Academic leadership and research performance: a study among engineering academicians in emerging nations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumukh Hungund ◽  
Anandkumar R. Annigeri ◽  
Ishita Pandey ◽  
Gurubasavarya Hiremath

PurposeThe performance of an academic institution is widely measured by their research performance. In this regard, the role played by leaders in an academic institution is vital. The focus of this paper is on the role played by academic leadership towards research performance.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study is designed, and data are collected from 267 faculty members from various technical institutes across India through an online survey. A snowball sampling is adopted to reach the data point, and structural equation modeling is used to analyze the relationship using Smart PLS (partial least squares).FindingsThe study indicates that leadership in academic setup in developing countries does not directly influence research performance among the faculty members. To enhance research performance, institutes should promote collaboration and facilitate knowledge acquisition and individual development.Practical implicationsThe proposed model aids the leadership in devising strategies and approaches to encourage collaborations and individual initiatives in an academic setup.Social implicationsThe study identifies the importance of Individual initiative in Research Performance and knowledge acquisition for Higher Educational Institutions (HEI).Originality/valueThis research study is unique because it investigates the relationships between Academic Leadership and Research Performance of engineering faculty in emerging nations.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aamna Tariq Mukaram ◽  
Kashif Rathore ◽  
Mukaram Ali Khan ◽  
Rizwan Qaiser Danish ◽  
Syed Sohaib Zubair

Purpose In rapidly changing global village, individuals, organizations and the society are faced with various unforeseen challenges every day, and these challenges continuously trigger and test the instincts for survival, and higher education is of no exception. In the context of today’s most critical uncertainty, i.e. COVID-19, the purpose of this study is to highlight the significance of two leadership styles, i.e. adaptive and academic leadership, and assessing readiness for change among higher education institutions (HEIs) of Punjab, Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted to collect data from 404 permanent faculty members in the public sector universities identified using stratified random sampling. The hypotheses developed were tested using co-variance-based structural equation modeling. Findings As per the findings, both leadership styles as exogenous constructs and the presence of organizational learning capability as mediators contributed positively in crafting organizational readiness for change (ORC) among HEIs in the course of unpredictable circumstances. Practical implications The COVID-19 episode globally has reiterated the importance of change, and the role of leadership in this regard cannot be undermined. This study, for that matter, stresses on the importance and benefits of academic and adaptive leadership dealing with uncertainties or change and the readiness of HEIs for change. Several institutions faced challenges in doing so, and the transition was not smooth, except for institutions where leaders were the differentiating factor. On top of it, institutions that had timely invested in digital systems and had enhanced organizations learning capacity survived in these turbulent times. Originality/value COVID-19 has placed tremendous challenges on HEIs to adapt with the rapidly changing conditions. Hence, this study is unique in understanding the academic and adaptive leadership styles in context of ORC. This study further helps in understanding that how public sector universities that are already influenced by stringent bureaucratic structures react to change.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Eyal Eckhaus ◽  
Nitza Davidovitch

This pioneering study examines the meaning of academic leadership in terms of the changing of the guard in academia. Research findings on seniority and experience and their association with leadership show that these have a considerable impact on management skills and on the ability of those with experience and seniority to influence the young leadership. This is particularly essential in academia where research is the most meaningful and effective value that serves as a measure of faculty members. Management skills are not perceived as a coherent part of faculty members’ work. Structural Equation Modeling confirmed the developed model. Findings show that indeed, from the perspective of faculty at the academic institution, senior experienced faculty members undoubtedly contribute to the academic institution first of all in research, but also otherwise. Senior and experienced faculty members contribute by encouraging, directing, and guiding young faculty members on how to contribute to the institution, particularly through the activity which is expected of them as academic faculty – i.e., research. This urging and direction is one of the most well-known qualities in the context of academic leadership – the ability to help people develop, advance, and to outline a high-quality academic research tradition. The meaning of the findings is that senior faculty has a contribution beyond their direct output in the form of scientific publications, as a research engine and spotlight for the young faculty. Notably, no difference was found in faculty’s perception of this contribution of senior faculty members by gender or age.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Mittal ◽  
Archana Mantri ◽  
Urvashi Tandon ◽  
Yogesh K. Dwivedi

