Industry training organisations in changing times: New research possibilities

The tertiary education reforms have placed considerable pressure on Industry Training Organisations (ITOs), which are now required to assume “new roles as strategic leaders in skills and training needs for the industries under their coverage" (Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities (STEP) 2003-04, P. 21). This paper argues that the STEP requirement can lead to productive relationships between ITOs and established research organizations. It considers the new context within which ITOs now operate and offers an illustrative case study of the sort of research that can result from collaborative relationships. Specifically, it reports on research commissioned by the New Zealand Industry Training Organisation (NZITO), which covers dairy manufacturing, meat processing, and leather processing, as part of' its strategic planning. The research reported includes: an analysis of the industries covered by the NZITO and their economic significance; the impact of an ageing workforce and other demographic on the labour market and its Implications for NZJTO industries; the impact of technological change on the labour market; and some of the consequences of the continuing integration of the global economy

The ArtsSmarts Program: Description and Evaluation

ArtsSmarts is a national program that promotes the teaching of arts infused curricula and the invaluable lessons that artistic practices can contribute to self-awareness, creativity, empathy, and community. The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation funds the ArtsSmarts program, and the Canadian Conference of the Arts acts as the ArtsSmarts Secretariat. Organizations from across Canada have been chosen as ArtsSmarts Partners to oversee projects that meld the program objectives with localized needs, resources, and visions for learning through the arts. More than 125,000 young people, 2,500 artists, and 4,500 teachers and community members have participated in Phase I (1998-2001) of the ArtsSmarts program.The evaluative research into Phase I of ArtsSmarts has shown that the program is meeting its goal of promoting collaborative efforts that bring the arts to schools and communities. Artists are bringing new insights and skills to learning, while passing on their passion for the arts. Teachers and administrators are expressing gratitude for the infusion of the arts into their teaching, their schools, and their community centres. Young people are enthusiastically engaging in art making and showing consistent signs of gaining new understandings of curriculum subjects, of themselves, and of their communities. Parents are volunteering time to the implementation and support of the projects. Whole communities are beginning to recognize the benefits of having the ArtsSmarts program in their midst and are providing venues, media coverage, collaboration, and, in some case, additional funding for the projects.ArtsSmarts is embarking on Phase II of its programming, in which it will continue to support existing projects, expand the reach of ArtsSmarts to other Partners and communities, and identify strategies that will ultimately allow localized projects to become self-sustaining. The ArtsSmarts program is providing both leadership and opportunities to ensure that the arts remain a vital component of the lives and learning of Canadian young people

Transforming Lives and Communities: A case study on building partnerships in the Philippines through Appreciative Inquiry

The growing number of poor in the Philippines is alarming. Neither the national government nor any individual organization acting alone has been able to alleviate the rising percentage of poverty. With this prevalent need in the country, networks, alliances and partnerships among several organizations, including faith-based organizations, have been established to help respond to the needs of those living in poverty. OM Philippines–Cebu Ministries, a faith-based Christian organization was started in 2001. It has worked specifically among the poor through children’s programs in partnership with local Protestant churches. Like many NGOs, OM Philippines has been exploring new strategies to expand its work while incorporating the Christian biblical approach towards holistic community development. This study aims to show where OM Philippines needs to improve its working relationship with partner churches in their collaborative service among the poor. The Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach, an asset-based development tool, is seen as one of the most effective ways to identify the life-giving forces of the organizations that build and strengthen partnerships. Christian Reformed World Relief Committee and other international groups have used this approach to develop stronger relationships between themselves and their partner agencies. OM Philippines staff, partner churches’ representatives, and beneficiaries participated in the research process using the 4-D Model of AI to discover the perceptions, impacts, dreams, strengths and challenges of the partnerships. The process further helped identify the best experiences and practices of the work, and the needs of the partners and beneficiaries, which resulted to the formulation of OM Philippines’ Principles of Partnerships. These principles of partnerships have become the framework upon which OM Philippines strengthens existing partnerships and forges new ones for sustainable work among the poor

Enhancing the Performance of Chinese High Education Institutions through Collaborative Governance: A Dynamic Performance Management Approach

