Browsing by Author "Zeinhom, Ghada Aly"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

From university social-responsibility to social-innovation strategy for quality accreditation and sustainable competitive advantage during COVID-19 pandemic
(Emerald, 2021-08) Adel, Heba Mohamed; Zeinhom, Ghada Aly; Younis, Raghda Abulsaoud Ahmed
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate conceptually and empirically the direct and indirect relationships between university social responsibility (USR), university social innovation strategy (USIS) in terms of social awareness (SA), intention for social innovation (ISI), organisational structure for social innovation (SSI) and innovativeness in social value creation (ISVC) and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) at quality-accredited faculties of an emerging market. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model was presented and a mixed-methods approach was exploited to fill a research gap detected in strategic corporate social innovation literature. The authors formed a data collection team that contacted all the quality-accredited public and private/international faculties, of which 109 faculties in 11 Egyptian governorates responded and their quality units filled questionnaires that were analysed by structural equation modelling. For comprehensive understanding, qualitative interviews were set to gather data from managers/leaders and teaching staff working at those faculties in quality management and community engagement practices as well as students. Findings – Results demonstrated that USR positively and significantly influenced SCA and USIS. Further, USIS (in terms of ISI, SSI and ISVC) positively and significantly influenced SCA. However, USIS (in terms of SA) had a positive yet insignificant influence on SCA. Indirectly, USIS was found to be partially mediating USR–SCA relationship. Practical implications – University leaders/staff can gain insights on how to adopt differentiation strategies, which enable their institutions to shift from being just socially responsible to becoming socially innovative by presenting solutions to social, economic, cultural, environmental and health-care problems/ challenges within their communities in general and during pandemics. This can be sustained through developing innovative quality-based processes/programmes/services related to education, research and community outreach that better serve social needs to be quality-accredited and unique over their rivals.
Shifting from social responsibility to innovation: A crucial dimension for quality management
(University of Northampton UK, and Luleå University of Technology Sweden, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom, 2018-09) Adel, Heba Mohamed; Zeinhom, Ghada Aly
Purpose-The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the university social responsibility and innovation practices within four different public, private, national and international universities in Egypt. Also, it discusses and reflects on how shifting from university social-responsibility (USR) to social-innovation (USI) activities acts as a crucial dimension towards satisfying its quality management and accreditation requirements. Methodology-The researchers used a qualitative research approach while investigating the university social innovation initiatives carried out at four higher educational institutions as examples of public, private, national e-learning, and international universities in Egypt. Data were collected through depth interviews and focus groups with subject matter experts representing different stakeholders engaged in the social work in addition to quality management and accreditation processes at these institutions. Based on the current researchers' judgment, these four universities were able to manage their social responsibility practices in an innovative manner throughout different perspectives. Findings and practical/social implications-The findings of this research paper presents a framework for university leaders and managers about the successful practices that can be undertaken at their institutions in order to find innovative solutions to the social problems in their communities. Furthermore, it suggests embedding these university social innovation practices into their managerial operations; teaching, learning and research processes; and community outreach activities for the purpose of satisfying the national and international requirements for effective quality management and accreditation. Originality/value-Great attention has been directed by many studies towards the importance of corporate social responsibility in many manufacturing and service industries, yet little consideration has been given towards studying it in the context of higher education. Moreover, according to the authors' knowledge, there is a research gap that addresses the investigation of how university social innovation acts as a crucial dimension for satisfying its national and international quality management processes and accreditation requirements.