Capability Building Research Articles

Dynamic capabilities for supply chain resilience: a meta-review

PurposeThe research on supply chain resilience (SCRES) has gained momentum after organizations have experienced more frequent and severe disruptions, especially with COVID-19 and the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Due to its potential for new practices and capability building, SCRES requires dynamic capabilities (DC) to enable an organization to prepare for, counter, and recuperate from disruptions leading to performance improvements and competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approachThe present literature study seeks to enrich the theoretical debate on DC in SCRES, contributing to an advanced understanding of SCRES. Therefore, a meta-review of 83 peer-reviewed literature reviews has been conducted. Based on qualitative content analysis and abductive reasoning, relevant constructs are synthesized to facilitate theory-building for SCRES DC into a comprehensive framework.FindingsThe analysis reveals that SCRES has developed into an independent research area. Thus, resilience capabilities must be considered bundles of practices, evolving from different areas beyond supply chain risk management (SCRM). Most recent literature reviews on SCRES address more than one practice bundle applying SCRES DC as antecedents of new DC when organizational structures become more mature, leading to path dependencies when building business capabilities.Originality/valueAggregating extant literature on SCRES into a theoretical framework, the study contributes to a better understanding of the relationships between DC and SCRES practices while offering potential avenues for future research. It enriches DC theory by extending its microfoundations towards a holding/buffering dimension, which particularly accounts for the stability-based view of SCRES.

New technologies provide innovative opportunities to enhance understanding of major virus diseases threatening global food security.

Plant viruses pose a continuous and serious threat to crop production worldwide, while globalization and climate change are exacerbating the establishment and rapid spread of new viruses. Simultaneously, developments in genome sequencing technology, nucleic acid amplification methods, and epidemiological modeling are providing plant health specialists with unprecedented opportunities to confront these major threats to the food security and livelihoods of millions of resource-constrained smallholders. In this perspective, we have used recent examples of integrated application of these technologies to enhance understanding of the emergence of plant viral diseases of key food security crops in low- and middle-income countries. We highlight how international funding and collaboration have enabled high-throughput sequencing-based surveillance approaches, targeted field and lab-based diagnostic tools, and modeling approaches that can be effectively used to support surveillance and preparedness against existing and emerging plant viral threats. The importance of national and international collaboration and the future role of CGIAR in further supporting these efforts, including building capabilities to make optimal use of these technologies in low- and middle-income countries is discussed.

The Effectiveness of Financial Capability and Asset Building Interventions in Improving Youth’s Educational Well-being: A Systematic Review

The Effectiveness of Financial Capability and Asset Building Interventions in Improving Youth’s Educational Well-being: A Systematic Review

After the startup: A collection to spur research about entrepreneurial growth

AbstractResearch SummaryEntrepreneurship researchers have made great strides toward understanding who discovers and/or creates opportunities, how they validate a business model, and how they attract resources, but far less is known about what happens next. Beyond gathering resources, how do entrepreneurs build a growing organization once customer enthusiasm has been demonstrated? What has been learned is fragmented across theoretical perspectives and activities related to growth. We describe a collection of articles that spotlight different theories and organize the articles according to key activities: (1) building internal resources and capabilities, (2) leveraging partnerships, (3) taking strategic actions, and (4) managing interactions among resources, partners, and actions. Juxtaposing these activities with theories from the collection, we offer a research agenda designed to spur research to fill gaps in understanding of how entrepreneurs successfully manage growth.Managerial SummaryThe period of an organization's development between the startup stage and becoming an established firm presents unique challenges. We spotlight a set of articles that have provided insights into how organizations can overcome these challenges. We then add our own perspective by providing research ideas that scholars can investigate in order to generate additional insights.

