Leaders’ social ties, knowledge acquisition capability and firm competitive advantage

Drawing on the relational and knowledge-based views of competitive advantage, this study links leaders?? social ties and knowledge acquisition capability to competitive advantage of a firm. Specifically, it posits that leaders?? business ties and government ties have differential effects on firm competitive advantage. It further posits that the effect of leaders?? business ties on firm competitive advantage will be positively moderated by knowledge acquisition capability, and the effect of leaders?? government ties on firm competitive advantage will be negatively moderated by knowledge acquisition capability. The hypotheses are tested based on a survey of 386 firms in China. The results provide support for the hypotheses.     

The relationship between works councils and firms’ further training provision in times of technological change

Participating in further training is strategically important for employees to ensure their employability. Particularly for employees in low-skilled jobs, works councils — firm-level organizations that represent employees — constitute an important employee advocacy instrument in European countries, such as France and Germany. With comprehensive co-determination rights, works councils can influence firms’ hiring policies, job design and career paths (e.g. promotions). Using German firm-level data, we empirically investigate the influence of works councils on firms’ training provision for employees in firms below and above the industry level of technology. The results show that works councils have a positive effect on the percentage of employees in general, and of employees in low-skilled jobs in particular, participating in training, but only for firms below the industry level of technology. These results show the importance of works councils in supporting training in such firms and enhancing the employment prospects of employees in low-skilled jobs. In contrast, firms above the industry level of technology invest in training with or without a works council, indicating that the training interests of employers and employees are aligned.     

What matters to managerial knowledge acquisition in international joint ventures? High knowledge acquirers versus low knowledge acquirers

Although there is a general agreement amongst scholars that international joint venture (IJV) is a vehicle to acquire technology and knowledge from foreign parents, key factors differentiating high knowledge acquirers from low knowledge acquirers are not yet conclusive. For the purpose of this study, the samples are divided into two groups based on the extent of knowledge acquisition using cluster analysis. Then the two groups are examined to identify the main factors classifying the groups by using logistic regression. This study finds that managerial knowledge that has more sticky characteristics than technology is acquirable know-how. It also shows that trust between parents, international experience of IJV employees, and foreign parent’s support in various managerial functions will considerably increase the extent of knowledge acquisition for IJVs. In conclusion, based on the findings from this study, this paper offers suggestions to IJVs and multinational enterprises investing in Korea.     

The effect of an interdisciplinary STEM course on children’s attitudes of learning and engineering design skills

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - The study aimed to investigate the effect of an interdisciplinary STEM course on children’s attitudes of learning and engineering...     

Literacy,technology and ‘technological literacy’

The shortcomings of the technological literacy metaphor are reviewed. The lack of an agreed meaning for this concept reflects a widespread perplexity about how the study of technology should be incorporated into general education. The paper considers how the study of literature and history might contribute to an understanding of technology and posits a framework which permits the study of the made world to be incorporated within a humanistic educational scheme. It is suggested that the historical study of technologies of literacy could play a significant role in curricular integration.Based on a Plenary Address to the second Domains of Literacy Conference:Literacies for a Productive Future Institute of Education London 1/9/94Michael Barnett has been, since 1992, Professor of Technology and Education at the Institute of Education in London University. Prior to that he was Reader in Physics at Imperial College London. His main scholarly activities are concerned with the history, philosophy and sociology of technology and their bearing on educational practice. He has established an MA programme in Technology and Education which reflects these concerns.     

Organization,technology and management innovations through acquisition in China’s pork value chains: The case of the Smithfield acquisition by Shuanghui

This paper reviews the changes in Shuanghui’s operations after the Smithfield acquisition as well as transformations in China’s pork industries. As income grows and diets change, there has been an increasing demand for high-quality pork and more processed pork products. However, China’s swine and pork industries are still at an early stage of development as evidenced by the low market concentration, intensive use of labour, a proliferation of intermediaries, and low levels of technology. Bounded by the established consumer preferences for freshness and the status quo in the midstream and upstream segments, Shuanghui is in a slow process of upgrading its domestic operations with Smithfield’s leading brands, import of chilled and frozen pork, advanced technologies, and the vertically integrated business model after this acquisition. In particular, it remains unclear whether Shuanghui can follow Smithfield’s experience to establish stable and safe hog supplies by multiplying self-owned hog farms, maintain and expand its current contracts with large-scale commercial hog farms, or rely more on global sourcing of pork primarily from the U.S.     

