Developing a framework to facilitate a culture for continuous improvement within nonprofit organisations: the case of Saudi Arabia

Current research in the field of continuous improvement shows that organisational culture influences the likelihood of organisations succeeding in their mission to continuously improve. However, little has been done to investigate how organisational culture can actually foster continuous improvement. Particular aspects of organisational culture seem to be associated with successful continuous improvement. Yet, despite the apparent interest in the tools and techniques of continuous improvement, these practices have not yet been fully determined. While the for-profit sector, suffering from exhaustive competition, would be glad to discover these aspects, it is a major concern that nonprofit organisations cannot survive without continuous improvement, as they too need to respond dynamically to the rapid and dramatic changes in today’s world. This research asks what procedures and interventions would facilitate a culture of continuous improvement in nonprofit organisations. As the case study for this research, the Saudi nonprofit sector has been chosen, as little empirical research exists on continuous improvement in developing countries. Additional factors for choosing Saudi Arabia are that the country’s economic growth rate is increasing, and the ambitious “Saudi Vison 2030” aims to expand and enable the nonprofit sector to increase its impact on the nation’s well-being and economy. This exploratory study adopts an interpretive paradigm whereby reality is socially constructed and treated as subjective, consisting of multiple entities that can be explored from the perspectives of the research participants. A grounded research methodology and an action research approach focused on an issue to bring to light the cultural features that foster continuous improvement. Grounded theory was the chosen approach for collecting and analysing the qualitative data; thus, the theory that were constructed was grounded in the data themselves. Qualitative data were suggested as appropriate for answering the research question. Thirty-one interviews in thirteen nonprofit organisations yielded data which, when analysed revealed six themes. These themes were then returned to the participants through self-assessment surveys to gauge their organisation’s proximity to the ideal position. After that, six proposed interventions were developed to help organisations to shift gradually to the ideal position of a continuous improvement culture. These interventions were developed from the basis of the literature and focus group discussions. Finally, a conceptual framework was synthesised to visualise the impact of an organisation’s culture on its continuous improvement and to show how this impact could be achieved through similar intervention. The originality of this work comes from the fact that while Saudi Arabia is attracting intense interest from the international research community, little research has been done on continuous improvement practices there, in part because Saudi nonprofit organisations may have been hesitant in granting access to foreign researchers. This study offers one of the first "inside views" of Saudi nonprofit organisations with reliable data, focusing particularly on continuous improvement

An examination of the internationalisation process of the smaller craft firm in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

This thesis involves an examination of the internationalisation process of the smaller craft firm in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Sectoral analysis was carried out in order to determine historical precedents as well as the identification of industry and firm level factors impinging upon domestic and export market behaviour. Key findings at this stage included the fact that the majority of craft firms could be classified as small and that they impact economically at both domestic and international level. The majority of existing craft sector research is practitioner specific, with little evidence of theoretical rigour. Following this, a range of internationalisation theories were discussed, from their historical provenance in economic trade theory to the more recent developments concerning the impact of technology and networking. It was concluded that the majority of these frameworks fail to readily explain smaller firm internationalisation behaviour. The research methodology followed was pluralistic in nature, given that the majority of existing internationalisation studies follow the quantitative method and are generally replicative. It was believed that by adopting both quantitative and qualitative methods, a richer amount of data would be obtained in order to generate an improved understanding of smaller firm internationalisation. Research propositions centred on the belief that investigation of the sector would uncover a number of internal and external impinging factors which were specific to the craft firm. Future modelling of the internationalisation process would need to account for situation specific factors, instead of attempting to offer a generic interpretation of the process. Quantitative results identified the majority of firms as microenterprises with trade fairs and networking shown to be the most effective forms of export marketing research and methods of entry into international markets. The main export markets were identified as other European Union countries and North America. The only significant differences among export groups from the five countries surveyed related to the Far East as an export market destination. Qualitative results generally supported the quantitative findings and, in addition, enabled profiling of craft firm types to be carried out. Four orientations were uncovered: the entrepreneur, the idealist, the lifestyler and the latecomer. Exporting behaviour was also found to be affected by the cultural background of the owner/manager. Comparison of the results with existing literature facilitated the construction of frameworks relating to smaller craft firm internationalisation behaviour, performance and success. Interpretation of these factors was found to vary depending on owner/manager orientation. A number of theoretical implications were presented, including the promotion of the belief that the emerging marketing and entrepreneurship paradigm provides additional understanding to smaller craft firm internationalisation. A composite framework of the various factors uncovered in the analysis was constructed. Practical implications include the belief that, instead of support organisations offering generic exporting advice, sector specific information and support is more beneficial to encouraging future exporting success. It was recognised that future comparative research examining internationalisation behaviour of craft firms of various sizes, as well as assessing consumption issues relating to the craft product, would prove valuable in additional knowledge contribution

Halt and catch fire – A study on business model innovation and the effect of the upper echelons mental models

