The Practice of Spiritual Criminology: A Non-Doing Companionship for Crime Desistance

Spiritual criminology (SC) is an umbrella term for various criminological theories, models and practices that share reference to the spiritual dimension of human existence. Informed by a growing body of research that applies spiritual approaches to various aspects of criminology, SC attempts to provide a common thread shared by most approaches to spirituality: a voluntary self-journey that begins with an elevated level of self-centeredness and is aimed at self-transformation. Based on an extensive review of the literature, this paper proposes three general principles for spiritual accompaniment of people who offended: mindful non-doing, being and acting; love and compassion; and compassionate inclusion. These principles can be applied by combining several practices: renouncing control over knowledge, process and outcomes; creating a moral atmosphere that includes forgiveness and nonjudgment; and self-modeling. SC is shown to contribute to the rehabilitation of people who offended and also to crime prevention.

Implementation of Big Data Analytics for Government Enterprise

Within the South African government, there is an increasing amount of data. The problem is that the South African government is struggling to employ the concept of big data analytics (BDA) for the analysis of its big data. This could be attributed to know-how from both technical and nontechnical perspectives. Failure to implement BDA and ensure appropriate use hinders government enterprises and agencies in their drive to deliver quality service. A government enterprise was selected and used as a case in this study primarily because the concept of BDA is new to many South African government departments. Data was collected through in-depth interviews. From the analysis, four factors—knowledge, process, differentiation, and skillset—that can influence implementation of BDA for government enterprises were revealed. Based on the factors, a set of criteria in the form of a model was developed.

University business idea incubation and stakeholders' engagement: closing the gap between theory and practice

PurposeThe paper aims to contributes on the debates about University Idea Incubation by investigating the role and the engagement of different University's stakeholders in the process of opportunity recognition in an entrepreneurship education program targeted at students with an interdisciplinary background.Design/methodology/approachThrough a longitudinal case study methodology, the Contamination Lab at University of Salento (Lecce, Italy), the learning approaches and the knowledge process to create an entrepreneurial awareness, mindset and capability in students with different educational background are presented.FindingsThe findings demonstrates the crucial role of stakeholders' engagement for business idea presentation, open innovation challenge, contamination workshop on specialized topics, enterprise projects are important vehicle for effective students' business ideas and innovative projects development in a multidisciplinary environment. The close interaction among students, academia, companies and institutions creates a favourable environment that enables opportunity identification, idea generation through a deep contamination of knowledge, skills and experiences.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the need to generalise the results even if this limitation is typical of the case study methodology. Other research is necessary for an in-depth analysis in deep of the other Contamination Lab in Italy and to derive the “invariance traits” of this environment according to the features of the local entrepreneurial ecosystems.Practical implicationsImplications for practices include recommendations for designing innovative programs where the interactions between University-Institutions-Industry are realized.Originality/valueA conceptual framework is proposed by defining all the entrepreneurial knowledge process and knowledge creation within the Contamination Lab, highlighting the contribution of the stakeholders in each phase and learning initiative of the program.

A relationship between bias, lean tools, and waste

Purpose This study aims to highlight the system-wide potential relationships between forms of human bias, selected Lean tools and types of waste in a manufacturing process. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal single-site ethnographic case study using digital processing to make a material receiving process Lean was adopted. An inherent knowledge process with internal stakeholders in a stimulated situation alongside process requirements was performed to achieve quality data collection. The results of the narrative analysis and process observation, combined with a literature review identified widely used Lean tools, wastes and biases that produced a model for the relationships. Findings The study established the relationships between bias, Lean tools and wastes which enabled 97.6% error reduction, improved on-time accounting and eliminated three working hours per day. These savings resulted in seven employees being redeployed to new areas with delivery time for products reduced by seven days. Research limitations/implications The single site case study with a supporting literature survey underpinning the model would benefit from testing the model in application to different industries and locations. Practical implications Application of the model can identify potential relationships between a group of human biases, 25 Lean tools and 10 types of wastes in Lean manufacturing processes that support decision makers and line managers in productivity improvement. The model can be used to identify potential relationships between forms of human biases, Lean tools and types of wastes in Lean manufacturing processes and take suitable remedial actions. The influence of biases and the model could be used as a basis to counter implementation barriers and reduce system-wide wastes. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that connects the cognitive perspectives of Lean business processes with waste production and human biases. As part of the process, a relationship model is derived.

Criza cunoașterii de sine

This article addresses the subject of self-knowledge as a necessity for the personaldevelopment process in achieving the own life ideal. We have set out to consider whether the self-knowledge process is an approach that occurs naturally, as a trend towards the integrity of a human being or synergy with the surrounding world, up to the union with transcendence or a preoccupation, a conscious, eff ervescent search, that requires interest and eff ort in developing the potentialities until the fulfi lment of the achieved self at the highest level. Is this process a component part of motivation in achieving success within profession, our relations with others or our development actions, from intuitive structures of individual thinking and primary conduct of group and society integration, to elements of metacognition, creativity and society integration through high moral values?