Achievement and Aspiration of Local Colleges and Universities on the Research Agenda of Funding Institutions: Basis for Research Capability Building

This study was conducted for a specific purpose: to assess the research culture in the local colleges and universities and to propose an enhanced research capacity-building program. There were sixteen informants of this study; four administrators and twelve faculty members in the local colleges and universities in the CAMANAVA area namely: The University of Caloocan City, City of Malabon University, Navotas Polytechnic College and Valenzuela City Polytechnic College. A Purposive sampling technique was used to identify the informants. The study made use of a qualitative research approach. The data were collected from individual interviews with the administrators and faculty members. Using open coding, six (6) themes were emerged from the interviews and analysis of the document: philosophical research perspective, impact on institution’s growth and development, motivational components in research engagement, promoting the research culture, managing challenges and impediments and enhancing research capability. The informants identified the challenges in the development of the intensified research culture in the local colleges and universities which includes the scarcity of funds, research skills and expertise, network resources, and time constraint. These can be resolved through the enhancement of research capabalities and development programs. Generally, the study concluded that the research is indeed a powerful tool in addressing institutional problems and the utmost contribution of faculty members of the local colleges and universities in the academic and curricular programs and institutional growth and development. The institutional support will address the compelling need of the local colleges and universities to improve their research capability and research output.

Building the capacity of rural allied health generalists through online postgraduate education: a qualitative evaluation.

Workforce development is a key strategy for building the capacity and capability of a workforce. Accordingly, rural and remote practising allied health professionals require relevant and accessible continuing professional development to enhance their knowledge and skills and improve consumer health outcomes. This study explored the impact of an online postgraduate allied health rural generalist education program, from the perspective of allied health professionals participating in the program and their supervisors and managers. A qualitative, exploratory descriptive study design was employed using semistructured interviews. This study formed the qualitative component of a larger convergent mixed-methods evaluation study aimed at evaluating the reach, quality and impact of an online rural generalist education program for allied health professionals in Australia. Allied health professionals from seven professions enrolled in an online postgraduate rural generalist education program, the rural generalist program (RGP). Their designated work-based supervisors and their managers who were responsible for the operational management of the study sites were invited to participate in the study. All participants were employed in rural and remote health services in 10 sites across four Australian states. Study participants' experience and perceptions of the impact of the RGP on themselves, the healthcare service and the broader community were explored using semistructured interviews. Data were thematically analysed site by site, then across sites using Braun and Clarke's (2012) systematic six-phase approach. Provisional codes were generated and iteratively compared, contrasted and collapsed into secondary, more advanced codes until final themes and subthemes were developed. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 23 allied health professionals enrolled in the RGP and their 27 work-based supervisors and managers across the 10 study sites. Three final themes were identified that describe the impact of the RGP: building capability as rural generalist allied health professionals; recruiting and building a rural workforce; enhancing healthcare services and consumer outcomes. Allied health professionals working in rural and remote locations valued the RGP because it provided accessible postgraduate education that aligned with their professional and clinical needs. Integrated into a supportive, well-structured development pathway, the experience potentiated learning and facilitated safe clinical practice that met the needs of consumers and organisations. The findings demonstrate that effective work-integrated learning strategies can enhance the development of essential capabilities for rural practice and support early-career allied health professionals' transition to rural and remote practice. These experiences can engage allied health professionals in a way that engenders a desire to remain working in rural and remote contexts.

Determinants of employee psychological ownership and its impact on sustainable manufacturing performance

This study aims to examine the determinants of employee psychological ownership and its effect on sustainable manufacturing performance. The population in this study is employees of a cigarette company in Indonesia. The sample used is 100 respondents, consisting of workers, supervisors, front line managers, and senior managers of a large cigarette company in Indonesia who are involved in initiative programs to achieve sustainable manufacturing performance. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. Data collection is carried out by distributing questionnaires directly to respondents and conducting focus group discussions (FGDs). The analytical tool used is Partial Least Squares with SmartPLS version 3. The results show that Servant Leadership has a significant effect on Growth Mindset and Capability Building; Growth Mindset and Capability Building have a significant effect on Employee Psychological Ownership; and Employee Psychological Ownership has a significant effect on Sustainable Manufacturing Performance. Therefore, to achieve sustainable manufacturing performance, it is necessary to have a strong employee psychological ownership by forming a mindset to always grow, accompanied by increasing individual capabilities through effective servant leadership.

Meningkatkan Kesadaran Masyarakat Mengenai Pemanfaatan Teknologi Dalam Pemasaran Di UMKM Kelurahan Tanggung Kota Blitar

Digital marketing, which is the use of the internet and information technology in marketing, has experienced rapid growth along with the widespread use of the internet. Even, there are still a few MSME actors, especially in the Responsibility sub-district, who understand the optimal use of digital marketing. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) method is used to identify existing problems. The results of the study show that most MSME actors in the Respondent Village have a limited understanding of digital marketing. However, through socialization activities and digital marketing practices, MSME actors have succeeded in increasing their knowledge and skills in utilizing social media for marketing. This has a positive impact on increasing MSME sales and wider use of social media by MSME actors. This research contributes to building digital marketing awareness and capabilities for MSMEs, so that they can increase the competitiveness and sustainability of their businesses in the digital era.

