Mobilisation as organising under outsourcing and subcontracting: Collective capacity, solidarity and power in fragmented labour markets

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified pressure on healthcare organizations (HCOs), particularly long-term care organizations (LTCOs. An HCO’s resilience is closely linked to its proactive ability to address and manage both novel and persistent stressors. This proactive approach, termed ‘preventive resilience,’ involves preemptively averting stressors to safeguard the organization’s resilience mechanisms. Objectives The aim of this presentation is to examine the hypothesis asserting that preventive resilience is, to a significant extent, nurtured by the collective capacity of a Long-Term Care Organization (LTCO) to act and react as a cohesive social system. This collective agency capacity of an LTCO is posited to play a pivotal role in fortifying preventive resilience of HCOs. Methods We conducted a pooled cross-sectional study on long-term care organizations in Germany during the initial (April 2020) and subsequent waves of the pandemic (December 2020-January 2021). Our sample comprised 503 leaders during the first wave and 294 leaders during the second wave from various long-term care organizations. The study involved top managers of these facilities reporting their perceptions of the collective agency capacity of the LTCO, assessed using the AGIL short scale. Additionally, they were asked to gauge the facility’s exposure to both general non-pandemic demands and pandemic-specific demands. Results We discovered a notable inverse relationship between leaders’ perceptions of the collective agency capacity within their Long-Term Care Organizations (LTCO) and their assessments of general demands. However, no significant association was observed between the agency capacity and the magnitude of pandemic-specific demands. Conclusions The findings tentatively endorse the notion that cultivating the collective agency capacity of nursing facilities enhances their resilience to familiar general demands, particularly during periods of exceptional stress. Key messages • Cultivating the collective agency capacity of nursing facilities enhances their resilience to familiar general demands. • The collective capacity to act and react in a cohesive way is a general resistance resource of healthcare organizations.

Income inequality is a structural feature in Argentina. This paper advances a relatively underexplored analytical framework that links sectoral disparities in profit rates to differences in union organisation and state intervention. We identify three interrelated dimensions: (a) uneven capital accumulation across sectors, captured by profit rates as an upper bound on wage growth; (b) workers’ collective organisation and bargaining capacity, which shape the extent to which this potential is realised; and (c) the role of the state as a contested arena in which distributive conflicts are mediated. Using panel data econometric models (2006–2019), we examine average wages across private economic sectors, accounting for sectoral profit rates, union strength, and minimum wage policies. Our findings reveal that wage inequality emerges from the interaction between capital’s drive for profit maximisation and workers’ responses through organisation, bargaining, and conflict.

Change of competition regime and regional innovative capacities: Evidence from dairy restructuring in France

Von Schnitzler convincingly argues that countries in the global South should be seen 'not merely as recipients of neoliberal policies, but as epistemic locations in which neoliberal thought is adapted, reformulated and produced' (p. 34).

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation is leading an emergent process of collective impact and capacity building. The Foundation’s regional initiative and collective impact work, including the FutureMakers Coalition, is explored here as a community development strategy. Building collective impact capacity to support the Foundation’s regional initiatives includes organizing grantees into “tribes” to develop collaborative networks and facilitate concentrated organizational and leadership capacity building, and levering its grant processes to build collective impact and program capacity. The Foundation team relies on the Tribal Alchemy framework and the Getting to Outcomes model to enhance understanding and execution of collective impact and increase capacity of organizations in the region. The development of the systems of the FutureMakers Coalition in support of collective impact is also explored. This work contributes to theory use in collective impact capacity building and discusses real-world ongoing processes.

BackgroundPrimary health care (PHC)-based reforms have had different results in Latin America. Little attention has been paid to the enablers of collective action capacities required to produce a comprehensive PHC approach.ObjectiveTo analyse the enablers of collective action capacities to transform health systems towards a comprehensive PHC approach in Latin American PHC-based reforms.MethodsWe conducted a longitudinal, retrospective case study of three municipal PHC-based reforms in Bolivia and Argentina. We used multiple data sources and methodologies: document review; interviews with policymakers, managers and practitioners; and household and services surveys. We used temporal bracketing to analyse how the dynamic of interaction between the institutional reform process and the collective action characteristics enabled or hindered the enablers of collective action capacities required to produce the envisioned changes.ResultsThe institutional structuring dynamics and collective action capacities were different in each case. In Cochabamba, there was an ‘interrupted’ structuring process that achieved the establishment of a primary level with a selective PHC approach. In Vicente López, there was a ‘path-dependency’ structuring process that permitted the consolidation of a ‘primary care’ approach, but with limited influence in hospitals. In Rosario, there was a ‘dialectic’ structuring process that favoured the development of the capacities needed to consolidate a comprehensive PHC approach that permeates the entire system.ConclusionThe institutional change processes achieved the development of a primary health care level with different degrees of consolidation and system-wide influence given how the characteristics of each collective action enabled or hindered the ‘structuring’ processes.