Business Process Outsourcing and Firm Performance of Selected Real Estate Firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Today’s ever-increasing competitive environment requires firms to seek for better ways to create value. In the organization era, firms continue to face tougher competition in the business environment and business process outsourcing is a critical strategy that improves a firm’s competitive capabilities by delivering value to customers. Business process outsourcing has emerged as a widely adopted strategy among firms in various sectors. The general objective of the study was to establish the effect of business process outsourcing on organizational performance of real estate firms in Nairobi City County. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the effect of Information Technology Outsourcing, Knowledge Process Outsourcing, Administration Support Systems and Project Management Skills Outsourcing on performance of selected real estate firms in Nairobi City County. The study was founded on Transaction Cost Economics, Resource-Based View and Contingency Theory. The population of interest in this study comprised of 245 real estate firms in Nairobi City County registered in accordance with the Estate Agents Act while the respondents of the study comprised of the real estate manager. The study used primary data that was obtained using questionnaires administered to real estate firm managers. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences will be used qualitative and quantitative data analyses. The findings of the study showed that real estate firms in Nairobi City County outsource information technology outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, administrative support systems outsourcing and project management skills to a great extent. The study concluded that Information Technology Outsourcing, Knowledge Process Outsourcing, Administration Support Systems and Project Management Skills Outsourcing positively and significantly influence performance of selected real estate firms in Nairobi City County. The study recommended that in order for real estate firms in Nairobi City County to improve their performance, there is need to outsource information communications and technology (ICT) infrastructure such as IT support services, software applications, computer network infrastructure, IT security infrastructure and IT training consultancy. The study also recommended real estate firms to outsource knowledge processes including managing performance and legal obligations, contract management and law, business and market research, building and research as well as research and development.

Workplace learning experienced by employees in information technology-enabled work environments – a developing country experiences

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study that investigated workplace learning activities and drivers that enhanced learning as experienced by employees in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted in the knowledge process outsourcing sector, where employees perform knowledge work in flatter team-based structures with information technology-enabled work environments. From the 17 firms that volunteered to participate in the study, 239 technical/professional employees volunteered for the survey. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the association between drivers of workplace learning and learning activities experienced by employees and whether individual demographic characteristics and the number of employees in the firm are associated with workplace learning activities experienced by employees. Findings This study found that organisation-related, individual-related and team-related drivers significantly influence workplace learning activities experienced by employees. In addition, employees’ age, firm-specific experience and the number of employees in the firm significantly influence the same. Originality/value This paper presents learning activities experienced by employees in the completion of work-related job tasks at hand and drivers experienced by employees in the new normal that has existed since the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Critical Analysis on the Refutation of Innate Ideas in John Locke’s Philosophical Thoughts

Epistemology is an attempt to understand the role of knowledge, its origin, development and validity. The scientists, psychologists, educationalists, moral philosophers – all are analyzing the importance of epistemology in the knowledge process. Epistemology is considered one of the branches of knowledge, and it supports logic by emphasizing the interrelation between the two. While explaining the significance of epistemology R.M. Chisholm says that it deals with issues like the distinction between knowledge and true opinion and the relation between conditions of truth and criteria of evidence. Such issues constitute the subject matter of the theory of knowledge. In the history of Western philosophy, the modern period is significant because, during this period, there were two schools of thought regarding the validity of knowledge and emerged. One is Rationalism, and the other is Empiricism. Rationalism emphasizes that the source of knowledge is the reason. However, the Empiricism emphasizes experience as the basis for knowledge. In both movements, namely, rationalism and empiricism, epistemology has been attempting to find the answers to some questions: What do we know? How do we know? What are the sources of knowledge? What is the difference between belief and knowledge? Furthermore, is it possible to get valid knowledge? The prominent empiricist John Locke read the writings of Descartes. He rejected Descartes' innate ideas logically, and he has elaborately explained the source of knowledge, the limit of knowledge, validity of knowledge, and its kinds in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding. His empiricism received much criticism from the latest philosophers because he adapted some philosophical ideas from the pioneers. This article aims to justify whether John Locke’s epistemology is neutral by explaining the basic characteristic of empiricism and its critiques. This study as a qualitative approach depends both on the primary as well as secondary sources related to the study as books. This study attempts to understand Locke from a critical standpoint. In the end, an attempt is made to show how Locke's central and bias philosophy has relevance even today. Received: 15 July 2021 / Accepted: 28 September 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021