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This study reviews and equates the historical upgrade of Ghana's polytechnics to technical universities compared to the United Kingdom and South Africa, including its processes as a borrowed educational policy. Furthermore, it critically reviews the policy's incubation process, the borrowing process, the implementation process and the actual outcome of the policy in action. The study reveals the loopholes as an elusive decision to convert the ex-polytechnics and its managers' harshly misplaced priorities of mimicking academic universities. Although the conversions proved essential to its core mandate, we argue that the focus was to be given to curriculum, teacher development and infrastructure funding. Improvements in the standing and prestige of Ghana's technical universities are seen as a conversion consequence. However, maintaining a vocational and technical focus and guaranteeing the necessary resources and facilities for the newly transformed institutions may present difficulties. Finally, the study reveals reflective characteristics of historical happenings in the UK and South Africa compared to Ghana. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).

Purpose Polytechnics in Nigeria are conventional institutions where academic board records are being managed in paper form. It has been observed that accessing these academic board records is difficult due to factors associated with the absence of preservation techniques and lack of clear-cut conservation practices. This study, therefore, aims to examine the preservation techniques and conservation practices adopted for the management of academic board records in polytechnics in South-West Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative method with the population comprising 54 records management personnel enumerated in the four selected polytechnics in South-West Nigeria. Triangulation method (questionnaire, interview and observation checklist) was used for data collection. The responses were analysed with descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings Findings revealed that photocopying, binding and use of insecticides were the most rated preservation techniques adopted. The security and shelving of academic board records to allow for free flow of air were the most available conservation practices, whereas staff training was not adequately available. The topmost rated constraints were non-challant attitude of personnel in-charge, insufficient funds and inadequate infrastructure. Research limitations/implications This study concluded that preservation and conservation practices are vital in the management of academic board records in polytechnics in South-West Nigeria. For efficient and effective management of academic board records, modern-day preservation and conservation practices need to be adopted. Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to study how preservation and conservation practices adopted for the management of academic board records in Nigerian polytechnics.

In 1992 the binary divide between universities and polytechnics was dismantled to create a nominally unitary system of higher education for the UK. Just a year later, the first UK university league table was published, and the year after that saw the formation of the Russell Group of self-proclaimed 'leading' universities. This paper asks whether there are distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK, and, in particular, whether the Russell Group institutions can be said to constitute a distinctive elite tier. Cluster analysis of publicly available data on the research activity, teaching quality, economic resources, academic selectivity, and socioeconomic student mix of UK universities demonstrates that the former binary divide persists with Old (pre-1992) universities characterised by higher levels of research activity, greater wealth, more academically successful and socioeconomically advantaged student intakes, but similar levels of teaching quality, compared to New (post-1992) institutions. Among the Old universities, Oxford and Cambridge emerge as an elite tier, whereas the remaining 22 Russell Group universities appear to be undifferentiated from the majority of other Old universities. A division among the New universities is also evident, with around a quarter of New universities forming a distinctive lower tier.

The positive effect of public research on industrial innovations is beyond controversy: public research institutions produce knowledge that is subsequently transferred into product and process innovations by private businesses. Besides this rather passive role in commercializing inventions, public research institutions may also proactively exploit new knowledge through public sector entrepreneurship activities. Especially entrepreneurial universities are perceived as a conduit of knowledge spillovers; they serve as central actors of innovation networks and stimulate network activities. Whereas the linkages between network embeddedness and innovation activities have been largely explored, the determinants of patent quality in terms of radicalness, originality, and generality remain rather unclear. Considering Germany's diverse public research infrastructure (universities, polytechnics, and non-university research institutes), our findings reveal that the type of institution and the corresponding scientific orientation (basic vs applied research) matter for the quality of inventions. The centrality of respective institutions within innovation networks reinforces the radicalness of inventions. However, we do not find support for the general assumption that an entrepreneurial orientation of public sector entities augments the quality of inventions. We conclude the paper with policy recommendations and with future avenues of research. Plain English Summary This study explores the relation between network embeddedness, scientific orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, and the quality of inventions of public research. Our results imply that a basic research focus induces inventions that are more radical, and a more central network position reinforces the production of more radical, original, and general patents. In contrast, an entrepreneurial orientation does not seem to stimulate a higher quality of inventions. Our results give impetus to nuanced public sector entrepreneurship policies that take the type of institution and the optimal level of regional embeddedness into account. A sole focus on the entrepreneurial transformation of public research institutes may not be sufficient to leverage the full potential of knowledge created therein. Instead, more support and guidance for creating links with other network entities is needed along with incentives to commercialize new knowledge.

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is the ability to interact and communicate appropriately with people from different cultures. The lack of ICC among non-native speakers has resulted in misunderstandings during interactions. Although Malaysia is a multicultural country, there has not been much emphasis in developing ICC in the curriculum. Students in higher education institutions have low levels of ICC. This is also true among students taking Mandarin as a Foreign Language (MFL) in Malaysian polytechnics. Virtual reality (VR) can engage students in the cognitive and affective domains. There is a potential for using VR to improve students’ ICC, particularly when students are engaged in producing their own immersive VR environments. Hence, a quasi-experimental research was designed to determine whether utilizing and developing VR environments related to Chinese culture could improve the level of ICC among students. The participants were 31 students enrolled in a MFL course at a polytechnic. The findings indicated a significant increase in the measures of ICC after the implementation and was verified from student feedback through surveys and interviews. VR has the potential for improving ICC levels as it could be used to develop positive attitudes towards another culture. Further studies could be done to investigate whether VR could be used to develop ICC and engage other Malaysian students. ICC is important and needed for cross-cultural collaborations and interactions to promote respect and compassion for other cultures in a community.

