International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning

Communities of Practice as a Knowledge Management Tool in Ghana's Telecommunication Industry: A Systematic Review

Lawrence Akosen, Nasir Asiedu — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Communities of Practice(s) (COPs) have become an important instrument for knowledge transfer in Ghana's telecom industry. It functions as a catalyst in enabling telecommunications' competitive advantage as the key industry on the development agendas of African countries. The study deals with the introduction, methodology, discussions, significance of the study, limitations of the study, future directions, and conclusions. The study used a systematic review technique to analyse the literature and discuss and present conclusions. The findings demonstrated that CoPs have strengthened a variety of essential abilities in the telecoms industry, allowing information from the company's technical and operational sectors to be diffused across the organization's broad skill set. The study suggests that the key aspects of a successful CoPs are ensuring that learning is a social force, knowledge is unified into the community's culture, standards, and language, learning and community affiliation are inseparable, knowledge and experience are indivisible, and authorization is essential to learning.

Peer Instruction as Teaching Method in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

Bettina Scheider, Petra Maria Asprion — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Cybersecurity and data privacy are important fields today. Basic education in these two interconnected areas should already be offered in schools, as practically everyone today can encounter the dangers and risks of the Internet in terms of data theft, data manipulation or the like. However, the topics of cybersecurity and data privacy are generally abstract, and many people are not interested in such rather technical topics. To arouse interest and provide a certain basic education, we used ‘peer instruction’ combined with storytelling as a promising method. Within the framework of an EU project called GEIGER and with the support of students who have learned data privacy by means of the presented method, the method has been further developed, applied, tested, reflected, and iteratively improved. In summary, the method presented is useful for the topics of cybersecurity and data privacy, but the recommendations compiled must be considered in particular with regard to careful preparation and testing.

Mechanism of Transformational Leadership on Team Performance and Recommended Interventions on AI-Lab

Zhuofeng Li — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to synthesize the relationships between transformational leadership and the intermediate outcomes (e.g., team vision, team coordination, team cohesion, team project innovation) of team performance, then to propose relevant interventions to enhance the team performance of the case setting.

Study design: Based on the empirical literature review, this study employs the case study method to incorporate relevant transformational behaviors and techniques into the practical issues of the case setting.

Findings: This study demonstrates the positive relationships between the 4I’s of transformational leadership and the intermediate outcomes of team performance, and finds some unique transformational techniques to cope with the managerial problems during business transition.

Originality/value: This study contributes to formulating an original theoretical framework on transformational leadership and team performance, and employing a series of exclusive intervention measures to improve the team performance of the case setting. The contributions may generalize into the wider education service sector.

The Impact of Organizational Culture on the Opportunities and Threats in Digital Transformation

Bálint Jakab, Nikoletta Kaszás, Ildikó Ernszt — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: The aim of the research is to show how the individual elements of the organizational culture - learning organization - affect the opportunities and threats related to the introduction of Industry 4.0.

Study design/methodology/approach: A structured questionnaire was used to survey Hungarian companies. The online questionnaire with closed and measurable scale questions were created and distributed. Questions covered following: perceived and detected threats that may hinder organizations in the digital transition process, the benefits that businesses see as an opportunity in the digital transformation, by examining the most important variables of learning organizations and the opportunities and dangers of digital transformation. As a result, survey received a positive feedback with 639 fully completing the questionnaire. Measurement was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 22.) In the first stage of the research, an Opportunities and a Threats factor were created using principal component analysis. As a result, instead of seven and twelve variables, one can be used to examine additional relationships. In the next stage of the research, we examined how each element of the organizational culture (Organizational Culture - Learning Organization) affects the factors we created, what percentage they contribute to the formation of each factor. The measurement was performed by linear regression analysis.

Findings: A comparison of two queries was performed, the results of which are summarized below. (A) How do certain elements of the organizational culture affect companies’ the Industry 4.0 Opportunities? (B) How do certain elements of the organizational culture affect companies’ Industry 4.0 Threats? In „A” case, the organizational culture factors explain 15.1% (R Square = .151) of the companies' Opportunity Factor. After the 5^th modeling of the program, there are 5 Organizational Culture variables that significantly contribute to the Opportunities of companies. In „B” case, the Organizational Culture factors explain only 5.6% (R Square = .056) of the companies’ Threats Factor. Following the 7th modeling of the program, there are 3 Organizational Culture variables that contribute significantly to the Threats of companies,

Originality/value: The five Organizational Culture variables that significantly contribute to the Opportunities of companies are: The organization proactively anticipates change, The organization is looking for innovative, new solutions, not limited by the habit, The organization also focuses on long-term impacts when making decisions, In the operation and development of the organization, the effects of the changes on other organizational units are taken into account and, The aim is to jointly develop the learning and development skills of the members of the organization, group learning. The three Organizational Culture variables that contribute significantly to the Threats of companies are: The organization is open to environmental change, The aim is to jointly develop the learning and development skills of the members of the organization, Employees can act to achieve their personal vision, ie. free self-realization.

