scholarly journals Leadership development process maturity: An Afrocentric versus Eurocentric perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik C. Van der Westhuizen ◽  
Lia M.M. Hewitt

Orientation: Organisations continuously find it a challenge to focus on the right areas that would result in successful and effective leadership development. This article reports on a comprehensive study to identify the leadership development process maturity areas fit for Southern Africa.Research purpose: This article aims to identify and report on Eurocentric and Afrocentric leadership development process maturity areas and assess how these are similar or different.Motivation for the study: This study was conducted to help enhance the understanding of which Eurocentric and Afrocentric leadership development areas, organisations, especially in Southern Africa, need to focus on in support of a mature leadership development process.Research approach: A qualitative, deductive approach was adopted, which included an extensive, in-depth literature review, followed by in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Southern African leadership development expert panel members.Main findings: A complementary, inclusive and comprehensive list of 125 leadership development process maturity areas was developed within the Southern African context, which could be used by leadership development practitioners as a guide to focus their resources and leadership development efforts. It also functions as a new foundation for future leadership development research.Practical implications: Southern African organisations should focus more on what works in this geographical context to ensure that focused leadership development interventions are implemented, resulting in a higher return on leadership development investment.Contribution and value-added: This article contributes to the leadership development body of knowledge, specifically relating to the maturity of this process within the Southern African context.

Author(s):  
Hendrik Cornelis Van der Westhuizen ◽  
Lia MM Hewitt

Organisations spend enormous amounts of money on leadership development. Yet, these organisations do not necessarily know exactly in which leadership development programmes or areas they should invest for each level of work (leadership). The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a measure of the maturity of the organisational leadership development process that is fit for use in southern Africa across the different levels of leadership. This measure consists of two instruments, namely the qualitative Social Perspective Profiling and the quantitative Leadership Development Process Maturity Index. Both these instruments were validated against two large multinational southern African organisations and revealed different levels of maturity of the leadership development process across the levels of leadership in these organisations. As a result, southern African organisations are now able to measure themselves against the benchmark areas that represent the maturity of the leadership development process. This will allow these organisations to close the gap between their leadership development process status quo for each level of leadership and what is most or least critical from a leadership development point of view, which will result in an improved return on learning and the increased success of these organisations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 02016
Author(s):  
Tomas Ric ◽  
Daniela Salkova

Research background: The paper addresses the business potential of social networks and the impact of incentives on the purchase behaviour of consumers. Social networks are the fastest growing marketing tool in the world with more than 4 billion users worldwide. These global platforms offer new tools, encourage interactivity, and allow consumers to participate in product marketing thanks to sharing their own content. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is a series of recommendations for small and micro businesses with a global audience. These recommendations are focused on the right choice of the marketing mix on social networks in order to optimize communication and sales activities. Methods: The paper is based on a qualitative methods of focus groups and semi-structured interviews in order to characterize the perception of marketing incentives by users of these networks. The respondents of the research are users aged 18-25, which is also the most numerous group of active participants in social commerce. Findings & Value added: The most significant incentives influencing customers' shopping behavior on social networks include interactivity (communicating with friends, commenting, and liking), content quality, content personalization, technological simplification of purchasing and reducing the number of steps required to purchase. An important component entering the decision-making process is social and ethical marketing, which is more transparent than ever.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1235-1241
Author(s):  
Khairulnizam Abdul Mokmin Et.al

The topic of technology transfer is important in the context of developing and emerging economies as successful technology transfer and local technological development efforts can play a crucial role in the economic development of a recipient country to value added its products or activities. Technology transfer process is an integration process which involved the technology provider, receiver, object of transfer and transfer mechanisms. However, previous researches showed that the failure of technology transfer mainly caused by several factors.  This research explored the development process of technology transfer from the joint venture companiesof the automotive firms in Malaysia.  Technology transfer process development will be assessed in a holistic way beginning with the in depth understanding on the process of technology transfer and key challenges during the development process that contributed to the success in the perspectives of Organizational Learning, Knowledge Based View and Resource Based View. These theories were important point of view to categorize the process that contributedtothe success of technology transfer development.  This research contributed several theoretical, empirical and methodological (modified Delphi method) values to the literature on the factors related to transfer technology success, and evolutionary process of technology transfer. Instead of development process, this research also identifiedthekey challenges during the process and recommendation on how to overcome them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted against 12 participants from automotive firms, consisted of R&D staffs, Top Management, Designers, Engineers and Technicians, including the experts from government agencies related to technology transfer activities.  This study will present relevant contributions to the company’s top management, technology transfer practitioners, policy makers, along with the researchers who were interested to get involved directly in the process of technology transfer. This research originality lies in the proposed framework of a technology transfer process development in joint venture as a business strategy.


