Corporate Partners Research Articles

The Growth of Food Aid in Sweden – How Demand and Supply are Transforming Charitable Organisations

Abstract The purpose of this article is to describe and analyse the growth in food aid in Sweden, and how it affects the non-profit organisations providing it. The particular type of food aid in focus is large-scale collaborations between charitable non-profit organisations and the food industry, through which food surplus is turned into food aid for people in food insecurity. The first examples of such food aid emerged less than 10 years ago in Sweden, but it has since experienced a dramatic growth. The development in Sweden follows a pattern known from many other European countries, with the exception that it is going faster, as if Sweden is catching up. This makes food aid in Sweden an interesting case for an empirical study. The article is based on an interview study performed in 2022. Staff and managers at two large, national organisations were interviewed about how the rapid growth in food aid has affected their work and the institutional logics of their organisations. They also provided their thoughts on the role of food aid in Swedish society. One of the main findings is that the growth in food aid bring both the benefit of more people in need receiving help, and the challenge of strain as well as concerns regarding ethics and mission drift in the organisations. Another finding is that the growth is driven by both a growth in demand for food aid, but also by a growth in supply of food from the charities and their corporate partnerships.

Establishing Literacy Foundations : Policies and Interventions for Indonesia's Future Excellence

This study explores the current condition of children's literacy in Indonesia focusing on several critical issues including the impact of inequality in literacy access, the factors influencing the quality of teaching languages, exploring the development of local literacy cultures and reading preferences in order to create a more inclusive literacy program, and the evaluation of current literacy policies. A policy analysis and document/library analysis method with qualitative research approach were used to gather data from documentation studies of literacy policies, reports on implementation and current literatures related to children's literacy in Indonesia. The data analysis technique of this research applied thematic analysis to review, identify, and analyze the data. The results showed that Indonesia still experiences a protracted learning crisis, particularly in relation to children's literacy. Factors like low literacy activities, Covid-19 pandemic and the results of national assessments indicate a serious challenge regarding the performance of children's literacy. Limited children's reading interest and availability of suitable book collections also pose a challenge to overcome. The study proposes several steps to improve children's literacy in Indonesia, including increasing accessibility and variety of book collections, enhancing collaboration between relevant authorities, harmonising with the global literacy standards, widening access to books, particularly in rural communities, involving the local community and establishing corporate partnerships with private sectors. The study hopefully provides a meaningful contribution to developing solutions to Indonesia's children's literacy challenges and strategies to improve children's literacy.

Is a Government-Led Approach to Surveil Unhealthy Commodity Industries Feasible? Comment on "National Public Health Surveillance of Corporations in Key Unhealthy Commodity Industries – A Scoping Review and Framework Synthesis"

Bennett and colleagues’ paper aims to synthesize the existing frameworks to identify and monitor unhealthy commodity industry’s (UCI’s) influence on health "to create a template surveillance system to be used by national governments across industries." In this commentary, we argue that to achieve a robust government-led national surveillance system, some challenges should be considered, such as (a) addressing power asymmetries between government and UCIs involved in policy-making, (b) evaluating competing interests among government constituencies to achieve policy coherence around health issues, and (c) contemplate whether governments rely on private or corporate donors and partners that may threaten financing and operationalization of the surveillance. Suggestions on how to overcome these challenges are beyond the scope of this commentary, but we discuss some cases of bottom-up approaches from organized groups aiming to hold UCIs accountable. We consider them to be emerging effective ways to support government-led initiatives and counter the long-lasting corporate power and negative impacts on public health.

