Collaborative Capacity Research Articles

Regional collaborations and indigenous innovation capabilities in China: A multivariate method for the analysis of regional innovation systems

In this study we analyse the emerging patterns of regional collaboration for innovation projects in China, using official government statistics of 30 Chinese regions. We propose the use of Ordinal Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster analysis as a robust method to study regional innovation systems. Our results show that regional collaborations amongst organisations can be categorised by means of eight dimensions: public versus private organisational mindset; public versus private resources; innovation capacity versus available infrastructures; innovation input (allocated resources) versus innovation output; knowledge production versus knowledge dissemination; and collaborative capacity versus collaboration output. Collaborations which are aimed to generate innovation fell into 4 categories, those related to highly specialised public research institutions, public universities, private firms and governmental intervention. By comparing the representative cases of regions in terms of these four innovation actors, we propose policy measures for improving regional innovation collaboration within China.

District energy development in liberalised markets: situating UK heat network development in comparison with Dutch and Norwegian case studies

Many national energy policies envisage residual and renewable heat sources with district heating (DH) as a component of sustainable energy systems. There is however limited empirical evidence about facilitation of development in the context of liberalised markets and diminished local government control over direct service provision. Recent attempts to stimulate DH have had variable outcomes in different countries. Using five case studies, we ask why heat network development in the UK takes a relatively piecemeal and fragmented form in comparison with the Netherlands and Norway, countries whose heating sectors are comparable with the UK and where DH provision is limited. We argue that energy market liberalisation has been enacted differentially, resulting in different political and economic governance structures: in comparison with the UK liberal market economy, the more coordinated market economies of the Netherlands and Norway retain greater capacity for collaboration between energy utilities, localities and states, resulting in stronger foundations for district energy. Implications for UK governance are considered.

What makes innovation work? Innovation practice in the National Library of the Netherlands

The National Library of the Netherlands, (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, hereafter KB), has been innovating its services and organization for the past 20 years and expects to continue to do so in the future. The central question in this article is: what makes innovation work in the organization of the KB? We will focus on two use cases: the development of the recently opened Delpher portal, giving access to 30 million pages of digitized Dutch heritage, and the current development of the KB ResearchLab that gives internal and external researchers a platform for experiments. A review of innovation theory and practice (Balk 2013) provides us with a checklist of factors that determine the innovation capacity of a library, grouped in four themes: Leadership and culture, Knowledge and organizational learning, Collaboration capacity and Organizational design. By applying this innovation checklist to the use cases discussed, we hope to contribute to the body of best practice in innovation in national libraries. Finally, we will look ahead at the development of the National Digital Library of the Netherlands, integrating services for the public library community into the KB in the near future and share some potential scenarios for the future of the library landscape in the Netherlands with the audience.

Adaptation in collaborative governance regimes.

Adaptation and the adaptive capacity of human and environmental systems have been of central concern to natural and social science scholars, many of whom characterize and promote the need for collaborative cross-boundary systems that are seen as flexible and adaptive by definition. Researchers who study collaborative governance systems in the public administration, planning and policy literature have paid less attention to adaptive capacity specifically and institutional adaptation in general. This paper bridges the two literatures and finds four common dimensions of capacity, including structural arrangements, leadership, knowledge and learning, and resources. In this paper, we focus on institutional adaptation in the context of collaborative governance regimes and try to clarify and distinguish collaborative capacity from adaptive capacity and their contributions to adaptive action. We posit further that collaborative capacities generate associated adaptive capacities thereby enabling institutional adaptation within collaborative governance regimes. We develop these distinctions and linkages between collaborative and adaptive capacities with the help of an illustrative case study in watershed management within the National Estuary Program.

