Adult Learning in the Transformational Environments of the Digital Revolution: Connecting Theory and Practice

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning preferences and the post-secondary educational experiences of a group of Net-Gen adult learners, aged between 18 and 35, currently working in the knowledge economy workplace, and their assessment of how adequately they were prepared to meet the requirements of the knowledge economy workplace. This study utilized an explanatory mixed-method research design. Participants completed a questionnaire providing information on their self-reported learning style preferences, their use of digital tools for formal and informal learning, their use of digital technologies in postsecondary educational experiences, and their use of digital technologies in their workplace. Four volunteers from the questionnaire respondents were selected to participate in interviews based on the diversity of their experiences in higher education, including digital environments, and the diversity of their knowledge economy workplaces. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed for descriptive and demographic statistics, and categorized so that common patterns could be identified from information gathered from the online questionnaire and interviews. Findings based on this study indicated that these Net-Gen adult learners were fluent with all types of digital technologies in collaborative environments, expecting their educational experiences to provide a similar experience. Participants clearly expressed an understanding that digital/collaborative aptitudes are essential to successful employment in the knowledge economy workplace. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of participants felt that their post-secondary educational experiences did not adequately prepare them to meet the expectations of this type of working environment

The industrial relations implications of automation

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Transnational Activity and Market Entry in the Semiconductor Industry

This paper has examined the factors that affect the pattern of introduction of semiconductor innovations into the United Kingdom, studying both differences among products and differences among firms. The pattern of product innovations is based on the concept of a lifecycle process. A model is developed for estimating product life cycles in a way that gives information suitable for assessing induced changes in the host country industry. The analysis that follows is broken into two parts. Firstly, factors determining the rate of diffusion of the innovations in the host country are examined; secondly, factors determining the positions of individual firms within the life cycle are considered.

Remixed, Remastered: Investigating Organizational Adaptation in Higher Music Education

Higher music education presents a unique opportunity to examine change within higher education due to the digital revolution in the music industry over the past two decades. The purpose for conducting this study was to describe, map, and explain the strategies that higher music education programs are using to adapt to the digital revolution in the music industry. This study was grounded in organizational adaptation theory, drawing upon nine well-established theories: population ecology, life cycles, strategic choice, isomorphism, symbolic action, resource dependence, cybernetics, and network theory. Critical concepts of the turbulent environment, environmental perception, and organizational adaptation strategy emerged from these theories. An organizational adaptation strategy typology consisting of five strategies; decentralization, generalization, specialization, formalization, and inaction; was additionally constructed to create a tool for the measurement and explanation of organizational behavior. Music leaders of accredited institutions and programs that grant four-year degrees (N = 570) were surveyed via email using a survey instrument I designed. This instrument contained 57 items created to measure environmental perception (EP), organizational adaptation strategy (OAS), and characteristics of the institutions and music leaders. Data were collected over a four-week period in February 2021 and produced a response rate of 18.4% (n = 100). The most important result of this study was the observation that higher music education is undergoing a great generalization whereby organizational functions have dramatically expanded over the past five years. Furthermore, the environmental perception abilities of music units were found to be positively correlated with the total amount of organizational adaptation, indicating consistency with major tenants of organizational adaptation theory. These findings demonstrate that while expansionist trends in the field are promising for stakeholders, higher music education must navigate the many pressures of a turbulent music industry environment while balancing unique organizational constraints within higher education. Finally, this study provides empirical evidence for furthering theoretical concepts of organizational adaptation in higher education at the single-discipline level