The centrality of 'between' in intellectual entrepreneurship

A great deal of intellectual entrepreneurship happens between institutions. Between institutions in the dual sense of the term: institutions as organizations and institutions as conventions. Ideas and the energy to take them forward are often born when people from different organizations come together, ideas that might not fit within one institution alone. And the introduction of new ideas often involves pushing institutions as conventions aside, creating new space BETWEEN existing institutions for the different idea to emerge. The article explores the example of a business- and-research venture, CHOICE mobilitätsproviding GmbH, to illustrate the importance of multiple types of BETWEEN and their significance for organizational learning. -- In der modernen Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft ist Wissen die wichtigste erneuerbare Ressource. Welche Rolle spielen Institutionen bei der Generierung von Wissen und dessen Umsetzung in Innovationen? Findet wissensbasiertes unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln innerhalb von Institutionen oder eher außerhalb von Institutionen statt? In diesem Beitrag wird die Bedeutung von Räumen und Zeiten zwischen Institutionen hervorgehoben und zwar im doppelten Sinn: Institutionen als Organisationen und Institutionen als Konventionen. Anhand des Beispiels der CHOICE mobilitätsproviding GmbH, einem Unternehmen zwischen Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft, werden einige Zwischen-Institutionen dargestellt und ihre Bedeutung für das Organisationslernen erläutert.

Coming and leaving. Internal mobility in late Imperial Austria.

The paper investigates the determinants of internal migration within late imperial Austria. In contrast to the modernization paradigm which studies onedirectional migration flows from rural to urban areas, our approach highlights that spatial mobility consisted of movements in both directions. Using data on all districts of the Austrian part of the Hapsburg Monarchy, we find that in- and outmigration rates are positively correlated, and that the modernization paradigm in migration research is consistent with our results for net-migration rates, but inconsistent with those for out-migration. (author's abstract)Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Serie

Labour market transitions and employment regimes: Evidence on the flexibility-security nexus in transitional labour markets

This paper deals with the question whether the concept of transitional labour market (TLM) might be useful to formulate hypotheses about the relationship between the size and nature of labour market transitions and the performance of employment regimes. The paper starts from the idea that the TLM concept, as being developed by Günther Schmid and others, might be connected with the notion of employment regimes as defined by Gösta Esping-Andersen and others. Subsequently the paper aims at testing empirically whether the claims of the TLM concept with respect to labour market flexibility and work security hold in the real worlds of European labour markets. The paper comes to the conclusion that the liberal regime combines a high level of labour mobility and flexibility (although not much higher than the corporatist or socialdemocratic regime) with a low level of work security, and that the social-democratic regime comes out with a high level of work security but a (somewhat) lower level of labour market mobility. However, these regimes do not fit that nicely in the ideal-type as this conclusion might suggest: the liberal regimes also have fairly high levels of employment security and social-democratic countries have fairly high levels of labour mobility and flexibility. The convergence hypothesis might find some ground in these findings. -- Thema der Studie ist die Frage, ob das Konzept der Übergangsarbeitsmärkte bei der Formulierung von Hypothesen zur Beziehung von Umfang und Formen der Arbeitsmarktübergänge und der Leistungsfähigkeit von Beschäftigungsregimes hilfreich sein könnte. Ausgangspunkt ist die Idee, ob das Konzept der Übergangsarbeitsmärkte, wie es von Günther Schmid und anderen entwickelt wurde, mit dem von Gösta Esping- Andersen und anderen geschaffenen Konzept der Beschäftigungsregimes verknüpft werden könnte. Anschließend wird durch empirische Analysen getestet, ob die in der Theorie formulierten Anforderungen des Übergangsarbeitsmarkt-Konzepts hinsichtlich Arbeitsmarktflexibilität und Beschäftigungssicherheit den tatsächlichen Anforderungen auf den europäischen Arbeitsmärkten standhalten. Als Ergebnis ist festzuhalten, dass in liberalen Beschäftigungsregimen eine hohe Mobilität und Flexibilität der Arbeit (die aber nicht sehr viel höher ist als in korporatistischen oder sozialdemokratischen Beschäftigungsregimen) mit einer niedrigen Arbeitsplatzsicherheit einhergeht und dass in sozialdemokratischen Regimen eine hohe Arbeitsplatzsicherheit mit einem etwas niedrigeren Niveau der Mobilität auf dem Arbeitsmarkt verknüpft ist. Diese Regime entsprechen aber nicht so genau dem Idealtyp, wie es die dargelegten Schlussfolgerungen suggerieren könnten: auch die liberalen Beschäftigungsregime haben ein durchaus hohes Niveau der Beschäftigungssicherheit und sozialdemokratische Länder ein hohes Niveau von Mobilität und Flexibilität auf dem Arbeitsmarkt. Diese Ergebnisse legen das Aufgreifen der Konvergenz-Hypothese nahe.