Purpose The study aims to develop a theoretical model that highlights the determinants of the adoption of online teaching at the time of the outbreak of COVID-19. This study adopted a time-series analysis to understand the factors leading to the adoption of online teaching. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data were gathered from 222 university faculty members by using an online survey. In the first phase, data were collected from those faculty members who had no experience of conducting online classes but were supposed to adopt online teaching as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. After two weeks, a slightly modified questionnaire was forwarded to the same group of faculty members, who were conducting online classes to know their perception regarding the adoption and conduct of online teaching. Findings Both the proposed conceptual frameworks were investigated empirically through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Significant differences were found in the perceptions of faculty members regarding before and after conducting classes through online teaching. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by presenting and validating a theory-driven framework that accentuates the factors influencing online teaching during the outbreak of a pandemic. This research further extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology by introducing and validating three new constructs, namely: facilitative leadership, regulatory support and project team capability. Based on the findings, practical insights are provided to universities to facilitate adoption, acceptance and use of online teaching during a health-care emergency leading to campus lockdowns or the imposition of restrictions on the physical movement of people.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 446-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilmar B. Schaufeli

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate leadership into the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. Based on self-determination theory, it was argued that engaging leaders who inspire, strengthen, and connect their followers would reduce employee’s levels of burnout and increase their levels of work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted among a representative sample of the Dutch workforce (n=1,213) and the research model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – It appeared that leadership only had an indirect effect on burnout and engagement – via job demands and job resources – but not a direct effect. Moreover, leadership also had a direct relationship with organizational outcomes such as employability, performance, and commitment. Research limitations/implications – The study used a cross-sectional design and all variables were based on self-reports. Hence, results should be replicated in a longitudinal study and using more objective measures (e.g. for work performance). Practical implications – Since engaged leaders, who inspire, strengthen, and connect their followers, provide a work context in which employees thrive, organizations are well advised to promote engaging leadership. Social implications – Leadership seems to be a crucial factor which has an indirect impact – via job demands and job resources – on employee well-being. Originality/value – The study demonstrates that engaging leadership can be integrated into the JD-R framework.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 1154-1184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Chen ◽  
Judy Drennan ◽  
Lynda Andrews ◽  
Linda D. Hollebeek

PurposeThis paper aims to propose user experience sharing (UES) as a customer-based initiation of value co-creation pertaining to service provision, which represents customers’ level of effort made for the direct benefit of others in their service network. The authors propose and empirically examine a user experience sharing model (UESM) that explicates customer-to-customer (C2C) UES and its impacts on firm-desired customer-based outcomes in online communities.Design/methodology/ApproachBased on an extensive review, the authors conceptualize UES and UESM. By using online survey data collected from mobile app users in organic online communities, the authors performed structural equation modeling analyses by using AMOS 24.FindingsThe results support the proposed UESM, showing that C2C UES acts as a key driver of both firm-desired customer efforts and customer insights. The results also confirmed that service-dominant (S-D) logic-informed motivational drivers exert a significant impact on C2C UES. Importantly, C2C UES mediates the relationship between S-D logic-informed motivational drivers and firm-desired customer-based outcomes.Originality/valueThis study offers a pioneering attempt to develop an overarching concept, UES, which reflects customers’ initiation of value co-creation, and to empirically examine C2C UES. The empirical evidence supports the key contention that firms should proactively facilitate C2C UES.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Rahayu Hijrah Hati ◽  
Sigit Sulistiyo Wibowo ◽  
Anya Safira

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of product knowledge, perceived quality, perceived risk and perceived value on customers’ intention to invest in Islamic Banks. This study specifically examines an Islamic bank’s term deposits. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data collected from 217 customers of an Islamic bank in Indonesia using an online survey. Findings This study highlights the central and dual roles of perceived risk as both the independent and the intervening variable that mediates the relationship between product knowledge and Muslim customer intention to invest in an Islamic bank’s term deposits. Research limitations/implications This study only investigates term deposits as one type of investment in Islamic banks. This study contributes to the literature by examining the role of product knowledge, perceived quality, perceived risk and perceived value on Muslim customer intention to invest in Islamic term deposits. Practical implications The results of this study highlight the requirement for Islamic banks to educate customers to improve the depositors’ product knowledge because Muslim customers’ risk and value perception and intention are strongly influenced by product knowledge. Originality/value The investigation of perceived risk is particularly relevant for Islamic financial products because of the inherent nature of risk sharing in Islamic finance. This study investigates the role of product knowledge in influencing the Muslim customers’ perception of risk, quality, value and their intention to invest in Islamic bank term deposits. Ideally, the profit loss sharing concept (PLS) should be applied; however, in this context, revenue sharing is applied because of Indonesia’s central bank regulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afsaneh Ghanizadeh

