multiple regression model, the Pearson production‐moment correlation coefficient (r), means, and standard deviations were used as the main statistical techniques.

Findings

The findings of this study indicated that faculty members at QU practice three different levels of learning – i.e. individual learning, departmental learning, and university learning – separately or combined in a moderately high way. Further, the results clarified that faculty members at QU perceived themselves to have a moderately high level of career resilience. In terms of the relationship between career resilience and the three different levels of learning, the results of the Pearson production‐moment correlation coefficient (r) and the coefficient of determination, R2, statistically confirmed the positive, modest, and significant relationship between career resilience and the three levels of learning combined.

Originality/value

A hypothesized correlation between career resilience and organizational learning is affirmed. The results of this study confirm the feasibility of connecting two emerging frameworks, i.e. organizational learning and career resilience. Therefore, studying the organizational learning of faculty members is a device that can be used to predict the possibility of faculty members adopting the characteristics and values of a learning organization in their academic life individually or organizationally, while displaying minimal dysfunctional behavior through their career resilience.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 302000