Notions of a Learning Society and Learning Partnership Vehicles: the Island\u27s Project, a Case Study

This case study focuses on the Partnership Vehicle that was jointly developed by the School of Art, Design and Printing at the DIT, and the Sherkin Island Development Society in the period 1998 to 2004, in order to construct and deliver a pilot Fine Art programme on Sherkin Island in West Cork. The pilot programme was delivered on Sherkin from 2000 to 2003, and subsequently, based on the pilot, the School of Art, Design and Printing developed a prototype Fine Art degree aimed at isolated communities. This course is currently being delivered on Sherkin. A third level-community partnership seems an ideal mechanism for furthering academic, local-community and indeed, society’s educational aims and goals. However, in order to function at a meaningful level the partners need to display a high degree of flexibility and understanding of each other’s needs (and limitations) in order to move toward their goals. In order to describe and understand this process and the journey undertaken by the partnership, I therefore elected to study it against a backdrop of learning society models, with a particular focus on notions of partnership between academic and local-communities, as a means of widening participation. This process has enabled me to develop an understanding of the underlying motives of the partners in general, and key figures within the partnership in particular. As such, a key facet of this case study has been the opportunity to consider a partnership vehicle and ethos that developed between two communities prior to, and subsequently, in parallel with, higher echelon (e.g. institutional, governmental) strategies aimed at furthering certain lifelong learning and learning society agendas

Race and employee engagement in a diversified South African retail group

Magister Commercii - MComBackground: Many South African companies are faced with the challenge of integrating a racially-diverse workforce into a white-dominated environment. This research sets out to assess the relationship between race and engagement activities within the workplace. Significance/Objective of the Research: This study aims to explore employee engagement and how employees of different races perceive their work environment, and in so doing, enhance the employer's ability to respond. Research Methodology: The analysis made use of confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to validate the employee engagement concepts of an empirical survey that was conducted across all trading divisions within the retail group. Ethics Statement: The research survey ensured ethics by assuring respondents voluntarily contributed to the research, whilst guaranteeing them anonymity, honesty and full disclosure. Findings/Conclusion: The study confirms that race, leadership, nature of job, intent to stay, empowerment, relationship and reward are factors influencing engagement amongst employees within the South African retail group

Concepts of creativity operating within a UK art and design college (FE/HE) with reference to Confucian heritage cultures: perceptions of key stakeholders

Cultural norms determine where creative ideas and products arise and how they are judged; yet despite the prevalence of literature on creativity, ambiguity persists about global understandings of the concept. The internationalisation of higher education has resulted in multicultural classrooms that provide opportunities for intercultural communication and creative collaborations yet risk misunderstandings and cultural essentialism. There is a lack of empirical research into student learning in art and design and even less that takes cultural contexts into account. The main methodological models that have emerged since the mid twentieth century endorse an understanding of creativity as an internal cognitive function. As the majority of intercultural creativity research is based on assumptions about individual and collective societies the antipathy between creativity and conformity has been perpetuated. The literature reveals multiple functional definitions of creativity operating in the UK and a value paradox between Western and non-Western models of creativity. Using semi structured interviews with stakeholders in a UK art and design college as well as analysing institutional documents, the research investigates how previous teaching and learning experiences impact the understanding, teaching, practice and assessment of creativity in a multicultural environment with particular reference to Confucian heritage cultures. The study explores individual and societal level themes and concludes that contemporary creativity cannot be separated from cultural context and proposes a model of intercultural creativity in concurrence with confluence models combining a number of individual and cultural factors. Creativity is conceived as the fusion of individual creative potential with a favourable social context manifested in a collaborative learning culture. Recommendations are made with regard to the necessity of raising intercultural awareness amongst students and lecturers

