Educated for migration? Blind spots around labor market conditions, competence building, and international mobility

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 809-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Carmona ◽  
Fernando Marhuenda Fluixá ◽  
Nerea Hernaiz-Agreda ◽  
Almudena A Navas Saurin
Keyword(s):  
Review Literature ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Mobility ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
Work Abroad ◽  
And Training ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Blind Spots

Young European graduates are crossing borders to work abroad more often than in the past. This trend is particularly evident in Southern Europe, where recent economic downturn has significantly diminished professional opportunities and career prospects. This study will investigate Spain, a country where unemployment has increased dramatically since 2008, as a case study to examine recent graduate’s experiences to develop a professional career in Germany. In particular, this study will draw upon various sources: official statistics; review literature; and education and training policies throughout the European Union. The investigation features an interview with Spanish graduates working in Germany to offer insight into the experiences of perhaps the best-prepared generation of the Spanish workforce. Our results indicate that young Spaniards, leaving the country to work out of necessity rather than choice, learn through the benefits and challenges of a career abroad. We finish our article by discussing the notions of education, competencies and adaptation, and how citizen and professional identities are redefined after the experience of working abroad.

scholarly journals A Case Study of a Negotiated Tender within a Small-to-Medium Construction Contractor: Modelling Project Cost Variance

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
James Ellis ◽  
David John Edwards ◽  
Wellington Didibhuku Thwala ◽  
Obuks Ejohwomu ◽  
Ernest Effah Ameyaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Open Book ◽  
Competitive Tendering ◽  
Construction Contractor ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

This research explores the failure of competitively tendered projects in the UK construction industry to procure the most suited contractor(s) to conduct the works. Such work may have equal relevance for other developed nations globally. This research seeks to teach clients and their representatives that “lowest price” does not mean “best value”, by presenting a case study of a successfully negotiated tender undertaken by a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) contractor; SME studies are relatively scant in academic literature. By applying the “lessons learnt” principle, this study seeks to improve future practice through the development of a novel alternative procurement option (i.e., negotiation). A mixed philosophical stance combining interpretivism and pragmatism was used—interpretivism to critically review literature in order to form the basis of inductive research to discuss negotiation as a viable procurement route, and pragmatism to analyse perceptions of tendering and procurement. The methods used follow a three-stage waterfall process including: (1) literature review and pilot study; (2) quantitative analysis of case study data; and (3) qualitative data collection via a focus group. Our research underscores the need to advise clients and their representatives of the importance of understanding the scope of works allowed within a tender submission before discounting it based solely on price. In addition, we highlight the failings of competitive tendering, which results in increased costs and project duration once the works commence on site. These findings provide new contemporary insight into procurement and tendering in the construction industry, with emphasis on SME contractors, existing relationships, and open-book negotiation. This research illustrates the adverse effects of early cost estimates produced without first securing a true understanding of project buildability and programming. Our work concludes with a novel insight into an alternative procurement option that involves early SME contractor involvement in an open-book environment, without the need for a third-party cost control.

scholarly journals Developing cybersecurity education and awareness programmes for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Bada ◽  
Jason R.C. Nurse
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Security Education ◽  
Education And Awareness ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Training ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to focus on organisation’s cybersecurity strategy and propose a high-level programme for cybersecurity education and awareness to be used when targeting small- and medium-sized enterprises/businesses (SMEs/SMBs) at a city-level. An essential component of an organisation’s cybersecurity strategy is building awareness and education of online threats and how to protect corporate data and services. This programme is based on existing research and provides a unique insight into an ongoing city-based project with similar aims.Design/methodology/approachTo structure this work, a scoping review was conducted of the literature in cybersecurity education and awareness, particularly for SMEs/SMBs. This theoretical analysis was complemented using a case study and reflecting on an ongoing, innovative programme that seeks to work with these businesses to significantly enhance their security posture. From these analyses, best practices and important lessons/recommendations to produce a high-level programme for cybersecurity education and awareness were recommended.FindingsWhile the literature can be informative at guiding education and awareness programmes, it may not always reach real-world programmes. However, existing programmes, such as the one explored in this study, have great potential, but there can be room for improvement. Knowledge from each of these areas can, and should, be combined to the benefit of the academic and practitioner communities.Originality/valueThe study contributes to current research through the outline of a high-level programme for cybersecurity education and awareness targeting SMEs/SMBs. Through this research, literature in this space was examined and insights into the advances and challenges faced by an on-going programme were presented. These analyses allow us to craft a proposal for a core programme that can assist in improving the security education, awareness and training that targets SMEs/SMBs.

