The interaction between social capital, creativity and efficiency in organizations

Some have argued social capital provides synergy for creative cooperation among employees. Creativity and efficiency have been established as two concepts that oppose each other; however, they are both essential to maintain the competitiveness of an organization. This study investigated the interaction between social capital on organizational creativity and efficiency and examined the links between organizational creativity and efficiency. In addition, it is aimed to provide recommendations based on results regarding the effectiveness of social capital on organizational creativity. In this empirical study, the data on perceptions concerning social capital, organizational creativity and organizational efficiency was gathered by means of a questionnaire completed by 131 managers working in the Turkish Employment Agency. Subsequently, data was analyzed with the SmartPLS software and presented in tables. The findings showed that social capital has an effect on organizational creativity and organizational efficiency. Results also provided support for the effect of organizational creativity on the organizational efficiency

Learning about climate change in, with and through art

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Impact of Governance Structure on Performance of U.S. Performing Arts Centers

This dissertation is an analysis of the governance structures and functioning of performing arts centers (PACs) in the United States. PACs provide important public services to local communities by exposing the public to arts and culture. There are two research objectives in the analysis. The first objective is to delineate the forms of PAC governance structures. The second objective is to assess how these governance structures affect PACs’ functioning. The dissertation contributes to understanding of management of PACs. Overall, the study identified 187 PACs in the country, with at least one PAC in every state. With respect to the first objective, an inductive typological analysis revealed three types of PAC governance structures: local government, nonprofit, and public–private partnerships. They have distinctive profiles of developmental history, activities, funding, and facilities. Such difference is revealed in the three exemplary cases of the governance structures, respectively: Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts, Arts Center Task Force (Mid-Columbia Performing & Visual Arts), and Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. The second research objective was achieved through a regression analysis of the relationship between governance structure and PACs’ functioning. Other organizational (internal to PACs) and community (external to PACs) factors were used as control variables. The focus was on PACs’ performance in terms of their revenue generation and audience size (i.e., attendance per performance), in order to capture their sustenance and community participation. The findings reveal that PAC governance structure was not significant for the PACs’ functioning for both total program revenue and audience size. However, organizational (e.g., facilities) and community (e.g., college education) factors were significant for the PACs’ functioning. Overall, the study shows that the governance structures are culturally contextual and the PACs’ functioning depends on other organizational and community factors

Arts-Aided Recognition of Citizens' Perceptions for Urban Open Space Management

Urban open spaces of local natural environments can promote the health and well-being of both ecosystems and humans, and the management of the urban spaces can benefit from knowledge of individuals’/citizens’ perceptions of such environments. However, such knowledge is scarce and contemporary inquiries are often limited to cognitive observations and focused on built environmental elements rather than encouraged to recognize and communicate comprehensive perceptions. This paper investigates whether arts-based methods can facilitate recognition and understanding perceptions of urban open spaces. Two arts-based methods were used to capture perceptions: drifting, which is a walking method, and theatrical images, which is a still image method and three reflective methods to recognize and communicate the perceptions. The results show related sensations and perceptions enabled by arts-based methods comparing them to a sticker map method. The main findings were perceptions, which included information about human–environment interaction, about relations to other people and about ‘sense of place’ in urban open spaces. The hitherto unidentified perceptions about urban open space were associations, metaphors and memories. The methods used offer initial practical implications for future use

Arts-Aided Recognition of Citizens’ Perceptions for Urban Open Space Management

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-12-14, pub-electronic 2021-12-23Publication status: PublishedFunder: Maiju ja Yrjö Rikala´s Garden Foundation; Grant(s): 0000Urban open spaces of local natural environments can promote the health and well-being of both ecosystems and humans, and the management of the urban spaces can benefit from knowledge of individuals’/citizens’ perceptions of such environments. However, such knowledge is scarce and contemporary inquiries are often limited to cognitive observations and focused on built environmental elements rather than encouraged to recognize and communicate comprehensive perceptions. This paper investigates whether arts-based methods can facilitate recognition and understanding perceptions of urban open spaces. Two arts-based methods were used to capture perceptions: drifting, which is a walking method, and theatrical images, which is a still image method and three reflective methods to recognize and communicate the perceptions. The results show related sensations and perceptions enabled by arts-based methods comparing them to a sticker map method. The main findings were perceptions, which included information about human−environment interaction, about relations to other people and about ‘sense of place’ in urban open spaces. The hitherto unidentified perceptions about urban open space were associations, metaphors and memories. The methods used offer initial practical implications for future use

