Journal of Management and Business Education

Using practitioners’ voices in developing a business rescue practitioner expert profile

Onesmus Ayaya — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The study explored how business rescue (BR) practices can inform the development of an occupation profile needed to lay a foundation for developing business rescue practitioners’ occupation-specific qualifications. There are 11 professional organisations whose members qualify to serve as business rescue experts. The relevant occupation cannot have more than one occupation expert profile. The study employed qualitative approaches that entailed semi-structured interviews with 20 informants (12 business rescue practitioners, four short skills development programme (SSDP) managers, and 4 SSDP facilitators) and qualitative document content analysis of 30 court cases settled on the BR. The 12 business rescue practitioners (BRP) were randomly selected. However, other informants were accessed through a purposeful sample selection process. The field findings show that the BRP occupation in South Africa is a regulated practice area without an occupation expert profile. The BR practices have not been incorporated in a qualification framework registered on the Qualification Framework (NQF) governed by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Development of pipeline talent is limited, and the monitoring of SSDPs encounters limitations without an occupation expert profile and an occupation-specific qualification. The BR practices can be categorised into 11 tasks linked to practitioner training disciplines. The existing SSDPs provide an important mechanism for continuing professional development. However, the contents should be linked to BR practices and an occupation profile embracing the BRP role as an interim managing director in a business rescue process. The uniqueness of this article resides in its documentation of BR practices generated from multiple data sources that should be used to develop an occupation expert profile that reflects BRP’s capability. The setting of the BR process requires experts to operate in the capability realm.

Methods: The study employed qualitative approaches that entailed semi-structured interviews with 20 informants (12 business rescue practitioners, four short skills development programme (SSDP) managers, and 4 SSDP facilitators) and qualitative document content analysis of 30 court cases settled on the BR. The 12 business rescue practitioners (BRP) were randomly selected. However, other informants were accessed through a purposeful sample selection process.

Results: The field findings show that the BRP occupation in South Africa is a regulated practice area without an occupation expert profile. The BR practices have not been incorporated in a qualification framework registered on the Qualification Framework (NQF) governed by the South African Qualifications Authority(SAQA). Development of pipeline talent is limited, and the monitoring of SSDPs encounters limitations without an occupation expert profile and an occupation-specific qualification. The BR practices can be categorised into 11 tasks linked to practitioner training disciplines.

Practical implications: The existing SSDPs provide an important mechanism for continuing professional development. However, the contents should be linked to BR practices and an occupation profile embracing the BRP role as an interim managing director in a business rescue process.

Originality value: The uniqueness of this article resides in its documentation of BR practices generated from multiple data sources that should be used to develop an occupation expert profile that reflects BRP’s capability. The setting of BR process requires experts to operate in the capability realm.
Keywords: business, expert, occupation, practitioner, practice, profile, rescue, voices.

Student Response Systems in higher education: A comparative analysis using Wooclap platform in economic courses

Belén Catala Estada, Diego Muñoz-Higueras , Jordi Sanjuán Belda — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The introduction of technological tools such as student response systems to dynamise classes in higher education has been increasing in recent years, although often without proper monitoring of their effects. This research aims to analyse the main added value of the use of the Wooclap platform in university education, and whether there are differences in its results depending on the heterogeneous characteristics of the courses and groups in which it is applied. To this end, a comparative analysis has been carried out in three different courses in the field of economics at the University of Valencia. In all three courses, questions were introduced in Wooclap during theory classes. Students in the three courses were given an anonymous survey at the end of the course to evaluate the use of this tool. The students were very satisfied with the tool, highlighting that it helps them to maintain their attention, identify the most important concepts, understand and consolidate them. Furthermore, by means of the Chi-square test, no significant differences were observed in the three groups, from which it can be deduced that beyond the specific characteristics of the course, the profile of the students or the lecturer, this tool can be extrapolated to different contexts and satisfactory results can be expected. The ease of implementation, the possibility of obtaining immediate feedback from students and breaking the monotony of classes are other advantages for lecturers. The conclusions drawn highlight the potential of Wooclap to extend its use in higher education.

