The Effect of Cultural Values on Business Strategy Choices

The strategy is important in the effort to achieve firm performance. The decision of an entrepreneur in determining the choice of strategy is often influenced by certain factors. Ethnic cultural values embraced by an entrepreneur will often be an important issue that will have an impact on the choice of their business strategy. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of cultural values on business strategy choices. The study was conducted using quantitative methods using primary data through a survey on micro, small and medium business entrepreneurs in Palembang city. A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed to entrepreneurs. The number of questionnaires used in this study was 107 (71%). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis using Warp PLS version 5.0 software is used to test the hypothesis. The results of the study indicate that the cultural values embraced by entrepreneurs influence the choice of business strategies that they implement

An evaluation of the total quality management implementation strategy for the advanced solid rocket motor project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

An evaluation of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) strategy to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) Project is presented. The evaluation of the implementation strategy reflected the Civil Service personnel perspective at the project level. The external and internal environments at MSFC were analyzed for their effects on the ASRM TQM strategy. Organizational forms, cultures, management systems, problem solving techniques, and training were assessed for their influence on the implementation strategy. The influence of ASRM's effort was assessed relative to its impact on mature projects as well as future projects at MSFC

What are Best Practices for Preparing High-Potentials for Future Leadership Roles?

As global organizations flatten hierarchies in an effort to run lean, dynamic middle managers play an increasingly important role. The best companies emphasize succession planning, requiring leadership take a determined and disciplined approach to help leaders develop and rise within their organizations. As a means of investment, firms have established clear career paths and provided career development experiences for their organization’s highest potentials. High-performing organizations have narrowed their focus to foster and develop the following key competencies: Change management capabilities are the top priority for high-potentials’ professional development. They should be prepared to influence and drive performance in a dynamic environment, where the only true constant is change. A leadership mindset is equally important for middle managers looking to advance in their career. Consistently, organizations are redefining the term “leader” to apply at multiple levels, and not just at the highest level. This includes the capabilities to make tough decisions in ambiguous business environments. Communication skills play a pivotal role in managing horizontal integration in complex organizations. The need to clearly and effectively communicate both up and down in the organizations is paramount. Possessing an understanding of team dynamics should also be a high priority. The capability to lead and develop talent is also essential for maintaining momentum for the future growth

eCPD Programme - Enhanced Learning.

This collection of papers (edited by Kevin Donovan) has been produced by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) for LSIS. They are based on the summaries used by presenters during workshops at the 2009 launch of the eCPD Programme

Creating Lasting Comprehensive School Health Programs: The Connection Between Health and Achievement

Student health has a profound effect upon student academic performance. In 1994, with a focus on increasing student achievement, the Public Education Network (PEN) began working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health (CDC/DASH) to integrate coordinated school health programs (CSHPs) into a larger, systemic school reform effort at the local and national levels. PEN provided funding and technical assistance to five local education funds (LEFs) to implement projects that would create, enhance, and/or institutionalize school health programs within their districts. This report -- the last of a four-part series -- looks at the process of institutionalization based on a model developed by PEN in collaboration with the five LEFs. A major component of this work involved engaging public support by clearly articulating the need for, and value of, comprehensive school health programs. Through the Comprehensive School Health Initiative (CSHI), PEN and LEFs are linking school health and school reform through the critical issue of school and adolescent health which includes HIV prevention as a major focus. This report looks at some of the indicators for institutionalization used by the LEFs in order to sustain their activities in establishing and enhancing comprehensive school health programs in their schools and communities

Police Knowledge Exchange: Full Report 2018

[Executive Summary] This report was commissioned to explore the enablers and barriers to sharing within and between police forces and between police forces and partners, including the public. This was completed from an interdisciplinary review of international literature covering sharing, knowledge exchange, learning and organisational learning. The literature broke down into four main factors; who, why, what and how. An introduction to the literature is presented with ‘Who’ is sharing which considers both personal identity and different institutional issues. The ‘Why’ literature covers issues of cultural and community motivators and barriers. The ‘What’ segment reviews concepts of data, information and knowledge and related legislative issues. Finally, the ‘how’ section spans face to face sharing approaches to technologies that produce both enablers and barriers. A series of 42 in-depth interviews and focus groups were completed and combined with 47 survey responses . The aim of the interviews, focus groups and survey was to show perceptions and beliefs around knowledge sharing from a small sample across policing in order to complement the findings from the literature review. The survey was adapted from a standardised questionnaire (Biggs, 1987). The Biggs questionnaire focused on what motivated students to learn and how they approached their learning. Our adapted survey looked at what motivated police to share, and how they approached sharing. The responses showed a trend, across the police, towards a motivation for sharing to develop a deeper understanding of issues. However, the approaches and the strategies they used to share with others, which were primarily driven by achieving and surface approaches (to get promoted and get the job done). According to Biggs (1987) this could leave them discontented as they never progress to a deeper understanding of issues. Scaffolding sharing within the police through processes that are clearly defined, effective and valued could help to overcome these issues. Within the interviews and focus group findings a similar structured approach to sharing was adopted. Within the ‘who’ section some key aspects around personal relationships, reciprocity and reputation were identified. The ‘why’ the police share was one of the largest discussion points. Not only was there a deep motivation to solve key policing issues there was an approach of reciprocity. Police sharing was deeply motivated to support ‘good practice’ in the prevention and detection of crime. However, a sharing barrier was identified in the parity of value given to different types of knowledge for example between professional judgement and research evidence knowledge. Sharing was achieved when there were reciprocal benefits, in particular with personal networks or face to face sharing which was noted as ‘safe’. Again, this was inhibited by misunderstandings around the ‘risks’ of sharing, frequently attributed to data protection legislation; producing cautious reactions and as an avoidance tactic to save time and effort sharing. However, a divide was noted between technical users and those who avoided any online systems for sharing; often due to poorly designed systems and a lack of confidence in how to use systems. The police culture was identified as being risk-adverse, and competitive due to multiple factors, a lack of supported time to share, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) reviews and promotion criteria. The result was perceived to be a poor cultural ability to learn from mistakes and a likelihood to repeat errors. A set of strategic recommendations are given and include the use of a sharing authorised professional practice for HMIC reviews, sharing networks and training. A further set of operational recommendations are given such as; sharing impact cases for evidence based practice, data sharing officers and evaluating mechanisms for sharing. This full report is supported by the Police Knowledge Exchange Summary Report 2018 which gives an overview of the findings and recommendations

RETHINKING THE BUSINESS PROCESS THROUGH REENGINEERING

Rethinking business through reengineering is based on the assumption that to meet contemporary demands of quality, service, flexibility, and low cost, processes must be kept simple. Examples of simplifying processes are combining several jobs into one, letting workers make decisions, performing the steps in a process in a natural order, and performing work where it makes the most sense. The net result is that work may be shifted across functional boundaries several times to expedite its accomplishment. Traditional inspection and control procedures are often eliminated or deferred until the process is complete, providing further cost savings. The authors, focusing their research on enterprises from Oltenia Region, demonstrate how reengineering can be carried out in a variety of corporate settings. But although workers are the ones who need to be empowered to carry out reengineering, the authors are adamant that the process must start at the top. This is because it involves making major changes that are likely to cut across traditional organizational boundaries. Those empowered to make the changes at lower levels must know they have the support of top management, or change won�t occur.reengineering, rethinking business processes, regional economy, leadership, organization