Enhancing teachers’ technological pedagogical knowledge and practices: a professional development model for technology teachers in Malawi

This paper reports on a professional development that was designed and implemented in an attempt to broaden teachers’ knowledge of the nature of technology and also enhance their technological pedagogical practices. The professional development was organised in four phases with each phase providing themes for reflection and teacher learning in subsequent phases. On-going support, reflection and feedback underpinned the professional development processes to enhance teachers’ prospects of putting aside old traditions and culture to implement new practices in their classrooms. The teachers collaboratively explored new concepts through readings of selected scholarly papers, making presentations of their views generated from the readings and engaging with peers in discussing learning, curriculum issues and concepts related to the nature of technology and technology education. A qualitative analysis of the teachers’ journey through the phases of the professional development showed the teachers’ enhanced knowledge of technology and technology education. However, their classroom practices showed technological pedagogical techniques that reflected their traditional strategies for teaching technical subjects. It is argued that although the teachers’ conceptualisation of learning in technology was still fragile at this point, attempts to shift teachers’ beliefs and practices require deep theoretical grounding and transferring that into technological practices. A professional development built on existing ideas and context helps expand the teachers’ views about the nature of technology and technology education.     

Exploring pre-service technology teachers’ content and instructional knowledge to determine teaching readiness

Instructional practice plays a significant role in revealing how well teachers understand the subjects they teach. Many studies have been conducted in South Africa on the relationship between teachers’ knowledge of well-established subjects like Science and Mathematics and how well teachers apply their knowledge in the classroom. However, relatively little research has been done on the subject of Technology, which was only included in the national school curriculum after 1994. The aim of this study was to explore pre-service (i.e. in-training) Technology teachers’ content knowledge and instructional knowledge in the context of various theories about teaching. The study followed a case study approach. Five female pre-service Technology teachers, who were in their final year of teacher training at a South African university of technology and were doing their in-school practicum were observed. Video recorder was used to capture the delivering of a lesson to a class of Grade 8 learners. The researcher used the 9E instructional model, which comprises nine phases in the presentation of a lesson, as the basis for her observation work and final analysis. A key finding was that the content and instructional knowledge displayed by most pre-service Technology teachers was inadequate, which weakened their effectiveness in the classroom. As a result, learners were deprived of the opportunity to sharpen their cognitive skills and develop authentic interest in Technology. This study, though limited in scope, has laid an important foundation for more in-depth studies to be conducted on the extent of content and instructional knowledge in the sphere of Technology Education, which should be of value to other universities offering teacher-training programmes.

     

Researchers’ willingness to engage in knowledge and technology transfer activities: an exploration of the underlying motivations

Increasingly, universities have become conscious of their important role as centres of knowledge generation and diffusion. Accordingly, they have put in place policies, methods and resources to increase knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities. However, succeeding in this endeavour is not that easy. An active involvement of researchers is fundamental. Literature examining researchers’ attitude towards KTT activities is limited, offering a partial view on the subject. This study aims at bringing new light to this issue. First, we identify those factors that influence researchers’ willingness to engage in KTT activities. From a comprehensive literature review, we distinguish between intrinsic motivations, extrinsic motivations and university support and services as critical elements. A scale is developed and validated. Second, the scale is applied to the case of R&D contracts. The sample consists of 249 researchers from one of the biggest Spanish universities. Results suggest that the proposed scale has a good fit, indicating that it can be considered as a good instrument for measuring researchers’ willingness to get involved in KTT activities. Policy implications and directions for future research are provided.     

The effect of ‘can do’ and ‘reason to’ motivations on service–sales ambidexterity

Salespersons are increasingly expected to explore cross-/up-selling opportunities while simultaneously fulfilling customer service requests; an activity known as service–sales ambidexterity. Engaging simultaneously in these seemingly conflicting tasks may pose self-regulatory and motivational challenges for salespersons. Drawing from regulatory mode and self-determination theories, this study argues that salespersons' engagement in service–sales ambidexterity is driven by the ‘can do’ motivations of locomotion and assessment orientations, and the ‘reason to’ motivations of enjoyment of work and driven to work. This study contributes to the new literature stream on service–sales ambidexterity by testing a model that integrates the two behavioral motivation explanations. Results indicate that service–sales ambidexterity is jointly determined by the ‘can do’ and the ‘reason to’ motivations, both directly and through their interactions. The study offers new theoretical and managerial implications on ambidexterity at the individual level of analysis.     

What do they know? The effects of outside director acquisition experience on firm acquisition performance

This article contributes to the literature on board effectiveness by being perhaps the first to systematically examine how the nature of outside directors' prior experience, and resulting expertise, will influence the performance of a focal firm's strategic initiatives. Our theoretical model is grounded in the psychological literature on expertise and its role in group decision making effectiveness. We focus on outside director expertise in acquisition decision making, and its implications for the performance of the acquisitions of a focal firm. Our conceptual framework indicates that directors will develop expertise in making particular kinds of acquisition decisions (e.g., related or unrelated acquisitions or acquisitions in specific industries or product markets) through their past experiences at other firms with decisions about those specific types of acquisitions, and we predict that this experience and expertise will have positive effects on the performance of a focal firm's acquisitions. We extend our theoretical model to consider the conditions under which relevant director experience will prove most beneficial. Our model predicts that outside director acquisition expertise will deliver the greatest benefits when the focal firm's board is independent from management. We find empirical support for all of our hypotheses. In considering how and when director experience and resulting expertise may influence the performance of corporate acquisitions, our theory and results help to highlight a potential second main focus for research on the long‐standing question of what factors render boards of directors effective. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Where do firms' recombinant capabilities come from? Intraorganizational networks,knowledge, and firms' ability to innovate through technological recombination

