Emotional Empowerment of Human Capital through Adult Learning Pathways (Published)
The Sustainable Development Goals Program was adopted by the United Nations in September 2015 and is an evolution of the Millennium Development Goals Program (2000-2015). Its main axes are economy, society and the environment, with an emphasis on education and training for professionals, which are considered to be fundamental foundations of economic and social development. UNESCO is called upon to play an important role in implementing the Agenda, as it has both the right experience and extensive diplomatic networks. To this end, it has drafted official texts on the achievement of the Agenda 2030 objectives. Its recent text, “Third World Report on Adult Learning and Adult Education” (GRALE III), presents the results of an international research involving 139 UNESCO member countries on the impact of Learning and Adult Education on Health, Prosperity, Employment and the Labour Market, Social, Political and Community Life. Adults need to redefine their work profile and strengthen it with the right skills that will let them respond to the mental, physical and emotional demands of the new labour market. Which are though the right skills? Since specialized skills seem not to be adequate, emphasis has been lately put on emotional competence, which may contribute to the creation of a healthy working environment (Goleman, 1998). This study, through the qualitative analysis of the above-mentioned text, tries to capture and investigate whether there are references to skills related to the field of emotional intelligence in its content. The analysis of the text shows that references are made to the categories of interpersonal relations management, self-management, self –awareness and self-confidence. In particular, there is a strong need for policy makers of adult education to help learners develop communication, cooperation and tolerance, face difficulties, improve this lives, connect emotionally with others, join in community, sustain social connections.
Keywords: Adult Learning, Education, Emotional Intelligence, Empowerment, Skills, UNESCO
The Effect of Motivation on the Performance of Teaching Staff in Ghanaian Polytechnics: The Moderating Role of Education and Research Experience (Published)
Motivation has been empirically confirmed to be a major driver of employee performance. This paper assesses the effect of motivation on the performance of teaching staff of Ghanaian polytechnics, with the moderating role of research experience and highest education attained captured. A quantitative research technique is employed in this study. The target population of the study was teaching staff who had taught in Ghanaian polytechnics for at least 2 years, had a minimum of a second degree, and had some level of research experience. Simple and stratified sampling procedures were used to select 465 respondents. The study confirms a significant positive correlation between motivation and performance among teaching staff of Ghanaian polytechnics, r (408) = .892, p < .05. In this respect, motivation accounts for 79.5% of the variation in performance. Moreover, highest education attained and the research experience of teaching staff influence both motivation and performance. This means that teaching staff of polytechnics in Ghana can maximise their motivation and performance by improving their education and research experience.
Keywords: Education, Motivation, Performance, Polytechnics, higher educational institutions, research experience, teaching staff
Effect of Human Capital Investment on Organizational Performance of Pharmaceutical Companies in Kenya (Published)
Provision of adequate health care services to their population remains a major challenge for governments in Africa. In Kenya, the number of trained Pharmacists is increasing with time but still insufficient relative to the population in need (one pharmacist for every 8,710 persons, or approximately 0.1 per 1000 persons. Kenya had about 8 pharmacists for every 100,000 people). It was estimated that for the country to meet its health related Millennium Development Goals, the pharmacy workforce needed to grow by 28 per cent annually between 2010 and 2015. Whereas, Kenya’s population is estimated to be 43 million (provisional) in 2014, the number of registered pharmacist in 2013 was 2,202 and rose to 2,355 with a ratio of 5 pharmacists per 100,000 persons. In summary we have approximately 5:100,000, meaning 5 pharmacists to 100,000 persons, while the requirement is approximately 1:10000, meaning 1 pharmacist to 10000 persons. The current numbers of pharmacists are not adequate for achievement of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal 3. The study sought to establish the effect of Human Capital Investment on Organizational Performance of Pharmaceutical Companies in Kenya. The independent variables include: training, education, knowledge management and skills development. The main underpinning theories in this study include: Human Capital, Skill Acquisition and Sustainable Resource Theory. 200 observations were used in the study. Study used questionnaires in data collection, descriptive and inferential statistics used in the analysis. The found a positive significant relationship between human capital investment and organizational performance. The study recommends provision of quality education, relevant training linked to industry requirement, the study suggest adoption of German Dual Vocational Education and Training system to facilitate and strengthen linkage between education sector and the industry. Promotion of knowledge management through teamwork, social networks and knowledge management systems; training on employability and transferability skills to enhance Skills Development. The enterprises to go beyond traditional apprenticeship, Soft skills assessment in schools, embrace technology and promote intrapreneurship. The study also suggest introduction of Skill Development Fund to equip the communities and businesses with relevant skills required in the dynamic global market place.
Keywords: : Human Capital, Education, Human Capital Investment, Knowledge Management, Skills Development, Soft Skills and Organizational Performance, Training
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING, EDUCATION, AND SELF-EFFICACY ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING: A CASE STUDY ON SMALL-SCALED EMBROIDERY INDUSTRIES IN PROBOLINGGO (Published)
There are a few researches linking to social networking, education, self-efficacy, entrepreneurship and subjective well-being (SWB). Previous researches related to economic relations and SWB, especially to compare the SWB between countries. Different from the theese, this research is more comprehensive in discussing entrepreneurship. This research was intended to analyze the effects of social networking, education, and self-efficacy on entrepreneurship and subjective well-being of small-scaled embroidery industries in Probolinggo. The samples of this research consisted of 130 out of 150 embroidery entrepreneurs in Probolinggo. As means of data collection, the researchers applied survey method by asking questionnaire to the respondents (entrepreneurs at Probolinggo embroidery industries center). The questionnaire used in this research had been passed validity and reliability test to assure the questionnaire was valid and reliable. Meanwhile, data analysis process was conducted based on Partial Least Square (PLS) technique. The findings of this research indicated that: 1) embroidery entrepreneurs’ social networking significantly affected their entrepreneurship; 2) their education did not significantly affect their entrepreneurship; 3) their self-efficacy significantly affected their entrepreneurship; 4) social networking significantly affected their subjective well-being; 5) their education did not significantly affect their subjective well-being; 6) self-efficacy significantly affected their subjective well-being; 7) entrepreneurship of the entrepreneurs at Probolinggo embroidery industries center significantly affected their subjective well-being.
Keywords: Education, Entrepreneurship, Self-Efficacy, Social Networking, Subjective Well-being