The Topic of the Ideal Dairy Farm Can Inspire How to Assess Knowledge about Dairy Production Processes: A Case Study with Students and Their Contributions

Knowledge management in dairy production: a contribution to the competitiveness based on the value co-creation

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to recognize the empirical inhibitors of knowledge management (KM)in value co-creation in the dairy production context.

Design/methodology/approach

This study undertook a qualitative multiple-case study strategy. The datas collected comes from five players in the dairy sector that jointly co-create value. In addition to in-depth interviews with the actors, this study considers complementary documents, with reports, management flowcharts. Content analysis was conducted based on Bardin (2011).

Findings

This study identified three empirical barriers for KM in managing value co-creation in dairy production. The inhibitors observed were related to ineffective communication among stakeholders, organizational culture and high competitiveness. This study identified that sharing and KM among actors is a way to stimulate innovative solutions via value co-creation in dairy production.

Research limitations/implications

This study explores the context in the Center-South of Brazil; therefore, it is not generalizable.

Practical implications

The findings help the managers to deal with the KM inhibitors in the value co-creation context and define actions based on the strategies listed to overcome the barriers identified in dairy production. This study can also help managers to change the mindset of organizations by adding KM to the organizational culture, as it identifies existing barriers in the sector and contributes by suggesting attitudes and tools capable of overcoming such difficulties.

Social implications

Professionals in the dairy sector, especially the small rural producer, can have access to knowledge and professional training through the value co-creation among actors in the dairy sector. In this sense, the milk quality, for example, the nutritional characteristics and traceability of the milk, can be improved for the final consumer.

Originality/value

This study reveals the empirical inhibitors of KM presents in the value co-creation in the dairy production context. Additionally, insights to deal with the lack of sharing information and knowledge among multiple actors.

Supporting Decision-Making in the Technical Equipment Selection Process by the Method of Contradictory Evaluations

Creating new research concepts is an important element in supporting the development of production systems and their components, including technical equipment. Many technical devices are characterized by a high degree of complexity, which justifies the need for a specific approach to their assessment and becomes an inspiration to search for innovative methods of assessment. As part of the proposed new approach to the assessment of technical objects, studies were carried out in which users of chainsaws assessed their technical and functional features, taking into account the options: advantage and disadvantage. The number of positive and negative assessments of a given feature was used in the developed methodology to calculate the utility potential index. The proposed formula for calculating the utility potential index is a contribution to the current state of knowledge in the field of evaluation of technical objects and their features, as well as comparisons between technical objects. Based on the definition of the utility potential index, its value ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. The conducted research and calculation results indicated the accumulation of the lowest and the highest values of the utility potential index for one of the functional features, i.e., the price of the equipment. The utilitarian effect of the study is the creation of a tool supporting the selection of equipment for the needs of its users. The research results can also be used as a suggestion for the improvement of the indicated features of technical devices by their manufacturers.

Views of Consumers, Farmers and Stakeholders on Alternative Dairy Cattle Housing Systems

Simple Summary

Sustainable alternative housing systems for dairy cattle depend on being accepted by key categories like farmers, stakeholders, and consumers. Alongside tie-stall and cubicle housing systems, alternative free-walk systems (compost-bedded pack and artificial floor systems) are available today. This study aimed to determine and compare the acceptance of (alternative) housing systems and attitudes to certain aspects of housing systems for dairy cattle among Slovenian consumers, farmers, and stakeholders. They were asked online about their views on the most important aspects (animals, farmers, products, environment) of housing systems as well as the acceptance of four housing systems and related issues. The results reveal differences in attitude and acceptance among the main groups of respondents. Consumers, stakeholders, and conventional farmers preferred the artificial floor system, while organic farmers preferred the compost-bedded pack housing system. Consumers and organic farmers showed below-average scores for all aspects analyzed concerning animals, products, and the environment, whereas conventional farmers and stakeholders had shown above-average scores for aspects related to animals and the environment and negative attitudes to products. The findings suggest the need to tailor information about different housing systems to specific groups.