(How) Can Machine Learning Support Teaching Staff in a Virtual Collaborative Learning Environment?

Arne Böhmer, Maximilian Musch, Hannes Schubert, Sebastian Schmidt — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: Supervising roles within virtual collaborative learning (VCL) environments face many different challenges and are often having difficulties keeping an eye on everything and comprehending every participant’s or group’s workflow. To help supervisors with problems like that we developed a software prototype to support their daily workflow and overcome the mentioned challenges.

Study design/methodology/approach: This study used a design science research approach to investigate how learning analytics might be able to support teaching staff in VCL settings. Previous studies demonstrated that this approach is very well suited to derive design guidelines for such software artifacts. Initially, a qualitative interview series with four experienced tutors was carried out to get an in-depth understanding of the challenges and tasks teaching staff typically faces in VCL environments. The interview material was systematically analysed to acquire the underlying software requirements. These were then combined with existing knowledge about support software of similar use cases to create a first prototype, primarily based on a supervised machine learning model that classifies online messages sent within the teams.

Findings: The software tool we have developed has shown that machine learning processes can indeed be used to support teaching staff in VCL environments. The tool achieves satisfactory classification performance in categorizing chat messages. It could therefore be demonstrated that it is possible to classify chat messages using a software tool. The interviews conducted revealed a particular interest in the statistical evaluations of group activities in Microsoft Teams. This was said to save a lot of time in the subsequent evaluation of the groups. The interviewed eTutors also expressed an interest in receiving private information on the development of possible conflicts within groups. The interest of the interviewed supervisors was very high and additional interviews could lead to further possible feature ideas. In general, the evaluative interviews resulted in positive feedback regarding how our prototype supported eTutors during their work.

Originality/value:

In current times, spatially distributed and asynchronous education plays a bigger role than ever before. VCL environments are useful tools to overcome these challenges of time and space. However, unlike research on conversational agents or automated feedback systems, the focus of this work is not on the communication interface between software and users or the exclusively quantitative analysis of messages. The goal is to evaluate the content of sent messages within VCL environments using the six defined categories to gain a better qualitative understanding of the teams’ collaboration and its workflow.

An Examination of Factors Determining User Privacy Perceptions of Voice-Based Assistants

Biodun Awojobi, Brett Landry — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: Voice-based assistants have become ubiquitous in our homes and all around us. We interact with voice-based assistants through smartphones, dedicated home devices, or other Internet-connected devices. The proliferation of these devices in our lives makes us question whether the data transmitted through these devices are secure and the role perception of privacy the users of these devices have in the usage of the device. This paper focuses on the user privacy issues specific to two voice-based assistants – Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant using quantitative and qualitative methods. The paper will answer three research questions regarding user privacy perceptions and how a user’s technology adoption, smartphone operating system, and demographics influence their perception of privacy.

Study design/methodology/approach: This is a mixed research study where survey data was collected from faculty, staff, and students of a large University in the United States and professional connections globally.

Findings: Privacy perceptions vary based on user age, educational level, gender, smartphone adoption, and technical awareness and expertise.

Originality/value: This study is unique in highlighting the perception of privacy for voice-based assistants and assigning a numerical value based on survey data to the concern. Another feature of the study is its correlation of privacy perception with mobile phone operating systems and the level of technical expertise of voice-based assistant users.

Aligning the Sharp End and The Blunt End in Construction Projects: Planning for Safety as Case

Trygve J. Steiro, Lindsay Wagstaff, Marit Vala, Eirik Albrechtsen — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: The construction industry is one of the most hazardous work sectors in Norway according to Statistics Norway. The purpose of this study was to study planning at various levels of construction projects, including planning of lifting operations, to assess how safety can be optimised.

Methodology: This qualitative interview study was based on a thorough review of safety literature. Fifteen interviews were conducted with workers in the sharp and blunt end, i.e., close to, or removed from, hazard sources on construction projects. The participants in this study were skilled workers, construction supervisors, and managers.

Findings: The current study found that proactive planning is crucial for safety. The current study also investigated the cruial role of project management as an important factor for safety. It was also identified that project management is a key in setting and maitaining safety in construct projects. However, this is dependent on communication and co- operation and alignment of the sharp end and the blunt end in projects.

Originality: The current study goes into deep in construction projects and demonstrating the importance of close link between planning and execution and identifies prerequistes for good social interaction and thereby taking care of the safety.

