Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Readiness for innovative practices'

Motivation: Through the increasing demand in new products, companies within international business context have to implement innovation efforts and so, they are searching for talents in an increasing amount of available employees. Problem statement: The problem of those firms is to employ the right people (talents) on one side and to ensure the innovative performance of the company on the other side. Research approach: For solving this issue, a qualitative research was chosen, while conducting a Swedish and a German case study of suitable companies and interviewing them about their practices of attracting, selecting, and integrating talents. Results: There is support found for the connection between the recruitment of talents and the innovative performance. Conclusions: The results contribute to talent management and provide lessons from successful cases as a guideline for other companies. For the reason that the case studies do not belong to a specific industry, the results are potentially generalizable.

This study explored mothers’ perceptions about kindergarten readiness and practices in preparing their child for kindergarten. The relationship between maternal educational level and the developmental appropriateness of their perceptions and practices in preparing their children for kindergarten was examined. The relationship between the child’s birth status and the developmental appropriateness of mothers’ responses was also investigated. A questionnaire asking parents about their perceptions and practices with their child entering kindergarten was sent home to 60 families who had enrolled their child in the Adele and Dale Young Child Development Laboratory at Utah State University during the 2010-2011 academic year; 33 mothers returned completed questionnaires. The questionnaire contained statements for the parents to rate in importance and in frequency of their child participating in an activity. A variety of developmental areas such as literacy, math, motor, and social were included in the statements. The findings from the study suggest that mothers were more developmentally appropriate in their responses to their perceptions of kindergarten readiness than they were in their responses about their actual practices in preparing their child for kindergarten. However, mothers were mostly developmentally appropriate in their responses in all areas. They seemed to understand the importance of literacy and mathematics in young children’s lives, but they may not understand how wide the spectrum is for a child learning about literacy and mathematics in developmentally appropriate ways. The participants had low means with their responses to some of the literacy practices, such as with how children should be taught letter and word recognition. Mothers were most developmentally appropriate in their perceptions of being involved in their child’s education. They appeared to understand that being involved in their child’s education will help their child transition to and be more successful in school than if they were not involved. Overall, it was found that mothers had a reasonably good understanding of what is developmentally appropriate to prepare children for kindergarten; however, they were not as clear about what is less developmentally appropriate for preparing children for kindergarten. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  identify  and  analyze  reoccurring  insights  in Entrepreneurship  Education  (EE)  literature,  fill  gaps  in  the  scholarly  discussion,  and develop innovative teaching tools for entrepreneurship educators. The study is based on an in-depth  review  of  the  current  EE  literature  drawing  on  insights  from  about  70  studies. The analysis finds a clear need for: EE on the university level; clear goals and objectives; clear  program  descriptions;  a  more  practical  orientation;  and  true  alumni  networks. Additionally it finds that EE should be interdisciplinary, student-centered, practical, as well as containing strong elements of reflection, support, and networking. These findings are a valuable  resource  for  educators  interested  in  innovative  teaching  practices  and entrepreneurship  program  design  in  a  university  context.  This  paper  develops  three suggestions  on  the  use  of  innovative  teaching  practices,  namely  a  course  on  business models,  an  adapted  form  of  business  simulation  with  a  focus  on  cross-disciplinary networking, and a comprehensive class in entrepreneurial venturing that takes the student through all steps of establishing and growing a business.

Rural high school graduates in the United States lag behind in college math preparedness, therefore prompting researchers to identify instructional practices that would advance student math performance. This quantitative research study investigated specific teacher practices and their correlation with student gains in college math preparedness on the American College Test (ACT). Data were collected using a teacher questionnaire to quantify the level of reform practices among a sample of six math teachers and used ACT pre and posttests to assess 312 11th grade students' gains in college math readiness in a public rural high school in Southeast Tennessee. Correlation analysis of reform indicators from the teacher questionnaire compared the interrelatedness of six predictor variables on student math gains. The level of reform practices of the teacher was insignificant when correlated with student gains on the ACT Math subtest, r < .1, yet yielded important insights into rural teaching practices at the sample school. Teacher questionnaire responses indicated consistently low scores in teacher conceptual beliefs and rural connectedness, suggesting room for reform in those areas. The average Math ACT gain was 1.97 points with an average math score of 19.3. This suggests the 2016 school average will exceed the 2015 school average of 19.1 since students in the study have another year of math instruction prior to graduation. Extending the current study through college may reveal a correlation between specific teacher practices and rural student math gains.

Business leaders’ recognition of the increasing shortage of skilled workers to meet industry demand is a business problem. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that business leaders used to recruit skilled workers at 3 manufacturing facilities in South Carolina. The human capital theory was the conceptual framework used for this study. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 3 business leaders who demonstrated successful recruitment strategies, a focus group of 4 skilled manufacturing employees hired during the time period of 2018-2019, and a review of company documents. Data were analyzed using Yin’s 5-step process. Six key themes emerged from data analysis: competitive wages and benefits; clean, safe, and stable work environment; employee investment and on-the-job training; use of recruiting agencies and skilled recruiters; strong community relations/image; and industry competition. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to provide significant knowledge and skills to manufacturing leaders conducive to the success of recruiting skilled workers to meet their needs. By meeting the demand for skilled manufacturing workers, organizations could boost their bottom line by increasing productivity and sales. Because of greater profits, business leaders could increase their contribution to the community with stable employment and the creation of additional jobs through supplier initiatives.

Research supports the knowledge that there exist many models on and definitions of school readiness within early education. Additionally, research shows that utilizing developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) produces positive short and long term results for students; indicating the effectiveness and necessity for DAP in the classroom. The study sought to inform teachers via presentation on the subjects of school readiness and DAP; as well as gain insight on the barriers teachers face in utilizing their school readiness and DAP knowledge base in the classroom. To accomplish this, the study used a pre-survey, presentation with discussion, and a post-survey to collect information on teachers’ knowledge and beliefs, teachers’ levels of professionalism and autonomy, as well as gain insight on how useful the presentation was for teachers. Results show teachers gained information from the presentation but may be unable to use this information in the public setting. These results are based on direct feedback from teachers, as well as the effect size of teacher’s responses on ranking school readiness characteristics and DAP/DIP items before and after the presentation. Regarding what teachers know about these topics, results indicate variance on teachers’ ideas on school readiness. Responses were sorted into three themes; specific skills, different areas of development, and the importance of early experiences. Teachers also had, on average, an appropriate ranking of DAP/DIP teaching practices in the classroom, with scores that grew stronger for some teaching practices after the presentation. Additionally, multiple-choice questions on teacher autonomy and teacher professionalism show that most teachers feel they are treated as professionals and autonomous in their positions. However, despite these results, a discussion on barriers of implementing an appropriate model of school readiness as well as DAP portrayed a much different scenario with teachers in the public setting. In fact, this study found that teachers in the public setting are very much limited by administrators in their ability to utilize ideas, curriculum, and assessments they view as appropriate in the classroom. As such, future research should seek to reach the school administrators to gain insight on the basis of their decisions, as well as educate them on the research supporting successful learning in the early education classroom.

<p> Innovation is researched significantly throughout academic literature, ranging from leadership to organizational culture, with the aim of understanding how to enable greater creativity. This study attempted to address the knowledge gap on the common strategies of facilitating innovation in a group setting by evaluating this condition through four specific areas: environment, process, team dynamics, and facilitator behavior. This study built upon those four areas aiming to understand the process a facilitator puts a group of individuals through to stimulate innovation. Applying a qualitative phenomenological study, the researcher interviewed 15 facilitators of innovative thinking to understand the common strategies applied by practitioners in the field. Upon completion of the interviews, the best practices discovered in academic literature were compared against practitioner best practices, identifying the strategies that intersected both environments. Key elements that elicited greater innovation in a group setting were as follows: (a) leadership supporting experimentation cultures where taking risks is encouraged, (b) stretching the mind to enable ambiguous thought, (c) achieving a cognitively diverse team, and (d) striving to keep everyone engaged from the beginning to the end.</p><p>