Champions are individuals who demonstrate strong commitment to promoting sustained implementation efforts through their expertise, enthusiasm, and influence, and are known to enable the implementation of evidence-based educational programs. However, existing research has predominantly examined champion effectiveness during implementation and early sustainment phases, with limited attention to their role in long-term program or innovation sustainment. This study investigated how champions influence organisational capacity for sustained program implementation over extended timeframes. A multiple case study design examined champion dynamics across three Australian organisations sustaining implementation of the Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a) for 10 or more years. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants, including senior leaders, program managers, educational leaders, and practitioners. Thematic analysis informed by critical realist epistemology identified mechanisms through which champions influenced long-term sustainability. Cross-case analysis suggested the presence of what we term a 'champion paradox': the factors that make champions effective in driving implementation may simultaneously create systemic vulnerabilities that can threaten long-term program sustainability. Across these cases, the paradox appeared to operate through three interconnected mechanisms: (1) knowledge concentration, where expertise accumulates in individuals rather than organisational systems; (2) dependency creation, where organisations become reliant on champions for quality assurance, problem-solving, and program continuity; and (3) system capacity prevention, where champion effectiveness conceals organisational need for systematic capacity building. These mechanisms were interpreted as forming a self-reinforcing cycle that may strengthen champion dependency while inhibiting organisational independent capacity. The champion paradox framework invites reconsideration of widespread assumptions that individual champions inherently strengthen organisational implementation capacity. Findings suggest potential value of a shift from champion-dependent to more system-dependent implementation models, with implications for champion selection and development, organisational design, sustainability assessment, and policy frameworks. Implementation strategies may be strengthened by positioning champions as transitional resources focused on building collective organisational capacity rather than as permanent drivers of program quality.

Sustainability Performance of Certified and Non-certified Smallholder Coffee Farms in Uganda

Collective action among farmers is regularly presented as a driver for the adoption of agroecological practices on farms. This study proposes to extend the analysis of relational drivers in the implementation of changes in practices beyond peer groups, by looking at their collective organization around territorialized supply chains involving other actors. More specifically, this paper proposes to study the role that this collective organization around territorial supply chains plays in the changes toward agroecological practices carried out on farms.The study of the individual farm trajectories as a chain of events is an approach that allows the understanding and analysis of changes in practices. As we are interested in coordination mechanisms based on interactions between actors as a driver for agroecological transition, we mobilize the framework and tools of social network analysis. In particular, in order to analyse the relational drivers in the trajectories of changes practices, we mobilize the relational chain approach through the method of quantified narratives. This approach allows us to understand changes in practices on farms as collective actions, through the study of relationships activated by farmers in order to have access to different types of resources during their trajectory. Thus, our work feeds the literature mobilizing the method of quantified narratives for the analysis of farm transition trajectories, which we modulate by focusing on the trajectory of a particular cropping system analysed through the agronomic and socio-economic principles of agroecology. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight farmers who are members of a territorial organic wheat-flour- bread supply chain collective that includes a miller and a baker, all located in the plain of Limagne (Puy-de-Dôme, France). Following these interviews focused on their changes in wheat-growing practices, we identified five phases of agronomic and socio-economic coherence in their trajectories, that we evaluated through the prism of the agroecological principles. We then identified the relationships activated by the farmers to access the various resources needed to carry out the changes in practices during these different phases. Based on their trajectories, a typology of farms was created. This typology helps to understand the different roles played by farmers’ collectives developing territorial supply chains in the different types of farms, by analysing during which phases of the trajectory they intervene, to provide access to which resources, in articulation with which other actors. Although the interests for participation vary between the different types of farms, it appears that the farmers’ collective developing territorial supply chains systematically give access to commercial, cognitive, social and material resources. As a result, they favour access to strategic resources on the farms, making it possible to couple changes in agricultural practices and their economic valorisation. These resources contribute to a change in the farmers' posture during their trajectory, moving from a role of raw material producers to a role of co-designers of agroecological products. L'action collective entre agriculteurs est régulièrement présentée comme un levier pour la mise en oeuvre de changements de pratiques agroécologiques dans les exploitations agricoles. Cette étude propose d'ouvrir l'analyse des déterminants relationnels dans l'adoption de changements de pratiques au-delà des groupes de pairs en s'intéressant à leur organisation collective autour de filières territoriales faisant intervenir d'autres acteurs. Pour ce faire, la méthode des narrations quantifiées a été mobilisée dans le cadre d'entretiens semi-directifs menés auprès des 8 agriculteurs membres d'un collectif filière territoriale intégrant un meunier et un boulanger. L'analyse de ces trajectoires a permis la création d'une typologie des fermes favorisant la compréhension du rôle que joue le collectif filière territoriale dans les changements de pratiques menés par ses différents membres. Bien que les intérêts pour la participation au collectif varient entre les différents types de fermes, il ressort que le collectif donne systématiquement accès à des ressources tant commerciales, que cognitives, sociales et matérielles. De ce fait, le collectif favorise l'accès à des ressources stratégiques dans les exploitations agricoles permettant de coupler la mise en oeuvre de changements de pratiques agricoles et leur valorisation économique. Ces ressources contribuent à un changement de posture des agriculteurs au cours de leur trajectoire, passant d'un rôle d'exécutants producteurs de matières premières à un rôle de coconcepteurs de produits agroécologiques.