Bespoke Drug Discovery Training for Low-Middle Income Countries.

Working in drug discovery is difficult for many institutions due to the need for resources, funding, and in-country expertise. The Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infective Research (WCAIR) is responding to the unmet training needs for individuals/institutions working in drug discovery in low-middle income countries. Through their training program, individuals can undertake a practical placement, either online or at the center, with access to a dedicated trainer from their field of research. Practical placements are tailored to the needs of the individual/institute to enable capability building on return to their home institute. In addition to training placements, the center is focused on building partnerships by supporting institutes to work in drug discovery. Here we highlight WCAIR's training program and the partnerships that have developed from this.

The role of Communities of Practice in improving practice in Indigenous health and education settings: A systematic review

Introduction: Several workforce development strategies have been developed to improve practice in Indigenous health and education settings. These programs are often not implemented well, and as a result, they don’t have the intended effect on Indigenous health and education outcomes. Building capability of the health and education workforce is critical to improving health and education outcomes for Indigenous Peoples. Interventions that foster communities of practice are effective at influencing practice in various sectors, however no systematic reviews have investigated the impact of communities of practice in Indigenous health or education settings. Methods: This systematic review investigates the role of communities of practice in supporting existing workforce development strategies in Indigenous health and education settings. Seven databases were searched in 2019 and again in 2020. Data synthesis was through thematic analysis. Results: Eleven qualitative studies were included. Most community of practice interventions were situated in education settings. Interventions that foster community of practice can successfully include both Indigenous and non-Indigenous health and education professionals, allowing them to share personal stories, knowledge and resources and engage in personal and group reflection. This supports them to develop culturally responsive health and education tools, assessments and strategies and, therefore, may play a role in improving Indigenous health and education outcomes. Conclusion: Participation in communities of practice coupled with increased training and teaching about Indigenous culture may play a role in improving practice of Indigenous health and education professionals. Further research is required to determine what impact this has on Indigenous Peoples.

Editorial Innovation and Engineering Management in Emerging Economies

Over the past two decades, the development of emerging economies as drivers of global economic growth has been one of the most fundamental trends. Emerging economies account for more of the world's exports, including technology exports, while emerging country firms have heightened their profile in the global innovation landscape [1], [2], [3], [4]. Such changes required the building of substantial technological and engineering capabilities, but this is not the entire picture. To move up from basic to advanced innovation capabilities, firms in emerging economies have undergone a process of change and improvement in their managerial skills, by means of developing and adopting best practices of innovation and engineering management. Managerial skills are an enabling factor for dealing with systemic innovation processes and complex engineering projects. Nevertheless, while there has been substantial research on technological catching up in emerging economies, concern with how they are facing the challenges of adoption of innovation and engineering management practices have received little attention. The purpose of this Special Issue is to report on the state of the art of, and emerging trends in, research and practice of innovation and engineering management in emerging economies.

Dreaming digital or chasing new real pathways? Unveiling the determinants shaping Saudi youth's digital entrepreneurial intention

PurposeThe purpose of this study, based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and digital entrepreneurship literature, is to unveil the role of digital entrepreneurial knowledge and entrepreneurial role models in shaping digital entrepreneurial intentions (DEIs) among Saudi Youth through a moderated mediation perspective. This study aims to propose that the relationship between digital entrepreneurial knowledge and intention is mediated by main TPB antecedents under the moderating role of entrepreneurial role models.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from a sample of 487 Saudi students from three main Saudi public universities located in Riyadh using an online survey questionnaire. By applying SEM, this study builds and tests the measurement and structural models to examine the hypothesised relationships among main variables.FindingsResults revealed that the main antecedents of TPB (namely, attitudes towards digital entrepreneurship and perceived control behaviour) are significantly related to DEI. In addition, digital entrepreneurial knowledge indicates indirect effects on intentions via these two antecedents. However, entrepreneurial role models exert only a negative and significant moderating effect on the relationship between perceived behaviour control and DEI.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the literature by showing how most of the TPB antecedents can play a mediating role between digital entrepreneurial knowledge and the intentions of Saud Youth. The main limitation of this study is that it was not possible to generalise the findings. Future research directions are proposed to add new insights.Practical implicationsThe results of this study have clear implications for both theory (entrepreneurship scholars) by investigating DEI and its determinants and for practice (entrepreneurship educators and policymakers) by promoting digital entrepreneurship among youth through university-based awareness and building capability programs and curricula.Originality/valueThe study helps to understand the role of digital entrepreneurial knowledge in shaping DEI through the development of an extended TPB intention-based model. The findings also indicate that digital entrepreneurial knowledge has indirect effects on Youth's intentions. The findings show insights related to the influence of entrepreneurial role models on TPB antecedents in the transitional context of Saudi Arabia.

