EDITORIAL
Volume 12, Issue 2, March 2017
Defining Technopreneurship in the VUCA World
- Sattar Bawany & K C Chan
We are now in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The first came with a sudden surge of mechanisation, which meant entrepreneurs had to keep ahead with the latest machines. The Second Industrial Revolution brought mass production which had to be the new focus. Computers brought in the Third Industrial Revolution, with increasing automation. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about change, and has brought the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world. Entrepreneurs have become technopreneurs. This isn’t just about dealing with technology, but also the readiness to rethink, along with emotional resilience and the agility to deal with constant change. Customers now expect better, but cheaper and faster all at the same time. This goes beyond simple innovation to finding ways of making complex products simple and expensive products cheap. To do this effectively there have to be project teams, and technopreneurs need leadership skills to lead those teams. The competition is doing this too, and so the process keeps on going. The future is a constant challenge.
Enhancing Execution Capability of Russian Enterprises to Ride the Wave of Globalisation and the 4th Industrial Revolution
- K C Chan & Christopher Goh & Dr Christopher Goh
Project management has been steadily enhanced over the last 50 years. Chan & Goh describe four phases of Execution Capability (EC), from EC1.0 in the 1970s to EC4.0 which is predicted to start in the 2020s. EC1.0 gave satisfactory results where requirements were met on budget and on time. Digital technology had yet to pervade everyday life. Now it is everywhere, and seems to take over, removing many tasks from human beings. One task it does not remove - thinking. Thinking human capital remains vital for progress. We can no longer expect to ‘learn the job’ in any conclusive way, but must constantly relearn. This has reduced the advantages of previous success, and developing countries are joining the competition, and are advancing. This is illustrated by Russia’s performance, which put their top company, Gazprom, at number 53 of Forbes 2000 Ranking. The authors believe that by 2030, Russia, China and Indonesia will be in the top five most outstanding companies. All countries, regardless of their past, will have to make major changes to be competitive in the future.
Dimensions of the Learning Organisation: Impact on Organisational Commitment and Organisational Performance
- Werawut Boonyanusart
Learning is a positive experience, and has all round positive effects. When learning pervades the whole organisation it can be termed a learning organisation, but this won’t just happen. There have to be channels of communication that allow learning to flow freely, from individuals to teams, from individuals to the organisation, from teams to individuals, from teams to the organisation, from the organisation to teams, and from the organisation to individuals. Learning improves knowledge, ability and performance, and from that follows achievement. The feelings that come with achievement become motivation to learn more and achieve again. When it works, it creates a success spiral where performance improves at individual, team, and organisational level. These positive effects also bring commitment to the organisation that provides these opportunities. This all seems intuitively obvious, and is backed by research as well. This paper looks at the relationships between the learning organisation and commitment, between the learning organisation and performance, and between commitment and performance, across the cultures of China, Colombia, Korea, Nepal, Taiwan, and the USA.
Valuation of Reward Items by Workforce: Do Local and Foreign Workers Differ? A Study of Blue-Collared Workers within the Manufacturing Sector in Malaysia
- Melody-Jane Tan Siow Chuen
Talent cannot be bought off the shelf, and money doesn't always motivate people to work hard. To get the best people the company needs to be attractive to suitable workers, and to get people working at their best, the right rewards have to be in place. Some factors are regarded as 'hygiene,' meaning that they are essential and not regarded as reward, such as a safe and comfortable work environment. Motivational factors are those that increase satisfaction and fulfilment of the workforce. Some of these factors are intangible, such freedom to make choices, involvement, recognition of work well done, and seeing the progress of projects, Some can be made tangible in simple ways, such as small celebrations when milestones are reached. All this is universal, but there are cultural differences that make particular rewards more inviting in some groups than others. This paper looks specifically at Malaysia, and how the perceived value differs with different reward systems, in relation to nationality (culture) and level of skill (competency).
A Scientific Approach to Filmmaking: Maximising Suspense and Audience Engagement – Management Lessons
- Keith Bound
Many management principles are universal to every line of business. This paper looks at the management lessons that can be learnt from making films. Here, innovation and technology combine in the area of neuroscience and the building of suspense. This combines objective and subjective perspectives, which is also highly relevant in satisfying customers or any goods or services. It shows how the digital age makes new approaches possible, but human collaboration remains just as important. Neuroscience shows physiological responses to change, including stress responses. This can help us in finding ways to gain positive responses to change in ourselves and others. This ties in with emotional intelligence, and can increase creativity and innovation by reducing the stress felt. Uncertainty brings insecurity, which leads to perceiving new situations as threats. At the same time it can bring excitement, where the uncertainty gives a sense of adventure and desire to keep going. Watching films and measuring physiological responses may seem a long way from the boardroom, but this work helps us to understand how people react to change and stress, which are permanent features of our world.