Performance Effectiveness Appraisal, Performance Effectiveness Review as well as Coaching and training are crucial elements of the performance management process included in a set of managerial competencies required by managers in a deep level gold mine in South Africa. This dissertation provides a contemporary review of performance management and gold mining in a South African deep level gold mine context. It provides a theoretical framework for the processes of Performance Effectiveness Appraisal, Performance Effectiveness Review and Coaching and training as integral parts of effective performance management. It investigates if shared meaning exists between the views of the organisation’s managers and the views of the organisation as set apart in a System for People handbook to be used by managers in the organisation. Managerial competencies are discussed and compared with literature found. Following this, the responses from the participants are discussed. The responses are compared with literature reviews done and the view of the organisation. Performance management challenges that face the organisation in the future are investigated and proposals are made to the organisation management team and future research proposals are suggested, before concluding.<br>Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Dans l'économie mondiale actuelle l'innovation est largement reconnue comme l'un des processus clés qui peuvent permettre le développement d'organisations. Cette thèse concentre l'attention sur le comportement innovateur des employés (IWB) et ses liens avec la perception de la gestion des ressources humaines (HRM). Plus précisément, les modèles de recherche explorent deux pratiques de HRM correspondant à l'apprentissage individuel et collectif et la participation à la prise de décision (PDM). Le choix de mettre l'accent sur deux pratiques est en lien avec les efforts des chercheurs dédiés à la perspective contingente. Par conséquent, l'expérimentation de plusieurs variables médiatrices a permis une meilleure compréhension de la relation entre les processus examinés. Cette thèse est également orientée à comprendre les facteurs psychosociaux mentionnés dans un contexte organisationnel assez inexplorés correspondant aux petites et moyennes entreprises. La première recherche explore la relation entre la perception des pratiques de HRM de l'apprentissage individuel et collectif, l'IWB et le rôle médiateur des normes et le climat propice à l'innovation. La seconde étude suppose que la perception de la pratique décisionnelle, conjointement avec le leadership participatif, est liée à l'IWB ; la relation indirecte est testée à travers le rôle de médiateur du climat psychologique pour l'innovation et le soutien de ses collègues. Ces résultats aident les chercheurs à diriger de nouveaux efforts dans la recherche sur le HRM. En plus, ils soutiennent l'optimisation des ressources investies dans l'innovation à travers la promotion de l'apprentissage et la PDM<br>In the globalized economies the innovation is widely recognized as one of the key processes that can allow the development of organizations. This thesis focuses the attention on the Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) and its links with the perception of Human Resources Management (HRM). More specifically, the research models explore two HRM practices corresponding to individual and team learning and the participation to decision-making (PDM). The choice to emphasize only two practices is in line with scholars’ efforts dedicated to contingent perspective. Therefore, the experimentation of multiple mediating variables has allowed the better understanding of the relationship among the examined processes. This thesis is also oriented to understand the mentioned psychosocial factors in a quite unexplored organizational contexts corresponding to the small and medium enterprises. The first research explores the relationship among the perception of individual and team learning HRM practices, IWB and the mediating role of norms and supportive climate for innovation. The second study assumes that the perception of decision-making practice, conjointly with participative leadership, is related to IWB; moreover also the indirect relationship is tested through the mediating role of psychological climate for innovation and co-workers’ support. These findings help scholars to direct new endeavors in HRM research. Moreover they support managers to optimize resources invested in innovation through the promotion of learning and PDM

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.<br>Urbanisation and globalisation are the foremost trends propelling the growth and development of cities and towns in the world today. The Cape Town central business district is an example of an urban centre that is required to deal with rapid urbanisation. The increasing number of inner-city developments evoked the congested construction sites and are rapidly becoming the norm within the industry. Innovative building production management is crucial in driving productivity which includes reducing cost at all stages, from planning to completion. However, from several literatures, construction firms are not significantly proactive towards innovative technology that could enhance the efficient delivery of building production. The improved building production management is advancing at a slow pace both in South Africa and internationally. Hence, this research analyse the strategies that could significantly enhance current building production processes and establish the effective management systems that could enhance efficient building production in the urban centres. Innovative methods of stimulating building production processes are needed to ensure that building projects are completed within timeframes and budgets. The research method is both quantitative and qualitative using surveys for data collection. This type of research aims to record an accurate and adequate description of the problem statement and the sub-question. Data for the study are collected through observations, semi-structured and unstructured qualitative interviews and quantitative close-ended questionnaires administered to construction stakeholders working in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. This research focuses on the City of Cape Town to gain an understanding of the dynamics of innovation in building production processes within the building industry. The population of this research include building project managers, registered contractors as well as consultants. Quantitative data obtained from the structured questionnaire design was analysed with descriptive statistics, Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software 21 and content analysis are used to analyse the qualitative data obtained through interviewees.

Computer tablets in classrooms have gained popularity with students as they fit their lifestyle, and are shown to improve students’ learning experience when used appropriately. The main challenge for teachers is to seamlessly and efficiently employ educational technology - such as the tablet - to enhance student achievement, while simultaneously learning how to utilise it in the most successful way. This research investigated Maltese teachers’ readiness to integrate tablets in their pedagogy prior to the ‘One Tablet per Child’ scheme. This research explored effective technological pedagogies, and how teachers are supporting mixed-ability students in their learning process through the use of tablets. It also investigated professional development programmes, and systems which support teachers in developing pedagogies utilising tablets. A mixed-method research design was adopted. Quantitative data collected involved the use of an online questionnaire from a sample of Year 4 Maltese teachers (n=81). Qualitative data was collected through focus groups (n=13) and individual interviews (n=3) with Year 4 teachers, an Education Officer and an e-Learning teacher. Semi-structured observations (n=14) were carried out in Year 4 classrooms. The epistemology adopted involves pragmatism, and tablet use is explored in light of Systems theory. Results indicate that teachers’ age, years of teaching, training, and ability to use technology has an impact on their readiness to use tablets for teaching. Findings show that tablets help to promote student participation, the development of 21st century skills and personalised learning. Teachers discussed their own professional development through discussions with colleagues, sharing of resources and school-based training. Ways forward for teacher training are discussed, together with consideration of how the role of the Educational Psychologist (EP) can support teachers in developing innovative technological pedagogies to support the teaching-learning process.

This basic qualitative research study focused on the internal constructions of ten early childhood education teachers who take new information acquired from workshops, coursework, or other educational venues and quickly incorporate it into their teaching. The participants were all women who work in a variety of classroom settings with two-through-six-year-olds in San Antonio, Texas. They were identified as teachers who are in the forefront in adopting new ideas in comparison to other early childhood teachers (Rogers, 2003). A wide range of experience and education levels were represented. Using the interpretive paradigm as well as the ideological framework of constructivism, a grounded theory was established in response to the research question. Of special interest were factors that can be addressed in pre-service and in-service instructional opportunities for early childhood students and professionals. There were three major findings. First, the participants expressed core moral values in relation to their jobs as early childhood teachers: they look upon their work as a moral endeavor; they have a spiritual connection to their work; and they care deeply about others. Second, they shared the character traits of a positive attitude, persistence, and flexibility. Third, they held two learning dispositions in common: they perceive and practice learning as a continual, on-going process; and they are highly reflective. Viewed together, these three findings form a continuous internal loop that impacts the external cycle of gaining new information and adopting it into classroom practice. The findings in this study parallel previous teacher knowledge research done with K-12 grade teachers in the United States and in other countries. It supports models of change that consider one's frame of reference in terms of individual belief systems and how this impacts the change process. The implication is that focusing on technical knowledge is not enough. Early childhood teacher educators must consistently employ specific strategies with their students that help illuminate and strengthen the tacit traits identified in this study.