The interplay of different types of capital on amplifying small business entrepreneurship performance in Cameroon: a case of Douala and Yaounde.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.There cannot be a firm without entrepreneurship, and for the exercise of effective entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial capital is indispensable. Drawing from the resource-based theory, this study assesses the interplay of social, human and financial capital on business performance in Cameroon, using a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). These three elements together make up the building blocks of entrepreneurial capital. The study uses a sample of 364 firms. Performance is examined in terms of growth in sales, profits and employment. The PCA isolates financial capital (FC), social capital (SC), and human capital (HC) as critical components influencing performance. HC is examined under Entrepreneur-Owner Human Capital (OHC) and LabourEmployee Human Capital (EHC). The SEM results indicate that OHC has the strongest significant effect on performance (weight 0.528), followed by FC (weight 0.420), EHC (weight 0.207) and SC (weight 0.120). Furthermore, the SEM indicated a positive and significant correlation between OHC and EHC (r = 0.61); between FC and EHC (r = 0.56); between FC and SC (r = 0.40); between OHC and SC (r = 0.34) and between SC and EHC (r = 0.32). Different elements of entrepreneurial capital complement each other in influencing performance. Investigating the constraints to business performance, five major obstacles were identified, namely: ‘financial and managerial skills’, ‘inadequate inputs’, ‘infrastructure’, ‘transaction costs and regulations’ and ‘credit access’. The study also looked at the influence of government support, regulations, and private financial institutions in hindering or amplifying business performance, using a multiple linear regression model (MLRM). The results show that ‘government regulations’ (= -0.197, p=0.004), has the strongest adverse impact on performance in terms of sales revenue. Furthermore, ‘awareness of source of funds’ was found to significantly amplify business performance in terms sales revenue (= 0.146; p=0.031) and in terms of profit (= 0.175; p=0.012). Government support was also significant to performance, in terms of labour employment (= 0.601; p=0.000); sales revenue (= 0.178; p=0.009), and profit (= 0.175; p=0.012). Government regulations have a consistently negative influence on performance, even when using different indicators

Factorial invariance of an employee engagement instrument across different race groups

The overall objective of this study was to determine the factorial invariance of a South African-developed Employee Engagement Instrument (EEI) across different race groups in financial institutions. A secondary objective of this study was to determine whether race groups differ significantly with regard to the six dimensions of the employee engagement instrument. A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive research design was followed in this study, using a non-probability, convenience sampling (N = 1175). The EEI was electronically administered to 285 000 businesspeople from various demographic backgrounds, which form part of a research database. The focus was respondents from financial institutions. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was employed to achieve the empirical objectives of this study. Findings from the statistical analysis indicated that White and Black employees differed significantly with regards to how they are engaged by their immediate managers; however, the practical significance was small. Furthermore, the employee engagement instrument was found to be reliable and valid and the instrument was invariant across the four different race groups. By understanding how employees from different backgrounds are engaged it enables organisations to customise their engagement programmes to meet the needs of the various types of employees within the organisation, instead of applying a “one size fits all” approach to engagement programmes. The findings of this study provided valuable insights into the importance of employee engagement in a South African context, especially for financial institutions. Finally, the study adds to the vast body of knowledge that exists with regard to employee engagement and race, both locally and internationally.Industrial and Organisational PsychologyM. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology

Financial inclusion

Financial inclusion has been noted as a key driver of poverty alleviation and growth. Yet, most of the scholarly work that exists lacks a comprehensive discussion of how the poor interact with financial services and the channels through which such services can affect their livelihoods. This book offers researchers who focus on financial inclusion and African economies a one stop resource for understanding the channels of transmission for financial inclusion as well as an application of these channels through original country specific empirical papers. The book provides a back-to-basics presentation of the transmission of financial services to growth and poverty. This theoretical discussion is complemented by an empirical presentation of the various services used by the poor, with a focus on Africa. Case studies of financial inclusion in six African countries cover a broad range of topics most important to African countries and highlight the unique African setting. These empirical papers provide important learning points. Firstly, hybrid financial institutions such as cooperative financial institutions and financial social entrepreneurs are the best way to increase financial inclusion in Africa. They provide important vehicles to circumventing the restrictive and exclusive bank-based financial markets typical of African economies. Secondly, digital finance is a potent tool in improving financial access and usage in Africa, and its impact on poverty operates through both traditional and nontraditional financial instruments. Thirdly, investment in infrastructure which supports complementary markets is critical and is likely to have a greater effect on credit rationing than direct provision of credit to small businesses

Financial inclusion

Financial inclusion has been noted as a key driver of poverty alleviation and growth. Yet, most of the scholarly work that exists lacks a comprehensive discussion of how the poor interact with financial services and the channels through which such services can affect their livelihoods. This book offers researchers who focus on financial inclusion and African economies a one stop resource for understanding the channels of transmission for financial inclusion as well as an application of these channels through original country specific empirical papers. The book provides a back-to-basics presentation of the transmission of financial services to growth and poverty. This theoretical discussion is complemented by an empirical presentation of the various services used by the poor, with a focus on Africa. Case studies of financial inclusion in six African countries cover a broad range of topics most important to African countries and highlight the unique African setting. These empirical papers provide important learning points. Firstly, hybrid financial institutions such as cooperative financial institutions and financial social entrepreneurs are the best way to increase financial inclusion in Africa. They provide important vehicles to circumventing the restrictive and exclusive bank-based financial markets typical of African economies. Secondly, digital finance is a potent tool in improving financial access and usage in Africa, and its impact on poverty operates through both traditional and nontraditional financial instruments. Thirdly, investment in infrastructure which supports complementary markets is critical and is likely to have a greater effect on credit rationing than direct provision of credit to small businesses