Business growth models:review of past 60 years

Abstract This study reviews growth configurations research published over the past 60 years. Numerous configuration models seek to clarify the management priorities in the early growth of companies. However, an extensive review is missing from the literature and the variability of attributes among the models leads to confusion. The study identifies 90 configuration studies, describes the common patterns and trends, and identifies well-covered areas and promising research challenges. This meta-analysis reveals increasing consensus on growth indicators, sharpening focus, increasing context and process specificity, and diversification. Future approaches are encouraged to provide context-specific empirical studies, and to open new viewpoints

Integrating Design Thinking into peer-learning community:impacts on professional development and learning

Abstract Purpose: This study aims to develop a pedagogy which would help a school become a workplace for learning and professional development. Essentially, this objective addresses the following critical question. How can a school become an attractive workplace where learning and professional development of teachers positively contribute to better teaching and learning for the students? Design/methodology/approach: The research is considered as a case study. The pilot project or experiment has taken place at Mattayom Suwitserianusorn School which is part of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. Design Thinking and Finnish practices have been explicitly integrated into peer-learning community (PLC). Design Thinking, through the use of empathy, helps highlight the interrelationships among motivation, emotion and cognition of students. Follow-up meetings provide insights into teacher’s professional development and impacts on student’s learning. The verification is based on award and recognition gathered over the past years for students and the school. Findings: PLC helps improve a school as a place for learning and professional development. The significance of integrating Design Thinking is extensively discussed. The project shows how co-teaching can be applied, given a proper selection of a problem. Higher motivation and better behavior among students are noticeable. The pilot project reinforces the importance of PLC in the current pedagogical development as it helps transform a school into workplace learning for both teachers and students. Blending Design Thinking helps strengthen the sustainability of PLC, as a lesson plan should be revised according to the students’ background and needs. Research limitations/implications: The study responds to the call by several international studies for better pedagogical development and in-service training for teachers’ continuous learning and professional development. More vigorous comparisons with other schools will be needed to help verify the study’s findings. This is due to the need to have a longitudinal study of PLC’s impacts. Practical implications: For teachers, an understanding of their common interests and the recognition on the need to learn from one another is important. For students, an understanding of their psychology and emotional intelligence through the use of Design Thinking is highlighted. Motivation, emotion and cognition of students are interrelated and can help transform a school into learning space. Originality/value: The study contributes to the transformation of a school as a workplace for learning and professional development which is based on the aforementioned pedagogical development. Also, Design Thinking helps strengthen PLC as an alternative pedagogical practices

Feedback and human learning:preliminary insights from disengaged students

Abstract Background: How to reconnect the disengaged learners has been a major challenge for human learning. Motivating the disengaged learners through traditional interventions has not been effective. Objective: The study aims to examine whether feedback from an external unit would be more persuasive for the disengaged learners. The perception on a lack of learning stems from poor attitude of learning, poor behavior, laziness, and lack of learning ability and attention. Methods: A foreign business community has collaborated with two Bangkok Metropolitan Administration schools since 2016 on creating constructive and indirect feedback. There were 337 students from both schools participated in the survey. 163 students participated in the revised practices while 174 students attended the traditional practices. Results: The results show the gap between the two groups on the effects from constructive and indirect feedback. The disengaged students from the revised pedagogy show that they are attracted to constructive feedback and indirect feedback more. Conclusions: The findings show that, unlike the traditional paradigm, the disengaged students are perceptive to external feedback. The findings show some consistency with previous studies. Integrating external feedback can attract the attention from the disengaged students which could potentially contribute to human learning

Effects of external feedback on disengagement in a human-centric environment

Abstract Background: Overcoming the disengagement feeling in a human-centric environment such as a workplace or a school is essential. In fact, the disengagement in a workplace or at school is one of the major challenges today. Lack of meaningful engagement contributes to this feeling. Objective: It is to assess the impacts of external feedback on learning and development. External feedback reflects engagement with the disengaged learners. Methods: Two schools where the students are generally viewed as disengaged have been involved since 2016. Foreign business communities have worked closely with teachers, and disengaged learners as an external feedback provider. The feedback design is based on the Double-loop Learning. The survey is used to assess the impacts of external feedback. Results: External feedback significantly contributes to more positive feeling on safety, belonginess, and happiness which is essential for learning and development. Based on the findings, external feedback helps overcome the feeling of disengagement in a human-centric environment. Conclusions: The proper use of external feedback in a human-centric environment shows tangible benefits, especially when dealing with the disengaged learners. External feedback can help re-engage the disengaged learners which can lead to better learning and development

