Informal learning research in hospitality and tourism: A systematic literature review

The present study is done with the objective of exploring whether constructs taken from the theory of planned behavior (TPB) influence the entrepreneurial intention of prospective university undergraduates after they graduate. For this purpose, 400 non-business major students were randomly selected from four state universities in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa University, Adama University, Mizan Tepi University, and Debretabor University). 355 valid questionnaires were feed into SPSS version 20.0 and multiple regressions were run. The results reveal that the model explained 51 % of the variation in the dependent variable. Attitude, Perceived behavioral control (PBC), and subjective norm were found to be statistically significant. Attitude explained the highest variation in intention followed by PBC and subjective norm. Moreover, the students’ level of intending to start a business after graduation was high. Policy implications, Limitations, and directions for future studies are included.

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Application of the TPB to Predicting Entrepreneurial Intention of Students: Evidence from Ethiopia

\nPurpose (mandatory)\nThe purpose of this paper is to study engagement of employees in informal learning behaviors (ILBs) and to understand the role of workplace support (organizational support, supervisor support and job support) in facilitating such behaviors.\n\n\nDesign/methodology/approach (mandatory)\nThe study uses descriptive design with data collected through voluntary non-probability sampling method of 58 employees from India and the USA through Amazon Mechanical Turk.\n\n\nFindings (mandatory)\nPreliminary findings suggest that 81% of the employees are likely to engage in ILBs and 65.5% agreed to have received workplace support. Employees from India rate their workplace support as higher and are more likely to engage in ILBs than those from the USA.\n\n\nOriginality/value (mandatory)\nThis study contributes to workplace informal learning literature and highlights the need for more studies on workforce ILBs across multiple countries and job role variations.\n

Informal learning behaviors and the role of workplace support: preliminary findings from an India-USA workforce

Digital skills are increasingly required in all fields of the national economy. This has become especially rel-evant in the today’s fast changing social developments and the recent unexpected conditions of pandemia. It requires also flexibility and innovation capacity of all involved stakeholders. The relevance of digital skills have been analysed by survey of vocational education managers, employers and students involved in work-based learning. The evaluation scale used was between 1–10 to ensure a more detailed comparison and analysis using indicators of descriptive sta-tistics and cross-tabulations. Conclusions among other indicate that digital skills for employees are seen almost of the same importance as the ability to co-operate and loyalty to the company, according to employer’s opinion.

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Importance of digital skills for competitive labour force – challenges in work-based learning in latvia


Purpose
The success rate of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the service industries is dismally poor, and most organisations discontinue LSS initiatives prematurely. This paper aims to identify the LSS barriers (LSSBs) and analyse their interaction via a hierarchical model developed by using interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and Fuzzy Matriced Impacts Croise’s Multiplication Appliqué à un Classement (MICMAC). These allow the LSS execution and implementation to be much more effective and avoid the high cost of implementation.


Design/methodology/approach
A structural review of the literature and interviews with experts and professionals from the service industries in the UAE supplied data wherewith to identify LSSBs. Sixteen LSSBs were determined and analysed using ISM and the MICMAC approach to discover the strong drivers and highly dependent barriers. The Fuzzy set was included in the MICMAC analysis to obtain a more precise output and create an effective hierarchical model of the barriers.


Findings
The research findings suggest that the top barriers to LSS implementation in service industries are lack of top management commitment, lack of customer focus, resistance to change management and lack of alignment between the LSS and organisational strategy. A deeper analysis using the Fuzzy-MICMAC approach categorises these barriers on the basis of their driving power and dependency.


Research limitations/implications
The relationships between paired LSSBs were obtained through an experts’ interpretations of limited numbers in one country. Conducting a large-scale survey with a more comprehensive demographic or deep focus in one service industry might deepen our understanding of the interactions of LSSBs and models.


Practical implications
The developed ISM that model suggests that the dependencies and relationships among the barriers must be accurately determined so as to remove the collaborative effect of barriers on the implementation process is at the earliest opportunity. This would improve service companies’ competitive advantage and profitability, drive out waste and reduce the cost associated with poor quality. Similarly, academicians may advocate ways in various issues can contribute to improve LSSBs for amended LSS implementation now that business services are booming in the fourth industrial revolution.


Originality/value
The structural model was developed holistically on the basis of the inputs from practitioners and academicians to ensure its practical validity. Though the model has theoretical foundations, its practical applicability is a key factor in its development, so this approach was helpful for practitioner wanted to focus on removing the key dominant barriers and be able to deploy LSS concepts smoothly in service industries. The results support the proposition that top management is a crucial factor for LSS project implementation, whatever the complexity of the research methodology and the nature of the service industries.


