Navigating through entrepreneurial skills, competencies and capabilities: a systematic literature review and the development of the entrepreneurial ability model

Purpose: This study aims to define, classify and interconnect the wide range of known entrepreneurial abilities with terms such as skills, capabilities and competencies, which have been used inconsistently within the entrepreneurial field. Design/methodology/approach: This investigation is based on a systematic literature review and strengthened by a meta-analysis equipped with a bibliometric study to assist the generation of outcomes with a quantitative investigation. Findings: This study proposes an evolving entrepreneurial ability model which interconnects genetic and acquired skill types, capabilities and competencies and is equipped with an Entrepreneurial Skills Map essential to operate in the 21st century. Research limitations/implications: The proposed model is specific to the entrepreneurial field. Practical implications: This study supports universities and government agencies for the development of educational programs to prepare current and future entrepreneurs to match the changes in the new environment that has emerged with the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: This research contributes to the entrepreneurship research domain by shedding light on the inconsistent use of non-standardised terminologies and providing an entrepreneurial model and updated skills map to guide scholars to frame research in the post-COVID era with more clarity

A Pre-Science Style Model of Aquaculture Tourism Businesses

This research note introduces a research agenda for the development of aquaculture tourism. The first aim of this research piece is to present the emerging phenomenon of tourism based on aquaculture operations. These businesses may conveniently be collected under the umbrella term aquaculture tourism by designing tourist experiences based on aquaculture farm setup. The second aim is to provide a structure for the investigation of these facilities. Building on three pillars of allied academic effort-sideline tourism, lifestyle entrepreneurship and tourism engagement, this study offers a pre-science model for aquaculture tourism businesses. A model with an incremental insight is introduced based on the notion of visitor engagement, connecting engagement to economic performance in a new context wherein existing aquaculture enterprises adopt tourism to present a new product. The value of this kind of model lies in its potential benefit to those who seek to offer and market a range of opportunities for small scale, less resilient businesses

The new Diploma of Rural Generalist Anaesthesia: Supporting Australian rural and remote communities

In 2023, a Diploma of Rural Generalist Anaesthesia (DipRGA) was implemented across Australia. Developed collaboratively by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the 12-month qualification is completed during or following ACRRM or RACGP Rural Generalist Fellowship training. Focused on the needs of rural and remote communities for elective and emergency surgery, maternity care, resuscitative care for medical illness or injury, and stabilisation for retrieval, the DipRGA supports rural generalist anaesthetists working within collaborative teams in geographically isolated settings. The goal is a graduate who can anaesthetise American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class 1, 2 and stable 3 patients for elective surgery, provide obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia, anaesthetise paediatric patients and undertake advanced crisis care within their scope of practice. Crucially, they also recognise both limitations of their skills and local resources available when considering whether to provide care, defer, refer or transfer patients. DipRGA curriculum design commenced by adapting the ANZCA specialist training curriculum with consideration of the training approach of both the ACRRM and the RACGP, particularly the rural and remote context. Curriculum content is addressed in seven entrustable professional activities supported by workplace-based assessments and multisource feedback. Trainees are supervised by rural generalist anaesthetists and specialist anaesthetists, and complete flexible learning activities to accommodate geographical dispersion. Standardised summative assessments include an early test of knowledge and an examination, adapted from the ACRRM structured assessment using multiple patient scenarios

Looking Back and Learning from Kew Cottages

[Extract] Kew Cottages in suburban Melbourne was founded in 1887 and closed in 2008. In 1887, it was originally named the Kew Idiot Asylum. That change of name is an early example of changing views of intellectual disabilities. But this book tells more about how legislation was changed across time to reflect ideas about normalization and deinstitutionalization. The book is also a narrative told by named (not anonymous) agency administrators, government officials, politicians, and parent advocates, all of whom are on record in agency and state archives. Extensive media sources also provide background about Kew cottages and about a devastating fire in 1996, in which a number of named residents died. There are also quotes from former staff and residents that have similarly been preserved

Interprofessional Collaboration to Develop and Deliver Domestic Violence Curriculum to Dental Students

Domestic violence (DV) is a serious social problem that impacts significantly on communities globally. While dentists are uniquely positioned to identify patients who experience DV, there is limited content specifically addressing the issue in their undergraduate training. James Cook University (JCU) dental students revealed this gap, and, in response, an interprofessional collaboration between JCU Social Work, JCU Dentistry and the Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service was established to codesign and deliver the Dentists and Domestic Violence—Recognise, Respond and Refer program, evaluated through Participatory Action Research (PAR) cycles. The program is informed by critical and feminist social work theory with a gendered analysis of DV. The authors present the program’s evolution and examine the four elements identified as central to its success: interprofessional collaboration, critical and feminist theory and gendered analysis, scaffolded content, and skills-based activities. This article will provide a guide for others starting work in this space. IMPLICATIONS - Designing and implementing an interprofessional domestic violence curriculum informed by critical theory and tailored for dental students’ can help meet their learning needs. - Collaboratively educating dental students to recognise and respond to domestic violence cases will enable appropriate clinical interactions with patients who are victim-survivors of domestic violence and improve the quality of referrals and interactions with community support services. - Undertaking evaluation research that guides effective domestic violence training for students across disciplines contributes to addressing domestic violence

System of systems engineering governance framework for digital transformation: A case study of an Australian large government agency

