How knowledge assets lead to a sustainable competitive advantage: are organizational capabilities a missing link?

Even though knowledge assets have been widely recognized as the principal drivers of firm's competitive advantage, few are the frameworks that have explained how these strategic assets are transformed into value and how the value creation process occurs. Also there is a confusing terminology in the literature surrounding many concepts explaining the dynamics of value creation. By conducting a Systematic Review – an evidence-based methodology for theory building – this paper seeks to define a ‘common language’ of the concepts used to explain this phenomenon, and build the assumptions of a theoretical model that explains how knowledge assets, through learning mechanisms, are linked, renewed, and leveraged into socio-technical processes or organizational routines, that in turn form the basis of organizational capabilities. As they are socially constructed, these organizational capabilities, when leveraged into products and services, generate value and provide firms with a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term superior performance. The model should therefore serve as a theoretical contribution to the literature and it has a further potential benefit to begin an inquiry, for both theory building and management, about the nature of firm's knowledge assets and organizational capabilities, and the sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Some of these avenues are outlined in this paper.     

建立知识社会

人类社会正经历着向知识社会的转变;知识正日益成为经济发展和社会进步的核心因素.身处全球迈向知识社会的进程之中,我们目睹和亲历着世界性的合作、竞争、流动和创新.技术变革无疑是这一进程的强大驱动力之一;而在技术不断取得极大进步,知识与信息以空前的数量产生和极快的速度传播的同时,也存在着知识鸿沟或数字鸿沟现象.     

Programme Quality Assessment by the Implication of Variable Entry Qualifications on Students' Performance

Since its inception 30 years ago, the then Department of Engineering Science, Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) was given the responsibility of preparing all the students in the first year engineering programmes by giving enough knowledge in basic science and mathematics. The nation's vision to become a fully‐industrialised economy by the year 2020 required all institutes of higher learning (IHLs) in Malaysia to increase their intake of students in the science and technology courses, especially in engineering. However, at the upper secondary education level, students have the freedom to choose between the science‐based or non‐science combination of subjects. This has led to a dearth of science‐based students enrolling in IHLs. Because ITM believes that it is possible to educate individuals from various backgrounds, the engineering courses are open to students with a variety of academic qualifications. Special bridging courses were designed and created for such students since late 1996. The success or failure of the new courses can be assessed after the students have gone through the proper first year engineering courses which consist of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. This paper reports on a pilot study on the pioneer groups of students with variable entry qualifications to assess the effectiveness of the courses. The study involved the analysis of the students’ examination results as a performance indicator, and it was found that the bridging programme for non‐science students needed to be redesigned. It is also proposed that to improve the quality of the programme, and hence students’ performance, a regular review be conducted, student support activities be continued and to expand the use of self‐study materials.     

Review:Mycorrhizoremediation—an enhanced form of phytoremediation

INTRODUCTION Biosphere pollution by heavy metals and nu-cleotides was accelerated dramatically during the last few decades due to mining, smelting, manufacturing, treatment of agricultural soils with agro-chemicals and soil sludge, etc. Problems associated with the contamination of soil and water such as animal wel-fare, health, fatalities and disruptions of natural eco-systems are well documented (He et al., 2005). Heavy metals such as Pb, Cr, As, Cu, Cd, and Hg, being added to our so…     

Paulo Freire’s critical and dialogic pedagogy and its implications for the Bahraini educational context

Abstract

This paper is a conceptual analysis in methodology. The purpose it fulfils is that of analysing the critical and dialogic pedagogy of Paulo Freire, to arrive at implications of Freire’s philosophy and approach for the current educational context of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Bahraini context is currently one of major economic, social, and educational reforms. Despite several reform initiatives, however, schools in Bahrain are still not advancing as they should be and deficiencies continue to exist in students’ development of higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and analysis. Among the implications made by this study are ones related to: teaching and learning practices within a classroom, cultivation of 21st Century skills, curriculum development and planning, and the role played by the teacher. The paper ends with a number of significant recommendations for teachers and policy-makers, which can enhance education in Bahrain and help it progress faster. These recommendations can also prove to be useful to other parallel contexts regionally and internationally.     

A comparative study of conventional and supercritical fluid extraction methods for the recovery of secondary metabolites from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Syzygium campanulatum</Emphasis> Korth

Syzygium campanulatum Korth is a plant, which is a rich source of secondary metabolites (especially flavanones, chalcone, and triterpenoids). In our present study, three conventional solvent extraction (CSE) techniques and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) techniques were performed to achieve a maximum recovery of two flavanones, chalcone, and two triterpenoids from S. campanulatum leaves. Furthermore, a Box-Behnken design was constructed for the SFE technique using pressure, temperature, and particle size as independent variables, and yields of crude extract, individual and total secondary metabolites as the dependent variables. In the CSE procedure, twenty extracts were produced using ten different solvents and three techniques (maceration, soxhletion, and reflux). An enriched extract of five secondary metabolites was collected using n-hexane:methanol (1:1) soxhletion. Using food-grade ethanol as a modifier, the SFE methods produced a higher recovery (25.5%?84.9%) of selected secondary metabolites as compared to the CSE techniques (0.92%?66.00%).     