Purpose Some studies investigate the determinants of sustainability/integrated reporting in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). However, empirical research is still very embryonic in the scope of sustainable development goals (SDGs). As far as the authors are aware, previous research related to reporting in HEIs has not considered the linkage with the SDGs. Thus, this paper aims to analyse the disclosure on the websites of the Portuguese HEIs regarding the SDGs and their determinant factors. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on content analysis of the information disclosed on the websites of all Portuguese HEIs. Through bivariate and multivariate statistics analysis, the authors also aim to identify the explanatory factors for the SDGs reporting (such as geographical location – coast/inland, HEIs’ size, educational system – Universities and polytechnics, institutional status – public and private). Findings The results indicate that 63.6% of Portuguese HEIs disclose information on SDGs in their websites. Findings of bivariate analysis revealed that public and larger HEIs are those that disclose more information about SDG on their websites. However, the logit regression result found that size is the only determinant factor of SDGs reporting. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first Portuguese approach to SDGs reporting in the Portuguese higher education sector. The results will be of interest to policymakers and regulators who decide to implement and standardize SDGs reporting at higher education, as well as of HEIs’ managers who wish to follow these new trends in their reporting cycle.

Objective: This research analyzes the perceptions and experiences of the academic staff of the Polytechnic Universities (UP) of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, regarding the receipt of job induction at the beginning of their hiring or reinduction every time said staff has been promoted or transferred to another area of academic nature. This study aims to substantiate, contrast and interpret how essential strategic job induction is in the (UP) subsystem to trigger the long-term professional development of academic staff in said sector.   Theoretical Framework: The present study examines background research that conceptualizes, substantiates and theoretically and pragmatically interprets the phenomenon of job induction as an important requirement after the process of recruitment, selection and hiring of personnel, through its documentation in a procedure, manual, program and records.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology used in the present study was grounded theory as a methodological paradigm of the qualitative approach to analyze and interpret the perceptions, sensations and experiences when receiving or not receiving induction/reinduction practices, with the purpose of substantiating the importance of strategic job induction to trigger the professional development of the academic staff of the (UP) of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico.   Findings: Theoretical conceptions dictate that job induction is a process that should be applied to newly hired employees and solely for the purposes of welcoming and adapting to the work environment; however, the results of the study showed that job induction should be strategic by allowing permanent two-way communication between collaborator and organization and lead towards the professional development of the academic staff of the (UP) of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico.   Research, Practical and Social Implications: The perception and analysis of the induction actions received by the academic staff of the (UP) of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, can allow the formulation of a methodological guide that strategically guides labor induction and thus triggers the development professional of the academic staff of the (UP) of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico.   Originality/Value: This article shows an orientation to understand the vitality of strategic job induction focused on the academic staff of the (UP) of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, and its impact on professional development.

Servant leadership has been proposed as a highly relevant approach to leadership in the higher education context. However, little is known about its contribution to desirable organizational outcomes in academic settings, and even less is known about the role that servant leadership’s multidimensionality plays. Consequently, our study aims to investigate the impact of servant leadership’s two dimensions (creating value for the community and conceptual skills) on academics’ job satisfaction and work motivation. Specifically, we focus on polytechnics due to their significant contribution to the community and industry in developing economies. We applied partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data collected from 228 academics affiliated with Malaysian polytechnics. Our analysis shows that both dimensions of servant leadership are relevant predictors of academics’ job satisfaction and work motivation. In addition, while a robustness check confirms the linearity between the variables in our model, the model exhibits a high out-of-sample predictive power, thereby making assumptions about the model relationships’ generalizability feasible. We also identified job satisfaction as the most important area of improvement that managerial activities should address.

Purpose This study aims to explore the alignment between strategic plans of the Portuguese public higher education institutions (HEIs) and their perception of the integration of sustainability in education and curricula. Design/methodology/approach The strategic plans from 15 institutions were selected for content analysis; data about the integration of sustainability in education and curricula, from these HEI, were collected with an online questionnaire (self-report survey). Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Findings Strategic plans of the Portuguese public HEIs seem to not be sufficiently aligned with self-assessment integration of sustainability in education and curricula. Research limitations/implications The classifications used in the content analysis were constructed and revised by the authors to reduce coder interpretation issues and subsequent bias in the results. However, some subjectivity could remain. The analysis of strategic plans and self-report surveys answered by top management, or a technician, does not assess the practices and sustainability implementation in education and curricula. Practical implications This study allows the self-report of already-implemented practices to be compared to the planned strategy of HEI governance in Portugal as stated in their strategic plans. Originality/value An analysis and respective insights on the lack of connection between strategic planning and self-report practices about sustainability implementation, using Portugal as a case study.

Nursing is an old vocation but is relatively new to the academy, with schools of nursing being established in Western universities in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Their establishment was presaged by earlier moves of the preparation of pre-registration nurses from apprenticeships served in hospitals to tertiary education institutions (mainly community colleges and polytechnics) during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Preparation for a life in the professions has been a feature of universities since their inception. Nevertheless, changing a university’s offerings is contested, and new disciplines and the new academics within them often struggle to establish their legitimacy within the academy. This paper challenges contemporary accounts of nursing as a discipline the weak disciplinary boundaries of which undermine its place in the academy and hamper nurse academics’ development of an academic identity. Drawing on data from interviews with nursing academics, the paper discusses the ways in which the participants are, by their own actions, devising, amending and reinforcing the structures, code, rules and conceptual frameworks of the Nursing discipline. It also considers how, as they do so, these academics achieve a level of ontological congruence that is only possible as their internal biography, the nature of their day-to-day work and the expectations of their employer are able to ‘rub along’ together without creating the conditions for (self) destructive resistance or the exercise of coercive institutional power.