Jan Francis-Smythe

Knowledge Transfer: De-constructing the Entrepreneurial Academic.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illuminate motivations and “pull” factors of academics engaging in knowledge transfer (KT). Design/methodology/approach – In total, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted with experienced, KT active (KTAs) academics to reveal their motivations and pull factors for engaging. Data were transcribed and submitted to template analysis to achieve qualitative conceptual “saturation”, from which a conjuctural analysis of conceptual relations was derived. Findings – From the data, seven thematic areas were inducted: values-in-practice, motivations and “buzz moments”, purposive activities, the academic context, the journey of the KTA, pedagogy and perceptions of risk. Research limitations/implications – The interview sample (12 males, three females) of active KTAs can be seen as a representative and authentic regional sample from the Midlands – who had carried out both teaching, research and KT aspects within their academic roles. In total, 120,000 words of dialogue were candidly reported, attesting to conceptual coherence. Practical implications – The results concur with some existing literature on conceptualising the KTA as an academic intrapreneur, but also highlight aspects of how this role conceptually differs from non-KTA academics. This has implications for the recruitment, development and retention of KTAs, in addition to facilitating their roles in higher education institutions (HEIs). Originality/value – This paper constitutes a unique induction of a conceptual model for a relatively new economic and operational phenomenon in HEIs: the KTA. The paper contrasts with existing literature on the barriers and challenges to KTA work by emphasis on the positive and motivational aspects of the role.

The role of evidence in general managers' decision-making

This paper presents an overview of current academic theory on evidence-based management (EBM) and considers the extent to which the decision-making processes of 39 senior, general managers are consistent with this thinking. In the pursuit of this aim the study has utilised inductive reasoning, qualitative data, purposeful sampling and semi-structured interviews, based upon the critical incident technique (Flanagan, 1954), to obtain detailed information regarding the decision-making processes utilised by each of the interviewees in relation to their most challenging managerial situations. It has been shown that these interviewees utilised only one of the four main sources of evidence for management decision-making proposed by Briner and Rousseau (2011). In the light of this finding, ways are identified in which managers may be able to enhance their business practice by utilising more sources of evidence. In addition, the study has also identified ways in which current academic thinking needs to be developed so that it incorporates all of the practices that general managers have utilised. Finally, the implications for general managers are discussed.

The contribution of academic scholarship to management development

Purpose: This paper explores the impact of academic scholarship on the development and practice of experienced managers. Design / Methodology: Semi-structured interviews with experienced managers, modelled on the critical incident technique. ‘Intertextuality’ and framework analysis technique are used to examine whether the use of academic scholarship is a sub-conscious phenomenon. Findings: Experienced managers make little direct use of academic scholarship, using it only occasionally to provide retrospective confirmation of decisions or a technique they can apply. However, academic scholarship informs their practice in an indirect way, their understanding of the ‘gist’ of scholarship comprising one of many sources which they synthesise and evaluate as part of their development process. Practical implications: Managers and management development practitioners should focus upon developing skills of synthesising the ‘gist’ of academic scholarship with other sources of data, rather than upon the detailed remembering, understanding and application of specific scholarship, and upon finding / providing the time and space for that ‘gisting’ and synthesis to take place. Originality / Value: The paper addresses contemporary concerns about the appropriateness of the material delivered on management education programmes for management development. It is original in doing this from the perspective of experienced managers, and in using intertextual analysis to reveal not only the direct but also the indirect uses of they make of such scholarship. The finding of the importance of understanding the ‘gist’ rather than the detail of academic scholarship represents a key conceptual innovation.

Validation française de l’Échelle de la personnalité temporelle

RESUME Certains auteurs ont developpe un interet pour la comprehension des aptitudes associees a la gestion du temps. Ainsi, plusieurs definitions theoriques ont ete proposees afin de mieux cerner ce concept et une multitude de questionnaires a ete developpee afin de le mesurer. La presente etude visait a valider la traduction francaise d’un de ces outils, soit le Time Personality Indicator (TPI). Des analyses exploratoires et confirmatoires ont ete effectuees sur l’ensemble des donnees recueillies aupres de 1 267 etudiants et employes de l’Universite Laval ayant complete la version francaise du TPI ainsi que d’autres mesures de la personnalite. Les resultats ont revele qu’une solution a huit facteurs permet de mieux decrire les donnees de l’echantillon. La discussion presente les raisons pour lesquelles la version francaise du TPI est valide, identifie certaines limites de la presente etude et souligne l’utilite de cet outil pour la recherche sur la gestion du temps. (ABSTRACT: Numerous authors have developed an interest towards the understanding of the abilities related to time management. As a consequence, multiple theoretical definitions have been proposed to explain time management. Likewise, several questionnaires have been developed in order to measure this concept. The aim of this study was to validate a French version of one of these tools, namely the Time Personality Indicator (TPI). The French version of the TPI and other personality questionnaires were completed by 1267 students and employees of Universite Laval. The statistical approach used included exploratory and confirmatory analyses. Results revealed that an eight factor model provided a better adjustment to the data. The discussion provides arguments supporting the validity of the French version of the TPI and underlines the importance of such a tool for the research on time management)