Cette thèse vise à mieux comprendre et définir certaines caractéristiques et conditions de la théorie et des pratiques de l'innovation en relation avec la technologie mobile. Cette dernière est considérée comme actrice potentielle et nouveau modèle pour transformer les idées en actions et pour gérer la créativité et le management organisationnel dans le domaine des industries créatives. Basée sur une approche qualitative, cette thèse met en évidence trois éléments saillants associés à la technologie mobile. Le premier est un enrichissement de la fluidité des processus d'innovation comblant un manque dans la littérature sur la technologie mobile, la gestion des organisations et des connaissances, et les pratiques collaboratives et innovatrices au sein des PME.Deuxièmement, cette thèse contribue à une nouvelle vision du concept de ba (Nonaka &amp; Takeuchi, 1995) au delà des frontières organisationnelles, et la définition du ba mobile. Enfin, elle apporte aussi une perspective nouvelle sur les travaux de Cohendet et al. (2010) en ce qui concerne le "relâchement créatif" (‘creative slack’)et les notions associées de création et de capture de valeur pour les PME<br>This research aims to better understand and define some characteristics and conditions of innovation theoryand practice in relation to mobile technology. Mobile technology is seen as a potential actor and new model fortransforming ideas into action and for managing creativity and organisational management in the realm of theCreative Industries. Based on a qualitative approach, this research highlights three salient elements associatedwith mobile technology. The first is an enrichment of the fluidity of innovation processes filling a gap in theliterature on mobile technology, organisational and knowledge management, and collaborative and innovativepractices within SMEs. Secondly, this research contributes to a new vision of the concept of ba (Nonaka &amp;Takeuchi, 1995) beyond organisational boundaries, and the definition of the ba mobile. Finally, it also providesa new perspective on the work of Cohendet et al. (2010) regarding 'creative slack' and associated notions of valuecreation and capture for SMEs

This paper presents an analytical framework of governing innovative building practices at a municipal level based on conclusions drawn from the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) approach. The analytical framework viewed the Village House Block demonstration project and EnSURE transnational research collaboration as important facilitators to create the necessary conditions for governing innovation during the renovation of the outdated building stock located in the 3rd District Municipality of Budapest, Hungary. These necessary conditions were articulated in accordance with the three internal processes (the articulation of expectations and visions, the building of social networks and the fostering of learning processes) defined by SNM research. Additionally, the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) methodology was considered as a viable tool to guide energy efficient urban development in the district. It was found in this research that the Village House Block renovation represented a local technological niche project during which the feasibility of active and passive building technology was tested. This study revealed that the necessary conditions for governing innovation were present in this project. EnSURE was a collaborative research project which did not represent a clear example of technological niche development. It was defined as an important initiative to collect and accumulate knowledge and experiences from local niche projects to create a strategic tool for supporting energy efficient urban development at the municipal level. In this case study, the tool was the Sustainable Energy Action Plan. Overall, it was found that the necessary conditions did not only appear in technological niche projects, such as the Village House Block demonstration project but also in other types of projects, such as EnSURE. Furthermore, it could be argued that the governance of innovative approaches requires an operational framework in which different projects are managed to create these necessary conditions for local technological niche development. At global niche-level, it was revealed that the SEAP or other action plan methodologies could offer a tool to utilise experiences gained from local niches to create an energy efficient urban development strategy. In practice, it was shown that the importance of experimentation with new technologies and the governance of innovation on a strategic way still in its infancy in the 3rd District.

Premature mortality resulting from the growing global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is a contemporary development challenge. Low-income and lower-middle-income countries are disproportionately affected, with the poorest in society considered the most vulnerable. A paucity of literature exists on how leadership practices at the implementation level relate to ensuring readiness for NCD services. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether any relationship exists between leadership practices at the county level and readiness for NCD services in Kenya. Path-goal and adaptive leadership theories were used to guide this quantitative correlational study, using secondary data from a 2013 Service Availability and Readiness Assessment survey. Correlation and multiple linear regression tests were used to determine the strength and direction of any relationship between the independent variable of leadership practices (annual work planning, therapeutic committees, and supportive supervision), and the dependent variable of NCD readiness (county readiness score). The results indicated a statistically significant relationship between therapeutic committee (p = .002) and supportive supervision practices (p = .023) and NCD readiness. Leadership practices also had a statistically significant predictive relationship with NCD readiness (p = .009). This study may be significant to county health leaders in relation to their efforts to ensure proximal access to quality NCD services in Kenya. The results of this study may help to promote the development of capacity-building programs targeting health leadership and prioritization of actions to ensure access to NCD prevention and treatment services at the county level in Kenya.

A rubric was used to determine the frequency of college-readiness practices of Problem Solving, Authentic Learning, and Collaborative Learning present in Advanced Placement Calculus and English syllabi. Chi square tests were conducted and determined Problem Solving, Authentic Learning, and Collaborative Learning were found significantly more often in the English syllabi than in the Calculus syllabi. Problem Solving and its subcomponents understanding the problem and strategizing, as well as the Collaborative Learning subcomponent dialogue, were found in the English syllabi more than in the Calculus syllabi. The Collaborative Learning subcomponent reciprocal teaching was found more frequently in the English Literature and Composition syllabi while peer review was found most often in English Language and Composition syllabi and not analyzed for its presence in the Calculus syllabi. No significant differences were found between subjects for the Problem Solving subcomponent hypothesizing, Authentic Learning or any of its subcomponents, nor the Collaborative Learning subcomponents using out of class time for study group learning or group projects.

To survive in today’s highly competitive and fast changing environment large corporations continuously have to develop themselves and their value offering. As a way to manage this, many have established innovation departments to deal with the company’s offerings. Despite this, it is challenging to generate impact from new business initiatives with several uncertainties stemming from the phase where the initiatives are being scaled, referred to in theory and practice as the scaling phase. The challenges within this phase has as well been noticed by Deloitte Sweden who have identified an increase in requested support within the space of scaling innovation. The scaling phase is considered the biggest obstacle for new business initiatives because of its unpredictability. It is hence identified as a troublesome and strategically challenging area in corporate innovation in need for further investigation. The aim of this thesis was consequently to research and unveil the underlying difficulties causing the scaling to fall short and success factors that can prevent it. Practical industry insights and experiences have been gathered through semi-structured qualitative interviews with seven large corporations. All seven companies were interviewed individually on two separate occasions and the results from the first round of interviews constructed two research questions that guided the thesis; (1) What are the key principles that should be applied to create the best preconditions for large corporations throughout the scaling process? and (2) How can indicators be used throughout the scaling process to validate its progress? Results from both rounds of interviews were combined with the literature studies and together they indicated five difficulties and correlating success factors for large corporation scaling of new business initiatives. The difficulties and success factors were in turn divided into two prominent themes. The first theme includes the preparatory work in the process leading up to a decision of scaling, called; preconditions for scaling. The second theme covers how companies can validate the progress of the initiative during scaling, called; scaling progress validation. To intuitively communicate the difficulties, success factors, and corresponding recommendations they are presented as a framework: Corporate Innovation Scaling - Difficulties and Success Factors. The content of the framework aims to support the innovation departments throughout their innovation process and ultimately aid the scaling of new business initiatives.<br>För att överleva i dagens mycket konkurrensutsatta och snabbt föränderliga miljö måste stora företag ständigt utveckla sig själva och deras värdeerbjudande. Ett vanligt sätt att hantera detta är att etablera innovationsavdelningar med ansvar att hantera företagets innovativa erbjudanden. Trots detta är det utmanande att generera en inverkan från dessa nya affärsinitiativ där flera osäkerhetsfaktorer härrör från den fas där initiativen skalas, som i teori och praktik benämns som skalningsfasen. Utmaningarna inom denna fas har också uppmärksammats av Deloitte Sverige som har upplevt en ökad av efterfrågan av stöd inom ramen för skalning av innovation. Skalningsfasen anses vara det största hindret för nya affärsinitiativ på grund av dess oförutsägbarhet. Det identifieras därmed som ett besvärligt och strategiskt utmanande område inom företagsinnovation i behov av ytterligare efterforskning. Syftet med denna avhandling var följaktligen att undersöka och redogöra för de bakomliggande svårigheterna som orsakar att skalningen brister samt vilka framgångsfaktorer som kan förhindra att det sker. Praktiska branschinsikter och erfarenheter har samlats in genom semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med sju stora företag. Samtliga sju företag intervjuades individuellt vid två separata tillfällen och resultaten från den första intervjuomgången konstruerade två forskningsfrågor som vägledde avhandlingen; (1) Vilka är de viktigaste principerna som bör tillämpas för att skapa de bästa förutsättningarna för stora företag genom hela skalningsprocessen? och (2) Hur kan indikatorer användas under hela skalningsprocessen för att validera dess framsteg? Resultaten från båda intervjuomgångarna kombinerades med litteraturstudierna och tillsammans indikerade de fem svårigheter och korrelerande framgångsfaktorer för stora företags skalning av nya affärsinitiativ. Svårigheterna och framgångsfaktorerna delades i sin tur upp i två framträdande teman. Det första temat inkluderar det förberedande arbetet i processen som leder fram till ett beslut om skalning, kallat; förutsättningar för skalning. Det andra temat täcker hur företag kan validera initiativets framsteg under skalning, kallat; validering av skalningsframsteg. För att intuitivt kommunicera svårigheterna, framgångsfaktorerna och motsvarande rekommendationerna presenteras de i form av ramverket: Corporate Innovation Scaling -Difficulties and Success Factors. Innehållet i ramverket syftar till att stödja ivinnovationsavdelningarna genom hela deras innovationsprocess och i slutändan hjälpa till att skala nya affärsinitiativ.