A firm's innovativeness is driven by its ability to recombine existing technologies. Elaborating on this argument, we contend that there exist two distinct types of recombinant capabilities. First, firms may innovate through recombinant creation, i.e., by creating technological combinations new to the firm. Second, they may innovate through recombinant reuse; i.e., by reconfiguring combinations already known to the firm. We study what drives each type of capability by examining two factors: the degree of integration of a firm's intraorganizational network and the diversity of its knowledge base. We test our theoretical predictions using data on 126 semiconductor firms between 1984 and 2003. Our analyses indicate that factors that favor recombinant creation generally hinder recombinant reuse and vice versa; however, combining an integrated collaboration network and a diverse knowledge base may concurrently enhance both recombinant capabilities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does transformational leadership facilitate technological innovation? The moderating roles of innovative culture and incentive compensation

The present research investigates the relationships between SBU-level transformational leadership and technological innovation, as well as the moderating effects of innovative culture and incentive compensation. Paired data were gathered from 102 senior managers and 258 employees in 102 Taiwanese strategic business units (SBUs). The results indicate that transformational leadership behaviors promote technological innovation at the SBU level. Interestingly, a stronger innovative culture is a substitute for transformational leadership behavior for facilitating technological innovation. In addition, financial-incentive adoption neutralizes the relationship between transformational leadership and technological innovation.     

Reviewing the relations between teachers’ knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education

This literature review reports on the assumed relations between primary school teachers’ knowledge of technology and pupils’ attitude towards technology. In order to find relevant aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge, scientific literature in the field of primary technology education was searched. It is found that teacher knowledge is essential for stimulating a positive attitude towards technology in pupils. Particularly, teachers’ enhanced Pedagogical Content Knowledge is found to be related to pupils’ increased learning and interest in technology. Six aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge that are likely to play a role in affecting pupils’ attitude are identified and schematically presented in a hypothetical diagram. It is concluded that more empirical evidence on the influence of technology-specific teacher knowledge on pupils’ attitude is needed. The hypothetical diagram will serve as a helpful tool to investigate the assumed relations between teacher knowledge and pupils’ attitude empirically.     

Students’ knowledge sources and knowledge sharing in the design studio—an exploratory study

Architectural design is a knowledge-intensive activity; however, students frequently lack sufficient knowledge when they practice design. Collaborative learning can supplement the students’ insufficient expertise. Successful collaborative learning relies on knowledge sharing between students. This implies that the peers are a considerable design knowledge source for the students. However, students are involved in grade competition. Students may not be willing to share because knowledge is a critical resource for students’ performance. The web technology has been used to facilitate knowledge exchange among students; nevertheless, the convenience of technology may tempt free riding behavior and impede the development of a knowledge sharing culture. The purpose of this exploratory study is to probe whether the peers and a web forum are the students’ primary knowledge source by investigating students’ knowledge sources during the design process. The results demonstrated that (1) studio-mates were a primary design knowledge source for the students, (2) the ill-defined nature of design problems may be the main contributing factor encouraging knowledge sharing behavior, (3) the shared web forum was not a primary knowledge source for the students and did not have a significant influence on the knowledge sharing culture, and (4) we can estimate the knowledge sharing culture in a design studio through investigating students’ knowledge sources. Furthermore, several additional findings and implications are elaborated.     

The imminent weakening of export momentum The analysis of China’s foreign trade of textiles from January to August

The weakening of export momentumAnalysts anticipated an imminent weakeningof export momentum for China's textile and apparel     

TQM practices and knowledge sharing: An empirical study of Malaysia’s manufacturing organizations

The purpose of this paper is to examine the multidimensionality of TQM practices and its relationship with knowledge sharing as perceived by middle management employees in Malaysia’s ISO 9001:2000 certified firms of manufacturing sectors. The data which were collected from a survey of 129 middle management employees in Malaysia were used to test the proposed research framework. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural analysis was used to examine the research framework. The analytical results revealed that training and development, customer focus, and teamwork showed a positive association with middle management employees’ knowledge sharing. This analysis is vital for senior managers of TQM companies that want to establish a knowledge sharing capability. Senior managers could focus their efforts on implementing TQM practices for building competitive knowledge sharing competencies.     

Students’ knowledge of emerging technology and sustainability through a design activity in technology education

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - The purpose of this study is to explore whether, and if so how, a design activity could encourage students to express and develop...