(Re)discovering the social responsibility of business in Germany

Die gesellschaftliche Verantwortung von Unternehmen war in Deutschland lange Zeit kein öffentliches Thema; gleichwohl haben gesellschaftliche Normen, gesetzliche Regelungen und sozialpartnerschaftliche Konfliktregulierung auf eben diese Verantwortung Bezug genommen. In den letzten Jahren haben Unternehmen, auch in Deutschland, begonnen, in Auseinandersetzung mit verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen ihre gesellschaftliche Verantwortung - oft angestoßen durch ihre multinationale Geschäftstätigkeit - neu zu interpretieren. Dieser Artikel zeigt Möglichkeiten auf, wie in Deutschland, auf den eigenen Traditionen sozialer Verantwortlichkeit aufbauend, institutionelle Arrangements im Hinblick auf sich wandelnde Aufgaben- und Verantwortungsverteilungen gefunden werden können, um eine bessere Balance von sozialen, ökonomischen und umweltbezogenen Bedürfnissen zu erzielen. -- The concept of CSR is a relatively recent addition to the agenda in Germany, although the country has a long history of practicing corporate social responsibility. The expectations of society had remained stable for many years, encapsulated in laws, societal norms, and industrial relations agreements. But over the past decade, German companies, often triggered by their multinational activities, have had to engage with diverse stakeholders to redefine the nature of their social responsibilities. This contribution reviews and illustrates the development of corporate social responsibility in Germany and analyses how the actors in business and society can build on traditional strengths to find new institutional arrangements for sharing tasks and responsibilities in the interests of achieving a better balance between societal, economic, and environmental needs.

Corporate social reporting revisited

The intensity and scope of attention to the (negative) impacts of business activities on the social and natural environment have waxed and waned over the past forty years. A revival of interest on a wide scale is visible and audible again today. Numerous organizations, including the United Nations, the European Commission, national governments, and public interest groups, are calling for business to publish reports documenting their impacts on society and the environment. What can be learned from the early years of work in the area of corporate social responsibility and responsiveness, and how must the methods be altered in light of the changes that have occurred in the way the topic is defined today and in light of the new media available, especially the internet? This article tackles these two questions first by recalling which of the original concepts were found particularly useful, outlining their key strengths and weaknesses, and then by exploring the factors that currently characterize the field. -- Die Diskussion über die Auswirkungen von Unternehmensaktivitäten auf die soziale und natürliche Umwelt hat in den letzten vierzig Jahren große konjunkturelle Schwankungen erfahren. War zu bestimmten Zeiten die Intensität sehr hoch, mit der soziale Forderungen an die Unternehmen gestellt wurden, konnte man zu anderen Zeitpunkten, besonders unter der Dominanz des neoliberalen Wirtschaftsparadigmas, beobachten, wie die Verantwortung des Unternehmens gegenüber der Bezugsgruppe Anteilseigner unter dem Schlagwort shareholder value im Vordergrund der Diskussion stand. Heute ist in großem Umfang und in vielen Ländern ein Neuaufleben des Interesses an einer breit definierten gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung der Unternehmen festzustellen.

Labour Market Transitions and Employment Regimes: Evidence on the Flexibility-Security Nexus in Transitional Labour Markets

