Work of Art: Understanding Enterprise and Employability in Art and Design HE

A publication created to support learning and teaching in enterprise and employability in art and design higher education. We hope by sharing what enterprise and employability looks like in practice we can engage in discourse, develop an understanding across disciplines and use these aspirations to develop future strategies across UAL and within art and design practice

RELATIONSHIP MARKETING IN INTERNATIONAL FOCAL FIRMS: A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE ON SUSTAINABILITY

ABSTRACT : In the intricate landscape of 21st-century business, this study addresses the challenges facing companies, particularly international focal firms, in meeting stakeholders' sustainability expectations. Requiring astute strategic decision-making, the focus is on the interplay between sustainability and Relationship Marketing (RM) theory in contemporary business networks. Current literature lacks a thorough exploration of the sustainability-marketing relationship, especially in the internationalization context, highlighting a critical research gap. Identifying this gap, the research underscores the need for a cohesive theoretical framework to comprehend how companies navigate relationships through sustainability. Thus, the study aims to construct a robust RM framework, synthesizing theories and identifying success factors. The Research Question is: “How can sustainability contribute to effective implementation of focal firms’ Relationship Marketing strategies?”. Sub-questions delve into internal operations, stakeholder engagement, and internationalization, forming the foundation for model development through data analysis and literature review. Using a qualitative design, three distinct case studies undergo analysis through semi-structured interviews with marketing and sustainability executives of international focal firms. Contributing to RM and sustainability theory, the study identifies ten forms of relational exchange, emphasizing shared values like sustainability as catalysts for active engagement. In the context of the Resource-Advantage view of competition, it explores the significance of idiosyncratic competence resources. Comparative analysis reveals three key competences: intra-firm sustainability competence, interfirm sustainability competence, and international sustainability competence—forming Sustainability Factors for meaningful global relational exchanges. Concluding, the research not only fills a critical research gap by establishing a foundation for exploring the intricate relationship between sustainability and Relationship Marketing but also provides insights for focal firms’ executives navigating diverse business contexts, while suggesting avenues for further research

Service Blueprint for Sustainable Business Model Evaluation

The adverse societal impacts caused by sharing mobility - a form of service-based sustainable business model innovations, showed that operation activities and managerial practices impact heavily on the sustainable value of a service offering. To identify how new service development (NSD) activities can better support the proposed service offering for sustainability, evaluating sustainability of service operations is needed. This study draws learnings from service design, product-service system and sustainable innovation research streams, to build sustainability evaluation framework into service blueprint. Six expert-interviews and two mobility case studies were developed, to illustrate service blueprint's capability in mapping sustainability input and benefits created during NSD and service operation activities. Results revealed a) the shift from using sustainable ‘value’ to ‘benefits’ concept in service operation evaluation, b) the public-private collaboration dilemma and c) the agile NSD and sustainable innovation incompatibility. This paper aims to offer a springboard for practitioners and researchers to uncover compelling insights, discuss latest service design developments, and envision future directions for integrating sustainability into service-based business model innovation.<br

Linking model design and application for transdisciplinary approaches in social-ecological systems

This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation through the Mountain Sentinels Research Coordination Network (NSF #1414106), the Swiss National Science Foundation through MtnPaths – Pathways for global change adaptation of mountain socio-ecological systems (#20521L_169916), and the Center for Collaborative Conservation at Colorado State University.As global environmental change continues to accelerate and intensify, science and society are turning to trans- disciplinary approaches to facilitate transitions to sustainability. Modeling is increasingly used as a technological tool to improve our understanding of social-ecological systems (SES), encourage collaboration and learning, and facilitate decision-making. This study improves our understanding of how SES models are designed and applied to address the rising challenges of global environmental change, using mountains as a representative system. We analyzed 74 peer-reviewed papers describing dynamic models of mountain SES, evaluating them according to characteristics such as the model purpose, data and model type, level of stakeholder involvement, and spatial extent/resolution. Slightly more than half the models in our analysis were participatory, yet only 21.6% of papers demonstrated any direct outreach to decision makers. We found that SES models tend to under-represent social datasets, with ethnographic data rarely incorporated. Modeling efforts in conditions of higher stakeholder diversity tend to have higher rates of decision support compared to situations where stakeholder diversity is absent or not addressed. We discuss our results through the lens of appropriate technology, drawing on the concepts of boundary objects and scalar devices from Science and Technology Studies. We propose four guiding principles to facilitate the development of SES models as appropriate technology for transdisciplinary applications: (1) increase diversity of stakeholders in SES model design and application for improved collaboration; (2) balance power dynamics among stakeholders by incorporating diverse knowledge and data types; (3) promote flexibility in model design; and (4) bridge gaps in decision support, learning, and communication. Creating SES models that are appropriate tech- nology for transdisciplinary applications will require advanced planning, increased funding for and attention to the role of diverse data and knowledge, and stronger partnerships across disciplinary divides. Highly contextualized participatory modeling that embraces diversity in both data and actors appears poised to make strong contributions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.PostprintPeer reviewe

