Comparative study of behavioral mindsets in team decision

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 578-589
Author(s):  
Philip S. Chong ◽  
Ming Chen ◽  
Xuemei Su
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Shared Governance ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Team Decision ◽  
Education Administrators

Purpose – Resource allocation is an important area of strategic planning in any organization, including higher education. In comparing two case examples of a college's efforts in shared governance in allocating budget to its five departments, the purpose of this paper is to show the importance of a college's awareness and understanding of team behavioral mindsets and contextual factors when practicing continuous improvement each time it applies shared governance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose five models that represent five distinct behavioral mindsets. The authors examine the fit of real data based on two case examples, and then identify and compare the behavioral mindsets and possible coalition formed in each case. Findings – The results show the type of behavioral mindset evolves over time, and the contextual factors such as changes in the macro-environment, the composition of decision makers, and their personalities, play an important role in shaping the final outcome. Continuously monitoring and learning, which leads to a more thorough understanding and awareness of the changes in contextual factors, is imperative. Originality/value – Team decision making involving resource allocation is a critical problem in higher education when applying shared governance. A clear understanding of the type of behavioral mindset exhibited in the process and its causes is critical. The paper proposes a model that can help higher education administrators identify the behavioral mindset. In addition, the authors find support from established theories for the evolution of team behavioral mindsets in a college's budget allocation.

Perceptions, reality and semantics: exploring perceptions of coaching and academic advising as distinct roles

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Sepulveda ◽  
Matthew Birnbaum
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Academic Advising ◽  
Distinct Type ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Academic Coaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeCoaching in higher education has become increasingly common across the United States. Our qualitative study explores the perceptions of coaches and advisors, as they consider academic coaching as a role distinct from academic advising.Design/methodology/approachOur study adopts a qualitative research approach. Two focus groups were conducted with 14 coaching and academic advising professionals.FindingsOur findings identify at least three major themes when considering academic coaching as a role distinct from academic advising: (1) Potential role overlap, (2) Caseload disparities and (3) Philosophical differences. The indiscriminate use of the title of “coach” contributed to confusion, ambiguity and tension.Practical implicationsWithout a clear understanding of the coach role as a distinct type of support in higher education, confusion and ambiguity are likely to continue.Originality/valueNo studies have explored the perceptions of coaches and advisors, as they consider academic coaching as a role distinct in the United States.

Are Kenyan lecturers motivated to teach?

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-607
Author(s):  
Harry Kipkemoi Bett
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
General Assumption ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Current Status ◽  
General Belief ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion on the overlooked side of motivation among Kenyan lecturers: the motivation to teach. Design/methodology/approach The paper is generally a review of the current status of lecturer motivation in Kenya in relation to their teaching and research. This has been done anchored on Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Findings While the general belief is that lecturers are more motivated to teach than to engage in research owing to immediacy of returns (from teaching), arguments are given showing that contextual factors may contribute to lecturer demotivation in their teaching. Practical implications There is need to increase the number of lecturers in higher education in Kenya so as to mitigate against the overwhelming workload affecting many faculty members. A balance between hygiene and motivators should also be borne in mind, especially in relation to teaching and research. Originality/value The general assumption in literature is that since many lecturers in Kenya are not engaging in research, they must be motivated to teach. This study, however, argues that many contextual challenges do not motivate lecturers in the country to teach.

A Delphi-based approach for detecting key e-learning trends in postgraduate education

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 590-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca Lopez-Catalan ◽  
Victor A. Bañuls
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Delphi Study ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
National Level ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the results of national level Delphi study carried out in Spain aimed at providing inputs for higher education administrators and decision makers about key e-learning trends for supporting postgraduate courses. Design/methodology/approach The ranking of the e-learning trends is based on a three-dimensional analysis that combines the cost of implementation, the impact of each trend on learning outcomes and the diffusion forecast among postgraduate courses in the time horizon. The authors use the Delphi method for managing an expert panel. Findings Mobile learning, gamification, social media and open education are found as some of the key e-learning trends that might have greater educational impacts in postgraduate programs in the next years. These results are expected to help educational institutions to plan future positioning strategies depending on their starting positions, resources and intentions to innovate. Originality/value Educational managers and planners need to identify priority issues and principal trends in higher education in order to raise their innovative offer and to maintain competitiveness. The results might help them. Moreover the indicator and the methodological approach is a novelty in the field.

