Cultural Institutions Research Articles

Looking Through the Entrepreneurial Kaleidoscope—Examining Stereotypes Against Commercial, Social, Environmental, and Community Entrepreneurs in Kenya and Germany

For the greater part of entrepreneurial history, entrepreneurship’s primary target was commercial, i.e., money generation for the entrepreneur and his or her stakeholders. However, starting in the 1980s, hybrid forms of entrepreneurship fusing the creation of non-financial value with entrepreneurial means have gained traction. Currently, several conceptually different forms, e.g., social, environmental, and community entrepreneurship, exist. Research yields various differences comparing commercial and hybrid entrepreneurship, particularly in the stereotypical perceptions of different entrepreneurs. Notwithstanding notable insights, entrepreneurial stereotype research suffers from three major shortcomings. First, stereotype differences are primarily examined by comparing commercial to hybrid entrepreneurs, neglecting stereotype differences inside hybrid entrepreneurship. Second, the scope of stereotypes investigated (e.g., warmth and competence) remains vague and lacks entrepreneurial specificity. Third, the robustness of entrepreneurial stereotypes under different institutional circumstances, e.g., in economy and culture, is unclear. The current study addresses these three shortcomings. Analyzing two samples from Kenya and Germany (Ntotal = 286) with repeated-measures analyses of co-variance, we find notable stereotype differences (i) inside hybrid entrepreneurs; (ii) regarding warmth, competence, and entrepreneurship-specific success indicators; and (iii) under different institutional circumstances. Despite acknowledgeable limitations, our work extends previous stereotype research by highlighting the necessity for a more fine-grained, specific, and inter-country perspective on entrepreneurial stereotypes.

Professional cultural institutions and the community? Lessons from the first community production of the Barcelona opera house

ABSTRACT Large cultural institutions have been given goals that go well beyond their conventional artistic endeavours. Opera houses are no exception. One strategy they attempt is to stage community productions, but how does this activity match with institutions that seek “artistic excellence”? We focus on a case study of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, and firstly see to what extent productions staged by large cultural institutions can be considered community-based programmes. Secondly, we analyse if these programmes are realistic in terms of reaching their target population. Lastly, we study the degree of participation achieved. In order to do so, we review the concepts of access and participation to build our own analytical framework. We also follow a qualitative and quantitative methodology, performing interviews and fielding a questionnaire to participants. We think that our research and results are relevant from both an analytical point of view and an empirical perspective: in terms of access, the Liceu worked towards correcting the underrepresentation of minority groups in artistic forms that obtain public funding, but these efforts were limited; regarding participation, the opera was developed for, with and by the community depending on the action analysed, and it combined crowd-sourcing, co-creation and audience-as-artist actions.

Poland’s Cultural Diplomacy in Ukraine

The article examines the peculiarities of the implementation of the Republic of Poland's implementation of cultural diplomacy in Ukraine. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of the basic foundations and principles of the development of Polish cultural diplomacy in modern modern times, and the activities of governmental and non-governmental institutions working in the field of cultural diplomacy. It is noted that the development of Poland's cultural diplomacy has been positively influenced by its EU membership, the modernization and expansion of cultural infrastructure, the growing number of cultural institutions in Poland, and the intensification of Ukrainian-Polish cultural cooperation The activities of cultural diplomacy actors such as the Polish Institute in Kyiv, the Center for Polish Culture and European Dialogue in Ivano-Frankivsk, the Mickiewicz Institute, the Stefan Batory Foundation, the Other Space Foundation, the Krzysztof Skubiszewski Foundation, and the Lane Kirkland Program, and their roles in developing and strengthening Ukrainian-Polish cultural cooperation are analyzed. Since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is noted that the Polish government has continued to advance cultural diplomacy in Ukraine. The Polish Institute, in particular, has been implementing numerous cultural and artistic projects at various levels. Support for the Polish diaspora during the war has intensified, Polish culture is being increasingly promoted, and scientific diplomacy is actively progressing, particularly through joint Ukrainian-Polish research, scientific exchanges, and academic mobility programs for scholars.

Patient safety in a rural sub-Saharan Africa hospital: A 7-year experience at the AIC Kijabe Hospital, Kenya.

