Competence framework of information technology for students of Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry

Currently, with the positive impact of information technology (IT), the world’s agriculture is gradually shifting from the traditional agricultural model to the digital agricultural model, creating high productivity, increasing the product value and labor productivity. However, the agriculture with applied digital also requires laborers to be capable of applying IT in the agricultural sector. On the basis of theoretical research, output standards from bachelor training programs in the field of agriculture in the world and Vietnam, along with practical investigation results, the article focuses on two main contents: clarify the content of IT application capacity of a student in the field of agriculture and forestry; building a competence framework and assessment criteria for IT application competence for students in the field of agriculture and forestry. The results of the article are documents for Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry as well as training institutions for bachelors and engineers in agriculture and forestry to refer to in the process of developing training programs, assessing outcomes for students, as well as innovating training methods towards developing learners’ capacity

Workplace innovation and new product development in Vietnamese manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises

Workplace innovation (WI) and new product development (NPD) is essential for organisations to ensure their market positioning. Vietnam is at the starting point of innovation. The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of senior management practices in NPD projects in the Vietnamese manufacturing industry and the status of the NPD process, strategic planning, resource allocation and success measure in Vietnamese manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); identify NPD success factors in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs at the project level; investigate the relationship between WI, NPD capability, strategic planning and performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs at the project level; and determine the moderating effect of two groups (manager and employee) on the relationship between WI, NPD capability and NPD strategic planning on NPD performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs. A total of 795 questionnaires were sent to manufacturing SMEs in Hanoi, with a response rate of 42.77% yielding 340 usable responses. Using IBM SPSS AMOS (v.25) software (hereafter AMOS) to test the research model of the relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance, the findings confirmed the simultaneous relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs at the project level. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the field of WI and NPD research from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically, this thesis contributes to the existing literature in the field of WI and NPD in organisations by 1) integrating the framework of contingency theory, the dynamic capability view and resource-based view theory in the study of the relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance; 2) developing a validated conceptual framework for examining the relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs; 3) observing a difference of perspective on the relationship between employee and managers, with the thesis findings confirming for the first time the simultaneous relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance, thereby expanding the contingency theory (Miller and Friesen, 1983) to a new environment¿capability¿strategic planning¿performance paradigm; and 4) recognition of moderating effect of manager and employee on WI and NPD capability. Practically, the findings enhance current understanding of senior management practices in NPD projects and NPD success factors within Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs and discuss for the first time NPD process, strategic planning, resource allocation and success measures in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs. These results are hugely beneficial, for manufacturing SMEs in Vietnam in particular and for other industries and countries in general, in assisting successful NPD

Simple identification tools in FishBase

Simple identification tools for fish species were included in the FishBase information system from its inception. Early tools made use of the relational model and characters like fin ray meristics. Soon pictures and drawings were added as a further help, similar to a field guide. Later came the computerization of existing dichotomous keys, again in combination with pictures and other information, and the ability to restrict possible species by country, area, or taxonomic group. Today, www.FishBase.org offers four different ways to identify species. This paper describes these tools with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests various options for further development. It explores the possibility of a holistic and integrated computeraided strategy

Adoption of big data analytics and its impact on organizational performance in higher education mediated by knowledge management

Due to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, higher education institutions are challenged to continue providing quality teaching, consulting, and research production through virtual education environments. In this context, a large volume of data is being generated, and technologies such as big data analytics are needed to create opportunities for open innovation by obtaining valuable knowledge. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of big data analytics, as well as to evaluate the relationship it has with performance and knowledge management, taking into consideration that this technology is in its initial stages and that previous research has provided varied results depending on the sector in focus. To address these challenges, a theoretical framework was developed to empirically test the relationship of these variables. A total of 265 members of universities in Latin America were surveyed and structural equation modeling was used for hypothesis testing. The findings identified compatibility, an adequate organizational data environment, and external support as factors required to adopt big data analytics and their positive relationship is tested with knowledge management processes and organizational performance. This study provides practical guidance for decision-makers involved in or in charge of defining the implementation strategy of big data analytics in higher education institutions.Debido a la pandemia del SARS-CoV-2, las instituciones de educación superior tienen el desafío de continuar brindando enseñanza, consultoría y producción de investigación de calidad a través de entornos educativos virtuales. En este contexto, se está generando un gran volumen de datos y se necesitan tecnologías como la analítica de Big Data para crear oportunidades de innovación abierta mediante la obtención de conocimientos valiosos. El propósito de este trabajo fue investigar los factores que influyen en la adopción de la analítica de Big Data, así como evaluar la relación que tiene con el desempeño y la gestión del conocimiento, tomando en consideración que esta tecnología se encuentra en sus etapas iniciales y que investigaciones previas han proporcionado resultados variados según el sector en cuestión. Para abordar estos desafíos, se desarrolló un marco teórico que comprobó empíricamente la relación de estas variables; se encuestaron a 265 miembros de universidades de América Latina y se utilizó el modelado de ecuaciones estructurales. Los hallazgos identificaron a la compatibilidad, un entorno de datos organizacional adecuado y el apoyo externo como factores necesarios para adoptar la analítica de Big Data y se comprobó su relación positiva con los procesos de gestión del conocimiento y el desempeño organizacional. Este estudio proporciona una guía práctica para los tomadores de decisión involucrados o encargados de definir la estrategia de implementación de la analítica de Big Data en instituciones de educación superior