1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Büssing ◽  
Thomas Bissels

The extended model of different forms of work satisfaction ( Büssing, 1991 ), originally proposed by Bruggemann (1974) , is suggested as a distinctive qualitative approach to work satisfaction. Six forms of work satisfaction—progressive, stabilized, resigned satisfaction, constructive, fixated, resigned dissatisfaction—are derived from the constellation of four constituent variables: comparison of the actual work situation and personal aspirations, global satisfaction, changes in level of aspiration, controllability at work. Preliminary evidence from semi-structured interviews with 46 nurses shows that the dynamic model is headed in the right direction (qualitative differentiation of consistently high propertions of satisfied employees, uncovering processes of person-work situation interaction). Qualitative methods demonstrated their usefulness in accessing underlying cognitive and evaluative processes of the forms, which are often neglected by traditional attitude-based satisfaction research.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Durst ◽  
Ingi Runar Edvardsson ◽  
Guido Bruns

Studies on knowledge creation are limited in general, and there is a particular shortage of research on the topic in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Given the importance of SMEs for the economy and the vital role of knowledge creation in innovation, this situation is unsatisfactory. Accordingly, the purpose of our study is to increase our understanding of how SMEs create new knowledge. Data are obtained through semi-structured interviews with ten managing directors of German SMEs operating in the building and construction industry. The findings demonstrate the influence of external knowledge sources on knowledge creation activities. Even though the managing directors take advantage of different external knowledge sources, they seem to put an emphasis on informed knowledge sources. The study´s findings advance the limited body of knowledge regarding knowledge creation in SMEs.


Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Sophie Till

Three years ago Sophie Till started working with pianist Edna Golandsky, the leading exponent of the Taubman Piano Technique, an internationally acclaimed approach that is well known to pianists, on the one hand, for allowing pianists to attain a phenomenal level of virtuosity and on the other, for solving very serious piano-related injuries. Till, a violinist, quickly realized that here was a unique technical approach that could not only identify and itemize the minute movements that underlie a virtuoso technique but could show how these movements interact and go into music making at the highest level. Furthermore, through the work of the Golandsky Institute, she saw a pedagogical approach that had been developed to a remarkable depth and level of clarity. It was an approach that had the power to communicate in a way she had never seen before, despite her own first class violin training from the earliest age. While the geography and “look” on the violin are different from the piano, the laws governing coordinate motion specifically in playing the instrument are the same for pianists and violinists. As a result of Till’s work translating the technique for violin, a new pedagogical approach for violinists of all ages is emerging; the Taubman/Golandsky Approach to the Violin. In reflecting on these new developments, Edna Golandsky wrote, “I have been working with the Taubman Approach for more than 30 years and have worked regularly with other instrumentalists. However, Sophie Till was the first violinist who asked me to teach her with the same depth that I do with pianists. With her conceptual and intellectual agility as well as complete dedication to helping others, she has been the perfect partner to translate this body of knowledge for violinists. Through this collaboration, Sophie is helping develop a new ‘language’ for violinist that will prevent future problems, solve present ones and start beginners on the right road to becoming the best they can be. The implications of this new work for violinists are enormous.”