Mentoring librarians for scholarly publishing

This paper illustrates the experiences of the University of Namibia (UNAM) Library in demonstrating that librarians in its employment are, indeed, academic staff by research and publications and by performing academic support functions for researchers, students, faculties and centres. This was tested through the UNAM Library capacity building project initiative in partnership with the Helsinki University (HU) Library and Tampere University (UTA) Library, in Finland. The learning objectives of this collaborative project were to improve competencies of UNAM Library staff so that they are able to function expertly and competently in an academic environment and to evidently assert their position as academic staff. The approach applied in this collaborative capacity building project included staff exchanges to share best practices; joint seminars, meetings and mentorship programs with research as a cross cutting issue in all the areas. Staff members were encouraged to think critically about what they have learned, how it contributes to their work at UNAM and to develop their research skills. One of the highlights of this collaborative project is a book with the title Empowering People – Collaboration between Finnish and Namibian University Libraries. The book provides evidence to the librarians themselves as well to the university community that research and scholarly communication is equally a part and parcel of the librarians’ work.

Application of sandwich teaching method in teaching of medical psychology

Objective To explore the teaching effect of sandwich teaching in medical psychol-ogy. Methods Totally 101 preventive medicine majors of five-year program were divided into two groups：control group（n=52） and experimental group（n=49）. Students in control group were taught by traditional teaching while those in experimental group by sandwich teaching method. Teaching qualities were evaluated by final exam and questionnaire. Exam scores were expressed as x±s and were ana-lyzed by t test. Questionnaine results were expressed as number of people and percentage. Results Scores of experimental group in multiplechoice, case study and final grade （30.347±4.171, 32.031± 2.781, 74.296±5.642, respectively） were better than those of control group （28.520±4.443, 28.760± 4.305, 70.010±7.783, respectively）, with significant differences between two groups（P〈0.05 for all）. But there was no significant difference between two groups in short-answer questions score （11.918± 2.431, 12.731±2.523, respectively）（P〉0.05）. More than 80.0% students in experimental group thought sandwich teaching improved their communication collaborative capacity , logical thinking ability and problem solving ability, etc. Conclusions With satisfactory teaching effect, sandwich teaching promotes teaching quality. Key words: Sandwich teaching; Medical psychology

Preparing for distant collaboration: Antecedents to potential absorptive capacity in cross-industry innovation

Cross-industry innovation entails distinctive innovation opportunities and challenges according to the knowledge heterogeneity between the collaborating firms. This heterogeneity yields increases in organizational-level cognitive distance. Whereas recent theory suggests cognitive distance is positively related to exploratory innovation, too much distance can hinder efficient knowledge absorption and results in a reduced effect on novelty value. This paper focuses on the research question of how to build potential absorptive capacity for distant collaboration beyond established industry boundaries to gain radical rather than incremental results. To address this question, we mapped a cross-industry network using survey data on 215 bilateral cross-industry collaborations between firms from a variety of industries and captured cognitive proximity (the inverse of distance) in terms of overall knowledge redundancy between firms. This approach introduces a new method to infer organizational-level cognitive distance from network analysis. Subsequently, based on results from the network analysis, we examined coordination antecedents to potential absorptive capacity for cross-industry innovation with partners at moderate and high distance applying case study analysis. Our study revealed three alternative approaches to coordination antecedents that drive a firm׳s potential absorptive capacity for distant collaboration. These findings extend research on absorptive capacity to the field of cross-industry innovation.

Post-Disaster Local Collaboration on Residential Power Saving in Japan: Citizen Networks and Linkage with Local Government and the Workplace

The present study examines how post-disaster local collaboration towards effective power savings was accomplished in the summer of 2012 at the household level in the Japanese cities in Yokohama and Kawasaki following a major earthquake. A framework was developed to evaluate the local communities’ capacity for stakeholder collaboration. Results of a survey were analysed statistically to determine the emergence of citizens’ voluntary information sharing, as well as the effects of a local governmental campaign and powersaving education at the workplace, on actual powersaving practices at the household level by local residents. Proactive citizens shared the relevant information and adopted effective and enduring powersaving practices. Some citizens were also responsive to the call for power saving by local government and adopted effective power-saving practices. The residential power-saving education at the workplace was shown to have resulted in more effective and rational power-saving practices being carried out at the household level.