With the development of the knowledge economy, knowledge generation and application has been a powerful engine for economic development and global competition. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are under great pressure to improve their performance in teaching, research and the third mission, to respond to the changing social needs actively. This doctoral thesis is aimed at proposing a framework to enhance the performance of Chinese HEIs through collaborative governance using a dynamic performance management approach. Based on a literature review of performance management in Chinese HEIs, a conceptual framework is proposed to enhance the performance of teaching, research and the third mission in Chinese HEIs by 1) identifying the end results of the collaborative governance; 2) finding respective performance drivers for achieving end results and 3) building-up, preserving, and deploying a proper endowment of strategic resources. Especially, the performance drivers can be gauged to examine the performance of collaborative governance. A comparative case study of a consulting project and a joint lab was conducted to demonstrate the power of the conceptual framework to foster collaborative governance between HEIs and external organizations to enhance HEIs’ performance, specifically in the Chinese context. Firstly, it provides a framework to map and model the structure and process of collaborative governance. This framework allows us to make explicit expected end results, performance drivers and related strategic resources. Secondly, by the means of the causal loop diagrams depicting the underlying processes and mechanisms of the conceptual framework, this can engage HEIs and external organizations in a learning process to foster understanding, consensus and commitments. Finally, the conceptual framework can facilitate the implementation or improvement of collaborative governance practices by cascading overall organizational goals among different actors and analyzing alternative policies with the “learning device”. The case study shows that collaborative governance can enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance by (1) providing additional resources to support the research activities, such as funding, field research opportunities, data and application scenarios; (2) improving the efficiency of service delivery and relevance of research with field knowledge and external stakeholders’ active participation; (3) contributing to the improvement of teaching through new cases, new knowledge and learning-by-doing opportunities in projects. Furthermore, the active interaction with external stakeholders builds mutual understanding, trust, shared norms and good relationships, which in turn create critical strategic resources to enhance future collaborations. This thesis is a trial to enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance through collaborative governance. Future research can also introduce the objective view and the subjective view of dynamic performance management to further examine the processes and activities, and the responsibility of different decision-makers in the collaborating process. Besides, the development of simulation models can help strengthening the substantive validity of the conceptual framework and the case studies. Finally, it would be worthy to investigate the impact of the proposed framework in non-Chinese HEIs.With the development of the knowledge economy, knowledge generation and application has been a powerful engine for economic development and global competition. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are under great pressure to improve their performance in teaching, research and the third mission, to respond to the changing social needs actively. This doctoral thesis is aimed at proposing a framework to enhance the performance of Chinese HEIs through collaborative governance using a dynamic performance management approach. Based on a literature review of performance management in Chinese HEIs, a conceptual framework is proposed to enhance the performance of teaching, research and the third mission in Chinese HEIs by 1) identifying the end results of the collaborative governance; 2) finding respective performance drivers for achieving end results and 3) building-up, preserving, and deploying a proper endowment of strategic resources. Especially, the performance drivers can be gauged to examine the performance of collaborative governance. A comparative case study of a consulting project and a joint lab was conducted to demonstrate the power of the conceptual framework to foster collaborative governance between HEIs and external organizations to enhance HEIs’ performance, specifically in the Chinese context. Firstly, it provides a framework to map and model the structure and process of collaborative governance. This framework allows us to make explicit expected end results, performance drivers and related strategic resources. Secondly, by the means of the causal loop diagrams depicting the underlying processes and mechanisms of the conceptual framework, this can engage HEIs and external organizations in a learning process to foster understanding, consensus and commitments. Finally, the conceptual framework can facilitate the implementation or improvement of collaborative governance practices by cascading overall organizational goals among different actors and analyzing alternative policies with the “learning device”. The case study shows that collaborative governance can enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance by (1) providing additional resources to support the research activities, such as funding, field research opportunities, data and application scenarios; (2) improving the efficiency of service delivery and relevance of research with field knowledge and external stakeholders’ active participation; (3) contributing to the improvement of teaching through new cases, new knowledge and learning-by-doing opportunities in projects. Furthermore, the active interaction with external stakeholders builds mutual understanding, trust, shared norms and good relationships, which in turn create critical strategic resources to enhance future collaborations. This thesis is a trial to enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance through collaborative governance. Future research can also introduce the objective view and the subjective view of dynamic performance management to further examine the processes and activities, and the responsibility of different decision-makers in the collaborating process. Besides, the development of simulation models can help strengthening the substantive validity of the conceptual framework and the case studies. Finally, it would be worthy to investigate the impact of the proposed framework in non-Chinese HEIs

The Motivations for and Well-Being Implications of Social Media Use at Work among Millennials and Members of Former Generations