The objective of this research is to compare the noticeably prevalent perception among undergraduate studio-based art and design lecturers that elearning can contribute little or nothing to teaching and learning, against the rhetoric and literature of elearning associated with competencies for the knowledge economy. The inference is that elearning is unsuitable for the instructional strategies associated with art and design education. This anecdotal evidence together with the limited studies on the implementation of online learning technologies in art and design education, triggered this research. The significance of this study is that it seeks to contribute to the present re-evaluations of art and design education in the context of the knowledge economy. The core question is: how do the perceptions and practices of teaching staff in art and design disciplines compare and contrast with the associated rhetoric and literature of elearning and innovative practices? Consistent with the phenomenographic approach to research, this study pursues a second-order perspective, i.e. through a qualitative analysis of interviews this research deals with people's experiences of aspects of the world. It considers the pedagogies associated with elearning for the premise is that the competencies required for the knowledge economy cannot be provided for unless there is a corresponding change in teaching and learning methods. This research confirms the prevalence of the perception that elearning can contribute little or nothing to teaching and learning and attributes this to the historical evolution of art and design pedagogies, the persistence of didactic methods, the false understanding of elearning as replacing rather than enhancing teaching and learning practices and the lack of sufficient and appropriate professional development and training opportunities for teaching staff. The implication is that there is a noticeable misalignment between perceptions and practices of elearning and the associated rhetoric and literature of elearning and innovative teaching and learning practices.

This thesis focuses on the exploration and recognition of housing policies and social housing initiatives in the current years. The main goal of this research is the detection of recent practices and the analysis of their characteristics. Housing policies is the main field of studies and it is related to urban neo-liberalism and urban governance. Furthermore, the analysis of case studies permits to assess social innovation in local social housing practices. Social innovation represents an interesting topic developed in the last years through which evaluating the social innovative dimension of recent social housing initiatives. Social housing constituted a relevant issue during the past decades, but the withdrawal of the states from this form of welfare caused not only a general loss of policies and initiatives, but also a decrease in studies and scientific literature. The current practices are clearly impossible to be compared to the European traditional forms of social housing policies (considering size and scope). Nevertheless, in all the national contexts various forms of policies and initiatives are taking place, according to their local issues, resources and legal national frames. The recent practices are developed to supply urgent housing needs as they represent the only forms to sustain the housing sector. In fact, current social housing practices are dealing with the on-going process of this sector’s residualisation. In particular, local actors (public, private or not-for-profit) are often the ones who promote and support these practices. The intent of this exploration is studying and understanding current dynamics and trends, coping with the current lack of information. On the other hand, since Southern Europe has been rarely considered in housing studies, a focus on the situation in Italy permits to help filling the gap in the knowledge. Social housing practices are however linked to spatial planning, and housing hardship represents one of the main needs that has to be considered in the next years in this “crisis scenario”. The research consists of four main parts: in the first one the theoretical background is identified allowing to define two research questions, which correspond to the recognition of European trends and practices and then to the focus on Northern Italy; the conclusions constitute the fourth part. The framework of social housing’s residualisation and its decline is examined considering various studies. In particular, the withdrawal of the states from housing policies is linked to the changes in urban context (neo-liberalism). The European practices are then recognized and analysed exploring common trends and dynamics. Some national examples are used in order to show various approaches. Then Northern Italian case studies’ analysis is presented providing useful examples and permitting to link theories and practices. The two case studies (two cities of Northern Italy, Turin and Milan) are analysed focusing on their housing policies, plans, norms and initiatives. These are studied in comparison with the European trends and are examined considering social innovation. An assessment of their social innovative character is done applying a previous model of analysis. Finally, the author identifies common trends and reflections about social housing and Northern Italian practices. Considerations on the methodology and future directions for the research are also presented in the conclusions.

<p>Political initiatives in response to government reports have focused on students? preparation for higher education and their future careers, and students fall short. School districts and school programs give attention to the application of instructional practices to ensure students? college and career preparation, providing professional development in various instructional methods that address Language Arts and Math skills development, and students fall short. Teachers work tirelessly to use instructional strategies that develop students? critical and computational thinking, communication, collaboration, and creative skills, and students fall short as research indicates that students entering higher education continue to require remedial classes before beginning their college degree programs. This qualitative study design?s purpose was to analyze the effective practices that early college high school principals employ that influence the academic achievement of students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Thirteen (13) research participants? responses to leadership style, challenges, and solutions in program planning, development, and implementation with their recommendations yielded sixty themes of practices and strategies employed by early college high school principals. This study?s results corroborate the literature on effective educational leadership practices that affect student achievement and inform educational leadership practice for underrepresented student populations in higher education. Implications for further research address the academic needs of other underrepresented student populations in higher education, including students with moderate to severe educational needs, foster youth and homeless youth.

Recent advancements in instructional technology and interactive learning space designs have transformed how undergraduate classrooms are envisioned and conducted today. Large number of research studies have documented the impact of instructional technology and interactive learning spaces on elevated student learning gains, positive attitudes, and increased student engagement in undergraduate classrooms across nation. These research findings combined with the movement towards student-centered instructional strategies have motivated college professors to explore the unfamiliar territories of instructional technology and interactive learning spaces. Only a limited number of research studies that explored college professors’ perspective on instructional technology and interactive learning space use in undergraduate classrooms exist in the education research literature. Since college professors are an essential factor in undergraduate students’ academic success, investigating how college professors perceive and utilize instructional technology and interactive learning environments can provide insights into designing effective professional development programs for college professors across undergraduate institutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate college professors’ pedagogical reasoning behind incorporating different types of instructional technologies and teaching strategies to foster student learning in technology-infused interactive learning environments. Furthermore, this study explored the extent to which college professors’ instructional decisions and practices are affected by teaching in an interactive learning space along with their overall perception of instructional technology and interactive learning spaces. Four college professors from a large public Midwestern university who taught undergraduate science courses in a classroom based on the ‘SCALE-UP model’ participated in this study. Major data sources included classroom observations, interviews and questionnaires. An enumerative approach and the constant comparative method were utilized to analyze the data. According to the results obtained, all the participating college professors of this study employed a variety of instructional technologies and learning space features to actively engage their students in classroom activities. Participants were largely influenced by the instructional technology and the learning space features at lesson planning and execution stages whereas this influence was less notable at the student assessment stage. Overall, college professors perceive technology-infused interactive learning environments to be advantageous in terms of enabling flexibility and creativity along with easy facilitation of classroom activities. However, they felt challenged when designing effective classroom activities and preferred continuous professional development support. Overall, college professors’ pedagogical decision making process, their perceived benefits and challenges seemed to be interrelated and centered on the learners and the learning process. Primary implication of this study is to implement effective professional development programs for college professors which enable them to familiarize themselves with student-centered pedagogy and effective classroom activity design along with the novel trends in learning space design and instructional technologies. Furthermore, higher education institutions need to devise incentives and recognition measures to appreciate college professors’ contributions to advance scholarship of teaching and learning.

Many organizations aspire to adopt agile processes to take advantage of the numerous benefits that it offers to an organization. Those benefits include, but are not limited to, quicker return on investment, better software quality, and higher customer satisfaction. To date however, there is no structured process (at least that is published in the public domain) that guides organizations in adopting agile practices. To address this situation, we present the Agile Adoption Framework and the innovative approach we have used to implement it. The framework consists of two components: an agile measurement index, and a 4-Stage process, that together guide and assist the agile adoption efforts of organizations. More specifically, the Sidky Agile Measurement Index (SAMI) encompasses five agile levels that are used to identify the agile potential of projects and organizations. The 4-Stage process, on the other hand, helps determine (a) whether or not organizations are ready for agile adoption, and (b) guided by their potential, what set of agile practices can and should be introduced. To help substantiate the â goodnessâ of the Agile Adoption Framework, we presented it to various members of the agile community, and elicited responses through questionnaires. The results of that substantiation effort are encouraging, and also suggest further avenues for improvement.<br>Ph. D.

