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1 – 10 of 12Kalle Artturi Piirainen, Allan Dahl Andersen and Per Dannemand Andersen
This paper aims to argue that innovation system foresight (ISF) can significantly contribute to the third mission of universities by creating an active dialogue between…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to argue that innovation system foresight (ISF) can significantly contribute to the third mission of universities by creating an active dialogue between universities, industry and society.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper’s approach is conceptual. The authors analyse the third mission and relevant literature on innovation systems and foresight to explain how and why foresight contributes to the third mission.
Findings
The authors propose that foresight contributes to the third mission of universities, particularly to the research and development and innovation dimensions through the development of joint understanding of the agendas and future needs of stakeholders. In addition, foresight enables education to be designed to address identified needs.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are both conceptual and exploratory in nature. Thus, the argument needs further examination through a broader study on foresight in the university–industry context and/or longitudinal research on the outcomes and impact of foresight in this context.
Practical implications
The findings highlight the importance of understanding the systemic nature of innovation and its role in economic development. Universities must understand their role within the larger innovation system to fulfil the potential of economic development and by extension, their third mission.
Originality/value
The paper outlines a novel approach of using ISF to promote university–industry partnerships and the growth of innovation systems. The paper also contributes to the discussion of the third mission by outlining that mission in practical terms.
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The Danish Social Democrats have been through a lengthy period of ideological change and transformation, whose effects have become particularly manifest in recent times. This…
Abstract
The Danish Social Democrats have been through a lengthy period of ideological change and transformation, whose effects have become particularly manifest in recent times. This chapter argues that these developments are to be seen in the light of the particular Danish political context and developments, already prefigured at the dawn of the century. Notably, the populist and anti-immigration right in Denmark which quickly made use of the political opportunities to exploit the weaknesses, indecision and the ambiguities on the Right and the Left to gain support. The strategy repertoires activated by the Social Democrats to stem the electoral appeal of the right-wing populist anti-immigration have shifted from attempts to isolate, ignore and dismiss the saliency of some policy issues, towards efforts to adverse and recently to accommodate and co-opt stricter positions on immigration and tougher integration politics. While it is premature to tell whether the Social Democratic right wing turn on immigration helped undermining the populist right-wing momentum, the party has not yet managed to take back the support it hoped for. Moreover, the paradigm shift on immigration and the opening up to transversal alliances might mobilise new friends, but also shed old ones. The new pattern undertaken by the Danish Social Democrats seems also to require internal consent, more control and party discipline to avoid internal disagreements and criticism from within the party. Our interviews unravel some discontent with the restrictive right turn on immigration bubbling under the surface among the party ranks and files.
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The management of children′s literature is a search for value andsuitability. Effective policies in library and educational work arebased firmly on knowledge of materials, and on…
Abstract
The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between social policy and late-life happiness by analyzing the impact of the basic old-age pension on the happiness of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between social policy and late-life happiness by analyzing the impact of the basic old-age pension on the happiness of older people in South Korea.
Design/methodology/approach
People aged 65 and over selected from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing are analyzed in the study.
Findings
It shows that the association between the basic old-age pension and the happiness of older people is negative. This may be attributable to the frugality of the benefits and the side effects of the means test.
Originality/value
This implies that the relationship between social policy and late-life happiness is not linear but it is affected by the context of the policy. It suggests that changing the fundamental benefit system to be more progressive can be a more useful policy option to realize the initial policy goal for recipients.
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While the history of modern ideas in business education in general, and organization theory and organizational economics in particular, has several different intellectual roots…
Abstract
While the history of modern ideas in business education in general, and organization theory and organizational economics in particular, has several different intellectual roots, two books in particular were influential in initiating the field that is now broadly recognized as behavioral theories of organizations: A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, written by Richard Cyert and James G. March; and Organizations, written by Herbert Simon and James March. These two books set the stage for several subsequent developments in organization and management theory including research in learning, strategic management, and organizational routines. The behavioral view of the firm was also important to modern developments such as evolutionary theory and transaction cost economics. This paper examines part of this history and development, focusing in particular on the contributions of March.
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FOR the student who has to choose a field of study in which to learn and exercise his bibliographic skills Sociology affords an interesting and attractive challenge. Indeed, to…
Abstract
FOR the student who has to choose a field of study in which to learn and exercise his bibliographic skills Sociology affords an interesting and attractive challenge. Indeed, to understand his chosen profession it must necessarily be placed within its social context. Most students at some stage of their development reflect on the social problems that beset the human situation, and some, as the mass media would have us believe, are anxious to remould the “sorry scheme of things” as represented by the existing social structure.
