The drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the supply chain. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a SME integrates CSR into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CSR strategies reflect on its suppliers and customers relations. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study limits the generalizing capacity of these findings. Findings: The entrepreneur’s ethical beliefs and value system play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility clearly emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply chain relations as a whole aimed at involving partners in the process of sustainable innovation. Originality/value: The paper presents a SME that has devised an original innovative business model. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CRS and business ethics. These values are considered fundamental at International level; the United Nations has declared 2011 the “International Year of Forestry”

Leading institutional change through learning and teaching communities

The potential for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) initiatives to influence practice has been an important issue explored throughout the literature since Boyer’s early discussions on scholarship. While it is now generally accepted that individual inquiry and reflection into teaching and learning issues can positively impact one’s practice, the interest in SoTL has shifted from individual scholarship to wider contexts. In recent years, academic developers and leaders have expressed a desire to better understand how SoTL initiatives can be successfully implemented and embedded at the institutional level as a strategy to not only influence individuals’ practice, but contribute to a broader shift in cultural perspectives on teaching and learning. This paper will discuss recent research on an institutional initiative utilising SoTL as a strategy to simultaneously address staff professional development needs and quality enhancement of learning and teaching. The Learning and Teaching Community Grant Initiative was developed to promote/support learning and teaching initiatives, while investigating and resolving specific educational issues of particular importance to the institution. Key aims of the initiative include: • the formation of academic communities focused on enhanced Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (Cox, 2004; Wenger, 2014); • improved educational practice; • the identification and support of emerging scholars at the institution; and • broad impact on institutional value of SoTL activities. In early 2015, three Learning and Teaching Communities were established to enable the University’s academic and professional staff to collaborate on learning and teaching issues. The research focus is on the ‘lived experience’ (VanManen,1990) of participants, using observation, interviews and focus group methodology. The project will conclude with a Most Significant Change (MSC) analysis in which participants will be asked to identify significant change the project made in their lives. They will then share those reflections, and decide as a group on what they count as most significant (Davies & Dart, 2005). This articulation of the process and outcomes to participants provides feedback and builds transformative knowledge, in line with the philosophy of Learning Communities that underpins the initiative (Cox, 2004; Wenger 2014). Data collected is being analysed to provide formative and summative evaluation of the project to determine the implications for future Learning and Teaching Communities as institutional SoTL initiatives. Preliminary findings of the investigation into the impact of this initiative will be shared. Evidence will be reported regarding: • effective practices identified for using a SoTL community model as a professional development strategy; and • indicators of change in the attitudes and behaviors of participants collectively and individually. These findings will build upon previous work about the potential for learning communities. It is expected that the findings will have practical significance for those striving to enhance practice and promote an institutional culture that recognizes and values SoTL (Furco & Moely, 2012; Schwartz & Haynie, 2013). To promote audience engagement, participants will have time to: • reflect on their perspectives in small groups; • share previous experiences with institutional SoTL initiatives (whole group); and • participate in a Q&A session with presenters and other participants

2021-2022 Course Catalog

An annual catalog of courses and course descriptions offered at the University of Montana.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/coursecatalogs_asc/1116/thumbnail.jp

2020-2021 Course Catalog

An annual catalog of courses and course descriptions offered at the University of Montana.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/coursecatalogs_asc/1115/thumbnail.jp

2022-2023 Course Catalog

An annual catalog of courses and course descriptions offered at the University of Montana.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/coursecatalogs_asc/1117/thumbnail.jp

The Object of Platform Studies: Relational Materialities and the Social Platform (the case of the Nintendo Wii)

Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System,by Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort, inaugurated thePlatform Studies series at MIT Press in 2009.We’ve coauthored a new book in the series, Codename: Revolution: the Nintendo Wii Video Game Console. Platform studies is a quintessentially Digital Humanities approach, since it’s explicitly focused on the interrelationship of computing and cultural expression. According to the series preface, the goal of platform studies is “to consider the lowest level of computing systems and to understand how these systems relate to culture and creativity.”In practice, this involves paying close attentionto specific hardware and software interactions--to the vertical relationships between a platform’s multilayered materialities (Hayles; Kirschenbaum),from transistors to code to cultural reception. Any given act of platform-studies analysis may focus for example on the relationship between the chipset and the OS, or between the graphics processor and display parameters or game developers’ designs.In computing terms, platform is an abstraction(Bogost and Montfort), a pragmatic frame placed around whatever hardware-and-software configuration is required in order to build or run certain specificapplications (including creative works). The object of platform studies is thus a shifting series of possibility spaces, any number of dynamic thresholds between discrete levels of a system