Global collaborative networks on meta-analyses of randomized trials published in high impact factor medical journals: a social network analysis

BackgroundResearch collaboration contributes to the advancement of knowledge by exploiting the results of scientific efforts more efficiently, but the global patterns of collaboration on meta-analysis are unknown. The purpose of this research was to describe and characterize the global collaborative patterns in meta-analyses of randomized trials published in high impact factor medical journals over the past three decades.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional, social network analysis. We searched PubMed for relevant meta-analyses of randomized trials published up to December 2012. We selected meta-analyses (including at least randomized trials as primary evidence source) published in the top seven high impact factor general medical journals (according to Journal Citation Reports 2011): The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, the BMJ, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine (now renamed JAMA Internal Medicine), and PLoS Medicine. Opinion articles, conceptual papers, narrative reviews, reviews without meta-analysis, reviews of reviews, and other study designs were excluded.ResultsOverall, we included 736 meta-analyses, in which 3,178 authors, 891 institutions, and 51 countries participated. The BMJ was the journal that published the greatest number of articles (39%), followed by The Lancet (18%), JAMA (15%) and the Archives of Internal Medicine (15%). The USA, the UK, and Canada headed the absolute global productivity ranking in number of papers. The 64 authors and the 39 institutions with the highest publication rates were identified. We also found 82 clusters of authors (one group with 55 members and one group with 54 members) and 19 clusters of institutions (one major group with 76 members). The most prolific authors were mainly affiliated with the University of Oxford (UK), McMaster University (Canada), and the University of Bern (Switzerland).ConclusionsOur analysis identified networks of authors, institutions and countries publishing meta-analyses of randomized trials in high impact medical journals. This valuable information may be used to strengthen scientific capacity for collaboration and to help to promote a global agenda for future research of excellence.

‘I’m not here to learn how to mark someone else’s stuff’: an investigation of an online peer-to-peer review workshop tool

In this article, we explore the intersecting concepts of fairness, trust and temporality in relation to the implementation of an online peer-to-peer review Moodle Workshop tool at a Sydney metropolitan university. Drawing on qualitative interviews with unit convenors and online surveys of students using the Workshop tool, we seek to highlight a complex array of attitudes, both varied and contested, towards online peer assessment. In particular, we seek to untangle convenors’ positive appraisal of the Workshop tool as a method of encouraging ‘meta-cognitive’ skills, and student perceptions relating to the redistribution of staff marking workload vis-à-vis the peer review tool as ‘unfair’, ‘time-consuming’ and ‘unprofessional’. While the Workshop tool represents an innovative approach to the development of students’ meta-cognitive attributes, the competitive atmosphere that circulates, and is quietly encouraged, within the tertiary education sector limits the true collaborative pedagogical potential and capacities approach built into peer-to-peer review initiatives like the Workshop tool.

Support for Sister-Affiliated Ministries During Challenging Times: Understanding a Foundation Initiative in Two Regions

