What can situated learning theory tell us about leading to develop organizational learning capabilities for entrepreneurial performance? lessons from a knowledge-intensive small firm

Although the role of strategic leadership in developing organizational learning capabilities has been examined to a certain extent, the specific behaviors and mechanisms through which these capabilities are developed have not been adequately understood. Paucity of research in this direction is even more conspicuous in a small firm/entrepreneurship context, which has been linked to innovation, economic growth, and employment generation. Reporting on an ethnographic study of a knowledge-intensive, growth-oriented small firm, this article addresses this gap in the literature by integrating strategic leadership and organizational learning theory in an entrepreneurship context. In this undertaking, situated learning theory is used as the major analytical lens, to shed light on how strategic leadership can build organizational learning capabilities that underpin entrepreneurial performance in small firms. Finally, implications for situated learning theory as an organizational learning perspective and leadership practice in an entrepreneurship context are submitted. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Diversifying into technical clothing manufacture:a situated learning theory perspective

An organisation’s ability to internalise external knowledge and learn from various sources in undertaking new product development and/or entering a new market is crucial to its competitive performance. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to how growth-oriented small firms identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities, i.e. take entrepreneurial action, related to such methods of development, in a mature, contracting industry. The latter is particularly relevant to recent discussion and debate in academic and policy-making circles concerning the salvage of the clothing manufacture industry in developed industrialised countries, by intensifying efforts relating to diversification into high value manufacturing sectors. This paper, based on an instrumental case-firm, demonstrates analytically how learning as entrepreneurial action relating to diversifying into /technical clothing – i.e. a high value manufacturing/innovatory sector - takes place, drawing on situated learning theory. It is argued that learning relating to such entrepreneurial action is dynamic in nature and is founded on specific organising principles that foster both inter- and intracommunal learning.

Dynamic learning as entrepreneurial action in the context of open innovation:an instrumental case from a communities-of-practice perspective

Recent scholarly discussion on open innovation put forward the notion that an organisation's ability to internalise external knowledge and learn from various sources in undertaking new product development is crucial to its competitive performance. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to how growth-oriented small firms identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities (i.e. take entrepreneurial action) related to such development, in an open innovation context, from a social learning perspective. This chapter, based on an instrumental case-firm, demonstrates analytically how learning as entrepreneurial action takes place, drawing on situated learning theory. It is argued that such learning is dynamic in nature and is founded on specific organising principles that foster both inter- and intracommunal learning. © 2012, IGI Global.

Learning to reflect through technology, to enhance employability

"Reflection, if managed in an ordered way, can provide great opportunities for learning, understanding and clarifying thought, both in one's personal life and in learning and professional development." Moon, J (1999). Aston Business School's (ABS) 12cmonth professional placement programme has a number of espoused learning objectives, including helping students: 1. To benefit from the integration of university study and work experience in ways which facilitate critical reflection on each ofthese aspects. 2. To build a personal awareness of their own interests, competencies, values and potential. These objectives focus students' development to self-reflect critically, to make sense of their experiences/learning whilst undertaking their placements. Students complete a placement year Reflective Learning Journal, supported by the workplace supervisor, through regular meetings where objectives are agreed and reviewed. As well as reflection providing opportunities for students to make sense of their learning, it is also challenging! ABS is undertaking a pilot in 2008/9 to encourage students to engage with reflective practice, but employer feedback indicates an ability to think and analyse is often missing from the skill sets of graduates. Business students are using the PebblePad e-portfolio system as a tool to record their learning, reflect on their experiences in the workplace and to create their journals.

Looking under the bonnet:factors affecting student adoption of e-learning systems in Jordan

The primary questions addressed in this paper are the following: what are the factors that affect students’ adoption of an e-learning system and what are the relationships among these factors? This paper investigates and identifies some of the major factors affecting students’ adoption of an e-learning system in a university in Jordan. E-learning adoption is approached from the information systems acceptance point of view. This suggests that a prior condition for learning effectively using e-learning systems is that students must actually use them. Thus, a greater knowledge of the factors that affect IT adoption and their interrelationships is a pre-cursor to a better understanding of student acceptance of e-learning systems. In turn, this will help and guide those who develop, implement, and deliver e-learning systems. In this study, an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed to investigate the underlying factors that influence students’ decisions to use an e-learning system. The TAM was populated using data gathered from a survey of 486 undergraduate students using the Moodle based e-learning system at the Arab Open University. The model was estimated using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). A path model was developed to analyze the relationships between the factors to explain students’ adoption of the e-learning system. Whilst findings support existing literature about prior experience affecting perceptions, they also point to surprising group effects, which may merit future exploration.