This thesis is about the growth and sustainability of a systemic consultancy that for more than ten years has experienced continuous growth and development. It sets out to describe the kind of distinctive dialogical relational practices (Shotter, 2006, 2008) that enables the conditions for a continuous creation of novel and innovative practices which has been expressed into an ever growing and mutating practice both within the community but also in relation to clients. It is argued that it is the distinctive systemic way of being irreverent towards one's own practice; that is privileging curiosity over certainty (Cecchin, 1987), imagination over inference (Rorty, 1989, 1991a), that is perhaps the most specific difference between systemic theory-practitioners and other ways of consulting. Through cases these ideas are described from within the experiences of those participating offering unique expressions of how this difference is lived in a day-to-day conduct. The treatment of these episodes leads to the hypothesis that innovative practices become a 'way of being' in the world rather than a special feature applied on practice which means that it is not only something we do it is also how we see ourselves grow and develop as individuals as well as a community. How this is expressed into client relationships is explored through two cases of innovative consultancy. The thesis is also a self-reflexive portrait described through neo-pragmatic ideas as found in Rorty's (1980, 1989, 1991a, 1991b, 1999) writing. This project is providing a tension within the project of developing the thesis re-viewing my previous systemic vocabulary through the use of new words and metaphors, through which the reader is invited into an extension of the idea of 'irreverence' with Rorty's writing on irony and redescription. During the course of this project a portrait of the kind of leadership practice that facilitates a relationally dialogical way of being in an organisation is described, which serves as a kind of self portrait. The research methods applied is best captured by the notion of participant research (Lindlof, 1995. Wadel, 1991), which entails using a series of data such as interviews, on the spot observations, written material, post episode reflections and participant dialogues in relation to the different meanings an episode can have. All the data used is discussed and related to the theoretical project within the thesis.

<p> This phenomenological study examines innovative pedagogy and the integration of literature by professors in STEM, leadership, and professional programs to foster leadership. The study probes university professors&rsquo; personal experiences integrating literature, focusing on pedagogical strategies and practices. Many studies exist on the use of literature to develop empathy, analytical, or critical thinking in higher education. However, there is virtually no published research on the integration of literature in STEM, leadership, and professional programs to foster leadership skills. Existing theories on utilizing literature in the humanities also apply to its integration into STEM, leadership, and professional programs. Therefore, professors integrating literature have well-defined research on how literature fosters storytelling abilities, critical thinking, decision-making and other dimensions of leadership. Purposive sampling was used to select professors with expertise integrating literature. Individual phone and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 participants regarding the integration of literature. As a result, 636 coded passages were bracketed into 32 themes. The top three themes of the study included: (a) fosters leadership skills, (b) pedagogic strategies, and (c) Socratic Method. Two keys findings emerged. Finding 1, the integration of compelling literature developed leadership skills in next generation STEM, leadership, or professional students. Finding 2, the effective integration of literature required use of pedagogical strategies, which included: planning courses with a theoretical foundation, using guided questions for reading, and employing Socratic Method. Professors should select compelling highly regarded/relatable literary works with protagonists that make decisions and pair these literary works with other powerful autobiographies, theatrical or documentary movies/clips of the same subject matter. Recommendations include STEM, leadership, and professional programs add leadership through literature courses. These findings can be used for professional development training that center on fostering leadership skills. This study provides researchers and professors with strategies for utilizing literature to foster leadership. </p><p>

Information technologies have become relevant enablers in knowledge management (KM) initiatives in academic institutions. A previous study by Anduvare (2015) revealed that the Marist International University College, Nairobi - Kenya had not adequately adopted information technologies into KM practices entwined in teaching, learning and research. This research study, therefore, set out to explore technologies that are capable of supporting KM practices in academic institutions in order to recommend some to the MIUC. Purposive sampling was used to select the MIUC full-time academic staff members as the target population as the researcher believed that they actively use knowledge at the MIUC and hence, would be in a position to understand the extent of information technology usage in KM practices. The study employed a qualitative research design that involved the use of Google forms to conduct an online survey in order to collect data from the target population. The study achieved a 100% response rate. Content analysis was utilised to analyse the data during which data within the specified themes (collaborative and distributive learning; knowledge discovery; knowledge mapping and knowledge application) was scrutinised for meaning. The data was then interpreted, presented and discussed based on the research sub-questions set for the study. The findings of the study confirmed the existence of KM practices at the MIUC. The study, thus, recommended some information technologies that support the KM practices to the MIUC which had been established through a review of literature.<br>Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2016.<br>Information Science<br>MIT<br>Unrestricted

This study explored the management of university-industry collaborations (UICs). Although increasingly important for delivering innovation in many sectors, policy research has expressed concern about the detailed performance of these inter-organisational arrangements. Moreover, although well researched as a knowledge-based economic phenomenon there is much less equivalent managerial research, especially from the perspective of university scientists. Therefore, owing to the paucity of such research, this thesis investigated the adoption of particular project management (PM) practices by university scientists and their subsequent impact on innovative project performance. Four research questions were defined and they were developed, refined and tested within a two-stage process.

Background It is believed that the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) will bring about unprecedented change to the world, ultimately having such a deep impact that some argue it may change human life at its core. It is believed that many organisations will not survive the radical disruption that will ensue. On the contrary, some authors have argued that the 4IR will bring about many benefits and opportunities for organisations, as with previous revolutions, provided it is managed effectively by business leaders. Rationale for the research study There is a growing consensus that existing leadership styles and management practices may not be suitable for organisational performance for the 4IR. It has, therefore, been suggested that different theories, models or approaches to leadership will be required if organisations are to remain competitive and sustainably successful in a business context that will look very different to what leaders have been accustomed to. It is argued here that Leadership 4.0 and innovative management practices, may have merit in this context. Aim of the study This present study was an exploratory attempt to investigate the relationship between Leadership 4.0, innovative management practices and organisational performance capabilities for the 4IR. For the purposes of this study, 1) a range of leadership theories/models/approaches/styles, including Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership and Leadership 4.0; 2) innovative management practices, including human resource management, organising and information sharing, risk management and stakeholder management as they compare to the old and new economy; and 3) organisational performance capabilities, including human capital, digital risk management and business model value creation were investigated. Research Design, Sampling and realised sample An exploratory research design was followed, utilising a mixed method approach. A crosssectional approach was taken to data collection, with a composite questionnaire designed for the purpose of this study utilised to collect data. A realised sample of n=61 respondents, mainly 4 from local, privately owned, knowledge-intensive organisations was obtained using a convenience sampling approach. Statistical analyses Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were utilised to estimate the relationships among the abovementioned constructs. Mediation analyses utilising the PROCESS macro was employed to test whether the relationship between Leadership 4.0 and organisational performance capabilities was mediated through innovative management practices. Results Statistically significant positive relationships were found between Leadership 4.0, Innovative Management Practices and Organisational Performance Capabilities. A regression model indicated that Leadership styles statistically significantly predicted the most variance in Organisational Performance Capabilities. Results further determined that Transactional Leadership explained a unique variance in risk management and digital risk management. Lastly, the test for mediation indicated that innovative management practices partially mediated the relationship between Leadership 4.0 and organisational performance capabilities. Findings: Findings from the results supported various discussions and studies in the literature and in practice that leadership, specifically Leadership 4.0, is an important element to navigating the uncertainties and challenges presented by the 4IR. Further evidence was also found in support of contingent leadership theories. Managerial Implications The findings of the present research study holds a practical implication for organisations in that the findings support the literature suggesting that leadership is a key element in organisational performance capabilities, specifically for survival and sustainability for the 4IR. The findings further contributes to a growing body of knowledge surrounding the 4IR, leadership, innovative management practices and organisational performance fields of research.

Since China opened up to the outside world in 1978, a tremendous economic development took place. China is today still a fast growing economy. With a huge population that makes up for an enormous market along with relatively low labor costs, China is very attractive for foreign companies. When foreign companies expand and establish in China, many aspects must be taken into consideration. Aspects like cultural differences must be considered by the foreign managers as well as how to manage the Chinese employees in human relations. Having innovative employees are beneficial to any company. However, the way to influence employees to be innovative can differ from one culture to another. There is little research done on Swedish companies operating in China and how they influence their Chinese employees to be innovative. The aim of this thesis is to provide some insight into this matter. The thesis takes a deductive approach, and the investigation is performed quantitatively by a survey. The survey is answered by the Chinese employees that are currently working in Swedish companies where they are to rank the presence of several Strategic Human Resource Management practices. Also, their perceptions on Chinese cultural aspects are investigated. The results from this thesis will point out the most successful practices in influencing the Chinese employees’ innovativeness, but also the cultural factors that can obstruct innovativeness. This research may be of value for Swedish companies, as well for Swedish managers hoping to establish themselves in China.

