Knowledge base, information search and intention to adopt innovation

Innovation is a process that involves searching for new information. This paper builds upon theoretical insights on individual and organizational learning and proposes a knowledge based model of how actors search for information when confronted with innovation. The model takes into account different search channels, both local and non local, and relates their use to the knowledge base of actors. The paper also provides an empirical validation of our model based on a study on the search channels used by a sample of Dutch consumers when buying new consumer electronic products.knowledge base, learning, information search, innovation, consumer behaviour

Perceived technology clusters and ownership of related technologies: the case of consumer electronics

We contribute to the understanding of how technologies may be perceived to be part of technology clusters. The value added of the paper is both at a theoretical and empirical level. We add to the theoretical understanding of technology clusters by distinguishing between clusters in perceptions and clusters in ownership and by proposing a mechanism to explain the existence of clusters. Our empirical analysis combines qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate clusters of consumer electronics for a sample of Dutch consumers. We find that perceived clusters in consumer electronics are mostly determined by functional linkages and that perceived technology clusters are good predictors of ownership clusters, but only for less widely diffused products.Technology clusters, consumer electronics, innovation

Involvement and use of multiple search channels in the automobile purchase process

In this study we investigate the relationship between involvement and use of multiple search channels in the case of pre-purchase information search for automobiles. We derive theoretical hypotheses by combining arguments from both an economic or cost/benefit approach and a motivational perspective. Our theoretical framework is tested on a sample of 1392 Dutch consumers using a structural equation model approach. We find that interpersonal sources and retailers are relatively often consulted and their use is not strongly related to involvement. The use of channels such as the World Wide Web and mass media is instead strongly related to involvement, because their specialized content is best appreciated by highly involved consumers. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.car purchase, involvement, pre-purchase information search

Consumer Car Preferences and Information Search Channels

In this paper, we measure the relations between stated and revealed car preferences and the use of information sources in the car purchasing process, based on a survey of households in the Netherlands. The analysis showed that attitudinal and behavioral constructs are found for ‘environmental’, ‘performance’, and ‘convenience’ preferences, but that there is a ‘gap’ between attitude and behavior. The results show that people with a positive environmental attitude who also show environmentally friendly behavior have more involvement with cars than people who do not translate their environmental attitude into the corresponding behavior. This leads to the idea that not only environmental knowledge but also involvement with cars is a prerequisite for buying an environmentally friendly car.car purchase, involvement, attitude–behavior gap, information search

A resource-based view on the interactions of university researchers

The high value of collaboration among scientists and of interactions of university researchers with industry is generally acknowledged. In this study we explain the use of different knowledge networks at the individual level from a resource-based perspective. This involves viewing networks as a resource that offers competitive advantages to an individual university researcher in terms of career development. Our results show that networking and career development are strongly related, but it is important to distinguish between different types of networks. Although networks on various levels (faculty, university, scientific, industrial) show strong correlations, we found three significant differences. First, networking within one’s own faculty and with researchers from other universities stimulates careers, while interactions with industry do not. Second, during the course of an academic career a researcher’s scientific network activity first rises, but then declines after about 20 years. Science-industry collaboration, however, continuously increases. Third, the personality trait ‘global innovativeness’ positively influences science-science interactions, but not science-industry interactions.research collaboration, science-industry interaction, individual researcher, resource-based view

The change agent teaching model : Educating entrepreneurial leaders to help solve grand societal challenges

Higher education is increasingly expected to educate change agents who can help with solving grand societal challenges. Social and sustainable entrepreneurship (SSE) education and social and sustainable leadership (SSL) education provide promising directions to develop the education that prepares these students for their future roles. However, both educations are part of different research streams and have their respective pedagogical approaches. In this systematic literature review, we identify the differences and similarities between SSE and SSL education. We used the teaching model framework to map systematically the elements of the teaching and learning process. Our results show that the different streams share the aim of educating change agents in authentic, collaborative learning processes that are experiential in nature and challenge students to create value for others. However, SSE education focuses more on creating societal value, whereas SSL education captures the personal development of students. Based on the review, we present an overarching teaching model for educating change agents. Our teaching model can guide practitioners to design change agent education. It illustrates the urgency to change pedagogies fundamentally and how students, staff, and teaching infrastructures should be approached using such pedagogies to realize impactful change agent education

