Managerial learning and management development in New Zealand SMEs

Objectives: Managerial capability in New Zealand SMEs has been perceived by policy makers as a factor that has constrained SME growth and development (MED, 2008). The New Zealand Centre for SME Research (NZSMERC) has undertaken a programme of research on managerial capability in New Zealand SMEs. This paper reports findings from the Centre’s 2009 annual survey of 1500 SMEs, the BusinesSMEasure. The survey builds on a previous qualitative study and is part of a programme of research which had the following objectives: (1) to understand how SME owner-managers assess their development needs and how they meet these needs; (2) to assess the extent of participation in management development; and (3) to assess the perceived impact of management development on their business. Prior Work: Previous literature and research evidence with SME owner managers suggests a low take up of formal managerial development programmes and a reliance on incidental and informal managerial learning processes (Massey et al, 2005). NZSMERC’s previous qualitative study with 25 SME owner-managers (Battisti, et al, 2009), enabled the development of a conceptual framework and typology to explain orientation to learning and management development. Further, it allowed the identification of variables that affected attitudes to managerial learning and participation in management development. The survey has enabled the testing of some of the propositions from the qualitative stage, such as the importance of sources of managerial learning and the importance of variables that influence owner manager participation in management development. Approach: The 2009 BusinesSMEasure survey involved 4,165 firms (including 694 firms who responded in the 2007 and 743 firms who responded in 2008 survey). There were 1447 usable responses after excluding 297 ineligible and unreachable firms, which gave an overall response rate of 35%, Building on the previous qualitative study and utilising the adapted theoretical framework, we have applied non-parametric analysis to examine the significance of SME profile characteristics affecting against typologies of learning and management development. Exploratory factor analysis has been undertaken on the range of variables affecting managerial learning and development to reveal clusters of variables driving managerial learning and development. Hypotheses generated by literature and theory have been tested and regression modelling completed. Results: Survey findings suggest incidental and informal managerial learning processes were predominant modes of owner-manager learning. These types of learning were associated with practice-based and proximal sources of learning, as opposed to more distal sources. Significant variables that affected the type and sources of SME managerial learning were gender, age, learning orientation and a belief of self improvement. There was a strong link between innovation and engagement in management development. Firms with at least one type of innovation activity reported to be more engaged in management development across all three types of learning i.e. incidental, informal and formal. Theoretical developments in the literature are used to provide the basis for testing hypotheses associated with learning orientation and belief in self improvement Implications: The research undertaken by the Centre was driven by a policy imperative: to investigate the causes of an underlying trend in New Zealand SMEs which suggested that there was a lack of managerial capability in SMEs and a failure of SMEs to engage with formal management development initiatives. Having revealed the drivers of managerial development and sources of learning we develop implications for supply side management development programmes and policy interventions

Social capital for knowledge management : the case of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Asia-Pacific Region

This article proposes a conceptual framework that explains that the social capital of a community shapes the innovation performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through knowledge management within the firm. The study\u27s significance stems from the unprecedented effort in explaining how community social capital matters in the innovation performance of SMEs, a departure from previous studies that have typically examined market-related or hierarchical social capital in the form of formal networks and directly linked them to a firm\u27s innovation performance without due regard for knowledge management within the firm as an antecedent of organisational innovation performance. The aim is to stimulate further thinking and empirical research on the subject of social capital of a community in the SME and/or entrepreneurial context.<br /

Occlusion Handling using Semantic Segmentation and Visibility-Based Rendering for Mixed Reality

Real-time occlusion handling is a major problem in outdoor mixed reality system because it requires great computational cost mainly due to the complexity of the scene. Using only segmentation, it is difficult to accurately render a virtual object occluded by complex objects such as trees, bushes etc. In this paper, we propose a novel occlusion handling method for real-time, outdoor, and omni-directional mixed reality system using only the information from a monocular image sequence. We first present a semantic segmentation scheme for predicting the amount of visibility for different type of objects in the scene. We also simultaneously calculate a foreground probability map using depth estimation derived from optical flow. Finally, we combine the segmentation result and the probability map to render the computer generated object and the real scene using a visibility-based rendering method. Our results show great improvement in handling occlusions compared to existing blending based methods