The development of a safety culture is challenging, primarily because it often disrupts institutional attitudes, norms and values. In the healthcare industry, most of the data on the results of unsafe care come from High-Income Countries. The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS) is a tool for assessing, building, sustaining and comparing institutional safety cultures within healthcare organizations. We used the HSOPS over a 7-year period, and herein report our experience. The authors report their experience using the HSOPS tool in Kijabe Hospital, an institution with 650 employees, over a 7-year period. The HSOPS tool, with no local modifications, was distributed to all employees during each survey. The institutional HSOPS percent positive dimension scores for 2015, 2017 and 2019 were compared with baseline data from the 2013 survey. The average response rate during the study period was 84.5% (range 65.1% to 93.6%). In general, the mean percentage positive dimension scores of most domains improved in the 2019 survey (p<0.05), including reduced staff turnover and, improved hospital support for patient safety (p<0.0001), amongst other domains. The overall patient safety grade (excellent/very good), was 50% (range 43-64%). Although the dynamics of high staff turnover and hospital leadership change presented challenges in developing and measuring institutional patient safety culture, this study demonstrates that patient safety ideals can be developed and embraced in sub-Saharan Africa. Patient safety champions, a generative institutional leadership that is supportive of patient safety, are important for the development of an institutional safety culture. Creating an institutional just culture creates a patient safety culture.

Convivial Scenes on the Strand, 1823

Adopting an associational and wandering approach, this article reconstructs some of the scenes and figures which might have been encountered by a visitor to the Strand in 1823. These include William Blake, in Fountain Court, or William Godwin near the church of St Clement’s, visited that year by his daughter Mary Shelley, with whom he attended an adaptation of her novel Frankenstein on a nearby stage. The scene depicted here around the Strand in 1823 also includes buskers and their crowding audiences, which are in turn presented as members of delightful scenes available in a burgeoning reproduced literature. Less visible perhaps are the agitating radicals meeting in pubs and back rooms and those drawn inside the cultural institutions in the area. The core inquiry here is into education, that is to say, what constitutes an education, how and to who does it circulate, and what is to come of it? Is it to be found in the old academic institutions, in the newly founded ones, such as the Juvenile Library or the London Mechanics’ Institution? Or, more radically, does it rise up on the streets, in the pubs and the popular theatres, or is it perhaps, something that will be stored up in back rooms waiting for a future into which it can finally be released? Who are its recipients? What is the past and future of a radical vernacular education?

Towards a ‘Newer Normal’? A Bibliometric Analysis Examining Organisational Culture in the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape in the United Kingdom

Concern continues to grow over the changing nature of work that initially formed a ‘new normal’ within higher education institutions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation is now being further impacted by subsequent economic and political challenges in the sector, which in turn shifts the workplace towards an even ‘newer normal’. The purpose of this article is to: (1) methodically and logically review the extant literature and research linking the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic to the organisational culture of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom; and (2) based on a bibliometric analysis, to offer a road map for further empirical research in the future. Researchers have found that changing workplace norms, such as remote and hybrid working and other forms of flexibility in approaches to learning and the availability of delivery modes, have become increasingly common, which has changed the nature of working practices and underpinning aspects of organisational culture. Therefore, it now appears opportune to update existing knowledge on organisational culture theory within the United Kingdom higher education context to support policy development and enhance workplace practices in the post-COVID-19 period. From a theoretical perspective, this article contributes to organisational culture literature by assimilating a dataset of nascent studies generated through keyword search on Clarivate Analytics Web of Science that have examined the impact of COVID-19 on organisational culture in United Kingdom higher education institutions. This emergent dataset was analysed using VOS Viewer, with the results of subsequent quantitative bibliometric analysis identifying the main existing research fronts as well as potential research directions for the empirical development of organisational culture. Based on this bibliometric analysis, the main suggested future research agendas that need to be addressed linked to organisational culture in the UK higher education sector in the post-COVID period are: (a) to further examine changing cultural norms and expectations; (b) hybrid approaches to working; (c) academic identity; and (d) organisational culture and the changing psychological contract. Such research is important as the UK Higher Education sector now progresses towards an even ‘newer normal’.

Deciphering the Iconic: An Inquiry into how Architecture Impacts the Inclusiveness of Cultural Institutions

Public libraries have seen a decline in attendance numbers in recent years, especially among visitors with lower levels of education. Public libraries have also significantly altered their ‘look and feel’ in the last two decades, with many now being housed in buildings with a very contemporary and ‘iconic’ architectural style. Our research explores whether these two developments are connected and how education- and class-based differences regarding the experience of architecture affect the inclusiveness of public libraries. An experimental research design (using Virtual Reality) was developed, allowing us to study what exactly makes buildings and spaces less inviting for certain types of (potential) visitors. Results suggest that lower educated (potential) visitors tend to find ‘iconic’ libraries less recognizable (as libraries) and less inviting, but also that generational effects are important to take into consideration and that some aspects of architecture are experienced and evaluated in a relatively ‘universalistic’ way.