Productive Tensions of Corporate Pride Partnerships: Towards a Relational Ethics of Constitutive Impurity

AbstractBased on a qualitative study of Copenhagen 2021 WorldPride, this article explores collaboration between the local organiser and its corporate partners, focusing on the tensions involved in this collaboration, which emerge from and uphold relations between the extremes of unethical pinkwashing, on the one hand, and ethical purity, on the other. Here, pinkwashing is understood as a looming risk, and purity as an unrealizable ideal. As such, corporate sponsorships of Pride are conceptualized as inherently impure—and productive because of their very impurity rather than despite it. Analytically, we identify and explore three productive tensions where the first involves emergent normativities for what constitutes good, right, or proper corporate engagement in Pride, the second revolves around queer(ed) practices and products that open normativities, and the third centres on the role of internal LGBTI+ employee-driven networks whose activism pushes organisations to become further involved in Pride, developing aspirational solidarity. Reading across literatures on corporate activism and queer organisation, we introduce Alexis Shotwell’s notion of constitutive impurity to suggest that the potential for ethical corporate Pride partnerships arises when accepting the risk of pinkwashing rather than seeking to overcome it.

Modern environmental, economic, and legal challenges of tourism enterprises

Choosing the best strategy for the functioning of a tourism enterprise is a considerable factor that affects its safety and development. Such choices depend on a considerable number of variables, including environmental, economic, and legal challenges, which are exacerbated by the hyper-dynamic environment. The purpose of this study was to develop a methodical approach to evaluating the strategies of functioning of a tourism enterprise. The key research methods were the expert analysis method, which helped to determine the impact of certain challenges, and the BOCR method, which formed the basis for modelling. The study created a model for evaluating the proposed two variants for the strategy of functioning of a tourism enterprise according to the four BOCR criteria: positive effects, costs, opportunities, and risks of environmental, economic, and legal nature. Thus, it was possible to create a basis for building an information framework for the development and implementation of an optimised strategy that will satisfy all the environmental, economic, and legal needs of the modern tourism industry. It was found that martial law in Ukraine leads to an increase in the dynamism of the external environment, wherein an adaptive approach allows such open socio- economic systems as modern tourism enterprises to function safely. The study found that the best strategy for tourism enterprises as of 2024 is a dynamic adaptive one, which involves dynamic actions and allocation of own resources for the development of domestic tourism with the expansion of international corporate cooperation and partnership. The study described how the proposed strategy of operation affects the legal security of tourism enterprises. The practical value and significance of the findings obtained is that the proposed methodological approach to assessing the strategies of functioning of a tourism enterprise can be used by the subjects of both economic and legal security, which include the management of the enterprises themselves and persons making managerial decisions in the field of ensuring their security

Identification of Expected Growth in Crypto Currency

Identifying the expected growth in cryptocurrency involves analyzing a combination of market trends, technological advancements, regulatory developments, and economic indicators. Historical performance and adoption rates of major cryptocurrencies provide insight into market trends, while innovations in blockchain technology, such as Ethereum 2.0 and Layer 2 solutions, along with the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), highlight significant technological advancements. Regulatory developments, including supportive legislation and the involvement of institutional investors through financial products like Bitcoin ETFs, play a crucial role in shaping market confidence and investment. Economic indicators, such as inflation, monetary policies, and global events, also influence interest in cryptocurrencies as alternative assets. Investor sentiment, driven by public perception, media coverage, and social media activity, impacts market dynamics. Additionally, research from financial analysts, market research firms, and academic studies, along with corporate partnerships and the integration of crypto solutions with traditional systems, contribute to growth predictions. Monitoring market capitalization and trading volumes further helps gauge market interest and liquidity. By considering these multifaceted factors, a more comprehensive understanding of the potential growth in the cryptocurrency market can be achieved.

Pecos Bill and the campaign against children’s Comics in Postwar Italy

ABSTRACT This essay studies the case of Pecos Bill: The Legendary Hero of Texas, a western comic published in Italy by Mondadori from 1949 to 1954. I analyze the series in the context of the widespread national campaign against comics and in relation to the cultural politics of Mondadori’s corporate partner Walt Disney. Both Catholic and Leftist critics condemned western fictions because of their violent and sexual content. Debates about children’s magazines and their educational purposes, on the other hand, were minimally concerned with how western narratives represented race, ethnicity, or gender. Pecos Bill was blacklisted,even though Mondadori’s cowboy is a wholesome hero who never fires a gun. Starting from this discrepancy, my analysis sheds light on the contradictions within the campaign against comics and explores issues of identity politics in Italian children’s readings. I demonstrate that representations of Mexican and African characters, as well as of whiteness and of American history, promoted the same anti-leftist and racist discourses of Disney’s western fictions at the time of the Cold War.

