Academic Directors Research Articles

Big Data Analytics Capability Ecosystem Model for SMEs

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, together with globalization and advanced technologies, has drastically changed the business environment and forced companies to become more innovative and agile in the way they run their business and respond to the needs and wants of customers. Survival highly depends on the adaptability of SMEs to this ever-changing complex dynamic environment by taking steps in implementing Big Data Analytics as the next frontier for innovation, competition, productivity, and value creation. Based on the grounded theory, this study employed a qualitative method via focus group discussion. Focus groups were conducted with 14 government agencies, SMEs associations, business owners, Chief Operating Officers (CEOs), academic and industrial experts and directors of SMEs in Malaysia. The study revealed the challenges of Malaysian SMEs in adopting Big Data Analytics Capability, presents the criticality of Big Data Analytics Capability to overcome the identified challenges, and develops a BDA Capability Ecosystem Model that integrates the internal enablers, external barriers and support to explain the adoption of BDA Capability for value creation and support the decision-making process. This paper is followed by some policy suggestions for companies’ owners, policymakers, government agencies, universities, and SMEs. This study directly impacts Malaysia’s economy as a whole by addressing Malaysia’s Shared Prosperity Vision 2030. This research contributes to industries that are still in the low value added category with low adoption of technology. Furthermore, it will ultimately lead to the realization of SMEs as ‘game changers’ to transition the economy to a high-income nation. This study proposes a model that could help SMEs improve their value creation performance, directly influencing the country’s GDP and employability.

Trends in Academic Business Libraries 2021-2022: Highlights from Annual Reports of the Academic Business Library Directors Group

Trends in Academic Business Libraries 2021-2022: Highlights from Annual Reports of the Academic Business Library Directors Group

Academic independent directors in China: factors influencing career decision-making

PurposeThe board independence norm has shaped corporate governance globally, but research on the supply of independent directors (IDs) is limited. “New careers” studies suggest that dynamic non-conventional career paths are evolving, but empirical evidence is mostly limited to Western societies. The authors studied reasons for academics to consider taking on an ID role in firms in China.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a quantitative methodology, data were collected via a survey targeting 1,500 academics, representing a quarter of business-linked academics in China's National Key Universities. The response rate was 55% and, after eliminating irrelevant responses, the sample used comprised 581 academics, 111 of whom have taken on an ID role.FindingsCareer orientation and work attitudes play significant roles in decision-making around career success. Becoming an ID can be a rewarding and positive career path for academics who look for additional responsibility, income and impact. This new academic career path manifests in how career actors interact with each other to reach a state of equilibrium in a wider career ecosystem. Appointing academics with relevant knowledge and willingness to create impact can help organisations – both firms and academic institutions.Practical implicationsBecoming an ID can increase future collaborations and success in terms of research and corporate governance, and offer individuals another route to career success.Originality/valueThe results contribute to research on career studies and corporate governance, revealing a new source of talent for firms and a new career path for academics.

Book review: Conversations with leading academic and research library directors: international perspectives on library management

Book review: Conversations with leading academic and research library directors: international perspectives on library management

조선시대 논산지역 서원의 운영과 특징

The purpose of this study is to understand the regional properties and characteristics of Seowon management through investigation on the cases of Seowon management in Nonsan during the Joseon Dynasty. Wonim (院任, academic directors) were the subjects of Seowon education and management consisting of Wonjang (院長), Jangui (掌議), Yusa (有司), and Jikwal (直月). As Wongang and Jangui, powerful officials from either central or local areas served, and as Yusa and Jikwol, influential intellectuals from nearby regions were appointed. Governmental officials were appointed as Wonjang and Yusa, and Seowon indicated their own distinctive academic or political tendencies by them. Wonsaeng (院生) were the students and educatee affiliated to Seowon. Concerning qualifications for admission, initially, they had to pass Chosi (初試, the initial civil service examination), but gradually, either virtue or learning was emphasized more. Wonsaeng took classes according to the curriculum while staying in the dormitory, but later, the boarding system came to be abolished on account of financial reasons in Seowon. Despite that, each individual Seowon introduced various methods of education, which lasted until the 19th century. For Seowon management, there were farmlands, slaves, donations, and Wonbo (院保, adult male support taxpayers of good status), and so on. Farmlands were the main source of Seowon management. Slaves played roles in cultivating the farmland and supporting it by doing various tasks needed for Seowon management. Also, donations and Wonbo had roles in procuring goods and money required to hold ancestral rites or repair the buildings. In particular, those making donations were different by Seowon as they tended to be changed gradually to those belonging to the families affiliated to each of the Seowon. Seowon located in Nonsan show both regional similarities and differences for each Seowon’s uniqueness. As Seowon management was differentiated by families and factions centering around the figures enshrined in them, a variety of characteristics can be found within the same region.