Abstract

Alternative housing systems for dairy cattle have recently emerged, such as compost-bedded packs and artificial floor ones. To determine their acceptability among categories of people with a connection to animal husbandry, this study aimed to identify and compare the acceptability of (alternative) housing systems and attitudes to aspects of housing systems for dairy cattle among Slovenian consumers, farmers, and stakeholders. Farmers (N = 306), consumers (N = 508), and stakeholders (N = 40) were interviewed about their views on the main aspects (animals, farmers, products, environment) of housing systems for dairy cattle, the acceptance of four housing systems, and important housing features. The results show that consumers, stakeholders, and conventional farmers preferred housing systems with an artificial floor, while organic farmers preferred a housing system with a compost-bedded pack. Consumers and organic farmers expressed the greatest acceptance of almost every aspect of the housing system, except for a sufficient income for farmers and a low workload. Conventional farmers and stakeholders hold similar views, except for the expectation that the animals have enough space to move around, the image of the landscape, and the animals’ health and wellbeing, where stakeholders showed more acceptance than conventional farmers. The results imply that systematically planned information aimed at different target categories is needed to increase the acceptance of (alternative) housing systems for cattle.

How Stable Are Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context?

The purposed longitudinal study analyzes the evolution of students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) and its antecedents over the COVID-19 pandemic period and explores the inter-individual differences and the intra-individual changes. Our main contribution consists of proposing two-panel estimations techniques: first, a Latent Change Score model (LCS) approach to analyze the stability of our constructs, and second, a Generalized Least Squares (GLS) Random-Effect estimation of a complex network of relationships that we have identified within the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework. Our empirical results show that students’ EI enrolled in an entrepreneurship education (EE) program increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals with initial higher scores for EI have changed less than those with lower initial scores, and a gender difference exists in the initial level of EI and its antecedents. Our results also document the moderation effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the importance of inspiration and resources in building students’ EI and provide valuable policy recommendations for universities regarding the design of EE programs to contribute to the economic recovery in the post-pandemic era

Constructing an Online Sustainable Educational Model in COVID-19 Pandemic Environments

The outbreak of COVID-19 forced billions of learners to stay at home in order to receive online education. The aim of the study is to construct an online sustainable educational model to facilitate this learning approach. This study included 53 peer-reviewed articles for the review study following the selection process of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) and the clustering techniques of VOSviewer. It is concluded that the model consists of online educational platforms, online assessment systems, social media, and digital literacy. With these features, online education could be sustained. However, challenges should also be addressed to sustain online education during the pandemic. Designers, scientists, and teachers should make every effort to increase learning engagement, enhance learning supervision, formulate adequate emergency programs, minimize educational inequalities, solve technical issues, and formulate systematic learning management and organization. The sustainable online educational model may be updated and perfected by including more practical features in the future.

Production Processes Related to Conventional and Renewable Energy in Enterprises and in the Circular Economy

In modern enterprises, all processes that are understood as structured activities intended for production, i [...]

The Assessment of the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning—The Fuzzy Model Approach for Sustainable Education

Contemporary education in higher education institutions has a goal to provide necessary competences determined by legislative demands, science trends and job market needs to graduated students intending to strengthen their employability. The main idea of this research is to assess the level of students’ competences for lifelong learning (LLL). Since it is a very complex task, it is characterized by a lack of information and the vagueness of the inherently subjective nature of human thinking. The uncertain values of the assessed level of students’ competences for LLL are represented by linguistic expressions which are modeled by the interval type 2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. Ranking of the level of students’ competences for LLL is stated as a fuzzy multi-criteria optimization task. The aggregation of students’ opinions into unique marks is given by using the proposed fuzzy Delphi technique. The rank of students’ competences for LLL is given by using the proposed fuzzy Simple Additive Weighting (FSAW). The order of measures that should be delivered to improve students’ competences is based on the obtained rank. The model is tested and discussed on the real data collected from a significant sample of the students with a proposal of future directions of the research.