Автори

In the packaged food industry, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an informal requirement for which firms account through sustainability reporting. CSR behaviors are often reported and analyzed using the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) framework, which categorizes them as affecting people, planet, or profit. 3BL is useful in determining which of these categories is most elaborated upon by the firm, but has a limited scope and many documented criticisms. This paper aims to address the aforementioned insufficiencies by augmenting the 3BL framework with two important attributes of CSR practices: (1) the presence of change in core firm behavior of the firm itself or of others in the supply chain, and (2) whether the behavior qualifies as being outside of the firm's normal business practice or is something that they might have done anyway. We qualitatively analyze CSR behaviors described in sustainability reports and interviews from major players in the packaged food industry and categorize them using these attributes as a supplement to 3BL. This enables us to separate the behaviors from their framing and analyze them more critically. Our results demonstrate how the visible CSR efforts of a firm can be misleading at first glance. Using only 3BL, we find that the CSR focus of firms in this industry is people. We then discover that the codes focusing on people (as opposed to planet or profit) require the least amount of real structural change from a firm or its supply chain partners, and thus arguably, the least amount of effort. We also find that behaviors that focus on planet require the most effort within the firm itself, but for behaviors involving supply chain partners, effort is required for behaviors in all three categories. Finally, we find that CSR behavior that is related to planet tends to go beyond normal business practice

In search of valid non-cognitive student selection criteria

Properly selecting students is one of the core responsibilities of higher education institutions, which is done with selection criteria that predict student success. However, student selection literature suffers from a dearth of research on non-cognitive selection criteria which can lead to incorrect admission assessments. Contrarily, personnel selection studies are heavily focused on non-cognitive selection criteria and, as such, can offer insights that can improve the student selection literature. We carried out a systematic literature review of both literature strands and looked for ways in which personnel selection literature could inform student selection literature. We found that non-cognitive selection criteria are better predictors of success in personnel selection than in student selection, implying that non-cognitive skills are more important for job success. We also identified promising selection criteria from the personnel selection literature that could lead to better student success assessment during the selection phase: personality tests, conscientiousness, person-organization-fit, core-self-evaluations and polychronicity

One field too far?: Higher cognitive relatedness between bachelor and master leads to better ­predictive validity of bachelor grades during admission

Prospective graduate students are usually required to have attained an undergraduate degree in a related field and high prior grades to gain admission. There is consensus that some relatedness between the students’ undergraduate and graduate programs is required for admission. We propose a new measurement for this relatedness using cosine similarity, a method that has been tried and tested in fields such as bibliometric sciences and economic geography. We used this measurement to calculate the relatedness between a student’s undergraduate and graduate program, and tested the effect of this measure on study success. Our models show that there is an interaction effect between undergraduate grades and cognitive relatedness on graduate grades. For bachelor students with high cognitive relatedness, the relationship between bachelor grades and master grades is about twice as strong compared to bachelor students with low cognitive relatedness. This is an important finding because it shows that undergraduate grades, the most common admission instrument in higher education, have limited usefulness for students with relatively unrelated undergraduate programs. Admissions officers need to carefully assess their admission instruments for such students and rely less on grades when it comes to the decision to admit students

Информационное обеспечение в процессно-ориентированной модели управления предприятиями

Приведено описание информационного обеспечения как составной части менеджмента производственного предприятия в его современном, процессном представлении. Информационное обеспечение предприятий связано с качеством функционирования, которое с точки зрения процессно-ориентированных стандартов характеризуется результативностью и эффективностью.It has been accomplished the description of data-ware as a component of manufacturing enterprise management in its modern process presentation. The data-ware of enterprise is connected with quality of functioning, which is defined by effectiveness and efficiency of the according process-oriented standards