European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN). Conference Proceedings

Erasmus+ Programme of the European UnionThe powerful combination of the information age and the consequent disruption caused by these unstable environments provides the impetus to look afresh and identify new models and approaches for education (e.g. OERs, MOOCs, PLEs, Learning Analytics etc.). For learners this has taken a fantastic leap into aggregating, curating and co-curating and co-producing outside the boundaries of formal learning environments – the networked learner is sharing voluntarily and for free, spontaneously with billions of people.Supported by Erasmus+ Programme of the European Unioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Training manual for facilitators of teacher training seminars on education for responsible living

The Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL) comprises educators, researchers and practitioners from over 120 institutions in more than 50 countries. This partnership stems from an awareness of the urgent need for individuals and society to significantly rethink and reorient the choices they make and the manner in which they live their lives in order to reduce the negative impacts of climate change and financial instability, to ensure more just distribution of resources and to foster sustainable, dignified human development for all. Based on six years of work by the Consumer Citizenship Network (CCN), PERL partners develop projects, methods and materials to encourage people to contribute to constructive change through the way they choose to live. PERL is contributing to the Marrakech Process on Sustainable Consumption and Production, as well as to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), which boasts the active participation of UNEP, UNESCO, the Italian Task Force on Education for Sustainable Consumption and the Swedish Ministry of the Environment. PERL is based both in Europe as an Erasmus Academic Network and established in Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America. The PERL network is a large multi-disciplinary organisation which has a core of working group members supported by a larger group which constitutes the Consultants network. PERL is coordinated from the Hedmark University College in Norway. The Norwegian Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion also supports PERL. One of the PERL working groups is focusing on ‘Active Learning Methodologies’ and its objectives are to develop resources that build on the criteria and student-centred constructive methods of the original “Images and Objects” Active Methodology Toolkit and the YouthXchange Training Kit.peer-reviewe

Media Distribution in the Printing Industry: A Study of the Movement of Printed Materials and Electronic Files

Change, according to Phillip Ruggles (2005), can be advantageous to one\u27s business. It can sometimes be exciting and economically rewarding. At other times, change can be challenging and risky, bringing about chaos and disruption. The printing industry is undergoing both structural and cyclical change. Meeting the challenge to remain competitive in today\u27s printing industry relies heavily on providing value for customers. Thus, print service providers are offering a variety of value added services in an effort to meet customer demands and to remain competitive. One such additional service is distribution (both physical and electronic), which includes shipping/delivery, mailing, warehousing, and inventory management. As print technology advances, the offering of distribution services by print providers is becoming a trend in the industry. The objectives of this research were to understand distribution and distribution workflows, to understand the utilization of electronic distribution of files and the distribute-then-print model, and to understand how printers are incorporating e-commerce as a tool to distribute print. This thesis research also looked at the challenges, issues, and future trends anticipated by print service providers for their distribution operations. To achieve these objectives, selective answers from the 2005 Printing Industry Center (PIC) research on Media Distribution (Cummings & LeMaire) and another research on the Utilization ofE-commerce (Cummings & LeMaire) were used to support vi this thesis. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with six print service providers to further understand distribution operations within the printing industry. The research results revealed key findings in the areas of physical distribution, distribution workflows, electronic distribution, e-commerce, and distribution challenges and trends. Questions addressing physical distribution and workflows yielded the following results: the definition of distribution from all the responses can be summarized as the movement of printed and finished materials from the printing plant to an internal storage location, to a distribution center, to the customer (the print buyer), or to the enduser. Various processes were described by research participants to represent their distribution operations. Figures 12 and 13 are representations of the two main workflows: a simple workflow for small companies, and a more complex workflow for larger companies. Electronic distribution findings showed that this model has not had a great impact upon the participants\u27 distribution procedures or their businesses in general. Only four (25%) of the companies interviewed have used this distribution model. Additionally, questions addressing e-commerce utilization showed that participants\u27 definition of ecommerce can be summarized as a system that allows customers to perform transactions over the Internet. Participants all agreed that e-commerce is a value-added service that benefits everybody. It was also apparent that most printers are not utilizing the full capabilities of e-commerce systems. Research participants discussed various challenges faced while offering distribution services. Among those challenges are storage and warehousing, customer information flow, fuel surcharges, postage increases, and trucking. Participants also vn anticipate the following trends relating to their distribution operations: advancement in technology, improved customer relations, and electronic flow of communication. This thesis research is valuable and contributes ample literature on the topic of distribution in the printing industry. As no research is exhaustive, opportunities remain for further research projects within various aspects of this study

