Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have a strong effect on the teaching-learning process in higher education. However, specific research on the factors that affect students´ satisfaction and their perceptions of learning outcomes derived from Moodle use is still scarce. Therefore, this study uses the theoretical underpinnings of the Technology Acceptance Model and the Information Systems Success model to contribute to the existing literature in two respects, focusing on the Moodle usage context. First, it analyses the relative impact of pre-acceptance and other e-learning quality-related variables as predictors of students´ satisfaction. Second, it investigates whether communicativeness and students’ satisfaction are both determining factors of students´ perceived learning outcomes. The proposed relationships were tested with a partial least squares (PLS) regression technique, using survey data from 151 undergraduate business students at University of Cantabria (Spain). The findings reveal that information quality is the most relevant predictor of students´ satisfaction, while satisfaction is the most relevant determining factor of perceived learning outcomes. Moreover, the effect of communicativeness on perceived learning outcomes could be very dependent on the educational context, e.g. blended versus virtual learning. These findings can help instructors to implement Moodle efficiently, and suggest the need to develop friendly courses with up-to-date and structured learning materials.
29 August 2019 in Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
To examine how knowledge-based dynamic capabilities relate to firm performance through the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation, we analyzed data of a sample of 1047 Portuguese and Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of all industry sectors. The results reveal that knowledge-based dynamic capabilities are associated with firm performance and that the relationship is partially mediated by a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation. This mediation could be explained by the fact that an entrepreneurial orientation to identify and utilize new opportunities is integral to knowledge value creation and extraction, and to avoid pervasive rigidities. Our study sheds light on the mechanisms through which knowledge-based dynamic capabilities are associated with firm performance and helps to explain performance differences among firms. In addition, we provide management insight on how firms can deploy their knowledge-based dynamic capabilities and extract value from them to face change and promote their entrepreneurial orientation and performance.
This paper has two objectives related to two gaps identified in the literature. The first objective is to extend research on the impact of using different knowledge sources on the innovation performance of firms in the family business context. The second objective is to study the moderating effect of family characteristics on these relationships. We adopted items from Community Innovation Surveys to collect data on Spanish family firms. Our results primarily show a positive effect of internal and collaboration sources on firms’ innovation performance specifically with respect to innovations that are new to the firm. Regarding the moderating effect of family characteristics on the relationship between the use of knowledge sources and innovation performance, the results suggest that CEO tenure, CEO founder duality and family involvement exert negative moderating effects. Thus, the family firm dimension tends to attenuate the positive effects of using various types of knowledge sources on innovation performance.
This study, by the application of a linear regression by ordinary least squares (OLS), aimed to explore the relationships between knowledge management practices (KMP) and innovation outcomes (product, process, organizational, and commercial), and how they can be moderated by two dimensions of the entrepreneurial orientation (proactiveness and risk taking). This empirical study used survey data from a sample of 288 Spanish family small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The results revealed a positive effect of all the KMPs studied for at least one of the innovation variables studied. Regarding the moderating effect of proactiveness and risk taking on the KMP-innovation outcomes relationship, proactiveness negatively moderated the relationship between knowledge creation and product/process innovation. Moreover, a positive moderating effect was found for the case of knowledge application and process innovation. With regard to risk taking, the evidence found was mixed, and confirmed for some KMPs and all the innovation measures, with the exception of process innovation. The only positive moderating effect found was for knowledge storage and product innovation, whereas, contrary to expected, a negative moderating effect was found for knowledge creation, transfer, and application practices and commercial, product, and organizational innovations, respectively.