Network learning:Exploring learning by interorganizational networks

The importance of interorganizational networks in supporting or hindering the achievement of organizational objectives is now widely acknowledged. Network research is directed at understanding network processes and structures, and their impact upon performance. A key process is learning. The concepts of individual, group and organizational learning are long established. This article argues that learning might also usefully be regarded as occurring at a fourth system level, the interorganizational network. The concept of network learning - learning by a group of organizations as a group - is presented, and differentiated from other types of learning, notably interorganizational learning (learning in interorganizational contexts). Four cases of network learning are identified and analysed to provide insights into network learning processes and outcomes. It is proposed that 'network learning episode' offers a suitable unit of analysis for the empirical research needed to develop our understanding of this potentially important concept.

Network density and R&D spillovers

This paper models how the structure and function of a network of firms affects their aggregate innovativeness. Each firm has the potential to innovate, either from in-house R&D or from innovation spillovers from neighboring firms. The nature of innovation spillovers depends upon network density, the commonality of knowledge between firms, and the learning capability of firms. Innovation spillovers are modelled in detail using ideas from organizational theory. Two main results emerge: (i) the marginal effect on innovativeness of spillover intensity is non-monotonic, and (ii) network density can affect innovativeness but only when there are heterogeneous firms.

Evaluating choices:the role of corpora in translation choices and target text assessment

Translation training in the university context needs to train students in the processes, in order to enhance and optimise the product as outcome of these processes. Evaluation of a target text as product has often been accused of being a subjective process, which does not easily lend itself to the type of feedback that could enable students to apply criteria more widely. For students, it often seems as though they make different inappropriate or incorrect choices every time they translate a new text, and the learning process appears unpredictable and haphazard. Within functionalist approaches to translation, with their focus on the target text in terms of functional adequacy to the intended purpose, as stipulated in the translation brief, there are guidelines for text production that can help to develop a more systematic approach not only to text production, but also to translation evaluation. In the context of a focus on user knowledge needs, target language conventions and acceptability, the use of corpora is an indispensable tool for the trainee translator. Evaluation can take place against the student's own reasoned selection process, based on hard evidence, against criteria which currently obtain in the TL and the TL culture. When trainee and evaluator work within the same guidelines, there is more scope for constructive learning and feedback.

Encoding order and developmental dyslexia:a family of skills predicting different orthographic components

We investigated order encoding in developmental dyslexia using a task that presented nonalphanumeric visual characters either simultaneously or sequentially—to tap spatial and temporal order encoding, respectively—and asked participants to reproduce their order. Dyslexic participants performed poorly in the sequential condition, but normally in the simultaneous condition, except for positions most susceptible to interference. These results are novel in demonstrating a selective difficulty with temporal order encoding in a dyslexic group. We also tested the associations between our order reconstruction tasks and: (a) lexical learning and phonological tasks; and (b) different reading and spelling tasks. Correlations were extensive when the whole group of participants was considered together. When dyslexics and controls were considered separately, different patterns of association emerged between orthographic tasks on the one side and tasks tapping order encoding, phonological processing, and written learning on the other. These results indicate that different skills support different aspects of orthographic processing and are impaired to different degrees in individuals with dyslexia. Therefore, developmental dyslexia is not caused by a single impairment, but by a family of deficits loosely related to difficulties with order. Understanding the contribution of these different deficits will be crucial to deepen our understanding of this disorder.

Educating the iPod generation:undergraduate attitudes, experiences and knowledge of vodcast and podcast use

There is an increasing pressure on university staff to provide ever more information and resources to students. This study investigated student opinions on (audio) podcasts and (video) vodcasts and how well they met requirements and aided learning processes. Two experiments within the Aston University looked at student opinion on, and usage of, podcasts and vodcasts for a selection of their psychology lectures. Recordings were produced first using a hand-held camcorder, and then using the in-house media department. WebCT was used to distribute the podcasts and vodcasts, attitude questionnaires were then circulated at two time points. Overall students indicated that podcasts and vodcasts were a beneficial addition resource for learning, particularly when used in conjunction with lecturers’ slides and as a tool for revision/assessment. The online material translated into students having increased understanding of the material, which supplemented and enhanced their learning without being a substitute for traditional lectures. There is scope for the provision of portable media files to become standard practice within higher education; integrating distance and online learning with traditional approaches to improve teaching and learning.

The Automation of Adaptive Processes in the System of Distance Education and Knowledge Control

The article reveals a new technological approach to the creation of adaptive systems of distance learning and knowledge control. The use of the given technology helps to automate the learning process with the help of adaptive system. Developed with the help of the quantum approach of knowledge setting, a programming module-controller guarantees the support of students’ attention and the adaptation of the object language, and this helps to provide the effective interaction between learners and the learning system and to reach good results in the intensification of learning process.

