Sustainable Fisheries Financing Strategies: Save the Oceans Feed the World Project

This paper attempts to evaluate the factors that affect the financial viability of sustainable seafood investments, and in doing so: a) examines the underlying industry dynamics, opportunities, and risks associated with investing in the seafood sector; b) summarizes lessons learned from existing approaches to sustainable fisheries investments; and c) describes in greater detail the three aforementioned impact-investing mechanisms that could support the development of more sustainable wild-capture fisheries. The design of these strategies reflects, to the best of our understanding, the unique characteristics of the countries studied. We recognize that these strategies will evolve through further research and development and will vary meaningfully in their design and execution depending on the specific characteristics of the fisheries and countries where they may be deployed. We hope that these strategies can be adopted, modified and executed by a range of public, private, and non-profit players over time, and that the execution of these or similar strategies will catalyze the flow of new sources of private capital towards sustainable fisheries with positive environmental and societal impacts

Using Intelligent Agents to understand organisational behaviour

This paper introduces two ongoing research projects which seek to apply computer modelling techniques in order to simulate human behaviour within organisations. Previous research in other disciplines has suggested that complex social behaviours are governed by relatively simple rules which, when identified, can be used to accurately model such processes using computer technology. The broad objective of our research is to develop a similar capability within organisational psychology

Teamworking and the "sharpening" of peripherical vision

Managers and organizations are normally focussed on a number of key issues and targets, such as strategic positioning, operations, competitors, internal processes, human relations, etc. Focus is fundamental to effective exploitation. Focus, however, carries with it some attendant risks. It may, for example, lead to an underestimation of critical moves taking place at the periphery outside the focus of attention. In such instances, peripheral vision becomes crucial to organizational survival. In this paper, we discuss how teams and teamworking may help re-educate attention and in so doing ‘sharpen’ peripheral vision in organizational contexts. A typology is built, which specifies how different types of teams deal with focus and periphery in practice. Next, we discuss the specific cases of the groups that are most oriented towards the periphery to uncover how they manage collective action and collective imagination. The paper finishes with a number of practical suggestions derived from the previous theoretical work. Six strategic practices are critically analyzed: zooming, improvisation, bricolage, scenario thinking, wild cards and weak signals.periphery, peripheral vision, teams, weak signals, minimal structures

Social licence for the utilization of wild berries in the context of local traditional rights and the interests of the berry industry

Everyman’s right, as applied in Finland and other Nordic countries, allows the picking of natural products (wild berries, mushrooms, etc.) regardless of land ownership. Harvesting and selling natural products has been an important source of income in rural areas of northern Finland. As household berry picking has more or less replaced small-scale commercial berry picking, foreign seasonal pickers are now supplying raw material for the berry industry. This has aroused vivid discussions about the limits of everyman’s right and inhabitants’ rights to local natural resources. Critics claim that commercially organized berry picking makes it difficult for inhabitants to fully use natural resources. In this article, we present the results of a survey aimed at natureoriented, mainly northern residents of Finland and a telephone and e-mail service to which residents of northern Finland sent feedback regarding foreign berry pickers. The results of the survey and the feedback show that, in general, organized berry picking by foreign labourers is accepted if some basic guidelines or rules are respected. These guidelines may stem from local customary laws or traditions which have regulated berry picking. Another factor which would improve local acceptance and promote social licence for organized berry picking by foreign and non–local labourers is the distribution of benefits. At present, the advantages of organized berry picking are seen as benefiting stakeholders outside the local community, whereas local communities have to bear the costs: for example, increased berry picking activity in areas which they have utilized for a prolonged time, sometimes through generations

Operations Management Curricula: Literature Review and Analysis

A review and analysis of studies on the interface between Operations Management (OM) academicians and industry practitioners indicate the existence of a persistent gap between what is being taught and what is relevant to practitioners in their daily jobs. The majority of practitioner studies have been directed at upper management levels, yet academia typically educates students for entry level or management trainee (undergraduate) and mid-management (MBA) positions. A recurring finding was that academicians prefer to teach quantitative techniques while practitioners favor qualitative concepts. The OM curricula literature shows some disagreements between academicians concerning subject matter, and a wide variety of teaching opinions. This paper provides an extensive analytical review of OM curricula literature along with their respective authors’ conclusions. From this analysis we suggest a customer-focused business plan to close the gap between industry and academia. This plan can be modified to account for faculty teaching and research interests, local industry requirements and institution specific factors such as class sizes and resources

'Just get pissed and enjoy yourself': understanding lap-dancing as 'anti-work'

Just get pissed and enjoy yourself’ Understanding lap-dancing as ‘anti’ wor

Social Media: the Wild West of CSR Communications

Purpose - The central argument that this paper posits is that traditional media of old presented a clear, ordered world of communication management for organisations to extol their CSR credentials. In contrast to this, new Web 2.0 social media is increasingly being used by activists and hactivists to challenge corporate communication CSR messages and does so by highlighting instances and examples of Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI) (Jones, Bowd and Tench, 2009; Tench, Sun and Jones, 2012). Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports on research data from the European Communication Monitor 2010, 2011 and 2012 (http://www.communicationmonitor.eu/) and draws on work already published in this area (Tench, Verhoeven and Zerfass, 2009; Verhoeven et al, 2012; and Zerfass et al, 2010, 2011) to illustrate the unruly unregulated Web 2.0 social media communication landscape in Europe. A range of literature is drawn on to provide the theoretical context for an exploration of issues that surround social media. Findings - In late modernity (Giddens, 1990) communication comes in many guises. Social media is one guise and it has re-shaped as well as transformed the nature of communications and the relationship between organisations and their stakeholders. Originality/value - Communicating CSR in the Wild West of social media requires diplomatic and political nous, as well as awareness and knowledge of the dangers and pitfalls of CSI. The data reported on in this paper illustrates well the above points and sets out scenarios for future development of corporate communication of CSR through, and with social media