Keywords: Foundation initiative, Catholic sisters, capacity buildingIntroductionCatholic sisters have established schools, hospitals, and social service ministries that have served hundreds of thousands of people over past 200 years (Leadership Conference for Women Religious, 2010). Due natural aging of Catholic sisters and a decline in new vocations, however, there is an accelerating loss of sisters and their ministries nationwide (Gautier & Cidade, 2010). Although this loss is itself a concern, a more important impact is experienced by beneficiaries of ministries, especially those who have few alternatives sister-affiliated social services. Because these ministries fill an important gap in social safety net for vulnerable populations, disappearance of ministry-directed efforts has begun draw attention of foundations (Wittberg, 2000).In 2001 Saint Ann Foundation (now Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland) conducted a research study on ministries of women religious across Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina and identified three challenges facing sisters and their ministries: (1) an aging and declining number of sisters in ministry; (2) an increase in underlying needs ministries were addressing; and (3) paucity of plans in place for transitioning ministry leadership or sustaining ministry services (Csank, 2002). To address these challenges foundation embarked upon a Collaboration for Ministry Initiative (CMI), with a goal of building collaborative capacity within and among ministries by providing grants, training and technical assistance, and opportunities for networking. Over time, Cleveland initiative narrowed focus on northeast Ohio.In 2003 Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina conducted a study of Catholic sisters in that state and reached similar conclusions regarding fewer sisters, their imperiled ministries, and need for collaborative capacity building (Csank, 2004). In 2004 CMI expanded South Carolina and efforts began across both regions build collaborative capacity of sister-affiliated ministries in an effort sustain positive impact on beneficiaries.Capacity-Building ContextThe notion of building capacity within and in support of sisters' ministries links closely broader domain of capacity building in nonprofit sector. Nonprofit capacity building has been focus of extensive study, and numerous definitions have been offered for capacity building in literature (Light, 2004). McPhee and Bare (2001) define capacity building as the ability of nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions in an effective manner. Gronbjerg and Cheney (2007) note seven operationalized dimensions of capacity building articulated in literature: financial resources, marketing, networking and advocacy, information technology, human resources, planning and programs, and operations and governance. At its core, capacity building essentially involves ability to secure outside resources and attain scale (Glickman & Servon, 1998, p. 502).In terms of strategies address capacity building, De Vita, Fleming, and Twombly (2001) propose three main types of activities: 1) assessment inside and outside of organization; 2) interventions using management consultation, training, and/or technical assistance; and 3) direct financial support for core operating support, specific grants, and working capital. Yet others have suggested that capacity building should go beyond finding ways increase nonprofits' financial-resource base include such things as developing a broad vision and assessing how organization can meet community's needs (Boris, 2001). Overall, nonprofit capacity-building literature provides good conceptual definitions and some guidance on identifying strategies and models for building nonprofit capacity (Fischer, 2004). …

Forester networks: The intersection of private lands policy and collaborative capacity

Privately owned forestland provides abundant ecosystem goods and services to society at scales beyond the individual forest parcel. However, successful mechanisms to encourage broad-scale management in privately owned, multifunctional, landscapes are relatively limited. In the United States, state agency and private foresters may be poised to help facilitate landscape-scale management given their role as gatekeepers to private landowner incentive programs or emerging markets for ecosystem goods and services. A key question remains as to the collaborative capacity of public and private sector foresters, especially in the face of evolving private forestry incentive programs, some of which have shifted toward public–private partnerships (PPP's). We used qualitative interviews and a social network survey with professional foresters in Northern Wisconsin, an area with a high demand for diverse forest ecosystem services, to identify the structure of current business networks among land managers in the region and characteristics of these relationships that may influence collaboration. Of the nearly 300 different individual professionals identified, most (86%) were state, consulting, or industry foresters, suggesting a relatively homogeneous network of professionals and potential need for other types of natural resource professionals to tie into existing foresters’ networks. We found that central network positions were occupied by all three types of foresters, while the qualitative analysis suggested the private forestry incentive program is likely driving, in part, network configuration. Interviews yielded a nuanced understanding of foresters’ relationships, including the impact of forest policy changes on public–private partnerships and specifically the growing role of private foresters in providing private lands forestry services and the need for successful mechanisms to reduce conflict and improve collaborative capacity among professionals.

Collaboration capacity for sustainable supply chain management: small and medium-sized enterprises in Mexico

Abstract Sustainability calls for multi-stakeholder initiatives; hence a requirement for implementing sustainable management approaches is the capacity of different actors to collaborate with each other. This research tested a theoretical model of collaboration capacity as a multi-dimensional organisational construct to gauge cleaner production implementation within supply chains. The construct measured operational, cooperative, and communicative routines of small and medium-sized firms to design, implement and communicate the results of cleaner production projects. Assessment focused on the collaboration capacity of 177 suppliers that participated in the Mexican Sustainable Supply Programme from 2005 to 2008. The results of the study revealed how a supplier's collaboration capacity is influenced by characteristics of firms and managers, such as the firm's sector, the number of participating managers and their profiles. Following collaboration theory reasoning, the empirical findings support the notion that collaboration may contribute to inter-organisational dynamics by strengthening knowledge absorption capacity, structuring solutions, and motivating activity around a commonly defined problem or goal such as cleaner production. Therefore, collaboration capacity is essential for effective implementation of cleaner production. Such cleaner production actions provide competitive advantages for sustainable supply chain management.

