5,812 research outputs found
On the Mechanism of Building Core Competencies: a Study of Chinese Multinational Port Enterprises
This study aims to explore how Chinese multinational port enterprises (MNPEs) build
their core competencies. Core competencies are firms’special capabilities and sources
to gain sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in marketplace, and the concept led
to extensive research and debates. However, few studies include inquiries about the
mechanisms of building core competencies in the context of Chinese MNPEs.
Accordingly, answers were sought to three research questions:
1. What are the core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs?
2. What are the mechanisms that the Chinese MNPEs use to build their core
competencies?
3. What are the paths that the Chinese MNPEs pursue to build their resources bases?
The study adopted a multiple-case study design, focusing on building mechanism of
core competencies with RBV. It selected purposively five Chinese leading MNPEs
and three industry associations as Case Companies.
The study revealed three main findings. First, it identified three generic core
competencies possessed by Case Companies, i.e., innovation in business models and
operations, utilisation of technologies, and acquisition of strategic resources. Second,
it developed the conceptual framework of the Mechanism of Building Core
Competencies (MBCC), which is a process of change of collective learning in
effective and efficient utilization of resources of a firm in response to critical events.
Third, it proposed three paths to build core competencies, i.e., enhancing collective
learning, selecting sustainable processes, and building resource base.
The study contributes to the knowledge of core competencies and RBV in three ways:
(1) presenting three generic core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs, (2) proposing
a new conceptual framework to explain how Chinese MNPEs build their core
competencies, (3) suggesting a solid anchor point (MBCC) to explain the links among
resources, core competencies, and SCA. The findings set benchmarks for Chinese
logistics industry and provide guidelines to build core competencies
Cultivating Agrobiodiversity in the U.S.: Barriers and Bridges at Multiple Scales
The diversity of crops grown in the United States (U.S.) is declining, causing agricultural landscapes to become more and more simplified. This trend is concerning for the loss of important plant, insect, and animal species, as well as the pollution and degradation of our environment. Through three separate but related studies, this dissertation addresses the need to increase the diversity of these agricultural landscapes in the U.S., particularly through diversifying the type and number of crops grown. The first study uses multiple, openly accessible datasets related to agricultural land use and policies to document and visualize change over recent decades. Through this, I show that U.S. agriculture has gradually become more specialized in the crops grown, crop production is heavily concentrated in certain areas, and crop diversity is continuing to decline. Meanwhile, federal agricultural policy, while having become more influential over how U.S. agriculture operates, incentivizes this specialization. The second study uses nonlinear statistical modeling to identify and compare social, political, and ecological factors that best predict crop diversity across nine regions in the U.S. Factors of climate, prior land use, and farm inputs best predict diversity across regions, but regions show key differences in how factors are important, indicating that patterns at the regional scale constrain and enable further diversification. Finally, the third study relied on interviews with farmers and key informants in southern Idaho’s Magic Valley – a cluster of eight counties that is known to be agriculturally diverse. Interviews gauge what farmers are currently doing to manage crop diversity (the present) and how they imagine alternative landscapes (the imaginary). We found that farmers in the Magic Valley manage current diversity mainly through cover cropping and diverse crop rotations, but daily struggles and political barriers make experimenting with and imagining alternative landscapes difficult and unlikely to occur. Together, these three studies provide an integrated view of how and why U.S. agriculture landscapes simplify or diversify, as well as the barriers and bridges such pathways of diversification
The Impact of a Play Intervention on the Social-Emotional Development of Preschool Children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Practitioners working with children have emphasized that play is vital to children’s development, Links between children’s social-emotional development and play have been widely documented. However, rigorous research evidence of these links remains limited. This study’s objectives were to measure the impact of play on children’s social-emotional development in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia; identify teachers’ viewpoints around the use of play intervention; and understand the children’s experience of play intervention. Fifty-nine children aged between five and six years, with mean age of 5.5 (SD 3.376) and eight teachers participated in the study. The study used a mixed-method strategy including questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions. Children’s social-emotional development was measured by using the Strengths and Difficulties Questioner (SDQ). A pre-/post-test counterbalanced design was used to measure the impact of the play intervention on children’s development. Teachers’ perspectives on play were obtained by interviewing eight teachers. Children’s views were gathered through focus group discussions. Repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to determine the differences in the SDQ score over three time points. Results showed that using unstructured loose parts play had positively impacted children’s social-emotional development. After participation in the play intervention, scores from the SDQ indicated that children demonstrated significantly less problematic emotional, conduct and peer relationship issues. They also scored significantly higher in their positive prosocial behaviour. These positive effects were sustained after six weeks of stopping the intervention. The play intervention did not however impact children’s hyperactivity level. The interviews analysis illustrates four main themes: concept and characteristics of play, play functions, developmental benefits of play, and play and practice. Regarding children’s discussion, affordance emerged as a main theme; this includes emotional, social, and functional affordances. Unstructured loose parts play intervention was demonstrated to have positive impacts on children’s social-emotional development. The study’s findings support the view that play is a way to increase children’s development
The role of adult and community education and training in equipping the youth with employable skills : the case of Mashashane-Maraba area of Limpopo
Youth unemployment is a persistent challenge in South Africa that is worsening as the percentage of especially young people that are unemployed or unemployable increases quarterly. The Province of Limpopo is ranked among rural provinces and is characterised by a significant number of economically-active youth that are either unemployed or unemployable and this has negative effects on families, communities and the nation at large. Of other initiatives, the South African government established Community Education and Training Colleges (CETCs) with an aim to up-skill school-leavers and/or mitigate the high rate of unemployment. This study therefore sought to investigate whether the ACET has up-skilled the youth of Mashashane-Maraba in the Limpopo Province. The study also investigated reasons that explain the low registration in ACET programmes by the youth in Mashashane-Maraba.