Multiple pathways to organizational legitimacy: Information visibility, organizational listening, and cross-sector partnerships

Given the critical role of legitimacy in attracting key resources for organizational survival and growth, organizational and strategic communication research has long sought to understand the mechanisms essential in improving organizational legitimacy. Guided by stakeholder research and configurational thinking, we examine three interconnected communication mechanisms for relationship management in organizational legitimation: (a) information visibility, (b) organizational listening, and (c) cross-sector partnerships. Based on survey and archival data from 44 U.S. nonprofit organizations, we employed a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify the pathways to high or low organizational legitimacy. Our results reveal the combinations of these factors can complement or substitute for one another to explain legitimacy. Specifically, high pragmatic legitimacy requires effective listening to stakeholders and collaborating with government agencies. By contrast, in low pragmatic legitimacy, organizations are often hindered by limited capacity for information visibility, ineffective listening to stakeholders, and no collaboration with corporate partners. These results suggest theoretical contributions to stakeholder research in public relations and organizational and strategic communication scholarship, as well as practical implications for improving organizational legitimacy for mission-driven organizations.

Unveiling the power of youtube in digital financial literacy

Research aims: The importance of digital financial literacy (DFL) as a core component of education is expected to grow in the digital age. Social media platforms have made huge improvements in their ability to support information sharing and the establishment of educational communities. A total of 30 samples were obtained from YouTube video creators in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The authors compared two models of User Engagement Rate in this study, specifically Commitment 1: Engagement Rate and Commitment 2: Total Engagement. The objective of this study is, thus, to investigate the characteristics of social media video content that resulted in greater user interaction on social media platforms, specifically in the context of using YouTube as a platform for digital financial literacy tools.Design/Methodology/Approach: The present study employed quantitative methodologies, specifically exploratory factor analysis and predictive regression models.Research findings: The findings indicate that the fluency of videos, vividness level, and content type exerted a substantial influence on user engagement rate when considered in an integrated way rather than individually. The factors of popularity and virality had a substantial impact on the rates of user engagement.Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study represents a pioneering investigation into the potential of YouTube as a catalyst for progress in the realm of financial education, with a specific focus on enhancing digital financial literacy. Practitioner/Policy implication: Collaboration between content creators, corporate partners, and government entities can be leveraged to produce a very successful and widely shared video, hence creating the lucrative potential for monetization.Research limitation/Implication: This study was limited to three countries located in the Southeast Asian region, serving as the residence for content providers.

Research shows more awareness could boost employee payroll giving

Nonprofits that are fortunate enough to be eligible recipients of corporate payroll giving programs might want to inquire with their corporate partners about the ways in which they are communicating with their employees about these effective and much valued programs.

Модели и формы взаимодействия университета и корпоративных партнеров

This article explores the significance of human capital in the contemporary economy and the mismatch between the educational system and the business needs. The importance of universities collaborating with corporate partners is highlighted, and key models describing such interaction are presented, along with identified drivers and barriers. A classification of interaction forms is proposed to cultivate an innovative environment and enhance the quality of human capital.

