Benchmarking as the Gateway to Knowledge Transfer for SMEs

1999 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 342-348
Author(s):  
Geoff Nelder ◽  
Alex Skandalakis
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Knowledge Deficit ◽  
Business Excellence ◽  
European Social Fund ◽  
Social Fund ◽  
Quality Management Model ◽  
European Foundation ◽  
The Uk

This paper argues that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK suffer from a structural knowledge deficit that threatens their long-term viability. This deficit is shown to be a consequence of the business environment in which SMEs operate and of their lack of engagement with knowledge transfer providers and activities. The paper describes a European Social Fund project that piloted new approaches to engage SMEs in knowledge transfer that overcame some of the barriers present in other support activities. The key to engagement is shown to be an initial needs analysis using a benchmarking methodology, leading to a tailored programme of support. The benchmarking methodology was developed at Cranfield University and applies the European Foundation for Quality Management model of business excellence in a customized form to meet the specific requirements of SMEs.

scholarly journals The European Social Fund Supports the Reintegration of the Long-term Unemployed Individuals Aged 50+ Into the Labor Market - A Comparison of the Federal States in Austria

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-65
Author(s):  
Azra Kadri ◽  
Vito Bobek ◽  
Tatjana Horvat
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Federal States ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Public Employment Service ◽  
European Social Fund ◽  
Social Fund ◽  
Expert Analysis

Abstract This paper shows the importance of European Social Fund’s (ESF) countermeasures for reintegrating long-term unemployed persons aged 50+ in Austria since their number has increased in recent years. Four research questions are defined, which deal with the theoretical background, the ESF’s contribution, the possible causes of long-term unemployment, and their reflection in a country comparison figures. For the qualitative methodology, we conducted expert interviews and case study analysis. Concerning the quantitative method, we evaluated raw data from the AMS Public Employment Service, Austria, and Statistics, Austria. A correlation was established based on the content-related evaluation of the theoretical approaches, the expert analysis, and the presentation of statistics. It is necessary to identify the causes in time and take appropriate measures to prevent them from combating long-term unemployment among this target group.

The Impact of National Cultural Values on Intrinsic Motivation to Transfer Tacit Knowledge

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Amanda Celestine ◽  
Chris Perryer
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Motivation To Transfer ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This study examines the moderating effects of individuals' national cultural values on intrinsic motivation to engage in tacit knowledge transfer, through the lens of knowledge coaching. Using partial least squares analysis, survey data from 26 district managers (knowledge coaches) and 102 territory managers (protégés) from a large MNC's subsidiaries in Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the UK is examined. In the first model, appertaining to the knowledge coaches, long-term orientation positively moderated the path between intrinsic motivation and perceived selling skill acquisition. For the corresponding pathway in the protégé model, collectivism and power distance attenuated the pathway. The implications for managers in terms of fostering intrinsic motivation to engage in knowledge transfer across a diversity of employees, and avenues for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Cohesion policy after Brexit: the economic, social and institutional challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN BACHTLER ◽  
IAIN BEGG
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Development Fund ◽  
European Regional Development Fund ◽  
European Social Fund ◽  
Social Fund ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Institutional Challenges

AbstractSince 1988, when the current EU Cohesion Policy was introduced, it has played an influential role in setting priorities for policies aimed at dealing with the effects of European economic integration on regional and social disparities. Although, latterly, the amount of money spent in the UK through the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) has declined, EU programmes have had a disproportionate effect on the design and implementation of UK policies shaping regional and local economic and social development. This paper starts by recalling how EU Cohesion Policy has functioned in the UK, then considers how Brexit may affect regional and social development and the need for a corresponding policy response, focusing on the sorts of policies currently supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). The paper shows that filling the policy vacuum will be far from straightforward because complementary national policies and institutional frameworks have lacked consistency or coherence. It concludes by examining the wider policy issues arising from rethinking domestic policy outside the ESIF framework. The sub-national level, in particular, will need a fresh approach following Brexit.

scholarly journals Beveridge Curve Shifts – Europe 2020 Perspectives

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-331
Author(s):  
Marina Ferent-Pipas
Keyword(s):  
Business Environment ◽  
Simultaneous Equations ◽  
Beveridge Curve ◽  
European Social Fund ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
Social Fund ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The present paper aligns to the economic policy body of research granting intensive efforts to the sphere of analysing the unemployment rate’s evolution as well as its primary drivers and effects in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy. Considering one of the agenda’s main targets – increasing employability among the European Union’s states, this paper analyses the areas funded by the European Social Fund as well as the country policy specifics in deriving the behaviour of the Beveridge curve associated with the EU-13 countries given the shift of European Union’s funds from old member states to newer ones. As such, the study employs the tools of Simultaneous Equations Systems and examines the impact of four categories of components on the Beveridge curve’s behaviour - structure of the unemployed, labour market and business environment factors as well as business cycles.

scholarly journals Halal food certification and business excellence: A conceptual paper

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Zuhayr Khan Mustun
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Food Sector ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Business Excellence ◽  
Quality Management Model ◽  
Halal Food ◽  
European Foundation ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Conceptual Nature

The crux of this paper is to hypothesize that Halal food certification improves business excellence, by way of a conceptual framework highlighting the connectivity between both elements. There have been numerous studies focusing on Halal food certification and business excellence along different perspectives, yet there is a scarcity of research that explicitly studied both aspects together. As far as the methodological approach is concerned, analysis of various secondary sources related with the keywords and topic has been adopted. The paper takes the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model as the groundwork for discussion within the Halal food sector. Based on the literature review, it is propounded that Halal food certification can boost business excellence on the grounds of ethical leadership, holistic strategic thinking and planning, enhanced people management, fortified B2B partnership, effective logistics and supply chain management, and maximised accrued results (customer, people, society and business). The theoretical foundation of this study can support further in-depth research on both elements, and given its conceptual nature, the framework should be empirically tested.