Working life has digitalized considerably in recent decades and organizations have taken into use new forms of collaborative technologies such as social media platforms. This study examined the relationship between social media use at work and well-being at work for millennials and members of former generations in Finland. The research data contained focus group interviews (N = 52), an expert organization survey (N = 563), and a nationally representative survey (N = 1817). Well-being measures included technostress, burnout, psychological distress, and a set of background variables. Content analysis and linear regression models were used as analysis methods. The results showed that millennials have various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for social media use at work. Intrinsic motivations included employees’ personal choice and their pure interest to follow the market and discussions in their own field. Extrinsic motivations were related mainly to organizations’ work culture and personal branding. The survey findings revealed, however, that millennials were not only more active social media users for work, but they also experienced higher technostress and burnout than members of former generations. Social media use motivations were associated with both higher and lower technostress and burnout depending on motivation, indicating that social media use can have both positive and negative effects. Overall, our findings suggest that employees tend to utilize social media more if their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fulfilled

Towards an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software: Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software (RESOLL) - Version 2.0

CIRANO and its partners are proposing the creation of an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software (Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software-RESOLL), which would be a partnership between information technology research centres, government and private user organizations, and businesses working in the field. The network will conduct studies and pilot projects that integrate computer solutions based on open standards and open source software, mainly in e-government fields such as health, education, and scientific research, as well as municipal and quasi-public services and business processes for SMEs. The knowledge, expertise and tools thus developed will be disseminated in a number of ways in order to Quebec and Canadian expertise in the field. RESOLL will also have economic and strategic benefits in that it will put the new economic model to the test in terms of open standards and open source software as well as the reuse of software components by organizations. Background The development of on-line government services and e-business is a priority for governments and businesses of all sizes. It requires considerable spending and significant strategic and organizational changes. Of the many information technology solutions available, the use of open standards and open source software is often brought up by those in the know. Although the Internet and many world-renowned software programs were developed largely from open standards and open source software, there is still a need to study, and above all prove the advantages of this approach for public and quasi-public organizations as well as small to medium-sized businesses. It is essential to identify the needs of these organizations, document best practices, experiment with open source software solutions, evaluate the performance of the software and share the knowledge and know-how of Quebec and Canadian research centres and businesses. RESOLL Goals he main goal of the Expert Network on Open Standards and Open Source Software (RESOLL) is to give people an understanding of the benefits of open standards and open source software and suggest an intelligent and advantageous use of them for public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs. More specifically, the goals are as follows: Document and share government and industry policies, strategies, and practices with respect to the use and development of adaptive software and open source software, defining open standards, open source software, adaptive software, and proprietary software; Adapt these practices and share the different methods with partners and the IT management and development communities in government and business; Establish innovative prototypes and pilot projects in order to test and demonstrate the advantages and features of this approach; Develop the expertise of Quebec and Canadian organizations in the field and create synergy between them and their users; P ublish and share the findings of the work, contribute to the enrichment of a collective software asset base available to public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs while explaining the legal issues involved in the various types of licences and electronic services. Process ESOLL is a multilateral partnership founded on the excellence of partners in their respective field. The RESOLL process will be based on the needs of its partners and users. Once these needs have been identified, research will be conducted to identify available solutions, adapt them through an integration process and alpha test them. This would be followed by a pilot project as required by the organizations and businesses. The pilot project will be implemented and evaluated in order to learn from it and ensure that necessary adjustments are made. Solutions thus obtained will be implemented as electronic services either by the client organization’s IT department or by a business partner. It is up to each organization to select their service provider. RESOLL will encourage the transfer of developed tools and services to partners for complete autonomy. Each project will have its own budget, funded by client partners. RESOLL will use part of its operating budget to start projects and develop a start-up asset base for its activities. Expectations and Deliverables The expectations of RESOLL partners and the team can be expressed by the achievement of their goals. RESOLL’s actions will quickly lead to concrete results. The deliverables will be: Policy and position papers to help partners make clear and informed decisions; Needs analyses and suggested solutions; Software solutions based on open standards and open source software integrated into experimental electronic services; Pilot project experiments that combine strategies, plans, software solutions, project support, evaluation and recommendations; Studies and interpretation documents for different types of licences and software; Collaborative Web site for sharing documents and open source software developed in the context of RESOLL projects or available on the Internet, with comments and explanations; Information and knowledge sharing activities for RESOLL and its partners (conferences, workshops, training, etc.). Partners RESOLL is a multilateral partnership. The partners that have been asked to become involved are: CIRANO, CRIM, RISQ, the governments of Quebec and Canada, Industry Canada, university researchers, Canadian and Quebec software and information technology companies, and not-for-profit user organizations from the software and information technology fields. Budget ESOLL’s master infrastructure budget will make it possible to establish a small coordination team involving part-time resources seconded from their parent organizations. We plan to obtain general financing from government and the businesses involved. The individual projects will provide their own financing. Other Benefits RESOLL will contribute to Quebec’s and Canada’s world leadership by sharing the results of its work. It will contribute to the eventual creation of resources that will enable partner companies to commercialize services based on open source software.Open standard, free software, open software, FOSS, e-government, business process, small and medium enterprises,