Public Relations Strategies for Non-Profit Organizations

Purpose: This study aimed to examine how different public relations strategies affect the effectiveness of non-profit organizations' communication and relationships with their stakeholders.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to public relations strategies for non- profit organizations. The yielded valuable insights into the multifaceted landscape of non-profit PR. Through diverse empirical studies, it was found that effective PR strategies played a pivotal role in shaping organizational visibility, credibility, and impact. Key conclusions drawn from the research included the transformative potential of digital platforms in amplifying reach and mobilizing support, the importance of stakeholder engagement and strategic storytelling in fostering donor loyalty and conveying organizational impact, the critical role of transparency and proactive communication in navigating crises, and the significance of strategic partnerships in enhancing organizational capacity and impact. Overall, the findings underscored the importance of adopting a holistic and strategic approach to non-profit PR to achieve mission-driven objectives and effect positive change.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Systems theory, Stakeholder theory and Diffusion of Innovation theory may be used to anchor future studies on public relations strategies for non- profit organizations. The study provided several key recommendations to enhance PR practices in the non-profit sector. It recommended that NPOs invest in advanced social media analytics tools, cultivate authentic donor relationships, develop robust crisis communication plans, seek out strategic corporate partnerships, engage in rigorous advocacy planning, invest in storytelling resources and training, and leverage digital advocacy tools. These recommendations aimed to improve PR effectiveness by emphasizing evidence-based decision-making, donor-centric approaches, proactive crisis management, strategic collaboration, and leveraging digital platforms for advocacy and storytelling. Through these recommendations, the study contributed to both theory and practice in the non-profit sector, offering actionable insights to enhance organizational communication strategies.

Big AI: Cloud infrastructure dependence and the industrialisation of artificial intelligence

Critical scholars contend that ‘There is no AI without Big Tech’. This study delves into the substantial role played by major technology conglomerates, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google (Alphabet), in the ‘industrialisation of artificial intelligence’. This concept encapsulates the shift of AI technologies from the research and development stage to practical, real-world applications across diverse industry sectors, resulting in new dependencies and associated investments. We employ the term ‘Big AI’ to encapsulate the structural convergence of AI and Big Tech, characterised by the profound interdependence of AI with the infrastructure, resources, and investments of these major technology companies. Using a ‘technographic’ approach, our study scrutinises the infrastructural support and investments of Big Tech in the AI sector, focussing on corporate partnerships, acquisitions, and financial investments. Additionally, we conduct a detailed examination of the complete spectrum of cloud platform products and services offered by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. We demonstrate that AI is not merely an abstract idea but an actual technology stack encompassing infrastructure, models, applications, and an ecosystem of applications and companies relying on this stack. Significantly, these tech giants have seamlessly integrated all three components of the stack into their cloud offerings. Furthermore, they have developed industry-focussed solutions and marketplaces aimed at attracting third-party developers and businesses, fostering the growth of a broader AI ecosystem. This analysis underscores the intricate interdependence between AI and cloud infrastructure, emphasising the industry-specific aspects of cloud AI.

Legal Issues in Corporate Partnerships and Joint Ventures

This research paper aims to comprehensively explore the multifaceted legal issues associated with corporate partnerships and joint ventures. As businesses increasingly turn to collaboration strategies to achieve mutual growth and competitive advantages, understanding the legal intricacies becomes paramount. This paper delves into the legal frameworks governing corporate partnerships and joint ventures, highlighting potential pitfalls and offering insights into best practices for effective risk management. By analyzing relevant legal precedents, the paper aims to provide a thorough understanding of the legal challenges that arise in these collaborative endeavors and proposes strategies for mitigating risks.

Impact of stakeholder engagement strategies on managerial cognitive decision-making: the context of CSP and CSR