This study examined 180 matched pretest/posttest surveys of kindergarten teachers' perceptions of the transition children experienced upon kindergarten entry. Investigations of changes in the percentages of children perceived as not being ready for kindergarten and percentages of children who were rated as having had a very successful, moderately successful, or difficult transition from the pretest to the posttest were conducted. Additionally, changes in teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices from the beginning of the school year (pretest) to the end of the school year (posttest) were explored. Further analyses were conducted to find differences and associations between teacher and classroom demographics and changes from pretest to posttest. Teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs were statistically significantly higher at the beginning of the school year (pretest) as compared to the end of the school year (posttest). Conversely, teachers' developmentally appropriate practices were statistically significantly higher at the end of the school year (posttest) when compared to the beginning of the school year (pretest). Even with the increase in teachers' developmentally appropriate practices at the end of the year, consistent with previous research, teacher's beliefs were found to be more developmentally appropriate than their reported practices. Study findings indicated that teachers reported a significantly higher percentage of children as having had a difficult transition at the beginning of the school year when compared to the end. At the beginning of the year, teachers rated 21.9% of children as having had a difficult transition, compared to 17.4% of children at the end of the school year. Some teachers reported 100% of the children in their class had a difficult transition at both the beginning and end of the school year. Overall, just under 60% of children were perceived as having some problems with kindergarten entry. Findings also indicated that teachers reported a significantly higher percentage of children were not ready for kindergarten entry at the beginning of the school year than at the end of the school year. Teachers perceived 27% of children were not ready for kindergarten at the beginning of the school year, with 22.4% of children rated as not ready at the end of the school year. Again, some teachers perceived 100% of their children as not being ready at both the beginning and end of the school year. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research were discussed.

<p>Motivating employees is essential for any organization aspiring to succeed. However, the process of motivating is not straightforward due to the diversity of individual’s needs. The task has been made even more difficult by the fact that personalized needs have altered in recent years. For instance, in many circumstances financial compensation is not considered as the main motivational factor of employees. Therefore, various other motivational practices have been developed, which take into consideration such issues as the work environment and the job itself.</p><p>This thesis is a comparative study between Sweden and Finland. The study has an objective of exploring how corporate culture affects the use of motivational practices in the Information Technology industry.</p><p>According to the findings gathered from two organizations, Sasken Finland Oy and SYSteam, culture does influence the choice of motivational practices. The issue of how culture affects, depends on whether corporate culture is task or person-oriented.</p>

Apesar de a literatura evidenciar a urgência da criatividade e da inovação nas empresas, não se encontraram pesquisas que analisem, especificamente, a relação entre as atitudes criativas e as práticas inovadoras. Assim, o presente trabalho de investigação pretendeu dar resposta a uma questão central: que relação existe entre as atitudes criativas dos empresários e as suas práticas empresariais inovadoras? Tendo como objetivo estabelecer uma relação entre essas variáveis no contexto das Microempresas e PME sedeadas em Portugal Continental, foi inquirida uma amostra constituída por 274 empresários, através de um inventário de práticas empresariais inovadoras e uma escala de autoperceção de atitudes criativas, construídos para o efeito. O tratamento dos dados recolhidos assentou na análise estatística, com recurso ao programa informático PASW Statistics e dividiu-se em duas fases: a análise das características métricas dos instrumentos e o estudo das hipóteses. A avaliação das características métricas dos instrumentos de recolha dos dados começou com um estudo piloto, que permitiu avaliar a sua sensibilidade, fidelidade e validade e confirmou-se num estudo principal, cujos resultados apontam para instrumentos com a robustez necessária, medindo os construtos para os quais foram desenvolvidos. Para o efeito recorreu-se à estatística descritiva, à análise de componentes principais para dados categóricos e à análise fatorial exploratória, com recurso à análise de componentes principais. Da operacionalização da questão de investigação definiram-se as hipóteses, para cujo teste se recorreu ao estudo de correlação, à análise de variância e à análise do valor preditivo das variáveis. Os resultados estabelecem uma relação entre as variáveis e confirma-se parcialmente a hipótese de trabalho, apontando a influência das atitudes criativas sobre as práticas empresariais inovadoras; ABSTRACT: Although literature highlights the urgency of creativity and innovation in enterprises, no studies were found that specifically examine the relationship between creativity attitudes and innovative practices. So, this research intended to address a central question: what kind of relationship exists between creative attitudes of entrepreneurs and their innovative business practices? Facing the objective of establishing the relationship between attitudes towards creativity and innovative business practices in the context of Micro and SMEs, based in mainland Portugal, a sample of 274 entrepreneurs has been inquired through an inventory of innovative business practices and a scale of self-rated creative attitudes, both built from scratch. Using computer program PASW Statistics, the data collected was treated through statistical analysis, divided in two phases: the analysis of metric characteristics of the instruments and the study of hypotheses. The evaluation of the metric characteristics of the instruments of data collection began with a pilot study to assess their sensitivity, reliability and validity and was confirmed in the main study, where results showed the instruments robustness, by measuring the constructs for which the instruments have been developed. For this purpose we used descriptive statistics, principal components analysis for categorical data and exploratory factor analysis, again using the principal component analysis. Through the operationalization of the research question, hypotheses were defined, and tested with study correlation, analysis of variance and analysis of the predictive value of variables. The results point to a relationship between the variables partially confirming the research hypothesis, showing the influence of attitudes towards creativity in innovative business practices.