A unified hybrid transformer for joint MRI sequences super-resolution and missing data imputation

Objective. High-resolution multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial in clinical practice for accurate diagnosis and treatment. However, challenges such as budget constraints, potential contrast agent deposition, and image corruption often limit the acquisition of multiple sequences from a single patient. Therefore, the development of novel methods to reconstruct under-sampled images and synthesize missing sequences is crucial for clinical and research applications. Approach. In this paper, we propose a unified hybrid framework called SIFormer, which utilizes any available low-resolution MRI contrast configurations to complete super-resolution (SR) of poor-quality MR images and impute missing sequences simultaneously in one forward process. SIFormer consists of a hybrid generator and a convolution-based discriminator. The generator incorporates two key blocks. First, the dual branch attention block combines the long-range dependency building capability of the transformer with the high-frequency local information capture capability of the convolutional neural network in a channel-wise split manner. Second, we introduce a learnable gating adaptation multi-layer perception in the feed-forward block to optimize information transmission efficiently. Main results. Comparative evaluations against six state-of-the-art methods demonstrate that SIFormer achieves enhanced quantitative performance and produces more visually pleasing results for image SR and synthesis tasks across multiple datasets. Significance. Extensive experiments conducted on multi-center multi-contrast MRI datasets, including both healthy individuals and brain tumor patients, highlight the potential of our proposed method to serve as a valuable supplement to MRI sequence acquisition in clinical and research settings.

Surface defect detection and classification of steel using an efficient Swin Transformer

Detecting steel-surface defects is a crucial phase in steel manufacturing; however, accurately completing the detection task is challenging. The Swin Transformer, a self-attention-based model, has shown strong performance in the field of computer vision to enhance the adaptability of the Swin Transformer to the task of steel-surface defect detection, and a new network architecture called the LSwin Transformer is proposed in this study. First, in the downsampling process, we propose a convolutional embedding module and an attention patch merging module, which simultaneously strengthen the connections between the feature map channels, reduce the resolution, and increase image information retention. Second, we propose an effective window shift strategy and a convenient computation approach to make a complete defect between patches have more opportunity to obtain interactive computing. Finally, to combine the feature extraction capability of convolutional neural networks with the global dependency building capability of the Swin Transformer, we propose a depth multilayer perceptron module. Numerous experiments were conducted on a steel-surface defect dataset. The results demonstrated that the detection effect of our model outperformed competing methods, with a mean average precision of 81.2 %. In the ablation study, we verified the effectiveness of each module and initialized the parameters of the model through transfer learning to accelerate the convergence of the model. Therefore, the proposed LSwin Transformer has significant potential for detecting steel-surface defects.

How business process management culture supports digital innovation: a quantitative assessment

PurposeCurrent research suggests culture as a driving force of successful digital innovation (DI) that may not only built an organization's capability to digitally innovate but also reduce impeding factors within the organization. Only few empirical accounts support this hypothesis so far. Details of how culture supports DI are yet under-researched. This article aims to investigate the relationship between culture, organizational DI capabilities and DI barriers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors address this issue by using survey data from German municipalities (n = 668), build a structural equation model (SEM) and analyze data using partial least squares SEM.FindingsResults indicate that the business process management (BPM) culture dimensions continuous improvement and process innovation support DI capabilities. Barriers exist that partially mediate the impact of culture on capabilities.Originality/valueThe results of this study show that BPM culture is not a uniform construct and that its dimensions have both positive and negative impact on the building of organizational digitalization capabilities.