Academics as Independent Directors: Do They Contribute to Environmental Innovation

Building on agency theory and the literature on independent directors, this research investigates the effects of independent directors with academic backgrounds on environmental innovation. We make the argument that the independent academic directors as an internal mechanism, can make contributions to corporate environmental technological innovation performance through monitoring, advising, and networking functions. We further suggest the positive effects of independent academic directors are contingent on financial constraints. Our findings report that the positive effects are amplified when firms have severe financial distress. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies, we find supportive evidence to our hypotheses.

Academic Independent Director Abnormal Resignations and R&D Investment: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT We examine the effects of academic independent directors abnormal resignations on a firm’s R&D investment. We manually collect the resignations data of 3,964 academic independent directors (IDAs), and find that the abnormal resignations of IDAs reduce firms’ R&D investment. The results remain significant after employing a series of endogenous checks and robustness tests. Furthermore, we find that the lack of advising and resourcing channels caused by abnormal resignations are the primary mechanisms for the decline of the R&D investment. Our main finding is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, firms with numerous independent directors, and firms with high profitability and low degrees of financial constraints. We contribute to the literature by proving that the abnormal resignations of IDAs not only decrease firms’ R&D investment but also further reduce the innovation quality and firm value over the long run. Overall, this paper supports that IDAs have positive contributions to R&D investment and firms’ value.

Operationalizing Programmatic Assessment: The CBME Programmatic Assessment Practice Guidelines.

Assessing the development and achievement of competence requires multiple formative and summative assessment strategies and the coordinated efforts of trainees and faculty (who often serve in multiple roles, such as academic advisors, program directors, and competency committee members). Operationalizing programmatic assessment (PA) in competency-based medical education (CBME) requires comprehensive practice guidelines, written in accessible language with descriptions of stakeholder activities, to move assessment theory into practice and to help guide the trainees and faculty who enact PA. Informed by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) framework, the authors used a multiphase, multimethod approach to develop the CBME Programmatic Assessment Practice Guidelines (PA Guidelines). The 9 guidelines are organized by phases of assessment and include descriptions of stakeholder activities. A user guide provides a glossary of key terms and summarizes how the guidelines can be used by different stakeholder groups across postgraduate medical education (PGME) contexts. The 4 phases of guideline development, including internal stakeholder consultations and external expert review, occurred between August 2016 and March 2020. Local stakeholders and external experts agreed that the PA Guidelines hold potential for guiding initial operationalization and ongoing refinement of PA in CBME by individual stakeholders, residency programs, and PGME institutions. Since July 2020, the PA Guidelines have been used at Queen's University to inform faculty and resident development initiatives, including online CBME modules for faculty, workshops for academic advisors/competence committee members, and a guide that supports incoming residents' transition to CBME. Research exploring the use of the PA Guidelines and user guide in multiple programs and institutions will gather further evidence of their acceptability and utility for guiding operationalization of PA in different contexts.

How do Independent Directors View Carbon Information Disclosure? Evidence From China

This study examines the effect of independent directors on carbon information disclosure (CID) in China from 2011 to 2017. Additionally, this study investigates the effect of independent director’s attributes (gender, academic experience, and political connection) on the CID. To test our hypothesis, we collected data of 511 Chinese listed firms. The empirical results show that independent directors have a positive influence on the CID. Moreover, the independent female directors, independent academic directors and independent politically connected directors also enhances the CID. Our findings offer shareholders, regulators, and other stakeholders an integrating perspective on motivating firms to disclose high quality carbon information.

The Distance Between Our Values and Actions: We Can’t Be Passive When it Comes to Privacy

In September 2021, the WOC+Lib collective published a searing "Statement Against White Appropriation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color's Labor (BIPOC)," decrying the exploitation and abuse of BIPOC library workers. One of the many hypocrisies the group took issue with was:
 the proliferation of anti-racism statements put out by information institutions and organizations in 2020 without also taking on actions addressing the lack of Black, Indigenous, or People of Color workers or how the BIPOC within those very libraries and organizations have been ostracised and disrespected for years prior to 2020, while allowing the mistreatment to continue. (WOC+Lib, 2021)
 In the midst of the international uprisings for racial justice following the murder of George Floyd, many libraries put out antiracist statements affirming their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Yet in a recent survey of library directors, only 31 percent of academic library directors agreed that their “library has well-developed equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility strategies for employees" (Frederick and Wolff-Eisenberg, 2021, p. 10). The lack of progress made in these areas suggests that while diversity may be a library value, dismantling systems of oppression to improve DEI is not a top priority at most institutions.