Divine Kwaku Ahadzie, Richard Opoku, Stephen Nana Opoku Ware and Henry Mensah
The use of air-conditioners (ACs) is on the increase in the developing world, with exacerbating compounding effect on carbon footprints. With this development, there is the…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of air-conditioners (ACs) is on the increase in the developing world, with exacerbating compounding effect on carbon footprints. With this development, there is the expectation that developing countries would begin to appreciate and understand occupant behaviours in the use of ACs towards combating climate change, especially as building energy consumption is heavily influenced by the behaviour of its occupants. This study aims to identify occupant behaviours that leads to efficient use of ACs in public buildings so that these can be factored into developing guidelines for improving energy efficiency in buildings.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), survey questionnaire was used to collect data in office buildings in Kumasi, Ghana. Partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis was employed for the analysis.
Findings
Switching on fan(s) as alternative to ACs has a path coefficient of 0.527, suggesting that it will have the most positive impact on energy consumption as far as AC use is concerned. The second occupant behaviour with a positive impact on energy consumption for AC use is opening windows for natural ventilation accounting for 0.351 significant path coefficient. Wearing of light or heavy clothing as a means of conserving energy achieved 0.174 impact coefficient while occupant behaviour of switching off ACs when leaving the room came last in the ranking, with an impact coefficient of 0.146. TBP is validated in this model, given that all the four occupant behaviours had their perceived behavioural control (PBC) having less impact on the behaviour compared to the behavioural attitude (BA) and the subjective norm (SN).
Research limitations/implications
This research focused on public buildings used as offices, and the findings may not be applicable to private company buildings and also residential properties. Given that Ghana and, for that matter, many developing countries rely heavily on thermal plant for electricity generation, the climate change implications of the findings are discussed.
Practical implications
It is recommended that behaviours of occupants should be considered and factored in building energy predictions to bridge the energy performance gap. Subsequently, project managers, designers and energy consultants are encouraged to provide fans and openable windows in offices, even if there is going to be an air-conditioning provisions.
Originality/value
Originality emanates from the paper being at the forefront of helping to understand occupants' behaviour in the use ACs and associated climate change implications in a developing country context. One of the new variables introduced, switching on fans as an alternative to ACs, achieved the highest path coefficient and has important implication for occupant behaviour in the use of ACs in the literature.
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Louise Manning and Jan Mei Soon
The purpose of this paper is to identify mechanisms for using a quantitative benchmarking approach to drive sustainability improvements in the food supply chain.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify mechanisms for using a quantitative benchmarking approach to drive sustainability improvements in the food supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was undertaken and then a strategic and operational framework developed for improving food supply chain sustainability in terms of triple bottom line criteria.
Findings
Using a sustainability indicator scoring approach, the paper considers the architecture for analysis so that strategic goals can be clearly formulated and cascade into specific, relevant and timebound strategic and operational measures that underpin brand value and product integrity.
Originality/value
This paper is of value to academics and also practitioners in the food industry.
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Joshua Maine, Emilia Florin Samuelsson and Timur Uman
Drawing on paradox theory, this study explores how ambidextrous sustainability relates to organisational performance in hybrid organisations represented by Swedish municipal…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on paradox theory, this study explores how ambidextrous sustainability relates to organisational performance in hybrid organisations represented by Swedish municipal housing corporations, and how this relationship is contingent on the organisational structure of these organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study relies on the data collected from Swedish municipal housing corporations. These data sources consist of a survey sent to the management team members in Swedish municipal housing corporations, financial and non-financial archival data on these corporations, interviews with the management team and board members, and observations of meetings involving the management team and board of directors at a Swedish municipal housing corporation. Quantitative data of the study were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and linear multiple regression analysis. Qualitative data were analysed employing deductive thematic analysis and were used to illustrate and discuss the results of the quantitative analysis.
Findings
The quantitative findings show that ambidextrous sustainability, i.e. the alignment between an explorative orientation and an exploitative orientation towards sustainability, has a weakly positive relationship with financial performance and a positive relationship with social performance in hybrid organisations represented by Swedish municipal housing corporations. The study further shows that a high level of the structural element “connectedness” weakened the relationship between the ambidextrous sustainability and financial performance of the organisation in the study. In contrast, a lower level of connectedness reinforced and strengthened this relationship. Our qualitative material illustrates how the quantitative findings could be explained by the interaction between the board of directors and the management team of these hybrid organisations.
Originality/value
The study shows how ambidextrous sustainability, employed for conceptualisation of the sustainability strategy in hybrid organisations, represented by Swedish municipal housing corporations, can impact on facets of performance (i.e. financial, social and environmental) differently. The study further highlights the importance of organisational structures in these relationships in a hybrid context.
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