Partisanship and performance of youth leaders in the Philippines

This study was designed to determine the partisanship and performance of youth leaders locally known as Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials in the Second District of Negros Oriental, Philippines. This study also aimed to determine the profile of the youth leaders and the extent of partisanship before and after the election. There were 153 youth leaders who participated in the study. The descriptive research design with the quantitative method of data gathering was utilized. The questionnaire was the primary data-gathering tool triangulated with focus group discussions and interviews.
 Based on the data collated, the following findings were revealed: The majority of the youth leaders are aged 22 - 26 years old, males, single, studying in college, receive a monthly honorarium of P 5,001 - 6,000, and do not have any official political party. There is a high extent of partisanship before and after the election. The programs implemented were focused on equitable access to education, environmental protection, climate change, youth employment and livelihood, health, anti-drug abuse, gender sensitivity, sports development, and capability building. The youth leaders have high performance in the programs focusing on sports development, anti-drug abuse, environmental protection, and health. On the other hand, the programs on climate change, equitable access to education, gender sensitivity, and youth employment and livelihood are rated “moderate”.

Climate change: Why higher education matters?

Higher education (HE) matters to the global struggle to combat climate change. Research builds knowledge and informs climate solutions. Educational programmes and courses upskill current and future leaders and professionals to tackle the systems change and the transformation needed to improve society. Through their outreach and civic engagement work, HE helps people understand and address the climate change impacts, notably on under-resourced or marginalised people. By raising awareness of the problem and supporting capacity and capability building, HE encourages changes in attitudes and behaviours, focusing on adaptive change in preparing people to face the challenges of a changing climate. However, HE has yet to fully articulate its contribution towards climate change challenges, which means that organisational structures, curricula and research programmes do not reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the climate crisis. This paper describes the role of HE in supporting education and research efforts on climate change and outlines areas where further action is urgently needed. The study adds to the empirical research on HE's role in combating climate change and the role of cooperation in maximising the global effort to cope with a changing climate.

A Comparative Assessment of Defence Strategy within NATO Countries

This article reflects on defence strategy within NATO countries through systematic comparison with state-of-the-art organisation theory – and discusses the pitfalls stemming from trade-offs member states are making to address multiple organisational challenges. Joaquim Soares presents findings to provide guidance for the (re)designing of national defence strategy and the (re)building of defence capabilities.

Building Financial Capability and Assets to Reduce Poverty and Health Disparities: Race/Ethnicity Matters.

Evidence has documented racial wealth inequity as one of the key pathways linking structural racism and racial health inequity. Most prior studies on the wealth-health relationship use net worth as the measure of wealth. This approach provides little evidence on the most effective interventions as various types of assets and debt affect health differently. This paper examines how U.S. young adults' wealth components (e.g., financial assets, nonfinancial assets, secured debt, and unsecured debt) are associated with physical and mental health, and if the associations differ by race/ethnicity. Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Health outcomes were measured by mental health inventory and self-rated health. Logistic regressions and ordinary least square regressions were used to assess the association between wealth components and physical and mental health. I found that financial assets and secured debt were positively associated with self-rated health and mental health. Unsecured debt was negatively associated with mental health only. The positive associations between financial assets and health outcomes were significantly weaker for non-Hispanic Black respondents. Unsecured debt was protective of self-rated health for non-Hispanic Whites only. For Black young adults, unsecured debt had more severe negative health consequences compared to other racial/ethnic groups. This study provides a nuanced understanding of the complex relationship among race/ethnicity, wealth components, and health. Findings could inform asset building and financial capability policies and programs to effectively reduce racialized poverty and health disparities.

Building capacity and capability for quality improvement: developing an organisational approach

There has been an increase in the adoption of quality improvement methods to tackle complex problems in healthcare. One of the key requisites for sustainable quality improvement is ensuring that organisations have the capacity and capability to make these changes effectively. This article uses a case study methodology to describe the learning from 9 years of developing, delivering and evaluating quality improvement learning programmes at East London NHS Foundation Trust. The key quality improvement learning progammes are evaluated using a Kirkpatrick framework across four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour and outcomes. Five key principles were identified: using a dosing approach; standardising development, delivery and evaluation; developing a community to support learners; making training relevant; and the importance of leadership. However, the authors believe that more research is needed to develop standardised approaches to evaluating quality improvement capability building and to understand why some quality improvement projects are less successful than others.