Learning by leading

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe an innovative senior-level leadership development programme in housing association, East Thames Group, which was designed to build the capabilities needed to lead the organisation through a transformation in its culture and working practices. The programme engaged leaders in navigating and shaping culture change in East Thames and in so doing significantly enhanced their capacity for self-awareness, decision making and collaboration. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a descriptive narrative of the leadership development process from its inception in November 2011, through the experience of two cohorts comprising 40 senior managers during 2012, to the formal conclusion of the process in January 2013. The narrative employs a modified version of the hero's journey to describe the process of individual and organisational development during this period. Findings – The paper proposes an effective alternative to prescriptive, competency-based, leadership programmes which is grounded instead in a problem-solving approach where capacity-building results from participants acting on “wicked” organisational problems and learning by leading. Research limitations/implications – Learning by leading is a flexible, highly contextualised alternative to programmatic approaches to leadership development. The challenges faced by East Thames will be familiar to leaders in both public and private sectors. This methodology is relevant wherever the strategic goal is a dual transformation in organisation performance and leadership capacity. Practical implications – The paper includes a model of leadership development based on five stages of the hero's journey. These design principles translate into a structure – a container – where leaders can think, act and learn together in order to decide how and where to intervene in their situation to make a difference. Originality/value – The paper presents a rare longitudinal description of a senior level leadership development process which used a complex organisational problem as a vehicle for both leadership agency and leadership learning.

Building Collaborative Capacity for Using and Evaluating the Impact of E-learning in Social Work Education: The Case of Law

This article reports on a learning set designed to support educators teaching law to social work students in England to build their capacity, first, for engaging with e-learning resources and, second, for evaluating the outcomes of their use in teaching. A mixed methods approach was used, including recording and transcription of the content of seven learning set meetings with eight participants over 2½ years, repeat measures questionnaires to capture changes in attitudes and orientation to the use of e-learning, reflective diaries, and individual interviews with learning set members. The findings demonstrate increased self-perceived capacity in blending e-learning into teaching and in researching the outcomes. The learning set enabled e-learning to become embedded in the curriculum progressively over two years. Participation was experienced as a constructive and empowering experience. There were positive changes in attitudes, motivators and barriers to the use of e-learning, and in orientation to the use of IT resulting in improved confidence. Similarly, understanding of, and the ability to apply, evaluation techniques to track changes in student learning improved throughout the project, confirming the collaborative capacity building value of the learning set approach. The findings have broad relevance for social work education beyond the teaching of law.

Maintaining sustainable island destinations in Scotland: The role of the transport–tourism relationship

The reliance on tourism as an economic generator has become increasingly important in island communities following a decline in traditional industries. The flow of visitors to these areas impacts upon a variety of sectors and service provisions, adds to job creation, and evokes vibrancy in areas with low and dispersed populations. The mercurial and interdependent nature of tourism is both supported and challenged by the input of numerous stakeholders with a heavy private sector advocacy. In comparison, whilst some entrepreneurial transport provision is evident, geographical distance and low population density contributes to subsidisation and public sector governance of transport systems to curb service irregularity and ensure infrastructure investment. This article investigates the feasibility of cross-sectoral interaction between transport and tourism stakeholders and their perceptions and experiences of working together to manage destinations. Exploratory research involving in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders identified a growing awareness of the benefits and necessity of collaboration between sectors to increase the attractiveness, accessibility and in turn sustainability of island destinations. Analysis suggests that the extent to which joint working occurs is dependent upon collaborative capacity; leadership; and the cohesion, strength and scope of local governance.

