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The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand how operating models and organizational structure impact the effectiveness of higher education institutions for students, faculty, administrators and the broader community. In this case study, the researcher uses the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria (MBNQAC) to understand core values and the concepts of those seven criteria which are: 1) leadership 2) strategic planning 3) student, stakeholder and market focus 4) measurement, analysis, and knowledge management 5) faculty and staff focus 6) process management and 7) organizational performance results. These criteria are analyzed with visionary leadership and a comparison of the strategic plans of Alvernia University and Kutztown University. The changes imperatives for higher education institutions include the redesign of education, more flexible faculty, increased efficiency, removal of boundaries, and entry into new markets. In addition, challenges and conflicts facing the change process are also discussed in the context of Kotter's Change Theory. This paper advocates a pragmatic approach to analyze what works and also what are the viable solutions to known problems.

Purpose: This paper presents a study of the roles of a business person privileged by teachers when the concept of 'sustainable development' is incorporated into the subject of business economics. Methodology: A logics approach to discourse analysis was used to analyse the empirical material, which consisted of video recorded observations in five teachers' classrooms collected two years after the inclusion of the concept in the upper secondary school syllabus in Sweden. Findings: The results show how different rules and conditions for doing business are foregrounded in classroom practice. This in turn has different implications for whether a responsible business person is expected to: (a) adapt to self-interest, (b) respond to customers' increasing interests in sustainable products, or (c) be sensitive to the needs or interests of others (including humans, animals and nature), when making business decisions. The results also illuminate how talking about 'homo economicus' as 'real' can hinder, how talking about customers in altruistic terms can facilitate, and how talking about the complexity of others' interests can suggest ways of doing business (more) sustainably. Practical implications: The empirical examples that illuminate the privileging of specific roles could be used for critical reflection in order to make students better equipped to address uncertain and complex sustainability issues.

This project is a contribution to the continuous improvement of the education of engineers, which involves all the stakeholders in the field. It presents the primary results of a quantitative study of mechanical engineering training in the Higher National School of Electricity and Mechanics (École Nationale Supérieure d'Électricité et Mécanique - ENSEM), in collaboration with numerous Moroccan industrialists. The first phase of the research consisted in the issue as well as the research methodology adopted. In the second phase, a survey instrument was developed based on the competency framework as a research model, and then the hypotheses to be tested were outlined. Then, a questionnaire was designed and pre-tested for the purposes of this examination, which was subsequently completed by industry leaders from different sectors. The results obtained show the strengths and weaknesses in ENSEM's training in mechanical engineering and reveal the correlations between the various engineering competencies. The paper finally ends with a listing of recommendations to address the diverse issues identified, in addition to a statement of the further prospects for this research.

This paper investigates the effect of foreignization and Englishization on business naming practices in Turkey. The question that is addressed is in what new ways foreign elements and English lexical items influence the naming of store signs in the language. In previous work, it was argued that there are roughly three main ways in which foreignization and Englishization surface in Turkish business naming: (i) foreign signs such as non-English (e.g. German and French) and English signs, (ii) hybrid signs that include a combination of Turkish and English words, and (iii) Englishized Turkish signs that include businesses that adopted artificially created signs using English orthography to represent Turkish phonology (Üstünova et al., 2010; Selvi, 2011). Based on new data, I show here that there is a new and creative practice that manifests itself in a different way. This new procedure could be dubbed as "consonant gemination" since it copies the consonant in the middle of the word, and the new word is usually accompanied by an English word. The practice has important consequences since it changes both the syllable structure and the pronunciation of the word. Further work will shed light on whether this would give rise to other types of business naming practices and whether it will have a long-term effect in the phonology and spelling of Turkish words.