The Relationship between Academic Clustering and Athletic Academic Support Center Reporting Lines in NCAA FBS Programs

This article investigates whether an association existed between the clustering of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) student-athletes and the reporting lines of athletic academic support departments at their institutions during the 2017-18 academic year. Academic reform groups and university faculty members have argued that student-athletes cluster into a major at a higher rate when athletic academic support departments report to athletic department officials instead of university administrators not employed by athletics. The authors contacted athletic academic support directors at NCAA Division I FBS institutions to determine whether their departments reported to an administrator employed by or outside of the athletic department. Then, the authors used annual football media guides provided by athletic departments to ascertain the amount of student-athletes that were enrolled in each academic major. Finally, the authors used an ANOVA to calculate whether an association existed between an athletic academic support department’s reporting lines and the rate that football student-athletes clustered into one or more majors. The results indicated that the association between the rate that football student-athletes clustered into one or more majors and the reporting lines used by athletic academic support departments at their institutions was insignificant.

Do academic independent directors matter? Evidence from stock price crash risk

This study examines the effect of academic independent directors (AIDs) on firm-specific stock price crash risk. AIDs reduce future crash risk by improving the quality of financial reporting, promoting corporate social responsibility, lowering agency costs, and curbing overinvestment. The benefit of AIDs is more pronounced for firms with a higher proportion of intangible assets, non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), and a greater separation of control and ownership. AIDs and external governance appear to play a substituting role in reducing crash risk. Further analyses show that the effect of AIDs on crash risk is effective only within a midrange percentage of AIDs (neither small nor large), and AIDs with a background in finance have a greater effect on reducing crash risk. Our findings shed new light on the value of AIDs for firm risk and corporate governance.

Walking Our Evidence-Based Talk: The Case of Leadership Development in Business Schools

Academics have lamented that practitioners do not always adopt scientific evidence in practice, yet while academics preach evidence-based management (EBM), they do not always practice it. This paper extends prior literature on difficulties to engage in EBM with insights from behavioral integrity (i.e., the study of what makes individuals and collectives walk their talk). We focus on leader development, widely used but often critiqued for lacking evidence. Analyzing 60 interviews with academic directors of leadership centers at top business schools, we find that the selection of programs does not always align with scientific recommendations nor do schools always engage in high-quality program evaluation. Respondents further indicated a wide variety of challenges that help explain the disconnect between business schools claiming A but practicing B. Behavioral Integrity theory would argue these difficulties are rooted in the lack of an individually owned and collectively endorsed identity, an identity of an evidence-based leader developer (EBLD). A closer inspection of our data confirmed that the lack of a clear and salient EBLD identity makes it difficult for academics to walk their evidence-based leader development talk. We discuss how these findings can help facilitate more evidence-based leader development in an academic context.

Learning Arabic language in China: Investigation on instrumental and integrative motivations of Chinese Arabic learners

There is an increasing demand in recent years for the study of the Arabic language by foreign learners as a second language, especially Chinese students. There are wide ranges of necessity to Arabic languages, such as commercial, industrial, economic, cultural, political, media, and other fields. Many foreign learners are learning this language to increase demands in all areas of life and use it in non-Arabic-speaking countries. China is one of those earliest countries that took this advantage and offered this program for an academic major. It’s almost 37 universities and institutes where the Arabic language is taught in China. The request for learning this language has increased because of the urgent need for exchange programs with Arab-speaking countries. As result, international experts believe motivations are an important factor in teaching Arabic to non-speakers that can be influential reasons for the foreign learners to practice, argue, push and motivate them to benefit more and overcome the difficulties of the Arabic language. This study examines two facial types of motivations, instrumental and integrative motivations. In this study, all participants are Chinese students currently studying in China. The number of participants was 125 students from both genders, including 4 academic directors of the Arabic language department in five public Chinese Universities. The findings show that Chinese students learning Arabic as a Second Language (ASL) are highly instrumental than integrative to studying Arabic. A lack of experience of the Arabic language in their classrooms and society guides their attitude. The findings also revealed that there is a relationship between the language structure and a classroom environment that decreases their motivation and achievements of learning Arabic.

Research on the Influence of Real Estate Investment on Industrial Enterprise Innovation

Inovation is the source power of enterprise development. In recent years, under the double squeeze of overcapacity and insufficient consumption, the phenomenon of industrial enterprises keen on real estate investment has become increasingly prominent. Based on Shanghai and Shenzhen two city industry listed companies in 2012-2021 data sets, using fixed effect model to estimate and mixed regression model to the regression analysis found that the enterprise of real estate investment will form apparent extrusion, the resources available to the enterprise, in turn, the impact of risk degree of stability of the enterprise, is not conducive to enterprise's own technology innovation investment. At the same time, using the proportion of academic directors among independent directors as a moderating variable, it is found that academic independent directors can inhibit industrial enterprises from investing in real estate.

