Fostering entrepreneurship in an international university collaboration

[EN] The European Union is taking action on enhancing entrepreneurship in Europe and recommends appropriate entrepreneurship training in schools and higher education institutions. Due to the globalization of businesses it seems to be appropriate to realize an international perspective on entrepreneurial issues and to develop international programmes for young entrepreneurs. In this case study, we examined an international university collaboration between two universities, one in Austria and one in the United States. The programme’s goals include the establishment of an international network for students and an awareness of the students of different cultural dimensions and entrepreneurial mindsets. Our findings show how this programme enables the students to work on their professional and behavioural skills, how these students work practice-oriented under the guidelines of experts from different entrepreneurial mindsets and how they become aware of cultural differences. Besides other aspects, it seems to be advantageous for international entrepreneurship programmes to remain open and flexible during the whole process and to offer a programme that allows students to integrate participation into their regular studies. Furthermore, it seems beneficial that students can tailor the programme to meet their specific needs.Rybnicek, R.; Gutschelhofer, A.; Bergner, S.; Seidenberger, A.; Taferner, R. (2017). Fostering entrepreneurship in an international university collaboration. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 991-998. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.549299199

Be like me: The effects of manager-supervisor alignment

Purpose: This study examines whether managerial capability fit between line-managers, middle-managers, and top-level managers enhances effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach: Effectiveness data and managerial capability ratings from more than 1,600 manager-supervisor dyads were collected in the United States and Germany. Polynomial regression was used to study the relation between manager-supervisor fit and managerial effectiveness. Findings: Our results indicate that the fit of managerial capabilities between a manager and his/her supervisor predicts the effectiveness of this manager. The most effective managers show particularly high managerial capabilities that are in line with predominantly high managerial capabilities of their supervisors. Two aspects are important: the manager-supervisor fit and the absolute capability level that both possess. The results further indicate that the importance of the manager-supervisor fit varies across lower, middle, and top-level management dyads. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes by advancing research on managerial capability fit conditions between managers and their supervisors as a central element in viewing and managing effectiveness of managers. Practical implications: This article informs managers, supervisors, and HR professionals about pitfalls in organizations that degrade effectiveness. Originality/value: This article shows how the alignment between managers and their supervisors relates to effectiveness in a large-scale study across different hierarchical levels

A framework for antecedents of social entrepreneurial intention: Empirical evidence and research agenda

Social entrepreneurship (SE) increasingly contributes to diversity in entrepreneurship. The different approaches to SE suggest a variety of antecedents which drive individuals' intention to become social entrepreneurs. While this variety of antecedents is insightful, it also creates a need for systemisation and prioritization. We address this need by introducing an integrative, multi-level framework for person-based antecedents of SE-intention. Based on this multi-level framework the antecedents are grouped on three theoretical levels which refer to an individual's (1) personality, (2) cognition, and (3) entrepreneurial exposition. When testing our framework with 499 South African University students we find support for the multi-level framework and its notion that antecedents from the diverse levels complement each other. Therefore, this study provides a structure for person-based antecedents of SE-intention and additionally points to future research which may extend the proposed framework.</p

Investigating neural efficiency in the visuo-spatial domain: an FMRI study.

The neural efficiency hypothesis postulates an inverse relationship between intelligence and brain activation. Previous research suggests that gender and task modality represent two important moderators of the neural efficiency phenomenon. Since most of the existing studies on neural efficiency have used ERD in the EEG as a measure of brain activation, the central aim of this study was a more detailed analysis of this phenomenon by means of functional MRI. A sample of 20 males and 20 females, who had been screened for their visuo-spatial intelligence, was confronted with a mental rotation task employing an event-related approach. Results suggest that less intelligent individuals show a stronger deactivation of parts of the default mode network, as compared to more intelligent people. Furthermore, we found evidence of an interaction between task difficulty, intelligence and gender, indicating that more intelligent females show an increase in brain activation with an increase in task difficulty. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the neural efficiency hypothesis, and possibly also of gender differences in the visuo-spatial domain

Instruments of official communication by regulatory authorities on risks of drug use

Active communication of authorities, such as the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) and the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), including maintenance of contacts with health care professionals, as well as press and public relations work, are essential prerequisites for ensuring that information on the risks of using medicinal products reaches both affected patients and healthcare professionals quickly and in a targeted manner. The various instruments of targeted communication describe possible risks and also contain recommendations that help to reduce the risk of using a medicinal product. The supplementary public relations work aims to make the tasks and objectives of the authority known to the public and to experts with the goal of creating and expanding trust in the actions of the authorities. To this end, appropriate communication platforms must be established and accepted so that they are used by both experts and the general public and the authority is perceived and appreciated as a reliable source of risk information. The currently available instruments of targeted risk communication, such as Dear Health Care Professional Communication (DHPC), risk management plans, and educational materials are described in this paper as well as broader communication on official websites or towards the media. Finally, PEI’s risk communication is highlighted with particular reference to COVID-19 vaccines.Die aktive Kommunikation von Behörden, wie dem Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM) und dem Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI), einschließlich der Kontaktpflege zu Fachkreisen sowie Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit sind wesentliche Voraussetzung dafür, dass Informationen zu Anwendungsrisiken von Arzneimitteln sowohl betroffene Patientinnen und Patienten als auch Angehörige der Heilberufe schnell und gezielt erreichen. Die verschiedenen Instrumente der gezielten Kommunikation beschreiben mögliche Risiken und enthalten darüber hinaus auch Empfehlungen, die helfen, das Anwendungsrisiko eines Arzneimittels zu reduzieren. Die ergänzende Öffentlichkeitsarbeit zielt darauf ab, die Aufgaben und Ziele der Behörde in der Bevölkerung und in Fachkreisen bekannt zu machen, um Vertrauen in behördliches Handeln zu schaffen und auszubauen. Dafür müssen entsprechende Kommunikationsplattformen etabliert und akzeptiert sein, die sowohl von Fachkreisen als auch von der Bevölkerung genutzt werden können. Die aktuell verfügbaren Instrumente der gezielten Risikokommunikation, wie Rote-Hand-Briefe (RHB), Risikomanagementpläne und Schulungsmaterial, werden in dieser Publikation ebenso beschrieben wie die breiter angelegte Kommunikation auf den behördlichen Webseiten oder gegenüber den Medien. Schließlich wird die Risikokommunikation des PEI unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der COVID-19-Impfstoffe beleuchtet

Experimental task.

<p>Left: identical condition; middle: experimental condition with two congruent arrows rotated in a 90° angle; right: experimental condition with two incongruent arrows rotated in a 90° angle.</p

Effects of task difficulty.

<p>Areas showing an increase of brain activation with an increase of task difficulty (i.e, rotation angle; <i>p</i><.05, FWE corrected).</p

Task-difficulty related activation. Presented are significant clusters identified with task difficulty (rotation angle) as regressor of interest (<i>p</i><.05, FWE corrected, k>50).

<p>Task-difficulty related activation. Presented are significant clusters identified with task difficulty (rotation angle) as regressor of interest (<i>p</i><.05, FWE corrected, k>50).</p

Interaction of task difficulty and intelligence.

<p>Areas showing an increase of brain activation with an increase of task difficulty (i.e., rotation angle) for people with higher visuo-spatial intelligence (<i>p</i><10⁻³, uncorrected).</p