Early stages of technology-intensive companies in Thailand and Finland

Abstract Numerous stage models have attempted to clarify management priorities during the early stages of companies. However, a need for more focused and context-specific studies exists. This study seeks to clarify the early stages of technology-intensive companies in Thai and Finnish contexts. To summarise the research questions, the authors ask: What early stages do technology-intensive companies face based on recent empirical literature? How do the experiences of managers in early-stage technology-intensive companies relate to assumptions of such stage framework? What viewpoints should be considered when using stage framework in Thai and Finnish contexts? To answer these questions, this study devises a four-stage framework describing early stages of technology-intensive companies and reflects it through ten case studies in the two contexts. The framework was found to be applicable in both contexts; moreover, an analysis of context-specific viewpoints is also provided. It is necessary to recognise these viewpoints when using this framework in the Thai and Finnish contexts

Learning about design and development:the roles of industrial design and concurrent engineering

Abstract This research examines a design and development process for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have to perform this process well for business success. The study tackles the confusion over the roles of Industrial Design (ID) within this process. This confusion potentially hinders SMEs| long-term competitiveness. The study is part of the Concurrent Design in Networks (CODENET) project in Finland, which focuses on improving ID in design and development. A total of six case companies from the Oulu region are observed and studied. The findings show that the confusion highlights various perceived roles of ID, a lack of interaction and two-way communication, external design sources, etc. In an attempt to address these problems, a practical framework, derived from Concurrent Engineering (CE), is jointly proposed to case companies. This framework stresses the importance of working together across functional units within and outside an SME. It should be recognised that this framework is mainly for business-to-business circumstances

Human capital development:a construct for underprivileged students

Abstract Background: Preparing underprivileged students to become human capital is a challenge. Issues relating to motivation and behavior are often cited as a roadblock for the quality of their learning and development. Objective: The primary goal of this study is to develop a construct for future design and improvement to ensure successful human capital development for underprivileged students. The proposed construct is derived from the case study with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration since 2016. Methods:Observation and interviews, through the use of Big Data represent the key tasks in the study’s methodology. Comparing the findings with previous studies helped to verify the study’s credibility. Results: Improvements (e.g., recognition and behavior) in science experiment and education, through the focus on ecology and environment have been successful due to empathy, trust, psychological safety, participation, sense of belongingness, pride, and financial incentive (from the sales of product developed from science experiment). Conclusions: The construct for human capital development helps visualize the interrelationship among these factors. More importantly, recognizing the extreme value in student demographics when engaging with underprivileged students is essential for design and improvement. Finally, additional tasks are recommended to help generalize and extend this construct

Constructive feedback and the perceived impacts on learning and development by the learners’ genders

Abstract Background: Constructive feedback has positively contributed to learning and development, especially for disengaged and underprivileged learners. The study examines whether the perceived impacts from constructive feedback are different between the male and female learners. Objectives: The objective is to assess whether there is a significant difference in the perception between the male and female learners in their response to constructive feedback. Three circumstances are under study-general feeling towards constructive feedback, perceived impacts on belongingness and happiness, and perceived impacts on the frequency of physical, verbal, and psychological bullying. Methods: There are 482 learners who participated in the surveys, 185 male and 297 female learners. Statistical analysis is applied to gain more insights into the surveys. A follow-up small session is organized to enhance the findings. Results: It appears that the impacts from constructive feedback on the learners’ genders are apparently minimal within the context of three circumstances. Thus, the perception of the learners who are disengaged and underprivileged is relatively comparable. Conclusions: The findings contribute to dealing with the disengaged learners in a workplace (and a school). Despite the insignificant difference based on the gender, other issues relating to design and delivery of constructive feedback should be further investigated

From training to learning:transition of a workplace for industry 4.0

Abstract Background: Transition into Industry 4.0 has had many significant impacts. Customization symbolizes leanness, flexibility, adaptability, and agility. A business operator needs to recognize the factors that contribute to better utilization of the talents of its workforce and more effective workplace learning. Objective: The study aims to provide a construct which highlights effective workplace learning. In this context, a construct represents a broad view of various interrelated ideas and concepts which can point to academic and practical implications. Methods: The study applies action research which is suitable when observing a transformative change. The study intends to observe and notice how the environmental factors have changed and try to predict their impacts on human capital development. To help verify the suitability of these impacts, a comparison with similar studies or findings is made. Focuses on literature reviews which look at the impacts from Industry 4.0 (on a need to tackle the waste of the talents in a workplace), recent developments of learning (on an emerging importance of informal learning), and survey’s data (on a shift in a workplace’s expectation on the workers). Results: Workplace learning has gradually replaced training and education. The proposed construct can help tackle the underutilization of the talents in a workplace as the workers are nowadays expected to perform the tasks and learn at the same time. Conclusions: Sustaining learning in a workplace needs to understand behavior, motivation, emotion, and workplace engagement. Informal learning, which reflects the individualization of learning, can enable an organization to deal with workplace learning