Market orientation: a key to survival and competitive advantage in Ghana’s private universities

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to assess the role of market orientation (MO), mediated by job satisfaction (JS) and its effect on market performance (MP) in Ghana’s private universities. A sample of 205 senior staff of 15 private universities was selected to participate in the study, using a convenience sampling method. Partial Least Squares (PLS) of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the relationships in the study. The results found a significant positive relationship between MO and MP on one hand; Job satisfaction (JS) and MP on the other. Finally, the study found that JS mediates the relationship between MO and MP. The study provides a useful guide to marketing strategy especially the implementation of MO to enhance performance in Ghana’s private universities. The study has practical application to private universities seeking to compete favourably in a competitive environment.     

Perceptions of effectiveness and the actual use of technology-based methods of instruction: A study of California criminal justice and crime-related faculty

The field of criminal justice/criminology has few studies that examine faculty opinions regarding the use of technology as a replacement and supplement to traditional classroom instruction. Using a sample of criminal justice and crime-related higher education faculty members in the state of California, this study examines perceptions of effectiveness and the actual use of various classroom-based technologies. The results reveal that while most faculty members hold positive views toward the use of technology, far fewer are actually integrating technology-based methods of instruction into their courses. Meanwhile, most faculty members do not perceive the presence of adequate administrative supports or incentives at their institutions for the development of distance learning courses. Overall, support for the integration of technology into criminal justice education appears to be greatest when it is used as a supplement rather than a replacement for face-to-face classroom instruction.     

The bases of successful market entry: The liability of size and of newness in E‐commerce

Abstract

Even though e‐commerce almost disappeared from public discussion, it still assumes a vital role in the strategic management of most enterprises. New entry in e‐commerce, whether as a new business segment of an established company or as a new enterprise, is likely to deal with the liabilities of size and newness. The aim of this paper it to discuss if those factors have an impact on the implementation and success of B2C e‐commerce. We chose the online book market as our reference market and drew a random sample of retailers and publishers with an online shop. The quality of the web presence, indirect success (number of links to a particular site) and direct success (turnover of the web shop) were compared in subsamples constructed by the use of median splits according to age and size. Younger companies and larger companies were found to have a web presence of higher quality and were more successful than older or smaller companies. We conclude that the liabilities of newness do not seem to have an adverse performance impact in e‐commerce. However, when a market entry is considered, new players must ensure that they can commit enough resources to build a high quality web presence.     

Constructing Rotating Item Pools for Constrained Adaptive Testing

Preventing items in adaptive testing from being over- or underexposed is one of the main problems in computerized adaptive testing. Though the problem of overexposed items can be solved using a probabilistic item-exposure control method, such methods are unable to deal with the problem of underexposed items. Using a system of rotating item pools, on the other hand, is a method that potentially solves both problems. In this method, a master pool is divided into (possibly overlapping) smaller item pools, which are required to have similar distributions of content and statistical attributes. These pools are rotated among the testing sites to realize desirable exposure rates for the items. A test assembly model, motivated by Gulliksen's matched random subtests method, was explored to help solve the problem of dividing a master pool into a set of smaller pools. Different methods to solve the model are proposed. An item pool from the Law School Admission Test was used to evaluate the performances of computerized adaptive tests from systems of rotating item pools constructed using these methods.     

Basic art materials

All children enjoy using crayons, chalk and clay, especially during the cold winter months when they may be confined indoors. These basic art materials can be expensive, so why not take the time to make your own. With careful supervision, even young children can help with the measuring, stirring and kneading ... and what fun you'll have together, while they are learning about math, science, colors, textures and so forth, and developing their small muscle coordination too. The following pages provide recipes for making these basic art materials, as well as creative projects to keep kids productively busy and happy for hours! Carolyn Haas is co-author of the new book Purple Cow to the Rescuepublished by Little, Brown and Co., as well as many other creative activity books for parents, teachers, and children. These activities are excerpted from the book Recipes For Fun and Learningby Carolyn Haas, Ann Cole, and Betty Weinberger, CBH Publishing, Box 236-D, Glencoe, IL 60022. For a copy of the book, send $4.95 plus $1.00 for postage and handling to the above address.