The systemic implications of constructive alignment of higher education level learning outcomes and employer or professional body based competency frameworks

The past 50 years has seen the development of schemes in higher education, employment and professional work that either identify what people should know and/or what they should be able to do with what they have learned and experienced. Within higher education this is usually equated with the learning outcomes students are expected to achieve at the end of studying a course, module or qualification and increasingly the teaching, learning and assessment strategies of those courses, modules or qualifications are being designed to align with those learning outcomes. In employment, there has been the emergence of job and role specifications setting out the knowledge and skills required of incumbent and recruits alike. Where professional bodies confer (often statutorily recognised) status in employment sectors they also increasingly set out their expectations of members through competency frameworks. This paper explores the varied relationships between these three means of measuring knowledge and skills within people including the nature of the knowledge and skills being measured as well as the specificity of the knowledge and skills being measured, using the case study of environmental management in the UK. It then argues that there needs to be a more constructive alignment between these three forms of measurement, achieved through a dynamic conversation between all concerned, but also that such alignment needs both to recognise the importance of less tangible ‘systems thinking’ abilities alongside the more tangible ‘technical’ and ‘managerial’ abilities and that some abilities emerge from the trajectories of praxis and cannot readily be specified as an outcome in advance

MSIS 2016 global competency model for graduate degree programs in information systems

[Extract] This document, “MSIS 2016: Global Competency Model for Graduate Degree Programs in Information Systems”, is the latest in the series of reports that provides guidance for degree programs in the Information Systems (IS) academic discipline. MSIS 2016 is the seventh collaborative effort between ACM and AIS (following IS’97, IS 2002, and IS 2010 at the undergraduate level; MSIS 2000 and MSIS 2006 at the graduate level; and CC 2005 as an integrative document).(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Strategies for information management in education: some international experience

Background: Recent analysis of the management of information and communications technologies in South African education suggests strongly that there is only limited strategic thinking that might guide policy-makers, school principals, teachers, learners and suppliers of educational technologies. It is clear that here in South Africa, as elsewhere, the actual practice of technology-mediated education is driven more by the available technologies than by actual learner needs, good management principles and the wider national imperative. There might be lessons to be learned from experience elsewhere. Objectives: This article reports and analyses conversation with eight international educators in Europe, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. All are managing the impact of technology in different ways (reactive and pro-active), at different levels (pre-primary through to senior citizen), in different roles (teachers, administrators and senior managers) and in different contexts (schools and universities). Method: Open-ended conversations with educators and educational administrators in developed countries were recorded, transcribed and analysed. The qualitative analysis of the content was done in the style of ‘open coding’ and ‘selective coding’ using a qualitative content analysis tool. Results: Whilst technology is still seen to drive much thinking, it is found that that success is not derived from the technology, but from a full and proper understanding of the needs and aspirations of those who are directly involved in educational processes, and by means of a managerial focus that properly recognises the context within which an institution exists. Conclusion: Whilst this result might be expected, the detailed analysis of the findings further reveals the need to manage investments in educational technologies at different levels and in different ways.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Innovation dialogue - Being strategic in the face of complexity - Conference report

The Innovation Dialogue on Being Strategic in the Face of Complexity was held in Wageningen on 31 November and 1 December 2009. The event is part of a growing dialogue in the international development sector about the complexities of social, economic and political change. It builds on two previous events hosted the Innovation Dialogue on Navigating Complexity (May 2009) and the Seminar on Institutions, Theories of Change and Capacity Development (December 2008). Over 120 people attended the event coming from a range of Dutch and international development organizations. The event was aimed at bridging practitioner, policy and academic interests. It brought together people working on sustainable business strategies, social entrepreneurship and international development. Leading thinkers and practitioners offered their insights on what it means to "be strategic in complex times". The Dialogue was organized and hosted by the Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation working with the Chair Groups of Communication & Innovation Studies, Disaster Studies, Education & Competence Studies and Public Administration & Policy as co; organisers. The theme of the Dialogue aligns closely with Wageningen UR’s interest in linking technological and institutional innovation in ways that enable ‘science for impact’

Suurien vakiintuneiden yritysten digitaalisen transformaation strateginen johtaminen – tapaustutkimus