This paper deals with the question whether the concept of transitional labour market(TLM) might be useful to formulate hypotheses about the relationship between the size and nature of labour market transitions and the performance of employment regimes. The paper starts from the idea that the TLM concept, as being developed by Günther Schmid and others, might be connected with the notion of ‘employment regimes’ as defined by Gösta Esping-Andersen and others. Subsequently the paper aims at testing empirically whether the claims of the TLM concept with respect to labour market flexibility and work security hold in the real worlds of European labour markets. The paper comes to the conclusion that the liberal regime combines a high level of labour mobility and flexibility (although not much higher than the corporatist or social-democratic regime) with a low level of work security, and that the social-democratic regime comes out with a high level of work security but a (somewhat) lower level of labour market mobility. However, these regimes do not fit that nicely in the ‘ideal-type’ as this conclusion might suggest: the liberal regimes also have fairly high levels of employment security and social-democratic countries have fairly high levels of labour mobility and flexibility. The convergence hypothesis might find some ground in these findings. Notwithstanding this assessment, we find that the Southern regime can and shouldbe quite clearly distinguished from the other regimes. Although the share of flexible jobs is rather high, upward mobility into permanent jobs is lower in the South and downward mobility (from work into exclusion) is higher. Hence, the Southern regime is performing worse both in terms of enhancing job mobility and preventing labour market exclusion. Apparently, regimes differ and the differences concern the particular tradeoff or balance between flexibility and security within the distinct regimes.employment, welfare regimes; flexibility; employment security; working time; labour market transitions; panel data

ISOE-Newsletter / Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung. 2012, 1

Neue Impulse für die sozial-ökologische Forschung ++ ISOE-Tagung zum Wissenschaftsjahr ++ Pilotanlage zur unterirdischen Wasserspeicherung in Namibia eröffnet ++ Community Health Clubs erstmals in Na mibia gestartet ++ Das ISOE auf der Global Business Week ++ Projekt OPTUM: Jeder Fünfte würde ein Elektroauto kaufen ++ Elektro-Firmenwagen – Testfahrer sind zufrieden ++ Mobil bis ins hohe Alter: Projekt COMPAGNO beginnt ++ Klimaschutz passt in den Alltag ++ Schadstoffe im Wasserkreislauf – Projektbeginn TransRisk ++ Wissen schaftsjahr 2012 startet mit „Transfor matives Wissen schaffen“ ++ Biodiversitätsfor schung soll transdisziplinärer werden ++ Working Paper zu Klima, Umwelt und Migration im Sahel ++ Termine ++ Publikatione

Spatial diffusion of electric vehicles in the German metropolitan region of Stuttgart

At the moment, interest in electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing worldwide, mainly due to concerns about climate change and rising prices of fossil fuels. EVs still have some significant drawbacks compared to gasoline-powered cars. However, a small part of the population is expected to adopt this technology already within the next years, because higher purchase costs and lower driving range are of less concern to them. They are called the “Early Adopters†of EVs. In this study we developed scenarios for the spatial diffusion of EVs up to 2020 in private households in the municipalities and urban districts of the metropolitan region of Stuttgart in Germany. First, hypotheses of Early Adopters of EVs were constructed based on social mobility profiles and the demands of car drivers. Secondly, the number of these potential adopters was calculated with statistical data for each municipality and urban district. In a third step, we developed a Bass diffusion model with System Dynamics to simulate the spatial diffusion of EVs in the region of Stuttgart. The increase of EV-ownership in each Early Adopter-type in a single municipality depends on the chosen values of the parameters “Advertisement effectivenessâ€, “Contact Rate†and “Adoption Fraction†of the Bass model. Furthermore, neighbourhood effects were modeled such that the increase of EVs in one municipality also depends on the increase of EVs in the neighbouring municipalities. In the baseline scenario, significant spatial differences in the diffusion of EVs up to 2020 become apparent: the highest number of EV-holders will be found in the urban areas of the region. There exist also differences in the number of EVs present at each Early Adopter-type: The “Urban trend-setter†is prevalent in the central districts of Stuttgart, while the “Multi-car family†is mostly located in the more rural municipalities of the region of Stuttgart. The “Dynamic senior citizen†is almost equally distributed in the urban and rural areas. The results of the spatial distribution of potential adopters of EVs can be used for the automobile industry’s marketing campaigns as well as to identify the regional demand for EV charging infrastructure.

Organizational learning: Where do we stand? Where do we want to go?

The field of organizational learning has developed dynamically but is not ready for closure. This article reviews the cultural contexts in which research on organizational learning has been conducted since the 1960s, and the intellectual traditions that underpin the field. It traces changes in the types of organizations studied and in the range of agents of organizational learning attended to by scholars. The processes and models that have shaped the discussion over the past decades, and changes in the tone or color of the way organizational learning has been treated are also highlighted. Trends in organizational practices are identified as well. On the basis of this broad stocktaking exercise, key challenges for future research on organizational learning and knowledge creation are outlined. --