Knowledge Dissemination and Social Functions: The Multiple Roles of Shanghai Libraries in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China

This study focuses on the multi-dimensional function of Shanghai libraries in academic exchange and social functions from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. Through the analysis of the social dynamic changes of Shanghai in this historical period, the first thing is to outline the social evolution of the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, and reveal the role of Shanghai as an important city in China. Then, the paper reviews the development of Shanghai Libraries since its establishment in detail, and emphasizes its cornerstone position in the collection, storage and cataloguing of document resources, especially its effectiveness in promoting the popularization of national education and promoting international cultural communication. In addition, the paper further discusses its function as a public place for leisure study, as well as its role in promoting social enlightenment and urban historical and cultural inheritance. By reflecting on the function and limitation of Shanghai Libraries in the historical moment and evaluating it from a fair and impartial perspective, this can provide historical reference for the construction and forward-looking planning of modern libraries. To sum up, Shanghai Libraries plays a key role in the central zone of knowledge circulation. In fact, it is a cultural institution that drives social innovation. In the long river from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, its historical position is irreplaceable.

Misje i cele instytucji kultury

This article uses various examples to show how the different goals of cultural institutions are being realised in practice. The mission of each cultural institution is the starting point for many plethora of tasks carried out by the in- stitution. It is clearly intended to exhibit why and for whom the institution exists, what it does, what its values are and what it aims to become. This mission should be unique for each cultural institution and permanent. Selected mission state- ments are discussed with examples to demonstrate whether cultural institutions articulate it correctly and understand their importance. An objective, on the other hand, is one of the elements of a cultural institution’s mission; it is something that the cultural institution wants to achieve through the actions it undertakes and, as indicated, follows from the mission. Objectives are a detailed refinement of the mission and may change in response to the changing environment in which the cultural institution operates. The article discusses the objectives of cultural institutions deriving from specific legal acts, and the way in which they are formulated by individual entities, and also analyses statutes, regulations and other acts concerning how specific cultural institutions function. Particular attention is paid to the objectives of cultural institutions from the perspective of the recipient, as it is the recipient who really decides (through participation in the cultural activities of the institution) whether the institution properly ful- fils its objectives. An analysis of selected goals of cultural institutions shows that, as a rule, these institutions define their objectives in a very general way, merely repeating the wording indicated, for example, in the Cultural Activities Act. Objectives formulated in this way do not correctly reflect the scope of the cultural institution’s activities.

Tweeting for Influence: Analysing France and China’s Cultural Diplomacy on Social Media, a Mixed Methods Approach

Abstract How are states using cultural diplomacy on social media to expand their power? This research analyses over 67,000 tweets from the French and Chinese Ministries of Foreign Affairs (mfa s) as well as their respective state-sponsored cultural networks including Institut Français, Alliance Française, and the Confucius Institutes. Stephen Lukes’ three-dimensional power framework, where cultural authority legitimizes power over others, provides the study’s theoretical basis. In analysing the tweets, I employ a mixed methods approach including vader sentiment analysis, word frequency analysis, and thematic analysis. While both states aim to present their cultures as high-value cultures, the similarities end there. As a liberal democracy, France encourages open expression through its cultural institutions, including discourse critical of France. In contrast, China’s cultural diplomatic messaging is precisely controlled and speaks about China in invariably exalting terms. This study offers evidence that regime type has a powerful effect on cultural diplomatic messaging on social media.

Institute Culture and Renewing Power of Teachers in Public Elementary Schools

Institute Culture and Renewing Power of Teachers in Public Elementary Schools

Exploring institutional collaborative culture and task accomplishment in industrial settings: A case study of industries in Iran

Exploring institutional collaborative culture and task accomplishment in industrial settings: A case study of industries in Iran

Towards a history of parliamentary culture in the early modern world: concept, geopolitical scope, and method

ABSTRACT This article proposes an innovative approach to early modern representative institutions, from the later fifteenth century to the early eighteenth. It argues that only a transnational, interdisciplinary, and comparative study of such bodies can reveal their shared culture and prominence in contemporary political discourse, public memory, and cultural production. Central to this new approach is the concept of ‘parliamentary culture’, which sees representative assemblies as collective constructs and embodiments of a political community, and encompasses the transnational tradition of customs, ideas, and cultural expressions associated with them. The article aims to: (1) sketch out the institutional, geopolitical, and historical scope of our enquiry; (2) define parliamentary culture as a collection of practices of legitimation, negotiation, and debate in political assembly that are central to the life of a community; and (3) demonstrate that the distinctive institutional cultures of representative assemblies were an essential component of the public life and political thought of early modern countries; and that there was a common culture of representative assembly shared and recognized throughout Europe which was variously transplanted to and adapted in the overseas territories of the Iberian, Anglo-British, and Dutch empires, often through interaction with Indigenous traditions of assembly. The underlying argument is that only by looking at early modern representative bodies in this way can we appreciate the vitality and significance of this type of political organization.