Master's thesis in Business administration: Executive MBAIn the face of external shifts, the upper echelons set the strategic orientation for the company and innovate their business models accordingly. However, the industry has little understanding of the influence that dynamic conditions and the dominant logic of the firm has on business model innovation. The study applies a perspective of organizational behavioral theory to examine how business model innovation is affected by the top managers mental models. The methodology uses a longitudinal study by applying a qualitative content analysis. The sample consists of the five largest aquaculture firms in Norway listed on the OSE. The context is an uncertain market with substantial exposure to threat. Results show how the strategic orientation of firms govern the top managers risk attitude, which in turn lead to different organizational outcomes. This shows a predictably irrational behavior by the top manager’s that is anchored in their strategic orientation. Findings also demonstrate how company’s value configuration may influence innovation to firm’s business models. This is shown to act as a blinder to business model innovation and were found to be especially evident among defensive organizations. As such, the result positively confirms that top manager’s mental models are essential in the decision-making process related firm’s innovation of their business model. Based on an organization’s change perspective, the study intends to prove how top managers need to proactively challenge their mental models, both from an operative and dynamic standpoint. This, to maintain or regain competitive success in the complex market outlook. Those organizations that can learn to recognize the importance of building a diversified top management team will enable the firm to exploit and recognize both internal and external shifts, to a much greater extent. This will support firms in overcoming organizational inertia and make them appropriately fit to conduct more rational strategic choices

Collaborative business relationships and the use of ICT: The case of the marine, defence and resources cluster, Western Australia

The research project was developed from an Australian Research Council Grant designed to investigate collaborative commerce and its impact on regional economic development. Through a process of consultation with the industry partner, the South West Group, the research was designed to investigate the drivers and inhibitors of collaborative relationships and the factors that impact on the creation and sustaining of these relationships. The role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in facilitating and sustaining collaborative relationships and the perceived benefits and drawbacks of collaborative relationships were also investigated. The research sought to identify models of the best adoption of collaborative relationships

Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

Stakeholder approach to tourism product development: a Nordic perspective

Matkailustrategiat ja -säännökset korostavat yhä enenevissä määrin uusien, kilpailukykyisten ja innovatiivisten tuotteiden kehittämistä. Matkailun tuotekehitysprosessien merkitys on tunnistettu sekä akateemisessa tutkimuksessa että matkailuyrittäjien keskuudessa. Usein matkailun tuotekehitystä kuvataan selkeärakenteisena ja lineaarisena prosessina, joka tapahtuu vakaassa ympäristössä. Kuitenkin tämä näkökulma sisältää tiettyjä rajoituksia, kun ilmiötä tarkastellaan pienissä matkailuyrityksissä, joilla on tyypillisesti hyvin monitahoisia ja alati muuttuvia suhteita eri sidosryhmiin. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on tarkastella ennakoivaa matkailun tuotekehitystä prosessina, jossa otetaan huomioon eri sidosryhmien laajat verkostot sekä moniulotteinen toimintaympäristö. Teoreettiselta viitekehykseltään tutkimus nojaa sidosryhmäteoriaan sosiaalisten suhteiden näkökulmasta ja ennakointiin. Tutkimuksen tulosten valossa, organisaatio improvisaatio lisättiin teoreettiseen viitekehykseen, sillä se näytti selittävän ennakoivaa toimintaa. Lisäksi tutkimuksen tavoitteena on havainnollistaa eri sidosryhmien keskinäisen dynamiikan rooli jatkuvien matkailun tuotekehitysprosessien laukaisijana. Empiirinen aineisto koostuu kolmesta syvähaastattelusta, osallistuvasta havainnoinnista ja kirjallisesta aineistosta. Etnografinen aineisto kerättiin talvikaudella 2013 - 2014 Suomen ja Ruotsin Lapissa, jossa tutkimuksen kolme pientä matkailuyritystä sijaitsevat. Tutkielmani on toteutettu osana Matkailun tuotekehityksen kansainvälistäminen -hanketta (MTK, 2013–2014). Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että perinteinen käsitys matkailun tuotekehityksestä lineaarisena prosessina, jossa eri sidosryhmät nähdään pelkkinä tiedonlähteinä, on syytä unohtaa ja siirtyä tarkastelemaan tuotekehitysprosessia jatkuvana, toimintaympäristöön tukeutuvana toimintana. Tulokset osoittavat, miten eri sidosryhmäsuhteet ovat tärkeässä roolissa stimuloimaan spontaaneja matkailun tuotekehitysprosesseja, joilla voi olla odottamattomia vaikutuksia. Ennakoiva tuotekehitys näyttäisi ilmenevän yrityksissä tapahtuvan improvisaation kautta, kun yritys kohtaa muuttuvia tilanteita tai uusia mahdollisuuksia. Toiseksi ajan ja paikan rooli tuotekehitysprosessissa osoittautui erityisen tärkeäksi. Kolmanneksi tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että menestyksekäs tuotekehitys nojautuu myös yrityksen kykyyn kehittää työilmapiiri, jossa yhteistyö ja luottamus tukevat avointa ja kokeilevaa yrityskulttuuria