Empirical approach to the analysis of university student absenteeism: proposal of a questionnaire for students to evaluate the possible causes

Works on student absenteeism in the universities have not been preferential for the authors in the field of educational research. Usually, what has been made is an approach to the available absenteeism data as an intervening variable or as a variable characteristic of the educational process, but not as a dependent variable in the strict sense of the term. In this work, we intend to make an empirical approach to the possible reasons of student absenteeism. There is a double point of view: the students’ and the professors’; the reasons that justify it according to its protagonists are studied. This paper focuses on the six university degrees taught at the School of Economy and Business of the University of Barcelona (Facultat d’Economia i Empresa de la Universitat de Barcelona). An “ad-hoc” questionnaire has been prepared and the opinions of 1,162 undergraduates have been analyzed. The reasons given by each population differ in hierarchy and motivations.     

Marketing practices in the Spanish rural tourism sector and their contribution to business outcomes

This paper sets out to highlight the importance of entrepreneurial and market orientations for the success of enterprises operating out of a rural base. Using these two strategic frameworks, this paper identifies the marketing practices undertaken by rural enterprises, and evaluates their effect on business performance, on the local entrepreneur, and on the rural area itself. Enterprises operating from a rural location play a strategic role in the sustainable development of economies, in the context of which the rural tourism sector particularly stands out. The use of marketing practices appropriate to the aims, capacities and resources of such enterprises is proposed as a mechanism for improving their performance. Using the Spanish rural tourism sector as the basis, a scale measuring marketing practices, and another scale reflecting three different types of outcome – financial, those linked personally to the entrepreneur, and those in terms of development of the rural environment – are proposed and validated, and the effect of marketing practices on the performance of such enterprises is analysed. The findings, which reveal that marketing practices have a significant effect on the achievement of outcomes, have implications of interest for the literature and for practitioners in the rural enterprise sector.     

Necessity entrepreneurship in Latin America: it´s not that simple

ABSTRACT

Entrepreneurship literature takes for granted the motivation dichotomy; however, this simplistic view have been criticised for several studies because it likely does an injustice to entrepreneurs, particularly Latin America (LA) entrepreneurs. This study seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge on entrepreneurs to better explain the process of entrepreneurs being motivated by necessity. We use the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database for LA countries and develop an econometric model based on a set of variables, including contextual variables. First, we identify three types of entrepreneurial motivation: necessity, opportunity and transition. We then demonstrate that the motivation dichotomy does not represent LA entrepreneurship. Second, we find that necessity-driven entrepreneurship does not necessarily indicate the absence of high growth aspirations because some entrepreneurs in this category have such aspirations. Third, we observe that significant differences exist among entrepreneurs based on context, specifically among necessity-driven entrepreneurs. These findings have practical implications for research on entrepreneurship and for regional development.     

Call for Papers

Submission deadline: September 30, 2009     

In search of demanded competencies: designing superior compensation systems

Employees' competencies are decisive components in a firm's competitiveness. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to assess whether differences in strategy influence employees' competencies and how the design of compensation systems may best take into account the competencies required by a firm. An analysis was conducted on a sample of manufacturing firms using structural equation models. The findings support the existence of generic competencies, such as results and customer orientation, which are found in both prospector and defender strategic contexts, while other competencies – such as innovation, technical expertise and adaptability – are specific to the prospector strategy. In relation to compensation, the results show that skill-based pay is more strongly associated with competencies such as innovation, technical expertise and adaptability, whereas performance-based compensation systems encourage result-based competency. Therefore, the design of a compensation system should be guided by the competencies required as part of a firm's strategy.     

Managing knowledge through human resource practices: empirical examination on the Spanish automotive industry

This paper considers the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and knowledge management (KM). Specifically, it examines how the human resource (HR) practices that are expected to impact on employees’ abilities, motivation, and opportunity to engage in KM, do so by enabling knowledge sharing, knowledge maintaining, and knowledge creation within organizations. HRM expected to impact employees’ abilities include training and development practices. HRM expected to impact on employees’ motivation include rewards and appraisal practices. HRM expected to impact on employees’ opportunities including providing the support of trusting collaborative relationships. Therefore, HR practices impacting employees’ abilities, motivation, and opportunities are expected to be positively related to knowledge sharing and maintaining within organizations. HR practices impacting employees’ abilities, motivation, and opportunity are expected to be positively related to knowledge creation through their effect on knowledge sharing within organizations. Our research methodology uses a questionnaire survey approach to collect data from firms belonging to the Spanish automotive industry. Results from a final sample of 64 Spanish automotive firms show that HR practices aimed at motivating and giving employees the opportunity to behave as expected significantly affect knowledge sharing and maintaining. Further, knowledge sharing and maintaining is shown to mediate the relationship between HR practices and knowledge creation. The paper ends with a conclusion, limitations and implications for future research.     

The determinants of pay settlements: the influence of the national context

This article studies the influence of national context and collective bargaining on the factors taken into account when adjusting wages. Using data from Spanish and British manufacturing establishments, we examine the relative importance of the cost of living, the ability to recruit or retain employees, the financial performance of the organisation and the industrial relations climate on wage adjustments of manual workers at the establishment level. Our findings show that there are significant differences on the importance given to these factors in both countries. In part, these are related to differences in the incidence of collective bargaining.     

The management of variable pay in European banking

Banking is a major employer in most large European countries, facing common pressures in terms of competition and technological change. Traditional pay systems have been revised in response to changing business objectives and new forms of work organisation. This paper examines variable pay schemes (VPS) in banking in four countries with very different institutional contexts: Austria, Norway, Spain, and the UK. It finds extensive use of VPS in each case and shared managerial objectives in terms of performance management and cost control. Forms of VPS vary, with Norwegian banks in particular favouring collective forms of bonus, but overall there is a common drive towards individual (merit) pay and multiple bonus arrangements providing increased scope for management discretion. In broad terms, what the case of pay-setting in banking suggests is a course of fading path dependency at national level.     

Training policy and organisational performance in the Spanish hotel industry

There is currently a general agreement about the importance of training as a tool to help companies in the development of sustainable competitive advantages based on their human resources. Staff qualification is not an option in the tourism industry; human capital training actually becomes a determining factor to be able to achieve a differential positioning within the sector. In Spain, where the tourism sector is a strategic element, it becomes essential to analyse the training policy applied by tourism enterprises with the aim of assessing its quality and effectiveness. The objective sought in this study is to identify the main factors related to training policy that have an impact on performance. The study carries out an empirical research into the effects that training practices cause on performance levels in the Spanish hotel industry using a sample of 110 hotels.     

Lessons from the global financial crisis – the case of Mainland China and Hong Kong

Abstract

The analysis of the intertwined reactions of Hong Kong and Mainland China to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis is considered in this study through the lenses of their stock markets. The GARCH-based analysis of stock market performance over the period December 2011–December 2014 shows that trade and equity sectors were the sectors most affected by the global recession; volatility was prevalent on the Shanghai stock market, whereas volatility persistence characterised the Hong Kong stock market. The results also show that the two stock markets recovered quite quickly. Tight controls applied by the financial authorities helped ensure some stability during the crisis.