Introduction of this dissertation highlights that former studies have identified a significant impact of entrepreneurship on country’s economic development. Entrepreneurial activity process deals with micro-level and macro-level characteristics (Davidsson and Wiklund, 2001), micro-level characteristics are human resources (e.g., Bhagavatula et al., 2010) and macro-level characteristics are institutions (e.g., Autio and Acs, 2010; Bowen and De Clercq, 2008). Shane (2009) argued that the innovative businesses with growth are important for countries economic development, not the general businesses. Aparicio et al., (2016) argued that Institutions are important factors to explain the entrepreneurial activities. North’s (1990) divides institutions in two categories, formal institutions and informal institutions. This dissertation explains the characteristics behind the difference of entrepreneurial activity creation across countries by considering the entrepreneurial cognition and national level institutions and their interactions on entrepreneurial behaviour. This study is forgrounded on a comprehensive and thorough literature review, encompassing the studies conducted during the last 26 years to know that how many studies are available which has explored the impact of formal and informal institutions on entrepreneurial behaviour. With this aim, I have conducted a rigorous search of published articles in journals included in Social Sciences Citation Index®. The main findings of this chapter show that 101 articles are strictly empirical to the topic. I observed that more than half, around 51% of the articles were published in last five years. I also put my preferences on “published articles by authors´ country of academic affiliation” and found USA as the leading country with 32% of studies. Around 80% articles used the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor dataset and just 13 studies used multi-level modeling for analyzing this relationship. All of the multi-level studies were available in last four years, that identifies application of multi-level statistical technique is new to the field. Athough opportunities are available for future research, during my literature review I found some gaps, for example very few studies are available with an emphasis on quality of entrepreneurship, and the inconsistent treatment of levels of analysis. The third chapter of this dissertation eloborates from a theoretical perspective and illustrate on the emerging point of view of social cognitive theory and institutional theory. I have built and tested a multilevel model on the outcome of innovative entrepreneurial entry. This study considers the relationship between entrepreneurial cognition and their likelihood to innovative entrepreneurial entry and particularly, how this relationship might be moderated by the macroeconomic context (government regulations and financial capital availability) formal institutions. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was appled to a sample of almost 190,015 individuals across 48 countries that spans on 8-years time period (2001-2008). I concluded that entrepreneurial cognition variables such as social capital, perceived opportunity and self-efficacy has positive relationship with innovative entrepreneurial entry and positively moderated by the government regulations and financial capital availability. These results support my Hypothesis 1a to 3c, and they have implications for researchers and practitioners in the field of innovative entrepreneurship. The interrelationship between informal institutions cultural practices, entrepreneurial cognition, and innovative entrepreneurial entry has been discussed in the fourth chapter of this dissertation. While drawing attention on the institutional theory and social cognitive theory, the data was obtained from the GEM and the GLOBE study. I tested my Hypothesis 4a to 7c using multilevel methodology of a cross sectional panel dataset for 43 countries of 267,882 individuals over the period of (2001-2008). I found a positive effect of entrepreneurial cognition variables such as social capital, perceived opportunity and self-efficacy on innovative entrepreneurial entry is moderated by the institutional collectivism, performance orientation and uncertainty avoidance. Although, the present results have identified that individual-level variables motivating innovative entrepreneurship that are systematically entangled with, and embedded in, both entrepreneurial cognition and cultural practices. This implies some implications for methodological development in cross cultural research of innovative entrepreneurship. An additional process “robustness check” with opportunity based entrepreneurship was performed to establish whether the hypotheses were in the same line of other indicators related to quality of entrepreneurship. I have built and tested empirically my Hypothesis 8a to 14c with macroeconomic context and societal context. Using multilevel methodology for both (macroeconomic context and societal context), over eight-years (2001-2008) with same number of individual I found a positive relationship between social capital, perceived opportunity, self-efficacy and opportunity based entrepreneurship. This relationship was found to be positively moderated by the government regulations and financial capital availability. On the other hand, for informal institutions I found positive association between social capital, perceived opportunity, self-efficacy and opportunity based entrepreneurship, in addition positively moderated by the institutional collectivism, performance orientation and uncertainty avoidance. The outcomes form “robustness checks” followed the same trend and further confirmed the hypothesis tested in the previous chapters. This process made my study more validated and valuable for policy makers to implicate policies.<br>L'introduzione di questa dissertazione mette in evidenza che gli ex studi hanno identificato un impatto significativo dell'imprenditorialità sullo sviluppo economico del paese. offerte imprenditoriali processo attività con micro-livello e macro-livello di caratteristiche (Davidsson e Wiklund, 2001), le caratteristiche di micro-livello sono le risorse umane (ad esempio, Bhagavatula et al., 2010) e le caratteristiche a livello macro sono istituzioni (ad esempio, Autio e Acs, 2010; Bowen e De Clercq, 2008). Shane (2009) ha sostenuto che le imprese innovative, con la crescita sono importanti per lo sviluppo economico dei paesi, non le imprese generali. Aparicio et al., (2016) ha sostenuto che le istituzioni sono fattori importanti per spiegare le attività imprenditoriali. Nord (1990) divide istituzioni in due categorie, le istituzioni formali e istituzioni informali. Questa tesi spiega le caratteristiche alla base della differenza della creazione dell'attività imprenditoriale in tutti i paesi, considerando le istituzioni cognizione e di livello nazionale, imprenditoriali e le loro interazioni sul comportamento imprenditoriale. Questo studio è forgrounded su una revisione completa e approfondita della letteratura, che comprende gli studi condotti nel corso degli ultimi 26 anni per sapere che il numero di studi sono disponibili, che ha esplorato l'impatto delle istituzioni formali e informali sul comportamento imprenditoriale. A tal fine, ho condotto una ricerca rigorosa di articoli pubblicati su riviste inclusi in Social Sciences Citation Index. I principali risultati di questo capitolo mostrano che 101 gli articoli sono strettamente empirico al tema. Ho osservato che più della metà, circa il 51% degli articoli sono stati pubblicati in ultimi cinque anni. Ho anche messo le mie preferenze su "articoli pubblicati da authors' paese di affiliazione accademica" e ho trovato Stati Uniti come il paese leader con il 32% degli studi. Circa 80% articoli usati il set di dati Global Entrepreneurship Monitor e solo 13 studi hanno utilizzato la modellazione multi-livello per analizzare questo rapporto. Tutti gli studi multi-livello erano disponibili in quattro anni, che identifica l'applicazione della tecnica statistica multi-livello è nuovo al campo. Benchè le opportunità sono disponibili per la ricerca futura, durante la mia revisione della letteratura che ho trovato alcune lacune, per esempio pochissimi studi sono disponibili con l'accento sulla qualità dello spirito imprenditoriale, e il trattamento incoerente dei livelli di analisi. Il terzo capitolo di questa tesi eloborates da un punto di vista teorico e illustrare il punto emergente di vista della teoria sociale cognitiva e teoria istituzionale. Ho costruito e testato un modello multilivello sul risultato di entrata imprenditoriale innovativa. Questo studio considera il rapporto tra cognizione imprenditoriale e la loro probabilità di ingresso imprenditoriale innovativo e particolare, come questo rapporto potrebbe essere moderato dal contesto macroeconomico (regolamenti governativi e la disponibilità del capitale finanziario) istituzioni formali. analisi di regressione logistica multilivello è stato Appled ad un campione di quasi 190.015 individui in tutto 48 paesi, che abbraccia tutto su 8 anni di periodo di tempo (2001-2008). Ho concluso che le variabili cognitive imprenditoriali quali il capitale sociale, opportunità percepita e di auto-efficacia è rapporto positivo con ingresso imprenditoriale innovativo e moderato positivamente dai regolamenti governativi e disponibilità capitale finanziario. Questi risultati sostenere la mia ipotesi 1a a 3c, e hanno implicazioni per i ricercatori e professionisti nel campo della imprenditorialità innovativa. L'interrelazione tra istituzioni informali pratiche culturali, la cognizione imprenditoriale, e l'ingresso imprenditoriale innovativo è stato discusso nel quarto capitolo di questa tesi. Mentre si disegna l'attenzione sulla teoria istituzionale e teoria sociale cognitiva, i dati sono stati ottenuti dalla GEM e lo studio GLOBE. Ho provato la mia ipotesi 4a al 7c utilizzando la metodologia multilivello di una croce dataset panel sezione per i 43 paesi di 267,882 individui nel periodo di (2001-2008). Ho trovato un effetto positivo di variabili cognizione imprenditoriali quali il capitale sociale, opportunità percepita e auto-efficacia in entrata imprenditoriale innovativa è moderato dal collettivismo istituzionali, orientamento ai risultati e l'incertezza di evitamento. Anche se, i risultati attuali hanno identificato che le variabili a livello individuale motivanti imprenditorialità innovativa che vengono sistematicamente impigliato con, e incorporati in, sia la cognizione imprenditoriale e pratiche culturali. Ciò comporta alcune implicazioni per lo sviluppo metodologico in croce ricerca culturale di imprenditorialità innovativa. Un ulteriore processo "controllo robustezza" con lo spirito imprenditoriale basato opportunità è stata eseguita per stabilire se le ipotesi fossero nella stessa linea di altri indicatori relativi alla qualità dello spirito imprenditoriale. Ho costruito e testato empiricamente la mia ipotesi 8a a 14c con il contesto macroeconomico e contesto sociale. Utilizzando una metodologia multilivello per entrambi (contesto macroeconomico e di contesto sociale), nel corso di otto anni (2001-2008) con lo stesso numero di individuo ho trovato una relazione positiva tra capitale sociale, opportunità percepita, auto-efficacia e l'imprenditorialità basata opportunità. Questa relazione è stata trovata per essere moderato positivamente dai regolamenti governativi e disponibilità capitale finanziario. D'altra parte, per le istituzioni informali che ho trovato un'associazione positiva tra capitale sociale, opportunità percepita, auto-efficacia e l'imprenditorialità basata opportunità, oltre moderato positivamente dal collettivismo istituzionali, orientamento ai risultati e l'incertezza di evitamento. La forma esiti "controlli di robustezza" hanno seguito la stessa tendenza e confermano ulteriormente l'ipotesi testato nei capitoli precedenti. Questo processo ha reso il mio studio convalidati e di valore per i responsabili delle politiche di coinvolgere le politiche.

