Effective performance management of inter-organisational collaborations through the construction of multiple identities

Although inter-organisational collaborations can offer better services, their performance management is complex and can often fail. Through the exploration of multiple (collaborative and non-collaborative) identities formed by partners, the paper offers guidelines for a more effective performance management of inter-organisational collaborations. More specifically, drawing upon a longitudinal qualitative study of a Greek inter-organisational collaboration, the findings of the research illustrate that both collaborative and non-collaborative identities can lead to better collaboration performance. Secondly, the study suggests that it is better to maintain the tension between stability and change within the collaborative process than resolve it. Finally, it offers four collaborative patterns for a more effective performance management of inter-organisational collaborations

Governance for sustainability: learning from VSM practice

Purpose – While there is some agreement on the usefulness of systems and complexity approaches to tackle the sustainability challenges facing the organisations and governments in the twenty-first century, less is clear regarding the way such approaches can inspire new ways of governance for sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to progress ongoing research using the Viable System Model (VSM) as a meta-language to facilitate long-term sustainability in business, communities and societies, using the “Methodology to support self-transformation”, by focusing on ways of learning about governance for sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – It summarises core self-governance challenges for long-term sustainability, and the organisational capabilities required to face them, at the “Framework for Assessing Sustainable Governance”. This tool is then used to analyse capabilities for governance for sustainability at three real situations where the mentioned Methodology inspired bottom up processes of self-organisation. It analyses the transformations decided from each organisation, in terms of capabilities for sustainable governance, using the suggested Framework. Findings – Core technical lessons learned from using the framework are discussed, include the usefulness of using a unified language and tool when studying governance for sustainability in differing types and scales of case study organisations. Research limitations/implications – As with other exploratory research, it reckons the convenience for further development and testing of the proposed tools to improve their reliability and robustness. Practical implications – A final conclusion suggests that the suggested tools offer a useful heuristic path to learn about governance for sustainability, from a VSM perspective; the learning from each organisational self-transformation regarding governance for sustainability is insightful for policy and strategy design and evaluation; in particular the possibility of comparing situations from different scales and types of organisations. Originality/value – There is very little coherence in the governance literature and the field of governance for sustainability is an emerging field. This piece of exploratory research is valuable as it presents an effective tool to learn about governance for sustainability, based in the “Methodology for Self-Transformation”; and offers reflexions on applications of the methodology and the tool, that contribute to clarify the meaning of governance for sustainability in practice, in organisations from different scales and types

Universities of the Third Age in Poland. Emerging Model for 21st Century

Main objective of this paper is to describe emergence of a Polish Universities of the Third Age model. These are a multidisciplinary non-formal education centers, which allow formation of positive responses to the challenges of an ageing population. Article indicates main organizational changes of these institutions conditioned by internal and external factors. Essay describes transformation, differentiation factors, and characteristics of these institutions for elderly based on a critical analysis of literature

Using personal narratives to explore multiple identities in organisational contexts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and incorporate personal narratives as a new methodological tool into the qualitative research of complex organisational issues such as identity. Particularly, this study provides a fresh methodological perspective on organisational identity exploration by using personal narratives to examine multiple identities that occur in dynamic organisational contexts. Design/methodology/approach In order to examine multiple identities, personal narratives found in the 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews collected were analysed. These narratives were examined following a textual and performative analysis. Findings The paper furthers methodological discussions in organisations in three ways. First, it responds to the need for a methodological approach that allows multiple identity exploration in organisations while it presents personal narratives as a valuable methodological perspective within organisational research. Second, it extends the methodological use of personal narratives for the in-depth qualitative study of complex organisational issues such as identity. Finally, the study stretches the boundaries of mainstream organisational research by illustrating that personal narratives can be used as a methodological approach to explore organisational identities. Originality/value This research integrates personal narratives as a methodological tool into the qualitative research of dynamic organisational issues. Employing personal narratives has allowed the exploration of multiple identities that take place in organisations in a manner not previously achieved in organisational studies. The study, therefore, challenges previous organisational research and expands the boundaries of organisational identity studies, offering a new qualitative methodological account for identity exploration in organisations