Abstract B12: The co-location of academia with the community in addressing cancer health disparities: A new model of partnerships for environmental public health

Abstract Environmental factors play an important and explanatory role in health disparities. Research suggests that a community should be an integral part of the process of solving community problems. Consequently, there has been a shift from traditional academic research to more community participatory approaches. To our knowledge none of these approaches have examined the role of academic co-locations (multiple site locations) as part of a community-level cancer prevention and disparities approach. Our co-location strategy involves exporting faculty and staff, clinical trials, interventions, outreach, education, and research from Georgetown University's main campus to a newly established office site located in Southeast, DC, a medically underserved area. Using the environmental focus group study as a case example of the impact of our co-location strategy, we seek to put forward an academic co-location definition and framework for implementation. Our findings show that co-location is a viable strategy that should be considered as part of a multifaceted approach in building and sustaining collaborative partnerships and research capacity, particularly within minority underserved communities. Focus group themes emerged around six topical areas: (1) the concept of environment, (2) perception of pollution, (3) perceptions of water quality, 4) perceptions of air quality, 5) health issues related environmental pollutants, (6) personal and community environment, and 7) environmental information received. Our co-location strategy was also associated with the following outcomes: beneficial in establishing trust, respect, accessibility, and success in study accrual and retention. Co-location benefits, challenges, and lessons learned are also discussed. Citation Format: Sherrie Flynt Wallington, Chiranjeev Dash, Rhonda Hamilton, Everett Dodson, Lucile L. Adams-Campbell. The co-location of academia with the community in addressing cancer health disparities: A new model of partnerships for environmental public health. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr B12.

Collaborative capacity sharing among manufacturers on the same supply network horizontal layer for sustainable and balanced returns

To deal with volatile demand and rapidly changing manufacturing technologies for sustainable returns, as a solution, collaborative capacity sharing (CCS) among manufacturers at the same horizontal layer in supply networks is discussed in this research, especially focusing on a long-term aspect. Such horizontal collaboration can minimise manufacturers’ lost sales, as well as maximise their production capacity utilisation in a long-term period against lumpy demand. Hence, to help manufacturers determine whether and with whom they have to collaborate a CCS protocol based on a theoretical analysis is developed. It is a distributed decision protocol suggesting an effective coalition for each manufacturer. Furthermore, for well-balanced distribution of resulting profits to each manufacturer, two procedures are proposed: (1) determination of appropriate substitution production cost and (2) bids among manufacturers/coalitions. To evaluate the effect of those processes, two types of CCS protocols are designed – CCS-(1) and CCS-(2); only CCS-(2) performs those procedures. A numerical experiment is conducted to compare the performance of four models: No collaboration, complete collaboration, and two types of selective collaboration by CCS-(1) and CCS-(2). The performance of CCS-(2) is at least equal to or better than other models with higher and balanced returns.

Identical, Fraternal, or Separated at Birth: A Case Study of Educator Teams Within American-Israeli School Twinning

School-to-school collaboration has emerged as a key paradigm for fostering personal and institutional connections between Israeli and Diaspora youth, educators, and schools. Using the findings of a multi-year case study of a high school level twinning initiative, this article describes the challenges to this form of transnational collaboration and takes the first steps to articulating a theory of intervention of Israeli-Diaspora school twinning at the organizational level. The article suggests two processes, collaborative capacity and cultural competence, critical to development of positive and productive relationships in school partnerships. Institutional twinning is suggested as the goal of these interventions at the organizational level.

Optimization Deployment of Multi-Platform Earth Observation Resources for Emergencies

in emergency, to improve the collaborative observation capacity of multiple platform resources, including satellite, airship and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), an approach for deploying resources based on genetic optimization is proposed in this paper. We model the observation area into grids, and formulate the multi-platform resource deployment as a combination optimization problem, which has the goal of maximizing the cover probability of the observation area in the constraint of response time. Integer encoding is adopted in the approach to represent the positions of resources. Besides, elitism strategy is applied to improve the convergence rate. Experiment results demonstrate that the approach based on genetic can get satisfactory multi-platform resources deployment solutions in a short time, solving multi-platform resource optimization deployment problem effectively.