The Motivations for and Well-Being Implications of Social Media Use at Work among Millennials and Members of Former Generations

Working life has digitalized considerably in recent decades and organizations have taken into use new forms of collaborative technologies such as social media platforms. This study examined the relationship between social media use at work and well-being at work for millennials and members of former generations in Finland. The research data contained focus group interviews (N = 52), an expert organization survey (N = 563), and a nationally representative survey (N = 1817). Well-being measures included technostress, burnout, psychological distress, and a set of background variables. Content analysis and linear regression models were used as analysis methods. The results showed that millennials have various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for social media use at work. Intrinsic motivations included employees’ personal choice and their pure interest to follow the market and discussions in their own field. Extrinsic motivations were related mainly to organizations’ work culture and personal branding. The survey findings revealed, however, that millennials were not only more active social media users for work, but they also experienced higher technostress and burnout than members of former generations. Social media use motivations were associated with both higher and lower technostress and burnout depending on motivation, indicating that social media use can have both positive and negative effects. Overall, our findings suggest that employees tend to utilize social media more if their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fulfilled

Nonprofit Entrepreneurial Orientation in the Context of Cross‐Sector Collaboration

Triggered by budgetary challenges and growing awareness of social needs, recent years have seen increasing entrepreneurial behaviour in the nonprofit sector, of which collaboration with for-profit organizations is a case in point. Yet, while extant research has extensively studied the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of for-profit organizations, scant attention has been paid to its manifestations in the cross-sector collaboration context and from the nonprofit perspective, even though numerous nonprofit organizations’ idiosyncrasies point at the need for a reconceptualization of the EO dimensions in that domain. Thus, taking the nonprofit perspective, our research aims to explore the dynamics and nature of EO in the context of nonprofit-business collaboration (NBC), examining how the EO core dimensions manifest themselves when nonprofit organizations (NPOs) proactively engage in NBC. We unpack the meaning of EO through two complementary empirical studies. Our work nuances the rather overlooked entrepreneurial posture of so-called ‘active-in-collaboration’ NPOs, exposes new meanings of collaborative EO dimensions (relational proactiveness, relational innovativeness, and relational risk management), discusses their underpinning mechanisms, and suggests promising areas for further research and implications for practice

Respite Partnership Collaborative (RPC) Innovation Project Evaluation: Final Report

The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)—funded by Proposition 63—supports five unique components: (1) Community Services and Supports, (2) Prevention and Early Intervention, (3) Workforce Education and Training, (4) Capital Facilities and Technology, and (5) Innovative Programs. In September 2010, the Sacramento County Division of Behavioral Health Services (DBHS) initiated a community planning process to develop Sacramento's first Innovation Project. DBHS convened an Innovation Workgroup that developed the Innovation Plan and the Respite Partnership Collaborative (RPC) Innovation Project.Through a competitive selection process, Sacramento County DBHS awarded Sierra Health Foundation: Center for Health Program Management (the Center) a contract to administer the RPC Innovation Project. The RPC Innovation Project is a public-private partnership of the Sacramento County DBHS and the Center. The Center uses MHSA Innovation funding to support the RPC, whose members are from the community at large. RPC members make recommendations for respite service grants to community organizations. The RPC's goal is to increase local mental health respite service options to offer alternatives to hospitalization for community members experiencing a crisis in Sacramento County.American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted an evaluation of the RPC Innovation Project from April 2013 through March 2016. Evaluation objectives were to assess the extent to which the RPC Innovation Project achieved the following:1. Promoted successful collaboration between public and private organizations (i.e., DBHS and the Center) in Sacramento County2. Demonstrated a community-driven process3. Improved the quality and outcomes of respite services in Sacramento County This report presents findings from evaluation activities, which included stakeholder interviews, RPC member surveys, and document reviews.This report emphasizes data collected in the third year of the evaluation after June 2015. The report begins with a brief history of the RPC Innovation Project. Next we describe evaluation objectives and methods for conducting the evaluation. Finally, we present findings, organized by evaluation objective