Budget Credibility and Global Surprises in Ghana: A Critical Reflection through PEFA Framework

Joseph Forson — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose - Public financial management practices in emerging economies have evolved overtime with the aim of improving national budget systems and promoting sustainable development. Therefore, the integration of the Ghanaian economy into the global one does not in any way immune it from shocks brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukraine war. The approach in this paper is to document my thoughts and opinion on Ghana’s public financial management practices in the context of global surprises.

Design/methodology/approach - The PEFA framework is used to assess the budget credibility of Ghana.

Findings – The findings shows that although a lot has been done to sanitise the public space in budgetary management, there is glowing evidence that suggest the public purse is riddled with systemic culture of corruption and mismanagement.

Originality/Value – Most developing economies have very good blue-prints on how to manage resources, but when it comes to actualising the imports of these blue-prints, there is a challenge. Ghana’s experience is commendable and worth being brought to the fore for all economies in the African region and beyond to emulate.

Online Collaborative Learning in Higher Education in Albania: Some Necessary Innovations

Eriola Qafzezi — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: The purpose of the current paper is to discuss the necessity for the internationalisation of Albanian HEIs, in light of the recent changes that HEIs in Albania are undergoing. Online collaborative learning is thus introduced as a necessary innovation to be embraced in HE in Albania, illustrated by implementation and findings and comments based on an authentic case study undertaken in the third course, Bachelor level, Fan S. Noli University, Korça, Albania.

Study design/methodology/approach: The paper is supported by a theoretical background on online collaborative learning and factual data about the current state of HEIs in Albania. The latter factual information illustrates the necessity of embracing online learning practices through collaborative learning, supported by examples from the case study. The paper adopts a mixed method approach, combining qualitative analysis with quantitative data derived from surveys carried out with Albanian students.

Findings: There are some conclusions and findings that we have derived from the factual information presented about the current state of HEIs in Albania, combined with data extracted from the case study. They point to the necessary innovations involving Albanian teachers and students of HEIs in online collaborative learning.

Originality/value: The current study bears original value because it provides direct links between the current need for the internationalisation of HEIs in Albania and online collaborative learning as a concrete way to bring about internationalisation. Examples brought are also authentic, taken from the case study, supported by data from pre- and post-implementation surveys conducted with Albanian students who took part in the case study.

Lessons Learned from an International and Interdisciplinary Virtual Mobility Module between Albania, Slovenia, and Germany

Mattis Altmann, Nelli Ukhova, Laura Hilse — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: After piloting an international and interdisciplinary Virtual Mobility module with eight participating institutions, the experiences will be processed as pedagogical patterns in OER format to facilitate future implementation.

Study design/methodology/approach: The lessons learned from the executing institution's perspective will be presented from the perspective of the module supervisor as well as two experienced e-tutors who were involved in the design, implementation and evaluation and were generated through their reflections of them.

Findings: The lessons learned focus on improving the organization of international e-tutor teams, the dropout management in group work with several institutions, and adapting the e-tutor qualification to enable adequate and qualitative equal support of all participants.

Originality/value: Based on the findings of the Albanian needs report, Virtual Mobility modules have been implemented marginally in the Albanian HEI landscape so far. Thus, the experiences from the pilot are of particular importance for the further multiplication and improvement of the internationalization of Albanian HEIs.

Challenges of University-Industry Cooperation in Albania

Ermira Qosja, Ketrina Mijo Çabiri — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: Albanian universities have a rigid experience especially when it comes to their effort to become competitive and respond to market demands. Today, it is a necessity for Albanian universities to become dynamic academic units, to go on an entrepreneurial path and to affect innovation in the region. This paper aims to measure the perception of university management staff regarding the challenges and barriers that appear in university-industry cooperation. It shed light to the identification of factors that motivate the academic staff toward such cooperation

Study design/methodology/approach: This paper implies a qualitative based methodology and relies on the methods used by the ERASMUS + CBHE ‘KALCEA’ project. Questionnaires used on KALCEA Project collect data from universities, businesses and research centres. The questionnaires pose a set of standard questions as well as a set of tailored questions for each of the three categories. The questionnaire was completed by the high management staff of universities in the period June-July 2022. From 39 universities and higher education colleges established in Albania, the questionnaire was sent to 22 institutions and were received answers from 16. Respondents are positions of rector/vice-rector/dean.

Findings: One of the great challenges of the current high education system is to demonstrate capacity in adapting itself to the societal changes and its new emerging economic demands. Nowadays, in higher education institutions in Albania, the biggest challenges are internationalization, connection with industry, commercialization of knowledge and academic entrepreneurship.