In the recent years, the rapid development of digital technologies has enabled companies across the industries to compete and create value in completely new ways. To leverage these possibilities and to respond to possible threats, many established companies have systematically started to enhance their digital capabilities and resources. This phenomenon is often called digital transformation. The recent literature has focused mainly on certain aspects of digital transformation. However, a holistic view of the digital transformation is missing even though it is a top-priority phenomenon for companies’ executives. Given the importance of digital transformation and the lack of understanding, this thesis aims to investigate how large established companies strategically lead the digital transformation. The study focuses on drivers of digital transformation, executives’ leading practices, and changing aspects of strategy and operations. The theoretical part of this thesis synthesizes the recent literature regarding digital innovations, digital disruption of industries, and companies’ digital transformations. Based on the literature, a conceptual framework of the digital transformation is constructed. The empirical part of the study examines and evaluates digital transformations in three large Nordic companies. These companies operate in financial, industrial, and media sectors. An inductive case study is employed through interviews with companies’ executives and consultants. The results of this thesis suggest that there are major differences how companies strategically lead the digital transformation. There are multiple drivers, such as customers’ liquid expectations and new digital entrants, which push companies to digital transformation with varying intensity. Further, companies’ executives lead the change by utilizing different practices to establish and drive digital transformation. For example, they build a digital vision and use publicity to show the priority of digital transformation. The results of the thesis indicate that companies change their strategy and operations in digital transformation extensively but the magnitude of the change varies between the companies. This thesis provides a systematical approach called a digital transformation compass to holistically evaluate companies’ digital transformations. In addition, concrete recommendations are presented to help companies to analyze how they could approach digital transformation.Viime vuosina digitaalisten teknologioiden nopea kehitys on mahdollistanut yrityksille uusia tapoja kilpailla ja luoda arvoa kaikilla toimialoilla. Hyödyntääkseen näitä mahdollisuuksia ja vastatakseen mahdollisiin uhkiin monet vakiintuneet yritykset ovat alkaneet järjestelmällisesti kehittämään digitaalisia kyvykkyyksiä ja resursseja. Tätä ilmiötä kutsutaan usein digitaaliseksi transformaatioksi. Kirjallisuus on tähän mennessä keskittynyt tiettyihin digitaalisen transformaation osa-alueisiin. Kokonaisvaltainen ymmärrys digitaalisesta transformaatiosta sekä yritysten johtamismalleista kuitenkin puuttuu, vaikka digitaalisen transformaation on todettu olevan yksi tämän hetken tärkeimmistä ilmiöistä yritysten johdolle. Ottaen huomioon digitaalisen transformaation tärkeyden sekä kokonaisvaltaisen ymmärryksen puutteen, tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on tutkia kuinka suuret vakiintuneet yritykset strategisesti johtavat digitaalista transformaatiota. Tutkimuksessa käsitellään digitaalisen transformaation pääsyitä yritykselle, johtajien käytäntöjä johtaa muutosta, sekä yrityksen strategian ja operaatioiden muutosta digitaalisessa transformaatiossa. Työn kirjallisuuskatsaus koostaa digitaalisiin innovaatioihin, toimialojen digitaaliseen murrokseen sekä yritysten digitaaliseen transformaatioon liittyvän viimeaikaisen tutkimuksen. Kirjallisuuteen pohjautuen työssä luodaan käsitteellinen viitekehys yritysten digitaalisesta transformaatiosta. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osuus tarkastelee kolmen suuren pohjoismaalaisen yrityksen digitaalista transformaatiota. Nämä yritykset toimivat rahoituksen, teollisuuden, sekä viestinnän toimialoilla. Induktiivinen tapaustutkimus toteutetaan yritysten johtajien sekä konsulttien haastatteluilla. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että yritysten välillä on suuria eroja digitaalisen transformaation strategisessa johtamisessa. Useat eri syyt, kuten muuttuvat asiakastarpeet ja uudet digitaaliset kilpailijat, ajavat yrityksiä digitaaliseen transformaatioon vaihtelevalla voimakkuudella. Yritysten johtajat käyttävät useita keinoja digitaalisen transformaation luomiseen sekä ajamiseen eteenpäin. He esimerkiksi luovat yrityksen digitaalisen vision sekä käyttävät julkisuutta osoittaakseen muutoksen tärkeyden. Tulokset myös implikoivat, että yritykset muuttavat strategiaa ja operaatioita digitaalisessa transformaatiossa laaja-alaisesti, mutta muutoksen suuruus vaihtelee yritysten välillä. Työssä esitellään digitaalisen transformaation kompassi, joka auttaa arvioimaan kokonaisvaltaisesti yrityksen digitaalisen transformaation tasoa. Tämän lisäksi konkreettiset suositukset auttavat yrityksiä arvioimaan, kuinka he voivat kehittää yrityksen digitaalista transformaatiota

Final report of work-with-IT: the JISC study into evolution of working practices

Technology is increasingly being used to underpin business processes across teaching and learning, research, knowledge exchange and business support activities in both HE and FE. The introduction of technology has a significant impact on the working practices of staff, often requiring them to work in a radically different way. Change in any situation can be unsettling and problematic and, where not effectively managed, can lead to poor service or functionality and disenfranchised staff. These issues can have a direct impact on institutional effectiveness, reputation and the resulting student experience. The Work-with-IT project, based at the University of Strathclyde, sought to examine changes to working practices across HE and FE, the impact on staff roles and relationships and the new skills sets that are required to meet these changes

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history

A Drive towards Technology Girls Incorporated of Cny Action Research Project

When the technological system of an organization is deficient, it systematically promotes those deficiencies throughout the organization. The technical infrastructure of Girls Inc. was outdated, not standardized, and operationally deficient and hampered normal business activity. Given its practical application (French, et al.), an Action Research methodology was employed to identify the issues and solve the technological problems facing the Girls Inc. CNY organization. The result of this action research project is a framework for a technological infrastructure that prepares the Girls Inc. organization for the future