Federated Robust Embedded Systems: Concepts and Challenges

The development within the area of embedded systems (ESs) is moving rapidly, not least due to falling costs of computation and communication equipment. It is believed that increased communication opportunities will lead to the future ESs no longer being parts of isolated products, but rather parts of larger communities or federations of ESs, within which information is exchanged for the benefit of all participants. This vision is asserted by a number of interrelated research topics, such as the internet of things, cyber-physical systems, systems of systems, and multi-agent systems. In this work, the focus is primarily on ESs, with their specific real-time and safety requirements. While the vision of interconnected ESs is quite promising, it also brings great challenges to the development of future systems in an efficient, safe, and reliable way. In this work, a pre-study has been carried out in order to gain a better understanding about common concepts and challenges that naturally arise in federations of ESs. The work was organized around a series of workshops, with contributions from both academic participants and industrial partners with a strong experience in ES development. During the workshops, a portfolio of possible ES federation scenarios was collected, and a number of application examples were discussed more thoroughly on different abstraction levels, starting from screening the nature of interactions on the federation level and proceeding down to the implementation details within each ES. These discussions led to a better understanding of what can be expected in the future federated ESs. In this report, the discussed applications are summarized, together with their characteristics, challenges, and necessary solution elements, providing a ground for the future research within the area of communicating ESs

Coordination approaches and systems - part I : a strategic perspective

This is the first part of a two-part paper presenting a fundamental review and summary of research of design coordination and cooperation technologies. The theme of this review is aimed at the research conducted within the decision management aspect of design coordination. The focus is therefore on the strategies involved in making decisions and how these strategies are used to satisfy design requirements. The paper reviews research within collaborative and coordinated design, project and workflow management, and, task and organization models. The research reviewed has attempted to identify fundamental coordination mechanisms from different domains, however it is concluded that domain independent mechanisms need to be augmented with domain specific mechanisms to facilitate coordination. Part II is a review of design coordination from an operational perspective

A Civil Investing Strategy for Putting Communities in Charge

This paper reflects on the difficulties encountered by development assistance institutions when they try to incorporate the idea of investing in civic capacities into the process of funding development projects. It explores the possibility that this difficulty arises not because the idea is foreign to what these donors already do, but rather because it is so similar on the surface yet mandates a fundamental change in mindset and in the power relationship between donor and grantee

Strategic management of family planning programs

Program management has received insufficient attention among family planning leaders, possibly because of medical or demographic background of many leaders, a focus on other program priorities (such as sheer survival), the pressure to expand programs rapidly, and limited donor interest in the subject. As programs grow in complexity, the problems resulting from weak management systems become more obvious, and organizations are compelled to introduce rational systems. The more successful family planning programs have paid close attention to key aspects of management and have striven to continually improve their systems. According to the principles of strategic management, there is no single"best"solution to the various problems organizations face. Each organization must work out a response appropriate to a given situation. But managers should know more about possible options and their effectiveness in other settings. In family planning, a dearth of research on options - compounded by the fact that many programs do not collect basic information about program inputs and outputs - makes it difficult to analyze which programs work and why. Logistics management is the Achilles heel of family planning programs. Many programs experience depleted supplies of contraceptives in demand and oversupplies of others. Lack of contraceptives not only leads to pregnancies but erodes client trust in the service provider and undermines staff morale. Measures to improve logistics management are readily accessible. What is lacking is a commitment from high-level managers to introduce the needed changes. Staff development also merits more attention from managers, as high-caliber staff can make a big difference in program performance. Managers do not always have flexibility about staff recruitment, promotion, and retention, but they should strive for as much leverage as possible. Little research has been done on the impact of training, so managers should assess the relative effectiveness and costs of different approaches. The key factor seems to the relevance to the training content to the individual's job responsibilities.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,ICT Policyand Strategies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Enterprise Development&Reform,Community Development and Empowerment