Using the Change4Life Disney Branded 10-minute Shake Ups During the COVID-19 ‘Lockdown’

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Budzynski-Seymour ◽  
James Steele ◽  
Michelle Jones
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Exertion ◽  
Affective Responses ◽  
Online Resources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Perceived Effort ◽  
Qualitative Feedback ◽  
Bidirectional Relationship ◽  
The Uk

Physical activity (PA) is considered essential to overall health yet it is consistently reported that children are failing to meet the recommended levels. Due to the bidirectional relationship between affective states and PA, affective responses are a potential predictor to long term engagement. Since late March 2020 the UK government enforced ‘lockdown’ measures to help control the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19); however, this has impacted children’s PA. Using online resources at home to support PA is now common. The primary aim of this research was to investigate the use of the Change4Life 10-minute Shake Ups to support PA by examining the effects of Disney branding upon children’s (n=32) post activity affective responses and perceived exertion. The secondary was to investigate the effect of the lockdown on PA habits. Children had similar positive affective responses and perceived effort to activities; however, branding was considered to be a key contributing factor based upon qualitative feedback from parents. Children’s PA levels dropped slightly since ‘lockdown’ was imposed; though online resources have been utilised to support PA. The use of immersive elements such as characters and narrative in PA sessions, as well as utilising online resources during ‘lockdown’ appear potentially promising for future research.

Financial Performance of ECIL, Hyderabad – An Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Jyothi ◽  
Dr. T. Satyanarayana Chary
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Present Position ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Comprehensive Manner

Financial performance of individual organizations differ very significantly, however, the performance is distinguishable between public sector companies and private sector companies as their nature and size of investment and business environment is different . The ECIL is a very vast growing company which requires additional funds on a regular basis, whether internal or external. Particularly, the company needs both long term and short-term finances in view of its present position and enormous scope for improvement in the services provided. The present paper is a modest attempt to discuss the financial performance analysis of ECIL, Hyderabad in terms operating profits, capital employed ratios and turnover in a comprehensive manner over a period of 10 years.

Narrative Exchange as Knowledge Transfer: The Rhetorical Construction of Opposition to GM Crops in SW England

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Downing
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Rhetorical Construction ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
The Uk

The release of genetically modified organisms into the environment and food chain in the UK has produced one of the most visible and enduring controversies of recent times. Amid ongoing claim and counter-claim by actors on either side of the GM ‘debate’ over the salient ‘facts’ or balance of risks and benefits associated with the technology, this controversy can be fruitfully seen as a struggle between contested networks of knowledge. Drawing on ethnographic data collected during recent PhD fieldwork, I focus on those, loosely defined as members of ‘local food networks’ in SW England, who perceive their values and cultural projects to be at risk from the deployment of this technology. In scrutinizing how distinctly ‘oppositional’ knowledge is created, exchanged and transformed particularly in relation to the construction and maintenance of cultural and historical boundaries, I suggest that in this arena a key vehicle of knowledge transfer is the narrative or story. A successfully deployed narrative can resolve uncertainties, or equally, dissolve undesirable certainties. Knowledge transfer thus becomes a matter of rhetoric, of persuasion, whereby skilfully deployed narratives can be viewed as analogical networks of associations - enrolling culturally appropriate characters, values and concepts - to move the targeted audience in the desired manner. I argue that such transfers must be seen not only as exchanges of networks of knowledge but also of networks of ignorance, for as the ethnographic data reveals, when the stakes are perceived to be so high, ideological coherence often outweighs empirical evidence and logical consistency. This raises a critical dilemma for the ethnographer. What should he/she do when confronted in the field by exaggerated claims or misinformation?

GA: Armani’s Giorgio Armani

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Brooker ◽  
Margaret Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Shop ◽  
The Third ◽  
Haute Couture ◽  
Fashion Designer ◽  
The Body Shop ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Career Woman

The Armani high-fashion example illustrates the importance of adaptive rational methods in his founding and developing of an iconic high-fashion firm. Armani adapted stylistically to fashion’s new times in the 1970–80s by creating a new style catering for the career woman. His stylistic adaptation is compared with that of another famous Italian fashion designer, Versace, who instead modernized haute couture fashion and created a succession of glamourous styles. Both leaders exploited the same opportunity but in different ways. The third section compares these leaders’ legacies in the 1990s–2000s and assesses from a long-term perspective how capably they had used adaptive rational methods. The final section shifts the focus from fashion to the cosmetics industry and from Italy to the UK. Anita Roddick used adaptive rational methods to establish The Body Shop corporation in the 1970s–80s. However, she then abandoned rational methods with dire results for her corporation in the 1990s.

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