Maintaining relevance in a continuously changing innovation ecosystem : the case of Imatch

Maintaining relevance in an innovation ecosystem can be a significant challenge for organizations, as these are rapidly changing environments. In this fast-paced scenario, the challenge of continuously adding value to the different stakeholders in the ecosystem arises. This dissertation addresses this challenge by studying the case of imatch, an innovation consultancy company well established in the Portuguese Innovation Ecosystem that helps other organizations innovate through open innovation programs. The research methodology used in this study is focused on a qualitative approach, with data collected through in-depth interviews. The findings of the study are intended to provide imatch with strategies that will help the company succeed in maintaining relevance in its ecosystem. The implications of these findings for other organizations in the innovation ecosystem are discussed, along with recommendations for future research in this area.Por serem ambientes de constante mudança, manter a relevância num ecossistema de inovação pode ser um desafio significativo para as empresas. Neste cenário acelerado, surge o desafio de agregar valor aos diferentes stakeholders do ecossistema de forma contínua. Esta dissertação aborda este desafio através do caso de estudo da imatch, uma empresa de consultoria de inovação bem estabelecida no ecossistema de inovação português, que acelera a inovação de empresas através de programas de inovação aberta. A metodologia de investigação utilizada neste estudo foca-se numa abordagem qualitativa, com dados recolhidos através de entrevistas. As conclusões do estudo destinam-se a sugerir um conjunto de estratégias que ajudarão a empresa a manter a relevância no seu ecossistema com sucesso. As implicações destas conclusões para outras organizações no ecossistema de inovação são também discutidas, e são feitas recomendações para pesquisas futuras nesta área

Understanding the relationship between military spending cuts and military capacity: European states 2000-2012

Europeans have been spending increasingly less on defense. This trend is puzzling on two accounts. Empirically, 30% of defense spending cuts correlated with a net increase in military capacity, contradicting conventional predictions of military degradation under budgetary pressures. Theoretically, it is unclear why cuts happen and whether conscious policy choices can translate spending cuts to favorable military capacity outcomes. Is the decline in defense spending a strategic choice to demilitarize, or is it intentionally managed to improve military capacity? I evaluate three conditions under which reductions in military expenditures can lead to favorable outcomes in military capacity: defense reform, defense collaboration and buck-passing. I investigate 30 defense spending cut periods (DSCP’s) in the 27 European states between 2000 and 2012. This group of states presents a hard case for my argument: decline in European military resources is most-likely intentional. Through Qualitative Comparative Analysis, I group DSCP’s by military capacity outcomes. I then evaluate presence of the three mechanisms by operationalizing necessary but insufficient conditions, and determine whether these potential explanations are sufficient by process-tracing select case studies. I find that defense reform presents the most compelling, collective collaboration less compelling and buck-passing least compelling explanation of a potentially non-detrimental relationship between DSCP’s and military capacity. Under declining defense spending, governments routinely chose to produce savings by eliminating redundancies, consolidating structures, and reinvested savings in operational readiness and quality of military forces. States increased defense collaboration in 47.3% of the DSCP’s, but initiatives still appear divorced from affecting robust military improvements at the national level. Under declining defense spending, buck-passing increased only modestly (8%-13%), with ongoing deployments supporting continued investment in the military. These findings imply that defense spending decline does not mean a European choice to demilitarize, but a choice to reform, sometimes in tandem with defense collaboration or buck-passing