Investigation and modelling lean six sigma barriers in service industries: a hybrid ISM-Fuzzy MICMAC approach

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role of informal learning behaviors in increasing the social capital of organizations. The paper provides a brief overview of social capital and informal learning and proposes to interlink them for increasing knowledge capability of organizations.,Drawing on a review of social capital theory and informal learning behaviors, this article presents a conceptual approach for practitioners to deploy informal learning behaviors to increase social capital and subsequently, the knowledge capability of their organizations.,With the fast-changing global business scenario and limited availability of capital to invest in formal training behaviors, organizations continue to face difficulties in increasing their knowledge capability. This article suggests a simple, cost-effective and easy-to-deploy method of employing informal learning behaviors to build and sustain social capital and through it the knowledge capabilities of organizations.,There is currently limited research into the applicability of using informal learning behaviors in the field of social capital and knowledge capability building.

How to increase social capital of organizations: identifying the role of informal learning behaviors

With the growing importance of entrepreneurship all over the world, and particularly in Asia, this paper aims at studying the motivational factors relating to the entrepreneurial intention of postgraduate management students in India. What are the factors which motivate university students to start a new business venture after completing their studies? Are they related solely to the personality of the individual or are they related to his/her support systems or is it a combination of both? The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and the given variables like attitude towards self-employment, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived educational support and perceived structural support. For this purpose, a model based on the theory of planned behavior and entrepreneurial support models was proposed and empirically tested on a sample of 382 postgraduate management students in India. The sample was collected from across seven management colleges in Kerala. The findings reveal that all the five factors, namely attitude towards self-employment, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived educational support and perceived structural support, have a positive effect on the entrepreneurial intention of an individual.

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Motivational factors relating to entrepreneurial intention: a study of postgraduate management students in india


Purpose
Organisational researchers have always highlighted the role of leadership during crisis. However, anecdotal evidence shows that leadership often fails when the culture does not back them during a crisis. Hence, actively initiating and developing a culture of excellence (CoE) become all the more relevant during a crisis. This paper aims to understand the role of CoE in building a resilient organisation. Furthermore, it aims to contribute to the understanding of building CoE practices in small businesses.


Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews relevant literature and gathers evidence from VDart Inc, a digital talent management and services firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. A case study design based on retrospective and real-time data collection is performed to investigate CoE practices before and during the Covid-19 crisis.


Findings
The findings argue that, most often, the culture and not just the leadership determines the fate of an organisation undergoing crisis. From the case evidence, the authors identify reinforce the culture, invest in cultural custodians, seek order, keep them close and industry thought-leadership (“RISK-It”) CoE practices for fostering resilience in small- and medium-sized enterprises/businesses (SMEs) for managing crises.


Originality/value
The authors contribute to knowledge in fostering proactive resilience in small businesses, showing how SMEs should invest in building a CoE when their organisations are stable instead of searching for strong leaders and unique strategies during a crisis. Later, during the crisis, just by reinforcing their CoE using RISK-It CoE practices, leaders and managers would be able to leverage any turbulence to the advantage of their organisations.


Fostering resilience through the culture of excellence (CoE) practices: explorative insights from a talent management SME

This study examines the impact of organisational change management on the outcome of digital transformation initiatives such as ERP implementation. The organisation’s processes change to align with the best practices being brought on by the ERP system. The study examines the initiatives taken to manage such organisational changes during digital transformation and its impact on success of the project. A review of literature in the area of organisation change and digital transformation was conducted to explore the theoretical background. Further in-depth interviews of organisation leaders and industry practitioners involved in digital transformation were collected. Analysis of the data shows that organisations need to plan for continuous evaluation of the need for managing change for a successful digital transformation. A structured approach to the assessment of benefits before and after the change is essential. Implications for change practitioners and ERP implementation managers are discussed.

Nidheesh Joseph

Papers

How to increase social capital of organizations: identifying the role of informal learning behaviors

Motivational factors relating to entrepreneurial intention: a study of postgraduate management students in india

Fostering resilience through the culture of excellence (CoE) practices: explorative insights from a talent management SME

Analysing ERP Implementations from Organizational Change Perspective: An Exploratory Study

Informal learning behaviors and the role of workplace support: preliminary findings from an India-USA workforce