Head Teachers' Perspectives on School Drop-Out in Secondary Schools in Rural Punjab,Pakistan

This study investigates head teachers' perspectives of the school dropout problem at public secondary schools in rural Punjab, Pakistan. The study is based on qualitative methods and included interviews to collect primary data. Sixteen districts of the Punjab where secondary school dropout rate is above 20% were purposively selected for the study. The findings indicate that—other than some socioeconomic and individual factors—different exam patterns at primary, elementary, and secondary levels; easy promotion policy in early classes; English medium syllabus; substandard educational background of students; high failure rate in class 9; and top-down pressures on teachers to perform nonacademic duties are major causes of children dropping out from school. The findings of the study suggest that only through implementation of a socio-culturally compatible syllabus—a corresponding examination system for all levels—allowing students to repeat class 9 in case they fail, setting teachers free from nonteaching duties and providing extra financial support to economically underprivileged students can significantly prevent school dropout at secondary level. The study further argues that easy promotion policy in early classes may retain more children at school but it causes high rates of dropout from secondary classes.     

Student attrition and academic and social integration: Application of Tinto’s model at the University of Papua New Guinea

This study explores the compensatory relationship between academic and social integration, and also assesses the differences of group specific academic and social integration in a small university in the Pacific as perceived by the students. In order to reduce attrition through developing a relevant retention policy, a comprehensive group specific assessment of academic and social integration was necessary. Using the Tinto model and research instruments, an institutional academic and social integration assessment instrument was developed for measuring perceived integration climate for specific subject and year of studies groups. An important outcome of this study was the existence of a compensatory relationship between academic and social integration. Differences were found between perceived ratings of student groups for both academic and social integration.     

Endophytes from medicinal plants and their potential for producing indole acetic acid,improving seed germination and mitigating oxidative stress

Medicinal plants have been used by marginal communities to treat various ailments. However, the potential of endophytes within these bio-prospective medicinal plants remains unknown. The present study elucidates the endophytic diversity of medicinal plants (Caralluma acutangula, Rhazya stricta, and Moringa peregrina) and the endophyte role in seed growth and oxidative stress. Various organs of medicinal plants yielded ten endophytes, which were identified as Phoma sp. (6 isolates), Alternaria sp. (2), Bipolaris sp. (1), and Cladosporium sp. (1) based on 18S rDNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The culture filtrates (CFs; 25%, 50%, and 100% concentrations) from these endophytes were tested against the growth of normal and dwarf mutant rice lines. Endophytic CF exhibited dose-dependent growth stimulation and suppression effects. CF (100%) of Phoma sp. significantly increased rice seed germination and growth compared to controls and other endophytes. This growth-promoting effect was due to the presence of indole acetic acid in endophytic CF. The gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed the highest indole acetic acid content ((54.31±0.21) μmol/L) in Bipolaris sp. In addition, the isolate of Bipolaris sp. exhibited significantly higher radical scavenging and anti-lipid peroxidation activity than the other isolates. Bipolaris sp. and Phoma sp. also exhibited significantly higher flavonoid and phenolic contents. The medicinal plants exhibited the presence of bio-prospective endophytic strains, which could be used for the improvement of crop growth and the mitigation of oxidative stresses.     

Assessment of the phase synchronization effect in modal testing during operation

The impact-synchronous modal analysis (ISMA), which uses impact-synchronous time averaging (ISTA), allows modal testing to be performed during operation. ISTA is effective in filtering out the non-synchronous cyclic load component, its harmonics, and noises. However, it was found that at operating speeds that coincide with the natural modes, ISMA would require a high number of impacts to determine the dynamic characteristics of the system. This finding has subsequently reduced the effectiveness and practicality of ISMA. Preservation of signatures during ISTA depends on the consistency of their phase angles on every time block but not necessarily on their frequencies. Thus, the effect of phase angles with respect to impact is seen to be a very important parameter when performing ISMA on structures with dominant periodic responses due to cyclic load and ambient excitation. The responses from unaccounted forces that contain even the same frequency as that contained in the response due to impact are diminished with the least number of impacts when the phase of the periodic responses is not consistent with the impact signature for every impact applied. The assessment showed that a small number of averages are sufficient to eliminate the non-synchronous components with 98.48% improvement on simulation and 95.22% improvement on experimental modal testing when the phase angles with respect to impact are not consistent for every impact applied.