Originality/value: Findings of the paper have interest for universities, industry, and politicians in Albania. They go in line and add value to the new Albanian law on HEIs (2015) which provides more authonomy to Departments and poses challange for them to cooperate with industry and act entreprenerially

Assessing Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) as an Innovative Teaching and Learning Approach: A Case Application in Albania

Esmir Demaj, Griselda Alushllari — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to assess the implementation of a Virtual Collaborative Learning model (VCL) applied at a university level course/module with students of the bachelor cycle in a HEI in Albania.

Study design/methodology/approach: A single descriptive case study design has been used. At the end of the pilot VCL-based course activity deployment, an open-ended survey was conducted, and the response transcripts were analysed and elaborated. Course instructor and E-tutor first-hand observation has been also utilized.

Findings: Data obtained from the survey shows that the implementation of the VCL model alongside its challenges, is generally well-acknowledged and considered a positive experience. The majority of respondents, 93% of the students who participated in the survey highly recommend VCL as a new approach in learning. Communication issues are noticed particularly at first when students are trying to get accustomed to this model.

Originality/value: The expected novelty of this pilot project was the development of the teaching and learning processes through alternative innovative approaches such as through virtual collaborative learning.

Competence Needs of Modern Virtual Community Members

Lisa-Marie Langesee, Tom Helleken, Nils Hobe — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: This paper examines necessary competencies in virtual communities in Higher Education. Therefore, we explore which competencies are needed to participate in a virtual community and how these competencies can be captured and developed.

Study design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to achieve the research objectives.

Findings: As a result, five core competencies were identified: digital competencies, (inter)cultural competencies and language, social and communication competencies, self-motivation and self-management, and collaboration. Consequently, a self-assessment test for virtual community members was designed to capture existing competencies.

Originality/value: The Covid-19 pandemic as a driver of digitization has led to virtual collaboration being more prevalent than ever. This research paper contributes to the topic of virtual collaboration by informing about the necessary competencies and by developing an intuitive tool for self-assessing. Thus, preparing team members to become more successful in virtual teamwork.

Students’ English Language Development through the International VCL Module of the ValeuX project

Dorela Kaçauni — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of students' English language in terms of speaking, pronunciation and vocabulary while their participation in the “International Virtual Collaborative Learning” (IVCL) Module under the framework of the Erasmus+ programme European Union funded Project: ValeuX: Virtual Albanian European Universities Exchange. Students from 8 Albanian and European universities participated in the ValeuX incubator for 6 weeks. They had to work on a business start-up concerning eco-tourism in Albania. During these weeks, students had to talk in English and schedule meetings to discuss the tasks they had to prepare. During this experience, they developed their English language skills.

Study design/methodology/approach: The methodology of this paper is focused on a questionnaire distributed to 43 students via Google Forms to gather the data concerning the impact that students had after joining the "International VCL" Module and their development of different aspects of the English Language.

Findings: The findings showed that the student's English language development was noticeable. They perceived natural communication in English and expanded their vocabulary as well.

Originality/value: This study is important because it brings into light an aspect of taking part in International Virtual Learning, which is the development of English Language skills. It was a Foreign Language for all the students, and they worked on designing a start-up business idea about eco-tourism in Albania.

Implementation of Virtual Mobility and Internationalization at Home in Albania’s Higher Education: A Catalogue of Recommendations for Action

Gotje Frieda Rubarth, Lisa Aschenbrenner, Maroua Salhi, Mattis Altmann — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: Despite progressing research in the field of Virtual Mobility and Internationalization at Home, recent theories and technologies are challenging to implement for Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). The present paper focuses particularly on Albania, where the current education system has not been able to sufficiently incorporate Virtual Mobility and Internationalization in higher education programs.

Study design/methodology/approach: This paper analyses the prevalent situation within Albania’s higher education system regarding Virtual Mobility and Internationalization at Home activities. The underlying data has been collected in qualitative semi-structured interviews, conducted with teaching staff and students from Albanian universities who are experienced with Virtual Mobility modules. It was evaluated through a mixed approach of qualitative content analysis by Mayring (2014) using inductive and deductive category formation.

Findings: The results show the benefits that an increasing integration of Virtual Mobility activities in the education system could facilitate for students and teachers in Albania’s HEIs. Nevertheless, it became clear that in order to implement a higher degree of Virtual Mobility at university level, it is necessary to overcome the legal obstacles set by the Ministry of Education as well as structural obstacles within the HEIs.

Originality/value: Due the actual lack of development, concepts, infrastructures, and legal foundations, the implementation of Virtual Mobility as an affordable instrument to foster the international experience of Albanian students is of high importance. This could raise the quality of academic education and tackle capacity gaps in the education system of Albania towards the grade of international experiences of students.