Manpower Training Needs Analysis of the Bamboo Furniture Industry in Luzon Island, Philippines

A survey was conducted on the manpower· training needs of the bamboo furniture industry in the selected provinces of Luz on Island, Philippines. The general objective was to generate data on industrial manpower as a basis for designing and conducting appropriate training courses aimed at improving manpower competencies in bamboo furniture industries. All the bamboo furniture producers and exporters belong to cottage-type industries with capitalization of P500 to P200,000. Majority of them (55.4%) have invested up to P10,000 in furniture industry compared with those whose capital ranges P10,000 to P50,000 (34.4%) and over P50,000 (10.2%). Family ownership is the most common among the respondents, followed by single proprietorship and the least by a corporation. The respondents are involved in mass production and made-to-order items, the most saleable of which being the sala set. "Management Planning and Control" is perceived as the most relevant competency category in relation to job performance and all the rest are not relevant. For future training, "Management Planning and Control" and "Technological Innovations" are rated most relevant while the other three categories are not relevant. Despite the prof its derived from bamboo furniture industry, the furniture makers are confronted with many problems. The producers are characterized by lack of entrepreneurial management skills, inadequate knowledge of bamboo drying, lack of storage facilities and poorly-maintained equipment/tools, inadequate knowledge of product design development and finishes / finishing techniques, and lack of quality control. The exporters are faced with lack of institutional support, financial management problems and inadequate knowledge of markets/marketing strategies. In order to minimize these problems, intensive information campaign on available technological innovations should be conducted by the technology - generating institutions. Likewise, financing / lending institutions should devise simple borrowing schemes more adapted to the limited business capability of the small furniture manufacturers

AUDIENCE TARGETING IN CHINESE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF WOLF WARRIOR RHETORIC

In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has adopted an increasingly combative and assertive approach to diplomacy worldwide, dubbed “wolf warrior diplomacy.” It is particularly evident in PRC diplomats’ communication strategies, known for their individualistic and aggressive rhetoric on Western media platforms like Twitter. This communication strategy, however, is not conducted in the same way across all countries. With that in mind, this study analyzes the tone PRC diplomats use in their wolf warrior–style rhetoric. Furthermore, it considers the host country’s characteristics and cultural differences, in particular cultural individualism, which makes that country a more suitable target for wolf warrior diplomacy. Using Twitter messages collected from PRC diplomats’ official accounts, the study applies structural topic modeling and text analysis to show the correlation between the rhetoric and the characteristics of the host country as the intended audience. The findings reveal that individualistic and aggressive rhetoric is more likely to target culturally individualistic host countries. At the same time, various country-based factors also affect online rhetoric and influence the use of the wolf warrior strategy. Researching this area from a different perspective and presenting claims with data-driven evidence provides valuable guidance and learning opportunities essential to the public and policymakers.Lieutenant Commander, Philippine NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

The development of an instruction system based upon multiple sources and task related training schemes : its adoption to effect the delivery of relevant maritime education and training

Education and training has a definite role in the preparation for the performance of a professional job. The complementary relationship of education and training is examined in this context. The discussion discloses how the actual practice of the professional work differs from what is taught in the classrooms. This concerns the instruction system, its relevance and timeliness and how effective it is in completing the preparation necessary for the adequate performance of a professional work. The paper describes the prevailing situation in maritime education and training delivering such instructions specifically at the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy as a representative institution. Several points in the description are true generally in the situation of MET in developing countries. Competence is judged right in the workplace. The focus of the training concept presented in the paper is the actual performance of a professional work. Applying this concept recognizes a training need. The actual job performance becomes the prescribed student perfomance and brings the study of the professional work inside the classrooms. A new instruction system accomplishes the task of converting the routines of the actual shipboard work into units of instruction. Instructors need to alternately teach ashore and board ships for a shipboard duty to deliver such new system of instructions and to update themselves and the course topics they will teach. This involves many administrative issues concerning the faculty, implications on hiring and participation of the shipping companies, and crucial implications in the existing academic programs. Adoption of the new instruction system is further supported by the requirements of the revised Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping 1978 and the implementation of the International Safety Management Code. Conclusions are formulated in the final chapter with recommendations for the implementation of the whole scheme in maritime schools