Feeling alive: Voices of incarcerated youth in We Are Alive

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-170
Author(s):  
Denise Tse-Shang Tang
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
Incarcerated Youth ◽  
Correctional Institutions ◽  
Social Conformity ◽  
Youth Incarceration ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
And Training ◽  
Insight Into

This article presents a case study of a documentary film to demonstrate the need to look beyond conventions for insight into youth incarceration. Yau Ching’s (2010) We Are Alive documents a series of media production workshops conducted in juvenile correctional centres and training centres in Hong Kong, Macao and Sapporo, Japan. We Are Alive is a significant media text for analysis for two reasons. First, it is a youth-led documentary that offers a glimpse into settings that are often inaccessible to researchers, and second, it adopts a comparative perspective on three East Asian societies. The film offers rich data for sociological analysis as a point of access to understanding the lives of young people detained in correctional institutions in Asia. In analysing it, this article engages the contesting issues of social conformity, criminal justice, youth resistance and teenage masculinities and femininities through a close reading informed by a theoretical matrix comprising queer theory and cultural studies in an inter-Asian context.

scholarly journals From the Stereotypification of the Non-European Other to the Prototypification of the European Self: A Case Study of Turkey’s Membership to the European Union from the French Perspective.

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariane Bogain ◽  
Florence Potot
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Press ◽  
Collective Psyche ◽  
Opinion Polls ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Eu

In an era of increased globalisation, the need for a sense of belonging and an identity is becoming more pressing. The way nations form images of others and, conversely, conscious or unconscious images of themselves is becoming increasingly important as these images impact on public opinion and on political and decision-making discourse. With the development of supranationalism in Europe, the age-old notion of European identity has come more and more to the fore. Conflicting interpretations and a general disinclination to consider the matter leave the notion of European identity as polysemic as ever. Furthermore, the expansion of the EU has contributed to blurring this notion, so much so that in the collective psyche, it has become closely linked to the membership of the European Union and it is proving sometimes difficult to dissociate one from the other. In this context, the debate surrounding Turkey’s membership of the EU gives an insight into prototypical and stereotypical representations of Europe. As the controversy has been particularly salient in France, the aim of this study is to explore the European self-conceptions and images of the other through the example of France’s opposition to Turkey’s membership of the EU. For this purpose, opinion polls and the Press will be used as forms of narrative in order to highlight these representations and how they have evolved in time. The first part of the study will concentrate on the arguments put forward to justify the opposition to Turkey joining the EU. The second part will then evaluate how the image of the other contributes to the prototypical representation French citizens have of Europe.

Case Study—Apple v Samsung

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Stone
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Community Design ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Insight Into

In June 2011, Californian technology company Apple commenced proceedings against Korean electronics company Samsung. The global dispute concerned a range of mobile phone and tablet designs (in addition to a number of patents owned by each side). The various decisions in the European Union provide a useful insight into the treatment of design disputes by various Community design courts, and some of the procedural, jurisdictional, and other matters that may arise.

scholarly journals Education and training in Romania on occupational safety and health in the offshore industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 04005
Author(s):  
Mariana Ratiu ◽  
Corina Suteu ◽  
Ioan-Florin Oarga
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Offshore Industry ◽  
And Training

This paper is the result of a study on the current situation in Romania regarding education and training on the occupational safety and health in the offshore industry. This study was conducted within a European project, which, among other things, has as intellectual outputs, identifying the main requirements related to learning needs and competencies and identifying the similar safety and health training courses for offshore industry at European level. Romania has transposed the European Union legislation in the area of minimum requirements for the safety and health of workers in the offshore industry and has an adequate institutional framework aligned to the Community requirements in the field. In Romania, there are no special occupations and explicit requirements for occupational safety and health specialists in the offshore industry. But, there are some training centers, which offer theoretical and practical courses regarding safety and health for those graduates or professionals who wish to pursue a professional career in the offshore industry. Also, some universities provide diplomas, courses or training related to the offshore industry.

scholarly journals Piecemeal Integration: Explaining and Understanding 60 Years of European Union Forest Policy-Making

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helga Pülzl ◽  
Doris Wydra ◽  
Karl Hogl
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Theoretical Spectrum ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Liberal Intergovernmentalism ◽  
Stabilization Period ◽  
Blind Spots