Digital transformation and student satisfaction at the Autonomous University of Chile

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The great advances that derive from the technological revolution 4.0 have permeated higher education institutions, which have been forced to initiate extensive transformation processes that consider the integration of digital technologies to guarantee student satisfaction, maintain their social validity and ensure their sustainability. In this article, focused on the case of the Autonomous University of Chile, the existence of causal relationships between the Digital Transformation model of that University and the Student Satisfaction Index model proposed by Turkyilmaz, Temizer and Oztekin (2018) is demonstrated. The objective of the research was to determine the impact of the digital transformation on the student’s satisfaction of that University. The structural equation modeling technique was applied, using the data obtained from a questionnaire applied to 313 students at that University in the month of May 2023. The analyzes carried out empirically validated the proposed theoretical model, demonstrating that perceived quality is the variable that has the greatest effect on student satisfaction, and finding that the expectations created regarding the results of the digital transformation of the University have a negative influence on the satisfaction; In other words, the higher the expectations about digital transformation, the more difficult it will be to satisfy students and achieve their loyalty to the institution.

Online assessment in higher education during the COVID-19

Mar Souto-Romero, Mario Arias-Oliva, Orlando Lima Rua, Antonio Pérez-Portabella — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of education, prompting universities worldwide to swiftly transition to online and blended learning environments. The adaptation process to online education varies depending on several factors, including the level of digitalization and technological penetration in each country, the availability of technologies at universities, and the digital skills of students and staff. Additionally, the specific field of knowledge influences the adaptation process, with differences observed between disciplines such as health sciences and humanities. In this study, we conduct an exploratory qualitative analysis on how universities have responded, specifically focusing on the coordinators of Master’s programs in Spain in the specific area of assessment. This unprecedented situation has forced educators and institutions to rethink their assessment strategies and adapt to a new educational landscape. The insights gained from this study could provide valuable guidance for future crises and contribute to the ongoing discourse on the role of digital technologies in education in general, and in assessment in particular.

Strategies to enhance employee wellbeing in an institution of higher learning in South Africa

Sat, 06 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Employee wellbeing is a crucial challenge in many organisations in South Africa and abroad. Interventions at a management level are vital to ensure that organisations do not lose quality employees due to poor employee well-being. Therefore, the paper assessed the strategies that can be used to enhance the well-being of academics in an institution of higher learning in South Africa. The paper employed a qualitative approach to collect data from the Management Committee (MANCO) at the Durban University of Technology in Durban, South Africa. Purposive sampling was be used to collect data directly from the MANCO. All data are analyzed using Nvivo. Findings from the study revealed that leadership plays a pivotal role in the well-being of employees. The findings of the paper can assist the management of the university with solutions related to the turnover of academics and will also be a wake-up call to other universities on the subject matter.

Employability skills of business graduates in Saudi Arabia: Do academia and employers speak the same language?

Abdullah Bindawas — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Graduate education plays a role in improving the scope for employability of graduates. It empowers them with specialized skills, advanced knowledge, and critical thinking, which increases the scope for their employability. However, in the case of Saudi Arabia, it has been reported that there is widespread unemployment in the country. Though the Saudi Arabian government has initiated measures to nurture development in education through their ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ program, a gap exists. There are strong indictors which point at a mismatch of knowledge and skills possessed by graduates in Saudi, and the requirements of the labour market. Therefore, this paper examines the apparent gap between academia and employers in terms of employability, while focusing on whether graduate students have the same set of skills that employers require. Using a review method, information was derived from secondary sources, mainly from papers having examined the same topic previously. From the findings, academia believed that the educational system needed an overhaul and economic diversification, with the creation of new employment opportunities. Though employers believed that Saudi graduates lacked soft skills impacting their employability. It was concluded that a collaboration between students and employers was required, where employers could offer inputs supporting graduate employability.