Collective organisations are utilised by producers, labourers, communities and resource-users in the Global South to defend, support or enable livelihood-generating activities. Since the 1950s, collective organisations, including producer organisations, savings and credit groups, and natural resource user committees have become prominent development apparatus, often promising a combination of benefits - social, economic and environmental. In practice, outcomes have been mixed and dependent on a range of factors: resource characteristics, group characteristics, institutional arrangements and the external environment. This chapter provides an introduction to collective organisations, their employment in international development practice and role in enabling livelihoods in the Global South. Collective organisations are diverse in scope, nature and capacity. This chapter introduces three broad forms of collective organisations: producer organisations, savings and credit groups and natural resource user committees. The chapter is split into three parts: 1) an introduction to collective organisations and the concept of collective action, 2) an overview of the aforementioned forms of collective organisation and their assumed and reported livelihood benefits, and 3) an exploration of some of the enabling and constraining conditions to the formation and functioning of collective organisations, including an introduction to key debates regarding the effectiveness and equity of collective organisations.

In the article theoretical approaches to defining the functions, tasks and pфlace of the risk management department in the organizational structure of management of industrial enterprises within the supply chain are developed. This approach takes into account the necessary coordinating and communication mechanisms between the structural divisions of the enterprise and chain links. This allows for the most effective management of risks that arise during the functioning of supply chains. The main requirements for further improvement of the organization of supply chain management are formulated, namely the organization of collection and statistical processing of information related to financial risks in supply chains. With the increase in the volume of risk management work, it is advisable to create within the supply chain of a group or risk management department at the production plant, as well as maintaining databases in which the necessary information is collected and systematized. The functions of such a department mainly include justification of the feasibility of risk insurance based on methods and techniques of risk management and the development of appropriate methods for economic justification of the need to insure the main types of risks in the supply chain. Information databases can store and accumulate information about each specific consumer of products and suppliers of raw materials and components, the history and types of interactions with each potential and real supplier and consumer, data on the volume and frequency of sales over a certain period of time and the amount of resources spent on sales. The functions of the risk management group should be linked to the core functions of supply chain management. The effectiveness of integration and cooperation in supply chains can be significantly increased due to the introduction of the concept of "virtual logistics operator". Such an organization will increase the efficiency of the supply chain by combining sales planning, production and distribution of products, reducing the cost of inventory management, production, delivery, will respond quickly to customer demands and improve customer service.

This research explores the influence of organizational absorptive capacity on firm revenue growth through a lens of entrepreneurial social network structural holes, by asking the questions that i) to what extent does a firm’s absorptive capacity interact with its entrepreneurial social network? And moreover, ii) how do a firm’s absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial social network together influence its revenue growth? Results of survey data from 357 Chinese local entrepreneurial firms show that not only the organizational absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial social network structural holes have their direct positive effect on firms’ revenue growth, but also their positively moderating effect in the relationship of one the other with firms’ revenue growth. The research offers insights to both the theory of social networks, as well as to the perspective of absorptive capacity, by showing that i) a firm’s entrepreneurial social network structural hole can promote the firm’s financial performance by raising one of its collective capabilities; ii) both a firm’s collective absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial social network are likely to enhance the relationship of one the other and the firm revenue growth; and by being iii) one of the first entrepreneurship studies that look into a firm’s collective absorptive capacity through an external social network lens.