Developing 'Smart' Dairy Farming Responsive to Farmers and Consumer-Citizens: A Review

Innovation has resulted in more dairy products being produced with less inputs than ever before. It has also affected how animals are raised, the structure of the sector and the nature of products produced. Not all impacts have been positive. As disruptive technologies-such as precision farming and robotics-herald significant change, it is timely to reflect on the perspectives of different actors on innovations within the sector. Drawing on a review of academic literature, this paper considers farmers' and consumer-citizens' perspectives; as expected, their diverse knowledge, interests and values surface a range of perspectives. To provide focus to the study, it examines technologies across three stages of the dairy production cycle: breeding, feeding and milking. It finds that consumer-citizen and farmer perspectives have been examined by researchers in several countries, using a variety of methods, across a range of technologies. It finds both areas of agreement and tension within and between consumer-citizen and producer cohorts. While differences in knowledge account for some variation, differences in values are also significant. The extent to which efforts can and should be put into addressing differences is raised as a point for reflection.

E-Learning: Direct Effect of Student Learning Effectiveness and Engagement through Project-Based Learning, Team Cohesion, and Flipped Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The cross-impact of project-based learning, team cohesion, and flipped learning was investigated by examining their direct effects on student learning effectiveness, engagement, and engagement effects on learning effectiveness. The results of hypotheses testing were achieved using hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS-25 statistical packages for data analysis. The research model was empirically verified with quantitative data collected from 247 graduate/undergraduate business students based on their own experiences, observations, and engagement. The analysis found that project-based learning (PBL) and team cohesion increased positive direct effects both in student learning effectiveness and engagement. However, flipped learning showed increased positive direct effects in student learning effectiveness and negative effects on engagement. Furthermore, the engagement (itself) had a positive direct effect on student learning effectiveness. The proposed study was performed with the intention to inform practice in terms of increasing retention and enhancing teaching along with student learning quality.

The Erasmus+ Programme and Sustainable Development Goals—Contribution of Mobility Actions in Higher Education

Erasmus+ is an EU programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the period 2014–2021 with a major impact at the international level. These areas are making important contributions to help address socioeconomic changes and the key challenges that Europe will face until the end of the decade as well as to support the implementation of the European policy agenda for growth, jobs, equity and social inclusion. The general objectives of the Erasmus+ Programme are intended to contribute to the overall achievement of the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, among others related to sustainable development. Therefore, the main question is: “To which Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) do the Erasmus+ Programme and the mobility projects for higher education directly contribute to?” The answer to this question will allow us to start filling the knowledge gap at the borderline between SDG and Erasmus+. The purpose of this research is to identify, among the 17 SDGs, those that could be more relevant in the context of mobility projects in higher education within the Erasmus+ Programme and how these projects contribute to these identified SDGs. Through the analysis of the general objective of the Erasmus+ Programme, its most important characteristics and the objectives of Key Action 1 and mobility projects, we can conclude that, from the 2030 Agenda, the most relevant SDGs for the programme and for the action and mobility projects are 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality) and 8 (decent work and economic growth).

Longitudinal Analysis of Teacher Technology Acceptance and Its Relationship to Resource Viewing and Academic Performance of College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Due to COVID-19, teachers quickly changed their courses from traditional face-to-face modality to emergency remote teaching (ERT), relying on learning management systems (LMS). In this simple prospective design study, we analyzed the relation of the level of teachers’ technological acceptance at the beginning of ERT (March 2020) considering three variables: the time spent by teachers in the LMS during that semester, the percentage of LMS’s resources their students viewed during the semester, and the final academic performance of the same students at the end of that semester (September 2020). This study included 251 teachers (57% male) and 12,185 students (45% male). We measured the teachers’ level of acceptance with the Spanish version of the Questionnaire Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). We found that the relation between the teacher’s acceptance and their time spent on the LMS was significant and positive (rho = 0.24, p < 0.001). In addition, teachers’ perception of LMS’s easiness is related to the percentage of educational resources their students utilized (rho = 0.26, p < 0.001). Finally, we found a relation between the usefulness dimension of the TAM to the academic performance of the students at the end of that semester (rho = 0.18, p < 0.01). Considering these results, we discuss practices for implementing quality education.