Strengthening Agricultural Education and Training in sub-Saharan Africa from an Innovation Systems Perspective: A Case Study of Mozambique

Abstract

This paper examines how post-secondary agricultural education and training (AET) in sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to agricultural development by strengthening the capacity to innovate—to introduce new products and processes that are socially or economically relevant to smallholder farmers and other agents. Using the AET system in Mozambique as a case study, this paper examines the role of AET within the context of an agricultural innovation system. This innovation systems perspective offers an analytical framework to examine technological change in agriculture as a complex process of interactions among diverse actors who generate, exchange, and use knowledge, conditioned by complex social and economic institutions. The paper argues that while AET is conventionally viewed as key to the development of human capital, it also has a vital role to play in building the capacity of organizations and individuals to transmit and adapt information, products and processes, and new organizational cultures and behaviors. The paper emphasizes the importance of improving AET systems by strengthening the capabilities of organizations and professionals; changing organizational cultures, behaviors, and incentives; and building innovation networks and linkages. The paper offers several recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of AET for agricultural innovation and development. Key reforms include aligning the mandates of AET organizations with national development aspirations; inducing change in the cultures of AET organizations through the introduction of educational programs and linkages beyond the AET system; and enhancing innovative individual and organizational capacity by improving incentives to forge stronger links between AET and other stakeholders.     

Gender diversity in senior management,strategic change,and firm performance: Examining the mediating nature of strategic change in high tech firms

Only recently have enough women joined senior leadership positions in high tech firms for research on senior management gender diversity in high tech industries to be possible. We propose that senior management gender diversity fosters strategic change in high tech firms, especially under conditions where alliance formation intensity and top management team (TMT) educational background diversity are high, because the breadth of opportunity and knowledge associated with these conditions facilitates implementation of new ideas. Results show that both inter-organizational strategic alliance formation intensity and TMT educational background diversity positively moderate the relationship between senior management gender diversity and strategic change. We also find support for a moderated mediation model whereby a gender-diverse senior management positively impacts strategic change, which ultimately improves firm performance when the firm exhibits high alliance formation intensity and has a TMT that is diverse across educational background.     

风险投资声誉、智力资本与企业价值

风险资本与智力资本的有效协同能够实现创业企业知识、资本、管理与创新的完美结合,而拥有高声誉背景的风投在利用其经验和广泛的社会关系帮助企业快速成长方面作用更加突出。本文将创业企业的智力资本划分为人力资本、结构资本、创新资本与社会资本四个组成部分,基于风险投资声誉的视角,探讨风险资本与智力资本的协同关系。结果显示：高声誉风险投资在创业企业人力资本和结构资本两方面的协同效应并不显著,而与创新资本和社会资本两方面的协同效应突出,尤其与社会资本的协同效应能够显著提升创业企业的内在价值。该结论表明高声誉的风险投资机构亟需对目标企业的人力资源、战略规划等方面积极关注,并提供更多的增值服务。     

小学室内体育课的组织教学策略的研究

体育课是学校课程体系中的重要组成部分,在学校教学工作中占有重要的地位,也是实施素质教育的途径之一。现代义务教育阶段,要求体育课遵循"健康第一"的指导思想,强调实践性。因此,强化小学室内体育课的组织教学策略是非常重要的。本文将从4个方面对室内体育课的教学组织形式进行探讨,希望可以提供些许参考。     

Organizational justice and management trustworthiness during organizational Change: Interactions of Benevolence,Integrity, and managerial approaches

Trust and justice play an important role in the process of organizational change to build dynamic capabilities for sustainable competitive advantage. This study investigated the interaction effects of management's benevolence trustworthiness and integrity trustworthiness on employees’ perception of procedural justice during innovation or organizational change. Both the scenario and the field study showed that the patterns of the interaction effects of these two components of trustworthiness are further influenced in a complementary manner by different innovation approaches. The study indicated that the relationships between benevolence trustworthiness and integrity trustworthiness are far more complex than expected and thus need more research efforts.     

The intermediating role of organizational culture and internal analytical knowledge between the capability of big data analytics and a firm’s performance

Firms are increasingly relying on business insights obtained by deploying data analytics. Analytics-driven business decisions have thus taken a strategic imperative role for the competitive advantage of a firm to endure. The extent and effectiveness through which business firms can actually derive benefits by deploying big data-based practices requires deep analysis and calls for extensive research. This study extends the big data analytics capability (BDAC) model by examining the mediatory effects of organizational culture (CL) between internal analytical knowledge (KN) and BDAC, as well as the mediating effects of BDAC between CL and firm performance. The findings bring into focus that CL plays the role of complementary mediation between BDAC and KN to positively impact firm performance (FP); BDAC also plays a similar mediatory role between CL and the performance of a firm.     

Applying artificial intelligence technique to predict knowledge hiding behavior

Drawing on psychological ownership and social exchange theories, this study suggests theoretical arguments and empirical evidence for understanding employee reactions to distributive, procedural, and interactional (in)justice — three crucial bases of employees’ feelings of social self-worth. Utilizing field data and artificial intelligence technique, this paper reveals that distributive, procedural, and interactional (in)justice contribute to higher levels of knowledge hiding behavior among employees and that this impact is non-linear (asymmetric). By reuniting the discourses of organizational justice and knowledge management, this study indicates that feelings of psychological ownership of knowledge and the degree of social interaction are mechanisms that work with organizational (in)justice to influence knowledge hiding behavior. The current research may inform contemporary theories of business research and provide normative guidance for managers.     

构建适应危机管理的图书馆组织文化

组织文化和危机管理是图书馆界研究的热点。文章论述了图书馆组织文化和图书馆危机管理的内涵、研究内容,并对两种理论进行了比较。认为二者可以结合起来,共同发挥作用,提出构建具有危机管理能力的图书馆组织文化,从精神层、制度层、物质层提出了一些将图书馆危机管理思想融入图书馆组织文化的途径和策略。     

Striving to Be King of Mobile Mountains: Communication and Organizing Through Digital Fitness Technology

This study considers fitness-tracking applications as settings for communicative performances. Qualitative interviews and observations with 41 users of a cycling-focused fitness application revealed communicative themes of qualifying, social sharing, and withholding. Users also assessed other members through social-group comparing and upward comparing. This study develops theory by revealing how individuals use the technology to communicate about their physical acts, and how the context of use facilitates organizing processes. We argue that use of this fitness application extends our understanding of how communication can constitute a community of practice (CoP; Brown & Duguid, 1991; Lave & Wenger, 1991). Primarily, the hybrid online/offline nature of Strava complicates the traditional understanding of communication and CoPs.     

社会学视野中的白领阶层

白领阶层虽然已为众多研究者们所瞩目,但学长界至今尚未形成统一的认识,仍然是一种众说纷纭的局面。文章分析了西方白领阶层研究的历史和中国白领阶层的发展。从社会学视角来看,白领阶层是一个其成员具有中高等教育程度、拥有专业性和脑力劳动性的职业,形成了独特生活方式（或品味）、具有较高的社会声望,收入水平在特定社区内处于当地中等层次的社会群体。