Micropolitan areas (between 10,000 and 50,000 people) are not immune to economic shocks that threaten their vitality. Factors related to economic shocks can range from local companies leaving a town or national economic crises affecting local economies. Using the perspective of local micropolitan area stakeholders, this research seeks to identify why certain micropolitan areas recover from an economic shock while others do not. The research included the case study of two micropolitan areas in the U.S. Midwest (one resilient and one vulnerable), based on 22 interviews with key stakeholders representing diverse for- profit and government organizations. Our results reveal differences in the collective capacity and its underlying practices in the two micropolitan areas. We found that stakeholders built collective capacity by aligning effort, interacting face- to- face, supporting participation, sharing identity and building organizational capacity. Collective capacity ultimately enhanced the resilient micropolitan area’s ability to adopt place- based, or localized, strategies at a higher rate and larger scale than the vulnerable micropolitan area. The results contribute to theory of constitutive collaboration and help policy makers and stakeholders make informed decisions regarding practices to promote economic resilience.

This paper describes the mobilization processes of Smallholder Dairy Farmers’ Groups (SDFG) and its relevance to the process of community development in an integrated crop livestock forestry farming system in Bhutan. The group approach aims to ensure effective delivery of dairy services for strengthening collective self-help capacity, promoting self-reliance, group cooperation and solidarity of poor rural farmers through collective action. Data for the study were generated through focused group interviews and workshop organized among the relevant stakeholders involved in formation and development of dairy farmers’ groups. The study found that the group mobilization processes demanded new competencies in managing the different stages of group formation and development processes with professional support backed by new knowledge and skills. While the government encourages and supports the mobilization of dairy groups, the process of forming a group is still difficult due to a wide range of technical, socio-cultural, organizational, and physical challenges. However, despite the challenges and difficulties, SDFGs are slowly contributing to the enhancement of smallholder dairy farmers’ skills, achievement of economies-of-scale and improving their bargaining power. The SDFGs are helping to build trust among members, instill positive changes in attitude and commitment to achieve group’s success motivated by accrued financial benefits and easy access to other services. The formation and development of dairy groups needs to be supported by well-trained competent group mobilizers who are able to manage and facilitate group processes effectively. Keywords - service delivery, collective action, smallholder dairy farmers’ group, mobilization and integrated crop-livestock-forestry farming systems.

<p><b>This thesis examines inter-organisational platform development occurring though collective action. Despite much hype about the benefits of platforms, and burgeoning stream of work on the subject in IS literature, IOP development processes and practices that lead to success or failure remain obscure. Some scholars suggest that this is perhaps because of the secrecy associated with such projects. IS literature shows that the development of inter-organisational platforms is plagued by collective action challenges, such as the conflicting interests, heterogenous goals, and coopetition between members. This is mostly encountered in designing important aspects of the platform such as architecture, governance models, and value systems. These challenges make critical mass difficult to achieve, often derailing platform development projects. Thus, it has become crucial to understand how such platforms are developed through collective efforts by multiple organisations. </b></p> <p>This study addresses the gaps mentioned using a longitudinal case study. There was an opportunity for unusual research access to real time observations of the development processes from inception. This led to collection of a rich dataset from multiple sources. Over two-and-half years, observations were made as 46 organisations such as airlines, airports, visitor experience providers (e.g., canyon swings, ziptreks), private corporates, hotel chains, and government agencies worked together to develop a platform for sharing data resources and services in the tourism sector in New Zealand. </p> <p>Findings indicate that IOP development processes vary in specific areas of development such as the designing of architecture, governance, value systems, and standards. Whilst some processes can be managed through leadership, coordination, and collective organising by a leading organisation in the collective, others require self-organisation to align complementary resources and interests. Apart from processes of activities and actions, we also found that socio-cognitive processes and joint actions between members co-influence each other during design phases. These co-influences can explain how cognitive distances and incongruencies in technology frames of references are resolved. The primary contribution of this study is to have created theoretical building blocks towards a nascent theory of IOP development processes occurring through collective action. These building blocks include specifications of concepts, process models of design & cognitive processes, propositions of process activities & their observed outcomes, and problematisations of key constructs that extend the theoretical boundaries of such concepts as critical mass (the outcome variable in collective action). The research also contributes to platforms and collective action theories by integrating the two areas in investigating the development of inter-organisational platforms. Practical knowledge can be drawn on how IOPs are constructed in conditions of heterogeneity and coopetition requiring collective organising.</p>