ICT and environmental sustainability : a case study of a grassroots initiative

Increasingly, local communities develop projects and grassroots initiatives that address climate change and other environmental sustainability issues. These projects often commence informally and adopt web-based free information and communication technologies (ICT) applications to support their functioning. ICT applications are used to promote the goals of the project, to recruit more supporters and to facilitate debate among citizens sympathetic to the cause of environmental stewardship. However, as some of these projects evolve they become more complex. Struggling with lack of funding, the solution is to imaginatively combine free web-based ICT applications, to adapt existing open source applications, and even to develop customized solutions to address the project’s needs. We present the results of an exploratory case study of a grassroots initiative with environmental sustainability goals. The study shows some evidence of innovative practices in the appropriation of ICTs and in the communication campaign. Implications of this research for online communities and society are also discussed.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

The path to excellence of the portuguese organizations recognized by the EFQM model

This paper presents research carried out in seven Portuguese organisations recognised by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Model between January 2009 and August 2011. Using a qualitative methodology, based on case studies, we conducted semi-structured interviews to find out the motivations behind the adoption of the EFQM Excellence Model of self-assessment, as well the company’s current state of maturity, their route to improvement for a greater maturity level, their desirable future state of maturity, and finally, the definition of a methodology for using self-assessment based on the EFQM Model with all the inputs achieved in earlier stages. The main findings of this study are in accordance with other studies carried out across Europe, namely the fact that the internal motivations are the key factor for the implementation of the EFQM Excellence Model, the prevalence of Public organisations due the investment of National Authorities, the key role of CEOs and Top Managers and the ISO 9001 standard role in the successful implementation of several criteria of the model. A new methodology has been designed where the self-assessment team, Benchlearning and Benchmarking have a remarkable mission in the implementation process of the EFQM Excellence Model

The Cost of Jointness and How to Manage It

Although joint programs are typically formed to reduce costs, recent studies have suggested that joint programs experience larger cost growth than non-joint programs. To explain this phenomenon, we present a model that attributes joint program cost growth to agencies’ actions to maintain or regain their autonomy. We use this model to motivate principles for architecting joint programs and outline a process that can be used to identify opportunities for reforming current joint programs or for establishing new ones. Finally, we apply our approach to analyze joint program options for NOAA’s low-earth orbiting weather satellite program and in doing so, identify several risks facing NOAA’s current program and strategies for mitigating them.Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sandia Corporation Excellence in Engineering Graduate Fellowship)Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technolog

Directions for a troubled discipline:strategy research, teaching and practice introduction to the dialog

This Dialog responds to a growing debate about the relevance of business schools generally and the value of strategy theory and research for strategic management practice. The authors propose that academic theory and management practice can be better connected through management education. The academy researches practice, derives theory, and returns it to practice through the development of teaching materials and the teaching of current and future practitioners. The three articles in this Dialog examine how different approaches to strategy research inform strategy teaching and its application to practice. Joseph Bower explains the rise of business policy and the process research approach that informed that teaching tradition at Harvard Business School. Robert Grant responds by emphasizing the economic theory underpinnings of strategic management research and its impact on teaching. Paula Jarzabkowski and Richard Whittington conclude by proposing a strategyas-practice perspective and suggesting ways to better incorporate strategy-as-practice research into strategy teaching

MANAGING THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENCES IN NATIONAL CULTURE ON SOCIAL CAPITAL IN MULTINATIONAL IT PROJECT TEAMS – A GERMAN PERSPECTIVE

How can management handle relationship problems arising from cultural differences in multinational IT project teams? This paper uses a social capital lens to better understand the negative impact of cultural differences in IT project teams. In contrast to many previous works we do not consider cultural differences as a whole but explore the role of the different national culture dimensions. This allows for a more detailed view on cultural differences in a team context and thus contributes to a better understanding about which dimensions of national culture drive relationship problems and which management measures can help to dampen the negative effects. Based on several exploratory cases (6 multinational IT projects in 4 companies, headquartered in Germany), the authors identify three patterns showing typical problems in team social relationships which arise from differences in particular dimensions of national culture. Pattern-specific as well as general management measures, employed to address the culture-driven negative effects, are identified as well

Evaluating social science and humanities knowledge production: An exploratory analysis of dynamics in science systems