Integrated and Personalized Digital Information Services

Digital information services are gradually becoming integrated with other systems and services such as library automation systems, student information services, and electronic learning systems. Users demand seamless access to a multitude of digital information services without leaving their desktop computers. They prefer using systems that recognize them when they log on, acknowledge their rights and privileges, and thus provide personalized information services. This paper summarizes the recent developments concerning integrated and personalized digital information services. It first emphasizes the role of the Internet in providing information services and then goes on to discuss the integration and personalization issues by emphasizing their importance for digital information services.

Use of Start Pages for Building a Mashup Personal Learning Environment to Support Self-Organized Learners

The paper explores the functionalities of eight start pages and considers their usefulness when used as a mashable platform for deployment of personal learning environments (PLE) for self-organized learners. The Web 2.0 effects and eLearning 2.0 strategies are examined from the point of view of how they influence the methods of gathering and capturing data, information and knowledge, and the learning process. Mashup technology is studied in order to see what kind of components can be used in PLE realization. A model of a PLE for self-organized learners is developed and it is used to prototype a personal learning and research environment in the start pages Netvibes, Pageflakes and iGoogle.

Counting on use of technology to enhance learning

In global policy documents, the language of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) now firmly structures a perception of educational technology which ‘subsumes’ terms like Networked Learning and e-Learning. Embedded in these three words though is a deterministic, economic assumption that technology has now enhanced learning, and will continue to do so. In a market-driven, capitalist society this is a ‘trouble free’, economically focused discourse which suggests there is no need for further debate about what the use of technology achieves in learning. Yet this raises a problem too: if technology achieves goals for human beings, then in education we are now simply counting on ‘use of technology’ to enhance learning. This closes the door on a necessary and ongoing critical pedagogical conversation that reminds us it is people that design learning, not technology. Furthermore, such discourse provides a vehicle for those with either strong hierarchical, or neoliberal agendas to make simplified claims politically, in the name of technology. This chapter is a reflection on our use of language in the educational technology community through a corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). In analytical examples that are ‘loaded’ with economic expectation, we can notice how the policy discourse of TEL narrows conversational space for learning so that people may struggle to recognise their own subjective being in this language. Through the lens of Lieras’s externality, desubjectivisation and closure (Lieras, 1996) we might examine possible effects of this discourse and seek a more emancipatory approach. A return to discussing Networked Learning is suggested, as a first step towards a more multi-directional conversation than TEL, that acknowledges the interrelatedness of technology, language and learning in people’s practice. Secondly, a reconsideration of how we write policy for educational technology is recommended, with a critical focus on how people learn, rather than on what technology is assumed to enhance.

Discovering biomarkers for antidepressant response:protocol from the Canadian biomarker integration network in depression (CAN-BIND) and clinical characteristics of the first patient cohort

Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is among the most prevalent and disabling medical conditions worldwide. Identification of clinical and biological markers ("biomarkers") of treatment response could personalize clinical decisions and lead to better outcomes. This paper describes the aims, design, and methods of a discovery study of biomarkers in antidepressant treatment response, conducted by the Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression (CAN-BIND). The CAN-BIND research program investigates and identifies biomarkers that help to predict outcomes in patients with MDD treated with antidepressant medication. The primary objective of this initial study (known as CAN-BIND-1) is to identify individual and integrated neuroimaging, electrophysiological, molecular, and clinical predictors of response to sequential antidepressant monotherapy and adjunctive therapy in MDD. Methods: CAN-BIND-1 is a multisite initiative involving 6 academic health centres working collaboratively with other universities and research centres. In the 16-week protocol, patients with MDD are treated with a first-line antidepressant (escitalopram 10-20 mg/d) that, if clinically warranted after eight weeks, is augmented with an evidence-based, add-on medication (aripiprazole 2-10 mg/d). Comprehensive datasets are obtained using clinical rating scales; behavioural, dimensional, and functioning/quality of life measures; neurocognitive testing; genomic, genetic, and proteomic profiling from blood samples; combined structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging; and electroencephalography. De-identified data from all sites are aggregated within a secure neuroinformatics platform for data integration, management, storage, and analyses. Statistical analyses will include multivariate and machine-learning techniques to identify predictors, moderators, and mediators of treatment response. Discussion: From June 2013 to February 2015, a cohort of 134 participants (85 outpatients with MDD and 49 healthy participants) has been evaluated at baseline. The clinical characteristics of this cohort are similar to other studies of MDD. Recruitment at all sites is ongoing to a target sample of 290 participants. CAN-BIND will identify biomarkers of treatment response in MDD through extensive clinical, molecular, and imaging assessments, in order to improve treatment practice and clinical outcomes. It will also create an innovative, robust platform and database for future research. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01655706. Registered July 27, 2012.