The construction, visualization and stabilization of public problems require the mobilization of civil society groups concerned about these issues to actively engage in the demand for actions and policies. This paper explores the institutional campaigns against human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Spain between 2008 and 2017 and their role in helping to shape this issue as a matter of public concern. Our aim is to identify the ideological basis of these campaigns through their representations of predominant actors, which have been systematized to identify possible mistakes and to help determine more effective actions with a greater capacity for mobilization. We applied a mixed content analysis combined with a semiotic model to evaluate the presence or absence of the different actors and their relevance in each case. Several lines of discourse have been reiterated across the 50 campaigns analysed: Curbing the demand for prostitution as a priority objective; the centrality of victims in the representations; the role of the consumer of paid sex as an accomplice to the crime; and the correlation between prostitution and human trafficking. We will also examine how these issues relate to the broader dispute on the status of prostitution in Spain. This will require a conceptual shift away from educational and social-oriented communication towards the structural causes, collective responsibility and transformative justice frameworks.

Purpose: Learning and development are critical to a business's success. This paper aims to focus on organizational factors at multiple organizational levels that facilitate learning culture in a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in northwestern China. Design/methodology/approach: This study is qualitative in nature. A single case study method is used to explore an SME's organizational factors that facilitate learning culture. Findings: This paper categorizes the organizational factors into seven dimensions: shared vision, creating continuous learning opportunities, informal learning that promotes inquiry and dialogue, collaboration and team learning, knowledge management systems, work-family enrichment and encouragement and support. This paper also compares the findings with learning culture models from Western research. Research limitations/implications: Chinese culture has far-reaching and fundamental effects on many East Asian countries and regions. For SMEs in similar cultural settings with a collectivist orientation, future research may focus on the effect of the work-family enrichment on learning culture. Originality/value: Work-family enrichment was found to be an important factor that influences learning effectiveness in this Chinese small business based on traditional values in Chinese culture.

Purpose: Teaching sustainable development at the higher education level requires that existing curricula are supplemented with multi-disciplinary (and sometimes multi-national) collaboration and integrated thinking. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of a particular framework for business model innovation for sustainability-as-flourishing that is used as a boundary object in the context of interdisciplinary, peer-assessed distance learning. This study is positioned in the broader picture of enlarging curricular content so as to reflect the systemic and interconnected nature of socio-technical and economic developments. The motivation behind this study is the authors' wish to achieve a deeper understanding of how students engage with the complex concept of sustainable business modelling, while using the flourishing business canvas (FBC). Design/methodology/approach: An experiment was conducted on the use of the FBC as a boundary object among 52 engineering students at two universities. Data were provided by the following: iterations of the FBC; oral and written peer feedback; and an online survey. Findings: Based on an evaluation of the experiment, this study shows that the FBC supports the use of multi-disciplinary, multi-national peer and distance learning in sustainability education. Research limitations/implications: This study used one test condition of multi-disciplinary, multi-national collaboration for peer and distance learning at one point in time. Additional tests, using the tools and approaches of this study, are needed. Originality/value: Various tools and methods for use in education have been developed that support a new view of sustainability--sustainability-as-flourishing. Extant research focusses primarily on the development of tools and methods in this area. Not enough attention has been paid to the analysis of their implementation and use in higher education. This paper seeks to fill that research gap.

Purpose: Based on the sample of the European information and communications technology (ICT) companies, this paper aims to identify which strategy of knowledge generation is most beneficial for companies--internal knowledge development or absorption of knowledge external to the company through corporate acquisition or merger. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, a longitudinal analysis of European ICT companies was conducted, contrasting internal knowledge creation, in the form of patent accumulation and research and development (R&D) efforts, with external learning through merger-and-acquisition (M&A) activities to uncover the best strategies for performance maximization. Findings: Results suggest that the two knowledge generation strategies are not complementary and demonstrate only marginal impact on organizational performance. However, intriguing patterns in combining the two became apparent. It was found that patent accumulation improves learning achieved through M&A activities, while also acting as a protection against corporate takeover. At the same time, the internal knowledge generation strategy was found to have a negative impact on financial performance, with external knowledge generation demonstrating somewhat mixed results. Practical implications: This paper provides practical insights into the patterns of internal and external knowledge generation activities. The two strategies were found not to be complementary, implying that companies must carefully choose their preferences. Originality/value: This large-scale study tackles the interplay between internal and external knowledge generation strategies, which are mostly studied separately. It reveals new patterns in corporate acquisition and divestment strategies as sources of new knowledge. It also ties the knowledge paradigm to organizational performance.

