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  • articleNo Access

    A Framework of Successor Competencies to Promote Corporate Entrepreneurship in Family Firms

    Corporate entrepreneurship has been shown to have a positive effect on the long-term growth of family firms. Out of a variety of factors affecting the promotion of corporate entrepreneurship in successive generations of a family firm, the successor as the future leader of the firm plays a critical role. Therefore, identification of competencies enabling a successor to develop corporate entrepreneurship in a family firm can be useful. In this research 17 successor competencies have been identified by studying five Iranian family firms which have been successful in transferring entrepreneurship to successive generations. The paper describes and explains the function of each competency to promote corporate entrepreneurship in a family firm.

  • articleNo Access

    ENHANCING STUDENTS' LEARNING IN SOCIAL WORK FIELD PRACTICUM

    Social work education comprises an indispensable part ߝ the field practicum, as revealed in the curricula of social work degree programmes all over the world. Here the question is about the positivist curriculum design and fieldwork assessment, which reduces human understanding to matters of technicality. There is a growing discussion about the reflective paradigm – practice wisdom – in human professions, which may be deemed to be more desirable for accommodating the nature of social work practice. A four-dimension framework is developed for the epistemological understanding of practice wisdom, in order to guide research on unravelling how practice teachers exercise pedagogical practice wisdom in advancing students' learning. The findings reveal student factor that might hinder or facilitate practice teachers in bringing pedagogical practice wisdom to their teaching. Implications for those concerned with the enhancement of students' learning in social work field practicum, particularly social work educators, are discussed.

    實習是全球社會工作訓練的核心一環,實証主義為本的課程設計及實習評估被受質疑。近年,另一個知識樣式 —— 實務智慧,於人本專業被廣泛討論。它較能兼容社會工作實務特性。作者建立一個四維知識概念架構,展示對實務智慧的理解,並研究實習導師如何使用教學實務智慧,從而為學生帶來良好學習。本文討論一些可促進或阻礙實習導師使用教學實務智慧的學生因素,目的是促進學生在實務上的學習。

  • articleNo Access

    Consumers' Knowledge: The Missing Element in Online Purchasing Expenditures

    This study introduces two knowledge-related constructs (i.e., consumer competency and product knowledge) into online purchasing expenditures and then analyses variables (i.e., convenience, trust, and privacy) that have been discussed in existing literature in order to investigate how knowledge plays out in the online purchasing context. The findings, derived from the responses of 124 survey participants, show that consumer competency is the focal element of online expenditures. While convenient service is still one of the most important factors, trust and privacy do not directly impact online expenditures. It is interpreted that competent consumers, who are already determined to purchase something online, are able to locate trustworthy sites and make purchases from those sites; consequently, these issues that are traditionally considered important do not necessarily dissuade consumers' online expenditures, but may affect individual web sites. This study shows that consumers' knowledge about technology and the Web are the main determining factors for online purchasing expenditures.

  • articleNo Access

    Competencies of Bridge Managers for Facilitating Global R&D Projects

    Global research and development (R&D) projects are common in multinational companies. Prior studies mainly paid attention to the global R&D projects from an organizational perspective such as organizational structures and foreign R&D unit coordination. This study aims at contributing to the improvement of global R&D projects by focusing on the competencies of individual managers (called bridge managers) who bridge organizations of different countries and facilitate research collaboration between teams in different countries. Bridge managers (BMs) are especially needed in offshore R&D projects to assist organizations to utilize knowledge resources in emerging countries including India. We collected data using online survey and analyzed data of 73 managers who have experience in facilitating global R&D projects. Results of qualitative comparative analysis showed that resilience and ability to understand worldwide business could help managers to solve communication difficulty in global R&D projects. The significance of this study is that we clarify the relationships between the competencies of BMs and the difficulties in global R&D projects. BMs could possess specific competencies for solving particular difficulties. Organizations could utilize the list of competencies in human resource management practices for recruitment, training, and assignment of BMs to facilitate their global R&D projects.