PurposeThis study aims to explore the strategies corporations use in engaging stakeholders to sustain healthy corporate partnerships and create value for the corporate entity and the society in which they operate and their influence on the corporate manager’s cognitive abilities and decision-making.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used an interpretive research approach leveraging the strengths of qualitative method of content analysis and comparative and critical analyses to report the results. Interpretive methods incorporate social theories and standpoints that view reality as the social construction of understandable events in the context of organizational communication.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that corporations are assumed to follow and execute the principles of engaging stakeholders to achieve corporate social responsibility (CSR) claiming to manage a sustainable and responsible business practices that recognize local cultures, human rights and protect the environment. However, little attention has been paid to the cognitive reasoning of the individuals responsible for CSR and corporate sustainability (CS) as opposed to the growing concerns about strategies corporations use in engaging stakeholders to sustain healthy corporate partnerships and create value – especially the processes that take place during engagement and decision-making including cognitive offloading.Practical implicationsStakeholder engagement requires practical approaches that enable corporations and individuals charged with decision-making responsibilities to understand, respond and fulfill their CSRs. To achieve CSRs, corporations and managers responsible for relevant decision-making would need to involve stakeholders in social performance planning, as social reporting/auditing has long been advocating for preventing managerial biasness, groupthink and increased information dissemination via detailed reporting practices toward more collaborative stakeholder relationships. Thus, it is crucial for corporations to implement enhanced stakeholder and managerial decision-making strategies such as integrative approaches to achieve balance in the trio elements of sustainability as well as the growing use of paradox perspective to understand the nature of the tensions being sought to balance and, in the process, provide opportunity for a better evaluation of complex sustainability issues for innovative approach to resolving them. While cognitive decision-making is at play, in practice, managers tasked with making decisions must ensure the most effective stakeholder engagement strategies that are transparent and inclusive are used.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study is its argument regarding the tools corporations use in engaging key stakeholders and the cognitive reasoning of the individuals responsible for CSR and CS. The study further contributes to interpreting the integrative approach to achieving balance in the trio elements of sustainability as well as the growing use of paradox perspective to understand the nature of the tensions being sought to balance and, in the process, provide an opportunity for a better evaluation of complex sustainability issues for an innovative approach to resolving them.

Providing a framework and guidelines for sport organizations to understand and predict sport consumer behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this commentary is to discuss a framework (the Revised Model of Sport Consumer Behavior – R-MSCB; Trail, 2019) to accomplish the following objectives. (1) Provide a framework for sport marketers and sport organizations to use in their own market research. (2) Designate the processes needed to generate results and knowledge that sport organizations, sport marketers and associated corporate partners can use to improve marketing campaigns. (3) Provide suggestions for analytic techniques and measurement constructs/instruments that will facilitate market research within the sport industry.Design/methodology/approachThe author created a 140-item questionnaire for the pre-survey and a 50-item questionnaire for the post-survey. The pre-survey was given at the beginning of the season, and the post-survey was given at the end of the season. The research group has generated a sequence of 13 studies and has collected pre-survey responses from over 7,800 people across 4 continents, 8 sports and 13 teams (data collections), with more teams still planned and over 2,000 post-season survey responses with data collection continuing.FindingsThis project, with its 13 studies, will provide sport organizations with the theories/frameworks, knowledge and processes to do their own market research in a more effective and efficient manner and will show sport organizations how to understand the complexities of sport consumer behavior, the motivations behind it and how it varies extensively across individuals. The author will show sports organizations how to collect data from their consumers using valid and reliable measures and constructs that will allow them to segment their consumers, how to effectively market to those segments and how to establish long-lasting relationships that make a satisfied and loyal customer.Originality/valueThis paper provides the framework and guidelines so that sport marketers and researchers can identify specific variables, constructs and relationships that will further their own objectives when attempting to explain sport consumer behavior. Using their own market research, they can implement the results/output in association with the Communications Strategy Model to create more effective and efficient marketing and communications campaigns and consequently drive key performance indicators (KPIs) and improve revenue streams.