Purpose: This paper aims to locate its appreciation of the life and work of Arie de Geus within the context of developments in approaches to management practice, education and learning since the Second World War. It emphasizes the important influence of top management-led applications of social science (Beckhard) and the impact of crises upon planning and the generation of memories of the future for effective organizational learning. The paper also describes the roles of learning from experience and of reflective practice in shaping de Geus' contribution. Design/methodology/approach: The approach traces the development of de Geus' career and thinking from Shell cost accountant, to top line manager in three continents, to Head of Shell Group Planning, to prize winning author, to global adviser to the World bank, etc., and as an inspirational speaker as champion of the learning organization. Findings: The paper acknowledges Arie de Geus as coining the phrase "The Learning Organization" together with his role in the foundation and development of the Society for Organizational Learning (SOL) and as an international champion of young people's learning through the processes of the Finnish Team Academy model. Social implications: Arie de Geus was an exemplar of reflective practice and applied learning. As such, his contribution might be considered as that of a sage rather than as a guru. Originality/value: The paper endeavours to emphasize the importance of the role of both the internal and external contexts for effective organizational learning, suggesting that the contribution of Arie de Geus to the field exemplifies this importance.

This paper identified the role of electronic payment system in promoting accountability in government ministries as well as the challenges facing the implementation of e-payment in government ministries in Ebonyi State. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The population of the study comprised of 112 accountants as well as accounting education graduates working in the Ministry of Finance as accounting officers. The entire population was studied because of the small number of the population. A structured questionnaire was administered to all the respondents while 98 copies of the questionnaire were filled correctly and returned. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using t- test. All the items except absence of a standard format for remittance of public funds were accepted as the challenges of implementing e-payment in government ministries in Ebonyi State.The test of hypothesis showed no significant difference on their responses based on gender and experience. The researchers based on their findings concluded that e-payment helps in assuring correctness of financial transactions recorded. The paper recommended that security of accounts details of e-payment beneficiaries should be prioritized to prevent hacking of such accounts; efforts should be geared towards the improvement of power as well as provision of alternative power; and Government should ensure adequate provision and maintenance of e-payment facilities.

A large and growing body of research supports the view that the small-group learning structure can be an effective tool to enhance student performance and encourage innovative problem solving. This paper explains in detail how the framework of the popular television reality show Survivor has been adapted to form a vehicle for a college level group project in business strategy. The example presented is a term project in Real Estate Finance, but this teaching strategy can be applied to any complex business problem. The use of this revised version of the Survivor Game in the curriculum has been associated with intensified group interaction, and a very enthusiastic, analytical and creative attitude toward learning. The game proves to be a catalyst to critical evaluation of complex business problems that would be nearly impossible to explain in a traditional lecture format, and encourages students to find creative strategies to address these problems.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the need for business law as a distinct subject matter within the accounting discipline should be taught in a more rigorous manner. This study involved semi structured interviews with eleven business law academics from two New Zealand Universities. The interviews were conducted to assess the perspectives of business law academics and how business law is taught. Perceptions were also sought on whether business law material coverage meets the needs of accounting students and if not what changes were considered necessary for the subject matter to remain relevant. Not surprisingly, all the interviewees considered business law was vital to accounting students as most of the interviewees had business and legal backgrounds. The interviews drew a variety of responses on what accounting students needed to know about the intricacies of business law. Responses were also varied over what business law topics needed to be incorporated into the curricula and the depth of detail they should be taught but it was found that almost half of the interviewees wanted business law to be taught using a problem-based learning approach. This study is a reflection of the current debate regarding the level of knowledge accounting students require of the law to be effective chartered accountants and financial managers.