Current swift technological advances are significantly impacting how organizations operate and services are provided. Even with the multiple benefits for organizations that undergo digital transformation, the majority of transformation initiatives fail due to the challenges that arise. A primary reason for these failures links back to the lack of effective governance framework to support effective digital transformation efforts. This paper proposes such a framework through a system of systems engineering approach to understand the various constituent systems involved in digital transformation efforts and their interactive and emergent behaviors. The application and usefulness of the framework were demonstrated as part of a digital transformation initiative in an Australian Large Government Agency and documented as a case study

Comparison of the traditional and block mode of delivery on undergraduate nursing students’ perceived levels of preparedness to use evidence-based practice: a two-group experimental study

Objectives: To examine how delivery time impacted on undergraduate nursing students’ preparedness for evidence-based practice (EBP) by comparing the traditional semester mode and block mode of delivery models. Methods: This two-group experimental study compared the traditional semester and block modes of delivery using a self-reported questionnaire. The factor of time was the variable in relation to learning with the block mode delivery being in a compressed timeframe. Results: From a purposive sample, 219 students participated in the self-reported questionnaire. There were only two significant differences were the block mode of delivery students responded less positively to the statements ‘the unit of study prepared them for knowledge and skills for EBP’ and ‘EBP should be discussed and shared in practice’. Conclusions: The transition from the traditional semester mode to the block mode delivery has had minimal impact on undergraduate nursing students’ perceptions of EBP and its application to clinical practice

A dysfunctional family: Australia’s relationship with Pacific Island states and climate change

I argue the instrumental, paternalistic strategic culture often adopted in Australian foreign policy circles is counter-productive, preventing Australia from having productive and sustainable relationships with Pacific states. If Australian officials want to follow through on rhetorical commitments to enhance Australia’s relationships in the Pacific, Australia must actively recognise the agency Pacific states have and place itself within this community of actors. Australia often positions itself as part of the ‘Pacific family,’ but to be a collaborative member of this family it must go beyond headline commitments and fundamentally reconsider the evolving agency of small Pacific states and how this shapes Australia’s interactions with them. We can understand this through the lens of normative communities. Revisiting constructivist International Relations theory, I reexamine who is included and excluded in the communities of actors that norms apply to. This has particularly significant implications around norms of climate change action and mitigation. Australia has historically tried to water down agreements and slow-role actions in this space. The ongoing bid to host COP31 perhaps offers an opportunity to both show leadership on climate-related issues and to reconfigure assumptions around Pacific agency and address the effects this has on Australia’s relationships in the Pacific

Rare Earths—The Answer to Everything

Rare earths, scandium, yttrium, and the fifteen lanthanoids from lanthanum to lutetium, are classified as critical metals because of their ubiquity in daily life. They are present in magnets in cars, especially electric cars; green electricity generating systems and computers; in steel manufacturing; in glass and light emission materials especially for safety lighting and lasers; in exhaust emission catalysts and supports; catalysts in artificial rubber production; in agriculture and animal husbandry; in health and especially cancer diagnosis and treatment; and in a variety of materials and electronic products essential to modern living. They have the potential to replace toxic chromates for corrosion inhibition, in magnetic refrigeration, a variety of new materials, and their role in agriculture may expand. This review examines their role in sustainability, the environment, recycling, corrosion inhibition, crop production, animal feedstocks, catalysis, health, and materials, as well as considering future uses

Examining people’s conceptualisations of being musical and scientific

Background As people’s identities are multi-dimensional, people can hold multiple identities that are more or less important to defining themselves. Previously, it has been noted that individuals consider a wide range of musical experiences and activities as factoring into their musical identity. Can the same be said for a scientific identity? How do people think about people who are musicians and/or scientists? Aim(s) As part of a larger project examining factors influencing musical and scientific identity, the current study focused on people’s conceptualisations of being musical and scientific. Method A sample of 564 participants (17-84 years old; 72.0% female, 26.1% male, 1.9% other-defined genders) completed an online questionnaire. Data for this enquiry comes from two, counter-balanced open-ended questions, asking participants to provide a free-text response to “how do you imagine a musician” and “how do you imagine a scientist?” We used a reflexive thematic analysis to examine people’s conceptualizations of musicians and scientists via their free-text responses. We adopted a reflexive and recursive approach to consider the data. Up to three codes were allocated to each free-text response provided. Codes were labelled as applying to musicians, scientists, or both and duplicate codes were removed. Related codes were then clustered to formulate broader themes. The first author led the analysis, and the second author contributed to peer reviewing the themes and sub-themes. Results Refinement of the seven identified themes is currently underway. These include: things people do (descriptions involving action verbs – e.g., educating, learning, and experimenting), what keeps people involved (e.g., interests and motivations), traits people have (positive, negative, and personality traits – e.g., confident, open-minded, and hard-working), training and education possessed (including comments about knowledge, intelligence, and related achievements), talent and ability, comments on their appearance (e.g., being well dressed or having dishevelled hair), and othering (e.g., being just like anyone or different from others). Discussion and conclusion While some descriptors applied to both musicians and scientists, there were also several differences. Examination of descriptor frequencies reveals that stereotypes drive common conceptualisations. These include “playing an instrument” and “producing music” for musicians and “working in a lab” and “researches” for scientists. Additional examination of patterns across the themes will be discussed. The present study extends research into musical identity to more fully explore the role of beliefs and stereotypes. Beyond theoretical implications, findings have practical implications for how educators and practitioners can create environments that promote nuanced and multi-dimensional identities