The Data Mine model for accessible partnerships in data science

AbstractThe Data Mine at Purdue University is a pioneering experiential learning community for undergraduate and graduate students of any background to learn data science. The first data‐intensive experience embedded in a large learning community, The Data Mine had nearly 1300 students in academic year (AY) 2022–2023 and nearly 1700 students for AY 2023–2024. The Data Mine embodies data‐infused education, research, and collaboration. Students learn Python, R, SQL, and shell‐scripting, while working on weekly projects within a high‐performance computing (HPC) cluster. In the Corporate Partners cohort, students work on teams of 5–15 students, led by a paid student team leader. Each cohort follows an Agile approach, working on data‐intensive projects provided by industry partners and mentored by company employees. Students develop professional and data skills throughout the academic year, from August through April. Many students return in subsequent years to the program, increasing their tenure with a Corporate Partner. Student teams are inherently interdisciplinary; students from 133 different majors are involved in the program, ranging from new incoming students through PhD level students. These interdisciplinary teams of students bring new perspectives to challenging problems in which data science is a key part of the solution. The interdisciplinary teams foster an environment of synthesis with ideas and solutions. Students come together with different life experiences, different levels of technical skill, but also varying ways they navigate paths to solutions because of the variety of majors represented, resulting in a more creative and robust solution than a traditional data science program.This article is categorized under: Applications of Computational Statistics > Education in Computational Statistics

Digitalisation: prerequisites and challenges in modern conditions

Digital transformation is becoming an integral part of modern business, opening up new opportunities, but also involving risks. This article presents a study of the risks of digital transformation, focusing on identifying key aspects and recommendations for effective management. The authors analysed cybersecurity, data management, changes in corporate culture, staff training and partnership development in the context of digital transformation. The findings revealed the need for an integrated approach to risk management that includes strategic planning, responding to changes in the environment, and ongoing staff training. The recommendations presented offer organisations the tools and approaches to successfully overcome the challenges of digital transformation and ensure sustainable growth in the digital age. The generalised approach to risk management presented in the article facilitates effective adaptation and innovative development in today's digital environment. In addition to analysing risks, the article also discusses the importance of strategic planning and developing flexible strategies to respond to changes in the digital environment. Particular attention is paid to managing change within an organisation and developing an innovation culture that facilitates successful adaptation to new technologies. The authors emphasise the importance of continuous training and development of employees so that they can effectively use digital tools and actively participate in the transformation process. In addition, the article discusses the implementation of effective risk monitoring and assessment systems that allow for the timely identification and management of potential threats.

PRMIA Hungary Chapter and the 2023 Research Conference

Financial risks are a constant challenge for business organizations, and failure to manage them properly often has unforeseen consequences, as many crises have shown. In recent years, the regulation of risk management in financial institutions has increasingly focused on optimizing specific metrics, while a holistic approach, a classic risk management attitude, is necessary to understand and address the challenges of the operation on time. This paper describes the main activities of the Hungarian Chapter of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA), through the events of the past years. The focus is on the annual research conference of PRMIA Hungary, a selection of articles from which are included in this issue. In recent years, the spectrum of programs offered by the organization has developed and become more colorful, thanks to the voluntary work of the steering committee and the support of corporate partners and sponsors. Our aim is to connect and develop the risk management community, and we welcome all contributions.

Exploration of Talent Cultivation Strategies for Higher Vocational Industry-Teaching Integration under the Orientation of Career Trajectory Portrait

Abstract The fusion of industry and education plays a pivotal role in optimizing talent training structures, facilitating the conversion of scientific and technological achievements, and driving the upgrade and high-quality growth of the economy. This study applies a clustering algorithm, a form of data mining, to categorize students based on personality traits, learning capabilities, and career preferences. This categorization aids vocational institutions in selecting suitable corporate partners for training programs. Furthermore, we introduce a collaborative filtering algorithm to establish a bipartite graph that matches the attributes of students and companies. This approach enhances the practical skills of students and supports the strategic integration of industry and education in talent development. After the experimental research, it was found that after the implementation of the senior industry-teaching integration talent cultivation measurement rate, the average score of the higher vocational education improvement status is 4.20, the average score of the industry’s satisfaction with the higher vocational is 3.35, and the average score of the higher vocational talent cultivation characteristics is 4.41, which indicates that the industry-teaching integration education model constructed in this paper can effectively promote the formation of the characteristics of the higher vocational schooling and talent cultivation. By integrating industry teaching, this paper’s parenting model can help change the vocational faculty structure and improve student employment rates.