Author(s):  
Godwin Iretomiwa Simon

This article examines the contextual challenges that characterize the video on demand (VOD) market in Africa. It provides critical analysis of the creative strategies employed by Nigeria-based streaming services to navigate the peculiar business environment on the continent. This research is on the background of the poor Internet infrastructure and economic divides in many African countries including Nigeria. Streaming services operating in these markets must understand a context where Internet access is complicated on the levels of availability and/or affordability, including significant lack of confidence in e-payment facilities. All these, together with epileptic power supply and poor standard of living, indicate that streaming services must innovate to capture subscribers within the continent. Despite the harsh operational environment, streaming services in Nigeria have continued to increase in number within the past 5 years. This is attributed to the transnational reach of the streaming services as they are patronized by Africans in diaspora across the globe, while they also enjoy popularity within African countries. This article specifically focuses on the innovative strategies employed by Nigerian streaming services to operate within their African markets in the context of their peculiar challenges. In so doing, it extends extant scholarship about Internet-distributed video using the African context. This article is situated within the Media Industry Studies framework and draws from semi-structured interviews with 7 streaming executives in Nigeria and 10 creative professionals in the Nigerian Video Film Industry (Nollywood). It also relies on desk research of press reports, industry publications, as well as the interfaces of streaming portals. This article underscores the necessity of contextualized research with the digital turn in video distribution. Through contextualized analysis of VOD market realities in a less studied terrain like Africa, it aligns with scholarly call to expand theories of Internet-distributed video to marginal contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie M. Zoellner ◽  
Kathleen J. Porter ◽  
Donna-Jean P. Brock ◽  
Emma Mc Kim Mitchell ◽  
Howard Chapman ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The objectives are to: 1) describe engagement processes used to prioritize and address regional comprehensive cancer control needs among a Community-Academic Advisory Board (CAB) in the medically-underserved, rural Appalachian region, and 2) detail longitudinal CAB evaluation findings. Methods This three-year case study (2017–2020) used a convergent parallel, mixed-methods design. The approach was guided by community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles, the Comprehensive Participatory Planning and Evaluation process, and Nine Habits of Successful Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalitions. Meeting artifacts were tracked and evaluated. CAB members completed quantitative surveys at three time points and semi-structured interviews at two time points. Quantitative data were analyzed using analysis of variance tests. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed via an inductive-deductive process. Results Through 13 meetings, Prevention and Early Detection Action Teams created causal models and prioritized four cancer control needs: human papillomavirus vaccination, tobacco control, colorectal cancer screening, and lung cancer screening. These sub-groups also began advancing into planning and intervention proposal development phases. As rated by 49 involved CAB members, all habits significantly improved from Time 1 to Time 2 (i.e., communication, priority work plans, roles/accountability, shared decision making, value-added collaboration, empowered leadership, diversified funding, trust, satisfaction; all p < .05), and most remained significantly higher at Time 3. CAB members also identified specific challenges (e.g., fully utilizing member expertise), strengths (e.g., diverse membership), and recommendations across habits. Conclusion This project’s equity-based CBPR approach used a CPPE process in conjunction with internal evaluation of cancer coalition best practices to advance CAB efforts to address cancer disparities in rural Appalachia. This approach encouraged CAB buy-in and identified key strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities that will lay the foundation for continued involvement in cancer control projects. These engagement processes may serve as a template for similar coalitions in rural, underserved areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 204512532198913
Author(s):  
Miriam Larsen-Barr ◽  
Fred Seymour

Background: It is well-known that attempting antipsychotic withdrawal can be a fraught process, with a high risk of relapse that often leads people to resume the medication. Nonetheless, there is a group of people who appear to be able to discontinue successfully. Relatively little is known about how people do this. Methods: A convenience sample of adults who had stopped taking antipsychotic medication for more than a year were recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews through an anonymous online survey that investigated antipsychotic medication experiences in New Zealand. Thematic analysis explored participant descriptions of their efforts to maintain their wellbeing during and after the withdrawal process. Results: Of the seven women who volunteered to participate, six reported bipolar disorder diagnoses and one reported diagnoses of obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. The women reported successfully discontinuing antipsychotics for 1.25–25 years; six followed a gradual withdrawal method and had support to prepare for and manage this. Participants defined wellbeing in terms of their ability to manage the impact of any difficulties faced rather than their ability to prevent them entirely, and saw this as something that evolved over time. They described managing the process and maintaining their wellbeing afterwards by ‘understanding myself and my needs’, ‘finding what works for me’ and ‘connecting with support’. Sub-themes expand on the way in which they did this. For example, ‘finding what works for me’ included using a tool-box of strategies to flexibly meet their needs, practicing acceptance, drawing on persistence and curiosity and creating positive life experiences. Conclusion: This is a small, qualitative study and results should be interpreted with caution. This sample shows it is possible for people who experience mania and psychosis to successfully discontinue antipsychotics and safely manage the impact of any symptoms that emerge as a result of the withdrawal process or other life stressors that arise afterwards. Findings suggest internal resources and systemic factors play a role in the outcomes observed among people who attempt to stop taking antipsychotics and a preoccupation with avoiding relapse may be counterproductive to these efforts. Professionals can play a valuable role in facilitating change.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document