Spiritual Leadership: A Buddhist Approach

This study examines spiritual leadership from a Buddhist perspective in the context of a transitional economy: Vietnam. Vietnam is undergoing significant changes in blending traditional values with contemporary ones, which creates a complex and dynamic social setting for exploratory research. Changes include incorporating traditional spiritual practices and engaged Buddhism in the contemporary context. The study explores and examines how spiritual leaders in organizations interpret and enact Buddhist teachings and principles in Vietnam. The outcome of the preliminary quantitative study examining spiritual leadership in the context of Vietnam informs a mixed methods study in which the qualitative phase is guided by a critical-realist-informed grounded theory approach. This mixed-methods study explores how spiritual leadership is distinctively interpreted by organizational leaders who are Buddhist practitioners. The findings suggest that Buddhist-enacted leadership is a process of self-transformation and operates as a skilful means involving multiple leadership identities to flexibly and mindfully respond to contextual challenges. Context emerges as having a primary role in the understanding and application of Buddhist principles in leadership, manifested by the Buddhist concepts of impermanence, non-attachment, and wisdom. Buddhist-enacted leaders’ authenticity was challenged and moderated by the adoption of multiple identities, resulting in inconsistencies in leadership styles, the overall skepticism in Vietnamese society due to the lack of trust of the Vietnamese people as a result of the political and social features of the country’s regime, and the level of maturity of leaders in respect of Buddhist practices. The study introduces a Buddhist-enacted leadership model that contextualises spiritual leadership and reaffirms that neither the promotion of commonly known good practices nor any mimetic isomorphism of social responsibility or Western sustainability practices would be able to address the complex nature of a developing nation like Vietnam

Characterising the drivers of tropical freshwater fish dynamics and abundance in the Mekong river, under environmental change

The Mekong river’s monsoon driven annual flood pulse creates a range of diverse habitats, with high levels of connectivity and primary productivity that support and trigger fish migratory dynamics and abundance. This abundance is reflected in the fact that the Mekong is the World’s most productive inland fisheries, supporting between 2.8-3.2 million tonnes of catch annually, underpinning the food security of over 70 million people.This thesis explores the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activity on Mekong hydrology and system function, and the impacts these have on fish and fisheries. It combines an interdisciplinary approach utilising earth observation, historical fisheries data and hydrological records, alongside the application of hydrological modelling tools and the testing of new environmental DNA metabarcoding analyses, in order to explore how changes in Mekong hydrology will affect fish populations into the future.The results highlight a range of projected negative impacts of hydropower development, irrigation expansion and climate change on the dai fisheryresources, and in turn a range of significant impacts on regional fish protein availability, which primarily result from the blockage of key migratory routes caused by dam construction as well as changes in the timing of the flood pulse in key areas in the basin such as Tonle Sap Great Lake. The findings in this study urge a need to prioritise environmental conservation action centred on a need to maintain the historical flood pulse hydrologic regime of the Mekong river. Such a pulse is shown to be important in sustaining floodplain flood dynamics and habitat connectivity that maintains the critical dai fishery, enables migratory fish dynamics, and is thus key to overall regional food security

Caveats of fungal barcoding: a case study in Trametes s.lat. (Basidiomycota: Polyporales) in Vietnam reveals multiple issues with mislabelled reference sequences and calls for third-party annotations

DNA barcoding using the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) has become prevalent in surveys of fungal diversity. This approach is, however, associated with numerous caveats, including the desire for speed, rather than accuracy, through the use of automated analytical pipelines, and the shortcomings of reference sequence repositories. Here we use the case of a specimen of the bracket fungus Trametes s.lat. (which includes the common and widespread turkey tail, T. versicolor) to illustrate these problems. The material was collected in Vietnam as part of a biodiversity inventory including DNA barcoding approaches for arthropods, plants and fungi. The ITS barcoding sequence of the query taxon was compared against reference sequences in GenBank and the curated fungal ITS database UNITE, using BLASTn and MegaBLAST, and was subsequently analysed in a multiple alignment-based phylogenetic context through a maximum likelihood tree including related sequences. Our results initially indicated issues with BLAST searches, including the use of Frairwise local alignments and sorting through Total score and E value, rather than Percentage identity, as major shortcomings of the DNA barcoding approach. However, after thorough analysis of the results, we concluded that the single most important problem of this approach was incorrect sequence labelling, calling for the implementation of third-party annotations or analogous approaches in primary sequence repositories. In addition, this particular example revealed problems of improper fungal nomenclature, which required reinstatement of the genus name Cubamyces (= Leioirametes), with three new combinations: C. flavidus, C lactineus and C. menziesii. The latter was revealed as the correct identification of the query taxon, although the name did not appear among the best BLAST hits. While the best BLAST hits did correspond to the target taxon in terms of sequence data, their label names were misleading or unresolved, including [Fungal endophyte], [Uncultured fungus], Basidiomycota, Trametes cf. cubensis, Lenzites elegans and Geotrichum candidum (an unrelated ascomycetous contaminant). Our study demonstrates that accurate identification of fungi through molecular barcoding is currently not a fast-track approach that can be achieved through automated pipelines

Open Innovation in Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This book unveils the importance of micro, small, medium, and large firms for fostering open innovation, using methodological designs based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Several dimensions of the inbound and outbound open innovation strategies and practices are explored, in the scope of University–University, University–Industry, and University–Society relations