‘We cannot afford outsiderness’

This article addresses social inclusion/exclusion – specifically the kind of exclusion we describe as outsiderness – in relation to sustainable development and arts education. Our idea is to address and discuss this on an individual/micro level and as a topic of social sustainability. Inspired by Irwin and Springgay’s a/r/tography, Frank’s dialogical narrative analysis, and different walk-along methods, we also explore alternative formats of the scientific article. In this text, we will thus present what became five threads of inquiry into arts education’s potential contribution to social sustainability. These threads describe our path through this field and relate to 1) the position of the arts in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), 2) social inclusion in the SDGs, 3) research on the arts and health, 4) social inclusion in the arts, and 5) research on outsiderness. Throughout the article, we also exemplify our walk-along discussions through narratives, revealing more of the motivations behind this text. We end the article with a discussion proposing relational arts education to help avoid outsiderness and to promote inclusion, care, social sustainability, and diverging voices or what we describe as counter-voices, in arts education. Cover image: photo collage by Torill Vis

User-inclusive service design methods in the development of smart cities - The case of intelligent transportation solutions

The general objective of this thesis is to expand knowledge regarding service design and user-inclusive design methods as well as new ways of working in general, especially in fields in which user-centred approaches have not been used in service development. I aim at encouraging organisations to reconsider their current habits and to try out new ways of working. Therefore, I investigated what representatives of Finnish organisations that are dealing with intelligent transportation (ITS) and mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) related challenges think about service design. In addition, I conducted a workshop in which some user-inclusive service design methods were tested. Literature indicates that with the traditional innovation approaches, organisations run the risk of producing solutions that people are unwilling or unable to use, and the interviewed professionals share this concern. Furthermore, interviewees believe that user-inclusive service design methods could help in avoiding this risk and consequently lead to creating solutions that users would find meaningful and useful. Put otherwise, Finnish organisations are awakening to the fact that old solutions no longer work in tackling new problems, and they acknowledge the need for a more human-driven approach to innovation. Nevertheless, they seem to lack the knowledge and skills to employ more human-driven innovation practices. This research has shown that organisations are cautious when it comes to trying out creative service design methods; they would like to have examples of others using these methods first before trying them out. To provide organisations with an exemplary case, a workshop testing some user-inclusive service design methods was conducted in the context of a student project that aimed at creating a new, innovative intelligent transportation solution for municipalities. As a result of the workshop it was discovered that user-inclusive service design methods can be very rewarding for service developers even at an early phase of a project and that user-inclusive service design methods would indeed be a step towards a more human-driven approach to innovation. That is to say, the methods could help organisations in developing meaningful solutions to the challenges they face. This research has many important implications for the field of ITS, other traditionally non-human-driven fields, governmental agencies such as Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation), and the discipline of International Design Business Management (IDBM). The main implication is that user-inclusive as well as other creative ways of working are increasingly important and that the significance of multidisciplinary work increases in the future, which is why both current and future professionals should be educated more of them

Transformation of the business model to establish sustainable value in the consumer durables super store industry of Sri Lanka

The business model of an organization, operates as the fundamental blue print of the planning process, which shapes the nature of the strategies executed during the course of operation. These strategies in turn are responsible for the value creation or value erosion that takes place during the operation of the organization determining its sustainability, and in a broader context the sustainability of the industry. The research is done for the Consumer Durables Super Store (CDSS) industry of Sri Lanka concerning the existing business model, the value erosion occurring as a result of it and the risk it carries to the sustainability of the industry. The theoretical aspect of the research to develop a relationship based business model was anchored on the understanding of existing frameworks relating to sustainable value and extracting relevant areas of each of these frameworks (alignment of value, transforming current strategies and service offerings to create sustainable value) to develop a suitable hybrid framework with modifications to the literature to suite the research context.Ten in-depth interviews with CDSS organizational representatives holding leadership, sales and marketing management positions, and two focus group sessions with fifty selected customers were conducted in a virtual environment due to the prevailing pandemic situation. The data collected were analyzed with NVIVO 12, with themes relevant to the research utilized as codes, giving a clear understanding over the buyer and seller purview on the themes of the research. The findings surfaced the value erosion caused due to the financially driven strategies originated from the transactional orientation of the existing business model. The theories adopted to construct the relationship oriented business model to rectify the value erosion taking place, based on sustainable value, value alignment and service offerings, were modified to incorporate ‘quality of trade’ to bridge the gap, leading towards the creation and delivery of sustainable value to the buyer-seller eco system of the industry