Experiences of University Professors Studying for a Doctoral Degree in the Mexican Context

Aim/Purpose: To understand the experiences of full-time university professors at a Mexican university who are pursuing a doctoral degree, this study seeks to describe the experiences of doctoral students who are also university professors. The study focuses on the intentions, experiences, and prospects regarding the decision to study for a doctorate as a university professor. Background: This research has a dual background. On the one hand, there is the institutional interest in establishing an academic and professional profile of university professors studying for a doctorate in decision-making. On the other hand, the researchers who conducted this study maintain an interest in deepening knowledge of the doctoral process and researcher training. In the field of educational research, this article seeks to strengthen the almost nil research carried out specifically in Mexico on university professors who study for a doctorate, particularly in private institutions. Methodology: The research design is based on the interpretive paradigm, with a qualitative approach and a phenomenological perspective. A semi-structured interview was used to explore the individual experiences of 17 university professors who are studying for a doctorate. Contribution: This study is unique in that it explores the personal and professional views of university professors studying for a doctoral degree, providing further insight into academic and professional profiles. Findings: Studying for a doctorate while already belonging to a research ecosystem makes the challenges and difficulties of this process easier to cope with, favoring more positive results. Recommendations for Practitioners: To foster more assertive decision-making among university management, the recommendations are addressed to human talent managers, research managers, academic directors, university professors, and doctoral students. Recommendation for Researchers: To strengthen this line of research, it would be necessary to deepen the academic and professional profiles of university professors who are doctoral students and the materialization of an academic trajectory, to have more theoretical and practical elements for the training of researchers in the different fields of science. Impact on Society: Understanding the dynamics of doctoral training processes in the case of university professors in a Mexican context facilitates the formation of research ecosystems, labor insertion, and the consolidation of a professional career. Future Research: Future research should explore other university contexts and the consolidation of the academic career path for university professors.

Language sensitivity development as a response to challenges of professional communication in business schools

The study is aimed at the research of language and communicative skills development in students at the borders of subject knowledge in business and management when operating in the interdisciplinary/cross-functional context. Design of the concept of cultivating language sensitivity has become one of the key learning outcomes of the study. The principles of the latter formulated the basics for the integrated course “Language of Professional Communication” developed for Master’s Degree Programmes “Corporate Finance”, “Business Analytics and Big Data”, “Smart City Management” in the Graduate School of Management, Saint Petersburg University. The empirical data obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews held among the stakeholders of business education — employers, academic directors, professors, students and graduates — made it possible to formulate the main professional communicative challenges that graduates of business schools face. These professional communicative challenges have been incorporated into the course as the key elements that facilitate cultivation of integrated language, communication and subject-specific competences by placing them in cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary groups, thus achieving the maximum scope of diversity. The concept of the course aimed to cultivate language sensitivity creates all necessary conditions for preparing students of business schools to cross-functional professional activity in modern companies and increase their employability.

Faculty Perspectives on Mis- and Disinformation across Disciplines

Librarians, who have long promoted the criticality of information literacy, were quick to identify a role for themselves in confronting the challenges of mis/disinformation through library instruction. Nevertheless, little research has been done to examine discipline faculty’s perspectives on mis/disinformation or the extent to which they are addressing the issue in their classrooms. This paper begins to address this gap in the literature through a nationwide study and follow-up interviews of faculty across disciplines to probe their perspectives on the challenges of mis/disinformation. Participants were asked about their views on mis/disinformation, whether and how they address mis/disinformation in their courses, and their perceptions of their students’ ability to identify and evaluate mis/disinformation. The findings of this study have implications for academic librarians, especially liaison librarians with instructional responsibilities, and may be of interest to academic library directors and deans who oversee library instruction programs.

Research on the Impact of New Securities Law on Earnings Management of Listed Companies

Based on a sample of A-share non-financial listed companies under the approval system from 2017 to 2020, this paper examines the impact of new Securities Law on corporate earnings management behavior. The study found that compared with companies without material internal control deficiencies, the earnings management level of companies with major internal control defects decreases more after the implementation of the New Securities Law. This phenomenon is more pronounced when the company has academic independent directors and analyst coverage is higher. Further analysis shows that the new Securities Law affects the earnings management by improving the quality of internal control and strengthening external supervision. This paper not only enriches the research on law and earnings management, but also provides evidence for the implementation effect of the new Securities Law.

The Secret Lives of Pets: Trends from the 2020-2021 Year in Review Reports of the Academic Business Library Directors

A summary of Year in Review reports of members of the Academic Business Library Directors group (ABLD). Themes include new and ongoing initiatives in libraries, library collections, organizational change in libraries and member business schools and changes in library spaces.