Key library service dimensions for serving the needs of higher education students in Namibia

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shameem Ali
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Facilities Management ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Level

Purpose – Students at higher education institutions in under-developed countries face many study and learning-related impediments and challenges. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the library usage behaviour and experiences of students as well as to explore reliance on campus-based private study options due largely to the disadvantaged living conditions of many students. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of students was conducted to identify how the institutional library is used, what perception students have of the library services and what the service gaps are. Perceptions were measured across 20 indicators adapted from previous studies. The survey sought information on the rate of library usage, the main reason for the most recent library visit and reasons that had ever prevented them from visiting the library. Post survey, three focus group sessions were conducted to discuss issues relating to home study environments and preliminary findings from the survey stage. Findings – Based on the item groupings five service dimensions were identified. These were student services/facilities, management, collection, study spaces and access. Despite indicating a high level of dissatisfaction with some aspects of the library services, students preferred the library because home environments are not conducive to study and learning. The service dimensions identified by the study relate to the areas of greatest need from the student perspective. Practical implications – The implementation of many of the virtual characteristics of university libraries should be based on a clear understanding of the local information needs, searching behaviours as well as being cognizant of how and why libraries are accessed. In this regard consideration must be given to the lack of study facilities at home. Originality/value – In the context of developed countries the notion of virtual libraries is a reality. However, in the African context such a notion seems “remote” from the perspectives of many students, especially those from the lower socio-economic backgrounds. Many of these students come from poor living conditions and have no study and learning opportunities outside of campus. This paper raises these issues for consideration in library planning and budget allocations for universities in poor communities.

Persistence and engagement among first-year Hispanic students

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-183
Author(s):  
Shaila Luciano-Wong ◽  
Dale Crowe
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Higher Education Administrators ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Administrators

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between engagement indicators and intent to persist of first-year full-time Hispanic students attending public versus private universities. Design/methodology/approach Metadata from the Your First College Year survey from the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) were selected for this study. The approach included using a descriptive correlational design and regression analysis to examine the relationship between engagement indicators and persistence among first-year, full-time Hispanic students and persistence. Purposeful sampling obtained from the HERI data set resulted in a sample size of 1,206 students who attended public institutions and 1,187 students who attended private institutions. Findings Analysis of the results disclosed a positive correlation between first-year Hispanic students’ intent to persist, satisfaction with peer interactions, amount of contact with faculty, first-year programs and sense of belonging. The results of the analysis disclosed differences between public and private institutions. Of the collective variables, satisfaction with amount of contact with faculty and sense of belonging are significant predictors of persistence. Research limitations/implications The sample of the study was limited to the use of archival data and the responses to specific questions obtained from the 2014 YFCY survey. Factors such as insufficient experience at the college students are attending, unwillingness to provide honest feedback and exaggerating specific areas of their behavior or performance may affect students who respond to surveys (Kuh, 2004), affecting the accuracy of the data. Further, 89.7 per cent of the variance in persistence has not been explained. Adding or using different variables and utilizing a more advanced statistical technique may account for additional variance. Cause and effect cannot be determined from correlational analysis, and the possibility exists that an unknown variable may be the cause of a correlation within the study. Incomplete information from predictors, complete separation and overdispersion can lead to SPSS output errors for logistic regression analysis. Social implications It is important for higher education administrators to understand the cultural differences of not only Hispanic students but other ethnic and racial groups. As a global society, public and private higher education institutions are looking for more inclusion of multi-cultural students. Recruitment is obviously important, but to recruit is not enough. It is the responsibility of higher education administrators to do all that is reasonably possible to retain students through graduation. Originality/value Studies have been conducted on academic disparities between Hispanic students and their White counterparts, but few studies exist on the factors associated to persistence among the first-year Hispanic student population. The results of this study may add to the existing body of knowledge and assist with faculty development of programs, decisions on class size, improvements to pedagogy and discussions to improve the campus climate for Hispanic students. Using the resources of HERI, future studies can be conducted involving other races and ethnicities.

The concepts of quality, quality assurance and quality enhancement

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noha Elassy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Quality Enhancement ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Critical Perspectives

Purpose – This paper aims to critically review and discuss different definitions of the concepts of quality, quality assurance (QA) and quality enhancement (QE) in higher education (HE) with presenting critical perspectives of the literature. Design/methodology/approach – The paper looks at literature concerns with the meaning of quality, QA and QE, regarding HE context. It analysis and critically reviews the different definitions of these key concepts. Findings – This paper suggests that the concepts of QA and QE should be dealt as part of a continuum and showed the need for both as an ongoing process in HE institutions. Originality/value – The paper provides a unique analysis of the widely cited pieces of research regarding the concept of quality, QA and QE. It contributes to increase the understanding of those key concepts in HE sector, its origin and mean stream view. It outlines the importance of having a clear understanding of these terms and highlights the difficulties of having a unified definition.