Knowledge is gaining increasing importance in modern-day society as a factor of production and, ultimately, growth. This article explores the dynamics in university knowledge production and its effect on the state of university-industry-policy exchange in the Netherlands. Science systems are said to be in transformation. The university has evolved from performing conventional research and educational functions to serving as an innovation-promoting knowledge hub; dynamics that have received mixed reactions. The social sciences and humanities (SSH) take a special position, insofar as their focus seems primarily to be placed on conventional research and educational functions, and not directly on (commercial) valorization. Societal changes are, however, pressing for a reconsideration of the role of SSH. In our article, we distinguish between three important new movements that seem to be affecting SSH. It is believed that these movements, which are already having an impact today, will considerably influence SSH in the future. These developments are further differentiation, synthesis between the various subdisciplines of SSH and the natural sciences, and shifts in paradigms. The aims of this article are twofold: (1) to assess what is believed to be the most likely development of SSH by means of discovering relevant subsets of factors influencing university knowledge production; and (2) to discover whether the knowledge production factors show characteristics of a general development similar to the "Mode 2" concept. A systematic qualitative database was created by means of 22 semi-structured personal interviews with key representatives from business, university and the policy sector. Our explanatory framework employs an artificial intelligence method, i.e. rough set analysis. On the basis of these results, we find that a small minority of the respondents prefers a closer relationship of SSH to society, government and industry, and other institutional centers of authority, whilst interdisciplinarity in particular is regarded as having an overall positive influence on the future of SSH in the Netherlands. Consequently, the idea of a clear distinction between Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge production, i.e. traditional knowledge and knowledge carried out in the context of application, is not supported by our data. © 2009 Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences and ICCR Foundation

The Role of Organizational Competences in the Evolution of Business Models

International audienceThis paper presents the use of a conceptual framework designed for the management of organizational competences to contribute to the evolution of the business model of an enterprise. The framework, developed based on a detailed review of the history of the car manufacturer Toyota, was used for a Delphi study and an action-research applied in the furniture industry. The results suggest that it is applicable for ex-post analysis of organizational changes, as well as a strategy planning tool

Leveraging open innovation to improve society: past achievements and future trajectories

Open innovation (OI) is an approach which describes a purposive attempt to draw together knowledge from different contributors to develop and exploit innovation. It has become clear that OI directly benefits organisations' economic performance and resilience, but researchers, practitioners, and policy makers became also convinced that OI might be the way forward to tackle the world’s most pressing societal challenges, representing unresolved Grand Challenges, which can only be weathered by diverse sets of collaborative partners that join forces. Although anecdotal evidence points at how OI practices can be employed to achieve societal impact not only in private firms but also in public organisations, very little understanding exists -beyond anecdotal- to link OI to societal impact. This special issue has the ambition to start the discussion and establish a framework as the stepping stone to tackle this complex research gap

Exploring leadership in multi-sectoral partnerships

This article explores some critical aspects of leadership in the context of multi-sectoral partnerships. It focuses on leadership in practice and asks the question, `How do managers experience and perceive leadership in such partnerships?' The study contributes to the debate on whether leadership in a multi-sectoral partnership context differs from that within a single organization. It is based on the accounts of practising managers working in complex partnerships. The article highlights a number of leadership challenges faced by those working in multi-sectoral partnerships. Partnership practitioners were clear that leadership in partnerships was more complex than in single organizations. However, it was more difficult for them to agree a consensus on the essential nature of leadership in partnership. We suggest that a first-, second- and third-person approach might be a way of better interpreting leadership in the context of partnerships

Leveraging domestic and foreign learning to develop marketing capabilities: The case of the Chinese company Goodbaby

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of different learning sources in the process of capability building of Chinese firms (CFs) approaching international markets. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the case study of the company “Goodbaby.” The primary data sources are two semi-structured interviews with one of the firm’s managers, which have been triangulated with point of sale visits, interviews with industry experts, and secondary data such as corporate records, patent and trademark data, industry reports and news articles. Findings Both the home-country and foreign markets act as sources of learning to support the development of CFs’ marketing capabilities. Learning at home is triggered by the complexity of the national market and the exposure to foreign entrants. Foreign learning is stimulated by the relationships with leading foreign partners and the exposure to advanced final markets. Moreover, each learning source has a positive effect on the development of CFs’ marketing capabilities in both market contexts in which they compete, i.e. the home-market and international markets. Practical implications CFs’ managers should be simultaneously receptive to the domestic and foreign contexts, as both may support the development of marketing capabilities. CFs’ managers should recognize the learning opportunities embedded in each of these contexts, and identify the markets where these can be effectively redeployed. Originality/value The authors distinguish between different sources of learning in the context of CFs’ internationalization, and explore their triggering factors and their role in the development of an underinvestigated type of capabilities, i.e. the marketing capabilities