Acquiring new knowledge: The role of retaining human capital in acquisitions of high-tech firms

Many acquisitions of high-tech firms are motivated by the acquirers' desire to enhance their strategic technological capabilities. However, these capabilities are likely to be embedded to a large degree in the tacit and socially complex knowledge of the acquired firms' individual and collective human capital. This presents a dilemma for acquirers because, unlike tangible or financial assets, the acquired firms' valuable human assets cannot be purchased or owned outright and they can leave the firm at any time. Retention therefore is likely to be of central importance during acquisition implementation in knowledge-intensive firms. Using data from a sample of acquisitions in high-technology industries, the results of this study confirm that retention of specific types of human capital is critical for determining the success of the acquirers' efforts to gain valuable new technological capabilities. Applying the theory of relative standing to predict post-acquisition retention, we find that autonomy, status, and commitment significantly affect retention, but economic incentives do not. We discuss and integrate these results in the context of knowledge-based views of the firm and the existing literature on acquisition implementation.     

Universities and the Public Purse: an Update

This paper examines the arguments put forward by the author in an article published in Minerva in 1967 about what he saw as the demonstration of the incompatibility between the state-funding of higher education and university autonomy, in their relation to developments since that time. It deali with the increased intmentionism of the DES and the Treasuy during the period between that date and the Education Reform Act of 1988 and the likely impact of the new finding system upon what survives of university autonmny. The paper argues that the increased pressure upon universities - unnecessary and damaging as it is - does not flow merely from the policies of individual governments or the ambitions of civil semants but reflects the indqference of the general public to university values. Given that other democracies have in various ways seen something of the same, the paper concludes that we may be witnessing the end of the university as an autotumous community of scholars.     

Prediction of College Major Persistence Based on Vocational Interests, Academic Preparation, and First-Year Academic Performance

We hypothesized that college major persistence would be predicted by first-year academic performance and an interest-major composite score that is derived from a student’s entering major and two work task scores. Using a large data set representing 25 four-year institutions and nearly 50,000 students, we randomly split the sample into an estimation sample and a validation sample. Using the estimation sample, we found major-specific coefficients corresponding to the two work task scores that optimized the prediction of major persistence. Then, we applied the estimated coefficients to the validation sample to form an interest-major composite score representing the likelihood of persisting in entering major. Using the validation sample, we then tested a theoretical model for major persistence that incorporated academic preparation, the interest-major composite score, and first-year academic performance. The results suggest that (1) interest-major fit and first-year academic performance work to independently predict whether a student will stay in their entering major and (2) the relative importance of two work task scores in predicting major persistence depends on the entering major. The results support Holland’s theory of person-environment fit and suggest that academic performance and interest-major fit are key constructs for understanding major persistence behavior.     

Educator Perceptions and Use of Technology in South African Schools

ABSTRACT

South African schools experience diverse access to educational technology. Further, South African educators have limited opportunities to attend educator professional development workshops focused on technology integration. These differences can have a tremendous impact on students’ educational experiences and educators’ levels of self-efficacy toward implementing technology in their school settings. To provide further support and training opportunities to educators in South African township schools, administrators are able to partner with nongovernmental organizations and institutions of higher education. This article provides an overview of South African educational contexts and how partnerships can be formed to provide educator support to integrate educational technology in township schools.