Service branding from the perspective of higher education administrators

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Claudia Braun Endo ◽  
Luiz Alberto de Farias ◽  
Pedro Simões Coelho
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Higher Education Administrators ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Value Propositions ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Deep Integration ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide empirical insights about service branding from higher education administrators (HEAs) perspectives and to identify the main factors involved in their strategic thinking in this sector.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a qualitative approach, 22 in-depth interviews were performed in Brazilian HEAs to analyze service branding as a strategic institutional process in this context.FindingsFindings reveal that service branding depends on several factors, e.g., in this case, deep integration between branding and services, leadership involvement, strong value propositions, sharing of strategic guidelines, branding experiences and, finally, credibility and reputation. Excellence of service is considered essential in higher education (HE) and, therefore, service branding faces the challenge of promoting the provision of quality services.Originality/valueAlthough there have been many studies relating to HE and branding, few authors have studied service branding in educational sector and which issues must be observed in a competitive marketplace.

The effects of culture and contextual information on resource allocation decisions

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-197
Author(s):  
C. Janie Chang ◽  
Joanna L.Y. Ho ◽  
Anne Wu
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Uncertainty Avoidance ◽  
Market Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Project Completion ◽  
Division Managers ◽  
Allocation Decisions ◽  
Resource Allocation Decisions

Purpose This paper aims to examine resource allocation behaviors of US and Taiwanese managers to help multinational firms understand the potential for divergence in resource allocations under different contextual conditions by managers from different national cultures. Design/methodology/approach The experimental design was developed as a 2 (national culture) × 2 (degree of project completion) × 2 (nature of market information) factorial design. The first two were between-subject factors. Because we would investigate subjects’ responses to both favorable and unfavorable conditions, the nature of market information was designed as a within-subject factor. Also, to avoid an order effect, half of the subjects first received favorable information and then unfavorable information, and the other half received the market information in the opposite order. Questionnaires were distributed randomly to subjects. Findings The results show that Taiwanese managers are less willing than US managers to continue a project in the presence of favorable information, but that both groups are equally willing to continue the project when receiving unfavorable information. Furthermore, Taiwanese managers allocate more funds than US managers do when the project is near completion. The authors use uncertainty avoidance and individualism to explain the different judgment and decision behaviors of these two cultural groups. Research Limitations/implications In this study, the authors examine only two contextual factors in resource allocation contexts. There are other important contextual factors associated with national culture that should be scrutinized, such as risks involved in each project, incentive plans related to performance evaluation and information asymmetry between central managers and division managers. It would be interesting for future studies to examine these factors in conjunction with different dimensions of national culture. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence of the impact of different aspects of national culture (i.e. uncertainty avoidance and collectivism/individualism) on managerial resource allocation in light of different degrees of project completion and different types of market information. The results of our experiment add to both practice and theory of management. The findings of this study help top-level managers better understand the effects of national culture on division managers’ resource allocations. Hence, it may be possible to design incentive schemes and decision aids to mitigate the divergence in judgments and decision-making that can be attributed to cultural differences. This study also contributes to the management literature by extending our knowledge of complex managerial resource allocation decisions by incorporating the role of national culture with contextual factors.

Reconciling activity-based descriptions of competence with professional work

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Lester
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Professional Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Standards Of Practice ◽  
High Level ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problems of applying competence standards to professional-level work, noting limitations in functional approaches and drawing on developments in professions and on a recent Erasmus+ project to propose a more adequate alternative. Design/methodology/approach An approach to describing competence based on previously reported developments in some self-governing, principally British professions was used to inform an Erasmus+ project that created competence standards for five higher-level occupations in different European countries. Findings The original developments in professions and further work through the project both endorse a model of competence that is based on standards of practice, applies holistically to professional or occupational fields rather than focusing on work roles and functions, respects contextual factors in defining competent action, and necessitates situational interpretation and judgement. Practical implications Descriptions of professional competence need to avoid being overly constrained by assumptions about the roles that practitioners might perform or the context in which practice takes place. They need to reflect the ethos and ethics of the field as well as more transversal aspects of professionalism. Descriptions of this type are likely to reflect factors that are also valued in higher education. Originality/value The model of competence that is proposed appears to have a good level of validity for high-level professional work, and provides an approach to describing practice that is not limited to particular national contexts.

Geocentralization and Thainess

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 150-176
Author(s):  
Jason Lee Carter
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Traditional Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
Performance Results

Purpose Thailand desires to improve its economic competitiveness in the Southeast Asia-Pacific region and utilizes the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) on the 12 Pillars of Competitiveness to gauge this progress. The purpose of this paper is to study the outcomes for the fifth pillar on “Higher education and training” to identify the challenges to institutional management for the design and implementation of business administration programs. Design/methodology/approach The first hypothesis on causality and impact is a comparison of curricula design from published material between Thai and similar highly rated programs from the GCR using a statistical variance method. The second hypothesis is a proposed improvement model for implementation, geocentralization, analyzed using an inferential percentage differentiation. Findings The findings reveal a marked misalignment in relevant vs irrelevant curriculum design, with implementation performance results showing lower outcomes from traditional learning methods as compared to geocentralization. Originality/value Final remarks outline recommendations that Thai higher education administrators can utilize for improving curriculum design and implementation.

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