This paper extends the use of the Monopoly® board game as an economic simulation exercise designed to reinforce an understanding of how the accounting cycle impacts the financial statements used to evaluate management performance. This extension adds elements of debt not previously utilized to allow for an introduction of the fundamentals of ratio analysis at a foundation level in financial accounting instruction. This extended approach uses the rules and strategies of a familiar board game to create a simulation of business and economic realities, which then becomes an effective, interactive, in-class financial accounting practice set. The unique combination of each player's skill and luck provides for unlimited outcome possibilities, delivering an interpretive result that students can neither predict nor easily manipulate. This pedagogical approach serves to provide students with a sense of proprietorship in the activities of the instruction and fosters a competitive spirit to succeed in class activities that will ultimately be presented to the entire class. While the instructor surrenders a significant level of control in the class exercise, the uniqueness of each Monopoly® team's game results requires active engagement in-class and additional individual effort on the follow-up assignments outside the classroom. In the previous use of the Monopoly® board game, the class activity provided a valuable parallel for reality in practicing the financial accounting cycle and emphasizing its use by external parties. Because of the dynamic sense of capturing the "real-time" aspect of the game into finished financial statements for analysis, students start to sense a greater appreciation for the role that accounting cycle activities play in business reporting and the assessment of operating results. Using the Monopoly® board game in the first course in financial accounting tends to generate a higher level of competitive energy in the classroom experience, with more actively engaged students grasping the nature and purpose of the financial accounting system more quickly and actively than with other pedagogical approaches previously used. More recently, using Microsoft Excel to reflect the game results and present the financial statements has added to the robust learning experience achieved by incorporating the Monopoly® board game.

Transition from small, independent LANs into larger enterprise managed infrastructures is becoming more prominent in academia, business and government. Consolidation of IT resources into larger, more disciplined, and more professionally managed environments has significant advantages however they do bring their own unique issues to solve in order to make the transition for the organizations involved easier. The topics covered under this paper are critical areas of concern organizations and their administrator staff needs to consider and resolve in order that transition and migration can be as painless as possible. Loosely using NIST SP 800.53 controls as a reference, the areas presented within this paper include access control mechanisms, patch management considerations, the need to address difference in hardware and software monitoring, baselines and licensing.

University-Industry Collaboration (UIC) has been identified as an essential item on Malaysia's agenda for transforming itself into knowledge and innovation-based economy. However, despite the efforts, most initiatives have had limited results. This paper reports on an explorative study that sought to understand the contemporary realities of UIC in the Malaysian context. In particular, the study identified the expectations and impediments to UIC, from the perspectives of three groups of stakeholders -- the academics, the industry players and policymakers. The findings reveal a number of barriers, including cultural differences, perceived lack of academic expertise and reputation, an inadequacy of institutional policies and regulations, lack of trust, issues of intellectual property rights, and the lack of an appropriate reward system. This paper concludes by proposing policy recommendations and strategies that could be used by the government, university, and the industry to promote further and foster university-industry collaborative opportunities and initiatives.