This article looks at forest policy as empirical case study of European integration. By applying different theoretical lenses of European integration approaches (neo-functionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, three institutionalist approaches and constructivism), it seeks to explain and understand the integration of forest policy in the European Union during the policy’s emergence (1958 to 1960s), expansion (1970 to late 1990s) and stabilization period (late 1990s to now). The findings clearly show that, to a certain extent, all European integration theories have their merits for the analysis. However, none of the employed integration theories alone can explain all the relevant aspects of the broader developments in EU forest policy. No individual theory can help explain why forest policy developed only incrementally and why it has been weakly institutionalized. This article, therefore, argues to combine them so as to establish a clearer picture of the driving factors and constraints. As each of the grand theories has its weak spots, it is further argued that scholars of European studies should work across a broader theoretical spectrum as only this would allow light to be shed on blind spots in empirical investigation over longer time periods.

Composing “panacea texts” at the European Parliament

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugène Loos
Keyword(s):  
Language Choice ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Work Place ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Symbolic Domination ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Eu

The language choice at institutions of the European Union has been investigated in numerous studies examining such aspects as the European language constellation, institutional multilingualism and its possible reforms, linguistic capital and symbolic domination, and European identity related to the EU enlargement. In addition to these, studies researching the (language) practices at a specific EU institution, like the European Parliament, or analyzing EU organizational discursive practices have also been carried out. These studies, however, offer no insight into the way actors in EU institutions deal with multilingualism in their work place while producing texts for these institutions. It is for this reason that I decided to conduct a case study at the European Parliament to examine how advisers belonging to various political groups, despite their different national culture and distinct mother tongues, together succeed in producing what they call “panacea texts”. Finally, a possible new language constellation for the EU is discussed.

Enabling Electronic Medicine at Kiwicare

2011 ◽  
pp. 185-202
Author(s):  
Nabeel Al Qirim
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Adoption Decision ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Rural Patients ◽  
And Training ◽  
Insight Into

Telemedicine emerges as a viable solution to New Zealand health providers in reaching out to rural patients, in offering medical services and conducting administrative meetings and training. No research exists about adoption of telemedicine in New Zealand. The purpose of this case study was to explain factors influencing adoption of telemedicine utilizing video conferencing technology (TMVC) within a New Zealand hospital known as KiwiCare. Since TMVC is part of IT, tackling it from within technological innovation literature may assist in providing an insight into its adoption within KiwiCare and into the literature. Findings indicate weak presence of critical assessment into technological innovation factors prior to the adoption decision, thereby leading to its weak utilization. Factors like complexity, compatibility and trialability were not assessed extensively by KiwiCare and would have hindered TMVC adoption. TMVC was mainly assessed according to its relative advantage and to its cost effectiveness along with other facilitating and accelerating factors. This is essential but should be alongside technological and other influencing factors highlighted in the literature.

The Competitive Advantage of Nations 20 years later: the cases of Sweden, South Korea and the USA

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy L. Wilson ◽  
Lars Lindbergh ◽  
Jens Graff
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Secondary Information ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on some policy possibilities and outcomes for three countries of interest suggested in Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Design/methodology/approach – This research was both exploratory and qualitative in nature and utilized an in-depth case study approach of three major international economies reflecting previous observations in The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Personal contemporaneous observations of individuals in the countries of interest were complemented by current secondary information. The three countries selected for analysis, South Korea, Sweden and the USA, reflected different stages of development at the time The Competitive Advantage of Nations was published and certainly different progress since then. Findings – The Competitive Advantage of Nations advocated new, constructive and actionable roles for government and business. These observations can now be tested after a reasonable time of development. In terms of development, Korea would appear to be the star of the group; Sweden has made strong progress in comparison with other members of the European Union. Although there are areas of strength, the USA recently has lost much of the edge it had at the time of the Advantage’s publication. Research limitations/implications – Because this research was built on case studies, one has the reservations common with that approach. On the other hand, case studies are acknowledged as useful in the identification of important variables in situations in which there is little control over events in a real-world context. Practical implications – Countries must go their own way and find their own paths to success. In some ways, directions are suggested by Schumpeter (1942/1975) and in others, by Porter (1990/1996). Chance appears to have played a role in development in each instance, but government, seen as a fifth determinant possibility by Porter, heavily affected outcomes in each instance. Originality/value – Although relying heavily on Porter, results add insight into the development of economies over time.

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