The Boston Opportunity Agenda: A Historic Case Study of Public-Private Partnership in Education (2007-2019)

This historic case study studied the development of the Boston Opportunity Agenda (BOA), a public-private educational partnership, from 2007-2019. Despite significant prominence, influence, and investment from the partners involved, public-private educational partnerships in Boston have been understudied. The intention of this dissertation was to bring an understanding of how this urban educational public-private partnership developed; the motivations of the partners to participate; the partner perceptions of the successes and challenges of the partnership; and the extent of the partnership\u27s influence on the Boston Public Schools. This case study utilized qualitative methods of document analysis and semi-structured interviews of partnership leaders to understand the BOA. To contextualize the findings, the data was examined through three lenses: a historic lens reveals existing relationships with individuals and partners involved in the BOA as well as an understanding of how the BOA replicates, extends, or innovates from previous public-private educational partnerships in Boston; a motivational lens, utilizing a spectrum of reasons for organization’s motivation to partner (Barringer & Harrison, 2000; Cantor, 1990; and Siegel, 2010), provides an understanding of why partners joined the partnership and how these motivations influence the partnership formation and partner experiences; and the collective impact model’s conditions for success (Kania & Kramer, 2011) explain the BOA’s structures and processes and the understanding of how the BOA replicates, extends, or innovates from this model. The results of this study include a detailed account of the actors, decisions, and processes for the development of the partnership along with a deeper understanding of the motivations for partner members to participate. Partner perceptions of strengths were characterized by human capital conditions such as dedication, trust, appropriate staffing along with partnership processes for major initiative development while challenges largely resided in an array of financial constraints. Finally, partnership influence on the Boston Public Schools was observed, although partnership structures revealed some limitations to such influence. The development of the Boston Opportunity Agenda provides a menu of implications to foster partnership success along with a few caveats for current and future urban communities considering public-private educational partnerships

The e-revolution and post-compulsory education: using e-business models to deliver quality education

The best practices of e-business are revolutionising not just technology itself but the whole process through which services are provided; and from which important lessons can be learnt by post-compulsory educational institutions. This book aims to move debates about ICT and higher education beyond a simple focus on e-learning by considering the provision of post-compulsory education as a whole. It considers what we mean by e-business, why e-business approaches are relevant to universities and colleges and the key issues this raises for post-secondary education

STAKEHOLDERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARD ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN RINJANI-LOMBOK GEOPARK: THE EVIDENCE FROM MOUNT RINJANI NATIONAL PARK

Based on stakeholder and social exchange theory, this study examined a model of the re­la­tionship between stakeholder awareness, perception of impact (environmental, economic, and socio-cultural), and attitude toward ecotourism development in Mount Rinjani National Park (MRNP). The model was tested using a sample of 157 stakeholders. Data were collected by surveying and analyzing using the partial least squares. The results showed that only perception of the economic impacts of ecotourism partially mediated the relationship between awareness and attitude toward ecotourism development. From the perspective of stakeholder theory, the perceived impacts are he­terogeneous. These differences will determine their attitude toward the level of support and parti­ci­pation. From the perspective of social exchange theory, the study showed that attitude toward eco­tourism development is directly influenced by awareness of ecotourism and the perception of eco­nomic impact. The stakeholders on MRNT have a more compromising attitude toward ecotourism development to the socio-cultural and environmental impacts

The Role of Perceptions for Community-Based Marine Resource Management

Every community-based marine resource management (CBMRM) inherently takes place in a highly complex social–ecological environment, and stakeholder perceptions related to various aspects of the natural and social environment guide behavior in every stage of the management process. This paper provides an introduction to the psychology of perception with regard to marine resource management. In particular, it offers a typology of CBMRM relevant perceptions along with an analysis of psychological, societal, and physical factors that modulate them. Based on this analysis, we propose the introduction of specially trained local Perception Experts (PE's), whose role will be to recognize and reflect individual perceptions of involved stakeholders, and to communicate them at community meetings where decisions are made. This empirically testable addition to current CBMRM schemes could help to increase participation, develop management measures that fit the capacities of the involved stakeholders more accurately, and hence, contribute to a faster rehabilitation of marine resources

The influence of corporate social responsibility policy and initiatives on human resource management practices and experiences

The expectation that organisations will act in a socially responsible manner under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now one of the most significant contextual influences organisations face. This is particularly relevant to organisations located in industries that have the potential for significant environmental impact such as the cement industry. One often-acknowledged key element in CSR is the role of people in the successful implementation of CSR policy and practice. However, CSR research is rarely focused on the influence of people management in this process. This research has specifically brought back into focus the complexities, tensions and contradictions evident in the employment relationship via insights from the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) and the utilisation of the HR Causal Chain Model (Purcell et al., 2009) as a broad research framework. Using a single-case systematic combining approach (Dubois & Gadde, 2002, 2014) within a social constructionist perspective, this study aimed to address the question: How does Corporate Social Responsibility policy and initiatives influence Human Resource practices and stakeholder experiences? The case organisation used in this study was an Australian cement manufacturing plant, known for the purposes of this research as CementCo. The study utilised in-depth interviews, observation, analysis of secondary documentation, and thematic analysis to explore both the intended HR and CSR policies and practices of CementCo, and the processes involved in how these practices are enacted by line managers and experienced by employees in consideration of workplace culture and subcultures. The process-based approach provides significant insights into the HR and CSR implementation process and the ‘black box’ of HRM research. The findings demonstrate that while it is important to design and commit to strategically aligned and integrated HR and CSR strategies and policies, the dynamic and unpredictable process of implementation has a much larger impact on the success of these strategies than is recognised in contemporary CSR research. As such, one of the key contributions of this research is that within HRM and HRM-CSR research the implementation process should be considered, and it should be considered as a process that relies on the actions and attitudes of multiple stakeholders. The study has acknowledged and embraced the complexities, tensions and contradictions often neglected in mainstream HRM, and more broadly the organisation of work and people. It has explored the realities of organisational life, the perspectives and perceptions of those often forgotten in mainstream literature, and the processes of how work is organised and how people are managed. It has also contributed to the broadening of the field through the inclusion of more than just traditional HR functions, by exploring HR’s broader role in the organisation and its social responsibility. In doing so, this study has shifted the HR research approach to one that incorporates the broader realities, processes, experiences, and perceptions, and thus redefined what a HR thesis can look like