Purpose: The paper aims to examine the impact of the Greek economic recession on workplace learning. Specifically, it surveys the views of Greek business professionals regarding whether workplace learning could be used as a competitive advantage in achieving business success. Design/methodology/approach: The paper follows a qualitative research method and discusses the findings of semi-structured interviews with professionals in various industries in Greece. Findings: This study provides evidence of an overall reluctance to adopt formal learning strategies. Although hiring and retaining the best talent at work is seen as a competitive advantage, Greek professionals do not attribute success to formal workplace learning. Instead, digitalization of informal learning becomes essential for acquiring new knowledge. Social implications: In the first few years of Greece's economic recovery, companies aim to keep their budgets low in anything that seems luxurious and ultimately unnecessary. The paper discusses some implications of the implementation of digitalized informal learning in business. Originality/value: This study is the first to explore how Greek professionals from various business sectors and managerial levels view workplace learning during the initial years of the country's economic recovery.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which contextual factors outlined in the theory of planned behavior (TPB) affect entrepreneurial intent (EI) of female students in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents a hierarchical regression analysis utilizing data from a university in the UAE. Findings: The study indicates that prior and current family business exposure to entrepreneurship does not affect the EI of female students from the UAE. However, the family affects EI via the family norms. More exposure to business classes and the subjective norms from the university are not significant predictors of EI, and perceived behavioral control is the strongest contextual predictor of EI. Research limitations/implications: The study was limited to the UAE and to a small sample of female students from a single university; therefore, the findings should be interpreted with caution. Practical implications: The study points to opportunities within the university environment to design more robust curricula that offer female students opportunities to boost their confidence in the ability to start up and manage a business. Originality/value: The paper is the first of its kind to apply the TPB to the context of female students from the UAE.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore workplace learning practices within two types of crowdwork -- microwork and online freelancing. Specifically, the paper scopes and compares the use of workplace learning activities (WLAs) and self-regulatory learning (SRL) strategies undertaken by microworkers (MWs) and online freelancers (OFs). We hypothesised that there may be quantitative differences in the use of WLAs and SRL strategies within these two types of crowdwork, because of the underpinning differences in the complexity of tasks and skill requirements. Design/methodology/approach: To test this hypothesis, a questionnaire survey was carried out among crowdworkers from two crowdwork platforms -- Figure Eight (microwork) and Upwork (online freelancing). Chi-square test was used to compare WLAs and SRL strategies among OFs and MWs. Findings: Both groups use many WLAs and SRL strategies. Several significant differences were identified between the groups. In particular, moderate and moderately strong associations were uncovered, whereby OFs were more likely to report (i) undertaking free online courses/tutorials and (ii) learning by receiving feedback. In addition, significant but weak or very weak associations were identified, namely, OFs were more likely to learn by (i) collaborating with others, (ii) self-study of literature and (iii) making notes when learning. In contrast, MWs were more likely to write reflective notes on learning after the completion of work tasks, although this association was very weak. Originality/value: The paper contributes empirical evidence in an under-researched area -- workplace learning practices in crowdwork. Crowdwork is increasingly taken up across developed and developing countries. Therefore, it is important to understand the learning potential of this form of work and where the gaps and issues might be. Better understanding of crowdworkers' learning practices could help platform providers and policymakers to shape the design of crowdwork in ways that could be beneficial to all stakeholders.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine mobile technology as being a key apparatus and interface for collaborative innovation, which allows organisations to develop their information ecology. Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative research was performed by in-depth interviews, observations and field notes. The eight main interviews are supported by an interdisciplinary narrative literature review of knowledge management and associated fields. Findings: This study validates the following propositions: mobile technology can offer users timely information, mobile technology can foster collaboration beyond physical and organisational boundaries, in general, mobile technology enables a wider amount of interactions between people. Thereby, this paper draws some implications about the knowledge management of creative (and non-creative) workers. Research limitations/implications: The collected data sheds light on how organisations and individuals positioned themselves about mobile technology co-creative practices before the COVID era. Therefore, it shall be pertinent to further investigate these findings through a quantitative approach to better ascertain path models and to strengthen the new results with another qualitative perspective, in the post-COVID era. Practical implications: The study highlights how mobile devices are facilitating collaborative innovation practices by improving management decisions, enabling new business and/or operating models, developing a flow of ideas inner/outer an organisation and fostering the ability to make innovation. Social implications: Mobile technology transforms the way to work (knowledge creation and/or conversion) and it changes the relations between collaborators in a working environment (beyond physical boundaries). This study deciphers how a creative and/or decision-making person can change their work schedule and/or routines based on the use of mobile devices. Originality/value: The added value of this transdisciplinary study is that it improves research on collaborative innovation and collective knowledge by revealing three pertinent characteristics of mobile technology: enabling quick decision; connecting with a glocal network and fostering collective creativity. It also creates a bridge between the fields of education and business.

An ERP (enterprise resource planning) is an information system that makes it possible to manage and monitor on a daily basis all the information and operational services of a company. It is able to effectively reduce the cost of products, improve customer service experience, and increase business competitiveness. However, the implementation rate of the ERP system is much lower than originally planned, and many companies have not achieved the intended objectives. This situation is due to many factors (high implementation costs, technical complexity, lack of well-trained employees, lack of incentive mechanisms, etc.), but the key element is the separation of relations between the ERP system and enterprise strategy, organizational structure, and business processes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of IT governance in achieving ERP performance with a focus on the implementation phase.