An empirical inquiry using a qualitative research design was used to conduct a case study on four Community Learning Centres located in the Mashashane-Maraba area of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The researcher sourced data from the field through one-on-one face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, observations and document analysis. The relevant literature was reviewed on the role of ACET in equipping the youth with employable skills. Furthermore, important documents of the Department of Higher Education on ACET relevant to the study were also reviewed to obtain rich data for the study. A sample of 29 participants comprising 20 adult learners, 3 facilitators, 4 centre managers and 2 officials were purposively selected for the interviews from selected Community Education and Training Colleges in Limpopo.
The theories of andragogy, dependency, transformation and empowerment were adopted and used as the foundation of the study. The results revealed that the selected community learning centres in Mashashane-Maraba offered the old general education and training certificate for adult learning programmes however, the programmes did not up-skill or impart skills to students. The fact that the ACET curriculum offered by the CET Colleges did not offer skills training, limits chances of employment to the youth; hence, most of them opted to stay at home rather than enrol for the programme.
Based on the findings, the study made the following recommendations for stakeholders to improve the programmes, especially in the CET Colleges located in the Limpopo Province:
• There is a need to provide proper infrastructure for community colleges and their delivery sites in order to foster distinct institutional identity;
• The government should incorporate a practical aspect that focuses on imparting job skills in order to enhance employment chances for registered youth. This can reduce the social grant bill on the taxpayers;
• The Adult and Community Education and Training (ACET) programmes offered by the selected Community Learning Centres in Limpopo should emphasise on practical skills in order to equip the out-of-school youth with employment or self-employment skills; and
• The working conditions of the Community Education and Training Educators should be improved in order to increase their focus and commitment in the provision of skills.
In conclusion, this study contributes to the knowledge in the CET sector by revealing some of the major challenges hindering the effective implementation of curriculum that focus on skills training of unemployed youths in the countryside communities. Given that unemployment is a major problem facing the youth in rural communities, the study emphasised the need for transformation of the curriculum in Community College programmes so that it includes more practical job-related skills such as plumbing, welding, building, electrical and leather works.
The findings from the study could be used to ensure that programmes offered by the CET Colleges up-skill the youth so that their chances of finding employment are enhanced. However, as a case study, this investigation does not seek to over-generalise its findings bearing in mind that the conditions of the various community learning centres (CLCs) may differ from one another.Educational StudiesPh. D. (Adult Education
The Role of the Principal in Supporting Learning for Students in High-Poverty Elementary Schools
Students enter the school systems with a variety of needs and experiences, each unique to themselves. Unfortunately, many students and their families experience the effects of poverty, and these circumstances shape those school students’ unique needs. As the current times become more challenging, principals and teachers are faced with great demands to meet the needs of the students they serve. High-poverty schools need the expertise of successful principals who are aware of and acknowledge the impact of poverty on student learning; and are able to assist teachers to not only understand the impact poverty has on students’ social and academic learning but to provide supports to help students become successful learners. This hybrid thesis model used an exploratory case study and elements of an Organization Improvement Plan to examine how successful principals can assist teachers in high-poverty elementary schools understand the impact of poverty on student learning? And, how can they assist teachers in enhancing their teaching practices to improve student learning? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two elementary school principals and 16 elementary school teachers in one Ontario School Board. The research findings provided unique insights into the work being done by successful principals and teachers striving to move high-poverty schools to high-performing schools. The analysis of the findings led to future recommendations being provided to the school board for their utilization in school improvement planning in service to students, teachers, and principals.
Keywords: poverty, essential needs, lived experiences, relationships, successful principals, teachers, professional developmen
Developing end-of-life care at a Portuguese nursing home through participatory action research
Background: Nursing homes are places where older people live and often die but little is known about the needs of those who care for them, in Portugal. Aim: to identify the needs of nursing home staff when caring for older people at the end of life; to understand the cultural nuances of providing care at the end-of-life in nursing homes; to develop, with nursing home staff, a culturally appropriate programme that meets their needs; and to plan for future development. Methods: Participatory Action Research was used to identify needs and to develop interventions, designed by the staff themselves, aimed at improving care. Up to ten nursing home staff participated in a six-cycle research process, with data collected, analysed, and used in sequential plan-act-reflect steps. Findings: The silence that surrounds a resident’s death has a severe impact on the lives of those who survive him/her. Lacking competencies in grief management, and with no emotional and relational space to express grief emotions, staff strive to manage their loss, while trying to support other residents. Acknowledging the existence of death and its impact on nursing home life made the invisibility of death and mourning visible, and interventions possible, providing closure to all. Conclusion: The impact of death and dying on nursing home life needs to be recognised. If adequately supported, nursing home staff can develop strategies to manage grief and mourning, to improve their knowledge of the residents’ needs and wishes, improve communication among staff, and ultimately improve care
Show Me the Meaning of Working Lonely: Conceptualising the Interrelation between Individual and Collaborative Work
Knowledge workers are increasingly working in multi-team contexts to solve complex business problems. While collaborative work is an indispensable mode of work in multi-team knowledge work, the complementary mode of individual work, i.e. working uninterrupted in solitude, is often overlooked. We aim to better understand individual work and its role within multi-team contexts. Based on a literature review of the office design and telework debates, we provide a detailed account of individual work. Taking this vantage point and putting the task structure centre stage, we conceptualise the interrelation between individual and collaborative work. Specifically, we develop the work types maturation, execution, and meta work to exemplify the bipartite interrelation by depicting their task-bound interplay and time-bound tension. Thereby, we offer a different perspective on ‘cooperative work’ and equip practitioners with a vocabulary to discern the role of and articulate the needed amount for individual work
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