Our paper presents some preliminary observation from a collaborative exploratory study linking mathematics, science and reading within a technology enhanced problem-based learning scenario conducted at one French Canadian Elementary and Middle School. Presented in a form of dialogue between teacher and researcher, our findings give some meaningful insight in how an innovative mathematics teaching can be developed and implemented using a real-world problem solving. Instead of a traditional presentation of material about lighting up homes, participating mathematics, science and French teachers were working collaboratively with the ICT integration mentor and two university professors helping students investigate a problem from various perspectives using a variety of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, discussing and sharing the finding with peers and presenting them to a larger audience using media tools. Our preliminary results may prompt further investigation of how innovation in teaching and learning can help students become better critical thinkers and scientifically empowered citizens.

L'accesso a un alloggio adeguato è stato riconosciuto come una condizione direttamente collegata al benessere umano, diventata purtroppo un bene strategico per il mercato finanziario globale, provocando tensioni strutturali che raggiungono il loro apice nei contesti urbani alla periferia dello sviluppo neoliberista. In America Latina, l’instabilità socio-politica, il pensiero progressista (ad esempio, le teorie della Teologia della Liberazione e della Pedagogia degli Oppressi), il know-how tradizionale, la solidarietà e il mutuo soccorso e il sincretismo locale-europeo, hanno creato le condizioni per una tradizione accumulata bottom-up di auto-fornitura di alloggi, dove le persone che sono sistematicamente oppresse ed escluse hanno (ri)rivendicato il diritto all'alloggio e si sono impegnate in progetti politici più ampi. Riguardo a questo, sono stati fatti notevoli sforzi per descrivere la tradizione empirica che si è accumulata, ma ciò che è carente è il tentativo di collegare tale tradizione alle teorie urbane e sociali. Pertanto, questa dissertazione contribuisce proponendo lenti concettuali per osservare e comparare esperienze empiriche locali, in modo che i dati possano essere raccolti su scala regionale e alla fine si possano tradurre tali osservazioni in teorie. Le condizioni abitative globali richiedono nuovi modi di pensare alla fornitura, alla gestione e al possesso di alloggi; quindi, dall'analisi di esperienze contro-egemoniche innovative si possono trarre lezioni preziose. Come metodologia è stata scelta l'analisi comparativa di casi studio e sono stati presi in considerazione alcuni principi derivanti da studi comparativi urbani postcoloniali. I casi di studio selezionati sono Sociedad Cooperativa de Vivienda Unión Palo Alto (Messico) e Asociación Cooperativa de Vivienda La Libertad 13 de Enero (El Salvador), entrambe hanno adattato i principi della rete uruguaiana di Cooperativismo de Vivienda por Ayuda Mutua (CVAM), che hanno ampliato in tutta l'America Latina e si distingue per la sua capacità di adattamento, resilienza, istituzionalizzazione e crescita. I principali risultati della ricerca includono: primo, un modello preliminare per l'analisi comparativa in cui le ipotesi sono delineate sulla base di collegamenti concettuali provenienti da diverse tradizioni accademiche. Social Innovation (SI) fornisce una comprensione più ampia dei processi sociali alla base delle esperienze di Producción Social del Hábitat (Produzione Sociale di Habitat); Hope è riconosciuta come una forza collettiva per contrastare la stagnazione, organizzare azioni di rivendicazione dell'alloggio e fissare orizzonti raggiungibili basati sulle capacità territoriali; e Autonomy rappresenta il processo spazio-temporale di allineamento delle azioni di resistenza in una ricerca collettiva di autodeterminazione che implica la partecipazione agli spazi decisionali. Secondo, un'analisi del quadro normativo nazionale, del sistema istituzionale del settore abitativo e dell'evoluzione di entrambi i casi studio. Terzo, un'analisi comparativa pilota di Social Innovation in Housing (SI-H) in cui le categorie concettuali del modello preliminare vengono messe a punto riflettendo sui risultati provenienti dal lavoro sul campo, inoltre, i dati vengono utilizzati per l'analisi incrociata. Quarto, i risultati delle interviste e delle testimonianze di esperti forniscono nuove prospettive per l'interpretazione dei dati e informano riguardo la mappatura dell'internazionalizzazione della rete di Cooperativismo de Vivienda por Ayuda Mutua (CVAM) in America Latina. Infine, le conclusioni sono organizzate sulla base dei quesiti di ricerca. Primo, sono conclusioni che riguardano collegamenti concettuali e alcune definizioni originali; secondo, sono conclusioni sul modello concettuale proposto e delle sue categorie più rilevanti; infine, c’è una serie di conclusioni del confronto pilota che potrebbero fornire ipotesi per la ricerca futura.<br>Access to adequate housing has been acknowledged as a condition directly linked to human well-being that has however become a strategic commodity for the global financial market, causing structural tensions that reach their apex in urban contexts on the periphery of the neoliberal development. In Latin America, neoliberal principles have been widely adopted, and urbanization dynamics have reproduced socio-spatial exclusion and inequality. However, socio-political turmoil, progressive thinking (e.g., theories of Liberation Theology and Pedagogy of the Oppressed), traditional know-how, solidarity and mutual-aid, and local-European syncretism, have created the conditions for an accumulated tradition of bottom-up housing self-provision, where people that are systematically oppressed and excluded have (re)claimed their right to housing and engaged in broader political projects. Since the 1970s in Latin America, exemplary practices of organized bottom-up housing claims have emerged, institutionalized, informed governance structures, and been impactful in terms of housing provision. Over this, considerable efforts for describing the accumulated empirical tradition have been done, but less in trying to link it with urban and social theories. Therefore, this dissertation contributes by proposing conceptual lenses for approaching and comparing local empirical experiences, so data can be collected at a regional scale, and theorization can eventually be produced. Global housing conditions demand new ways of thinking about housing provision, management, and tenure; hence, valuable lessons can be drawn from the analysis of innovative counter-hegemonic experiences. Comparative case study analysis has been selected as the methodology and some principles coming from post-colonial urban comparative studies are considered. The case studies selected are Sociedad Cooperativa de Vivienda Unión Palo Alto (Mexico) and Asociación Cooperativa de Vivienda La Libertad 13 de Enero (El Salvador), both have adapted principles of the Uruguayan Mutual-Aid Housing Cooperative Network (CVAM), which have extended across Latin America and stands out due to their adaptability, resilience, institutionalization and scaling-up capacity. The main outcomes of the research include: First, a preliminary model for comparative analysis where assumptions are outlined based on conceptual linkages coming from different scholarly traditions. Social Innovation (SI) provides a broader understanding of the social processes underpinning the experiences of Producción Social del Hábitat (Social Production of Habitat); Hope is recognized as a collective force to counteract stagnation, organize actions of housing claim, and set an attainable horizons based on territorial capacities; and Autonomy represents the spatial-temporal process of aligning actions of resistance in a collective pursuit of self-determination that implies participation in decision-making spaces. Second, a comprehensive analysis of the national regulatory framework, the institutional system of the housing sector, and the evolution of both case studies in different periods. Third, a pilot comparative analysis of Social Innovation in Housing (SI-H) where the conceptual categories of the preliminary model are fine-tuned by reflecting over the results coming from the fieldwork, and data is used for cross-analysis. Fourth, results of the interviews and testimonies of experts which provide new perspectives for data interpretation and inform the mapping of the internationalization of Mutual-aid Housing Cooperatives (CVAM) network in Latin America. Finally, conclusions are organized in accordance to the research questions. First, conclusions regarding conceptual links and some original definitions; second, conclusions on the proposed conceptual model and some of its most relevant categories; third, a series of conclusions from the pilot comparison that could inform hypotheses for future research.

The European Union has introduced a new General Data Protection Regulation that regulates all aspects of privacy and data protection for the data of European citizens. To transition to the new rules, companies and public institutions were given two years to adapt their systems and controls. Due to the large area of changes the GDPR requires, many companies are facing severe problems to adapt the rules to be ready for enforcement. This marks the purpose of this study which is to look into compliance practices in the implementation of GDPR requirements. This includes a prospect of compliance mechanisms that may remain insufficiently addressed when the regulation comes into force on May 25, 2018. The study is conducted in Sweden and aims to investigate the situation in corporations and not in public institutions. Mixed methods have been applied by surveying and interviewing Swedish GDPR experts and consultants to gain an understanding of their view by using capability maturity scales to assess a variety of security processes and controls. The analysis shows a low implementation in GDPR requirements while having seen improvements over the past two years of transition. It points out that a holistic strategy towards compliance is mostly missing and many companies face obstacles that are difficult to overcome in a short period. This may result in non-compliance in many Swedish corporations after the regulation comes into force on May 25.