PurposeThe major purpose of the present study is to investigate the contribution of academic resilience in accounting for two motivational and attitudinal constructs ? Grit and positive orientation and also probe the predictive power of all these constructs in academic achievement of university students in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19.Design/methodology/approach521 university students participated in an online survey. To measure academic resilience, a scale designed and validated by Kim and Kim (2016) comprising 26 items was employed. The scale contains five sub-factors: perceived happiness, empathy, sociability, persistence and self-regulation. Grit was assessed via an 8-item scale comprising two facets: perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI). It was designed by Duckworth and Gross (2014). Positive orientation was determined through positivity scale developed by Caprara et al. (2010), consisting of eight items.FindingsThe results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that resilience positively and significantly predicted both grit (β = 0.56, t = 6.41) and positive orientation (β = 0.54, t = 6.35). Resilience also predicted academic achievement directly (β = 0.71, t = 9.12) and indirectly via its impact on grit and positive orientation. It was also found that positive orientation and grit are positively and highly associated (β = 0.77, t = 9.28).Originality/valueThe pandemic COVID-19 brought about substantial changes in university students' education and their overall life style. Many university students around the globe experienced virtual education. Balancing personal and academic roles in these unprecedented conditions seems to be a tough challenge for every university student.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maruf Gbadebo Salimon ◽  
Olanrewaju Kareem ◽  
Sany Sanuri Mohd Mokhtar ◽  
Olayemi Abdullateef Aliyu ◽  
Jibril Adewale Bamgbade ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt mobile commerce (m-commerce) by integrating the constructs of Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM 3), Universal Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 and Technology-Organization-Environment model. Though numerous m-commerce adoption (MCA) studies have been conducted, lesser attention is paid to how hedonic motivation (HM) can influence organizational users such as SMEs. This study bridges the gap by integrating the three models to provide a new lens to guide SMEs. Design/methodology/approach To examine the factors that influence the adoption of m-commerce, the researchers collected data from SMEs in Malaysia using an online survey. The sample size of the participants was determined through the available list provided by SME Corp Malaysia. The researchers also used Krejcie and Morgan’s sample size and G * Power techniques to determine that the sample size was appropriate. The data collected were analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling. Findings The findings of this study reveal that technological factors (computer self-efficacy [CSE], result demonstrability [RD] and computer anxiety [CA]) positively and significantly influence MCA. Likewise, the organizational/environmental factors (m-commerce knowledge, pressure from trading partners and pressure from competitors) positively and significantly influence MCA. The moderating influence of HM was also achieved on the relationship between CSE and RD. However, the proposed hedonic moderating relationship between CA and the adoption of m-commerce is not significant. Research limitations/implications This study integrates three models to explain the adoption of m-commerce among SMEs in Malaysia and tested the moderating influence of HM. The results obtained better explain the decision by the SMEs to use m-commerce. Originality/value The study critically considered how m-commerce can be adopted by SMEs in Malaysia, which previous studies have largely ignored. Considering this, the study, therefore, advances a new relationship by integrating Technology-organization-environment model with TAM 3 and the moderating influence of HM to explain MCA among SMEs. This paper is one of the few research studies to test the moderating influence of HM in this regard.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Al Nawas ◽  
Shadi Altarifi ◽  
Nabil Ghantous

PurposeLimited knowledge exists on the difference in the antecedents and outcomes of relationship quality's cognitive and emotional aspects for e-retailers. This research tests how utilitarian and hedonic shopping values differentially affect “cognitive and emotional” relationship quality components and how the latter differentially affects word-of-mouth and brand evangelism.Design/methodology/approachOnline survey data were collected from 450 Jordanian online shoppers. Structural equation modeling (AMOS 24.0) was employed to analyze the data.FindingsFirst, e-retailer's informativeness and transaction convenience (i.e. utilitarian values), drive more strongly cognitive than emotional relationship quality, whereas e-retailer's escapism and social presence (i.e. hedonic values) drive more strongly emotional than cognitive relationship quality. Second, emotional relationship quality has a strong significant effect on brand evangelism, whereas cognitive relationship quality's effect is insignificant. Third, there are no statistically significant differences concerning the effect of cognitive and emotional relationship quality on word-of-mouth.Originality/valueThe findings of our research are expected to enhance our understanding of e-retailer relationship quality, its emergence and consequences. They would also provide e-retailers with guidance on how to execute growth strategies by focusing on specific types of brand relationship quality, on the other hand.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakeun Koo

PurposeThe present study aims to examine how consumers evaluate the extended human brands of athlete celebrities beyond their unique brand personality associated with sports. Athlete celebrities' unique image in sports is used as a human brand, and attitude toward the athlete brand extensions is investigated when the athlete's name is included in a new non-sport brand. The concepts of brand extensions were employed to develop the ideas of human brand extensions.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 198 participants answered online survey questions before and after being informed of athlete brand extensions. Partial least squares structural equation modeling is utilized to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe survey results indicated that athlete–product fit and image transfer positively influenced attitude toward the extension. In addition, attitude toward the athlete brand extensions was significantly influenced by consumers' pre-existing attitude toward the celebrity; however, not by celebrity's expertise.Originality/valueThe research findings imply that some brand extension concepts are applicable to human brands to understand the effectiveness of athlete brand extensions for non-sport products.


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