  • articleNo Access

    THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM AND THE PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES (MSEs) IN AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA: THE POLITICAL-LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

    All other parts of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in any country are governed by the political and legal aspects of the system. This study examines the integrated effect of the entrepreneurial ecosystem’s political-legal subsystem on the performance of MSEs based on system theory and the mediating role of entrepreneurial competence, based on a resource-based view. There has been no detailed examination of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs in Africa in general, and Ethiopia in particular. Although the political-legal aspects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem have a major effect on both entrepreneurial competency and MSE’s performance, the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and MSE performance was found to be insignificant. The role of entrepreneurial competency in mediating the relationships between policy and business performance and other business environments and business performance was shown to be insignificant. The study suggests that the policies designed by the government for MSEs should be flexible enough to affect other aspects of the entrepreneurial environment, such as the economic and social dimensions. Finally, additional studies in the field are encouraged to clarify the discrepancies in the findings concerning the relationships between entrepreneurial competencies and the performance of SMEs.

  • articleNo Access

    Evaluating performance of SMEs using structure equation modeling

    Entrepreneurial skills enable people to develop new business ideas or improve existing ones. Entrepreneurship transcends firm ownership, private profit production, and the commercial exploitation of new markets, goods, or processes. The literature review demonstrates how competencies are linked with entrepreneur performance. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the role of entrepreneurs’ competency in mediating the relationship between bank funding and Small and Medium Enterprisers (SMEs’) performance. A survey was conducted among 398 SMEs owner-managers were chosen at random. The direct and mediated effects of entrepreneurs’ competency were not significant in the Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Model. However, bank financing improves SMEs’ performance. A strong mediation influence of behavioral Finance on the connection between bank loans and SMEs performance was also found. The model’s competitive mediation pattern for bank loans and behavioral finance was non-mediation for bank loans and entrepreneurs’ skill.

  • chapterNo Access

    The Pilot Investigation of the Competency-oriented Collaboration Practice in Mechanical Engineering Students

    According to OECD and other education policy experts all over the world, it is needed that urgency of reform to promote education innovation with “competencies” as the core. This pilot study focused on the competency of “collaboration” recommended by the education policy experts. Literature reveals the collaboration capabilities including three aspects, trust, communication, and coordination. This pilot study investigated the collaboration competencies of the students in the department of Mechanical Engineering in a private University of Science and Technology. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed.

  • chapterNo Access

    11: DEVELOPING THE PRACTITIONER IN CORRECTIONAL REHABILITATION

    This chapter outlines the professional development of a correctional rehabilitation practitioner in the Singapore Prison Service. It begins by explaining how the need for practitioners to possess specialised knowledge and skills is critical in the correctional rehabilitation of offenders. Attention is drawn to the changes in the notion of the correctional rehabilitation context in the Service across time, and its implications on the level and form of professionalism of practitioners. This chapter then outlines the key elements in the professional development framework established to steer practitioners towards attaining their competencies. Specific developmental strategies targeting several principal areas, such as ethics and coaching, are described to provide examples of the training and developmental activities that practitioners undertake and experience. This chapter closes by sharing some possible adaptations in directions that may arise as the Service progresses into the future.

  • chapterNo Access

    A MECHANISM FOR KNOWLEDGE MAP CONSTRUCTION ON PERSONALIZED E-LEARNING PLATFORM: A SEMANTIC APPROACH

    The concept of e-Learning particularly emphasizes how to establish training scenario and integrate on platforms with heterogeneity manners. It is obvious that e-Learning is considered as an important issue for governments, enterprises, and education organization. However, there is still neglect for such issues. Without a systematical approach for construction of personalized e-Learning platform, the effect of such platform will be decreased since the learning path might not be adequate for various learners and educators. In this study, we proposed a systematic approach for knowledge map construction adequate for SCORM-based e-Learning platforms. With aid of knowledge map construction approach, knowledge map can be systematically constructed in such platform, with more personalized manners. In this article we also applied a simple case for competency management in order for feasibility analysis. With aid of result of this article, it is possible for e-Learning platform construction with more personalized, systematical, and semantic manner for insight knowledge. It can therefore facilitate more on e-Learning process based on an e-Learning system, with more fit on users’ personal requirements for learning.