Linguistic landscape in russian-speaking schools of Visaginas

The article describes the sociolinguistic situation in Visaginas, while also introducing the main theoretical provisions and terms of sociolinguistics (sociolinguistic situation, language policy, linguistic landscape, enculturation, etc.). The analytical part examines specific data – cultural signs compiled in the Russian-speaking schools in Visaginas – allowing the linguistic landscape to be examined through the lens of enculturation. The linguistic landscape analysis and the comparison approach were applied within the course of work. 1,142 units ‒ symbols of Russian and Lithuanian cultures compiled in three educational institutions with the Russian language of tuition – were analyzed. The material that had been classified in accordance with the groups (visual, complex, textual signs) allowed us to establish the predominance of the Lithuanian culture in the educational institutions of Visaginas Town. It also showed the presence of the signs of culture of different types.The importance of this research stems from the understudied language landscape, particularly in educational institutions. Furthermore, it should be noted that the educational linguistic environment of Visaginas has never been studied before.

The Dynamics of Kikuyu-Kalenjin Ethno-Political Relationships: The Run-up to 2013 Elections in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

2007 Post Election Violence (PEV). Surprisingly, in the following immediate national elections held in 2013, the two major protagonist ethnics; the Kikuyu and Kalenjin, previously embroiled in the political violence of 2007, came together in a new political coalition in the fight for the position of president and vice president. The elections witnessed the political elite skillfully harness their cultural institutions to achieve political power. The main concern of this study, therefore, was to establish the role played by certain cultural aspects of ethnicity in restructuring the political engagements between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin in Uasin Gishu in the run-up to the 2013 elections. To this end, the study employed the lens of instrumentalist and primordial theories while employing the historical method with a duality of an interpretivism philosophical underpinning and a qualitative approach. Primary data was analysed thematically and corroborated with secondary data. The study posits that some cultural aspects of both the Kalenjin and Kikuyu were instrumentalised by the political elite in Uasin Gishu to coalesce their people for political expediency. By the use of the same reverse logic, the study advocates the use of traditional African cultural structures to inculcate peace and political tolerance among the residents of Uasin Gishu as this historical study has proved possible.

The Impact of Socialization on Political Participation in Jordan (1989-2015)

Objectives: The study aimed to show the reality and influence of socialization on political participation from the point view of Political party leaders in Jordan. Methods: The study in order to measuring the level of influence of socialization and find the degree of participation, used the descriptive analytical method to analyze the data collected through a refereed scientific questionnaire targeted the active party leaders and party figures in Jordan, consisting of (297) selected as a random sample Results: The study findings were, a medium degree of approval among party leaders and figures on the reality of socialization, a medium degree of approval on the reality of political participation and the presence of a statistically significant effect of socialization on political participation explains a percentage of (57.6%). And from the variation in political participation indicates that the extent of the clear impact of socialization on the process of political participation in Jordan. Conclusions: The study concluded that there is a need to work to raise the level of political awareness among young people in society, and the political parties must work on formulating and preparing integrated programs with clear goals and vision in order to attract the target group and participation within it in political future work in Jordan. That can be achieved only by moving to actual work, and activating the role of various governmental institutions, agencies and community organizations in spreading awareness of political culture among young people through educational, media, cultural and partisan institutions.

Formation of Motivation of Youth Students to Engage in Physical Culture and Sports in Institutions of General Secondary Education (Example of Implementation of the Modular System)

The article updates the issue of the involvement of children and school youth in physical education and sports through the formation of personally meaningful motivation. The importance of increasing the motivation of students to engage in physical education and sports through the differentiation of the content of physical education lessons, taking into account the interests of students, is theoretically substantiated using the example of the implementation of the modular system presented in the Model Curriculum «Physical Education. 5-9 grades». It was determined that motivation for physical education is a complex multi-vector phenomenon that requires appropriate selection of approaches to work with school youth and depends on many factors, in particular, on well-chosen and optimally balanced general and differentiated means, forms, and methods. It has been proven that content differentiation through variable modules can serve as a meaningful and positive lever for inclusion and interest of students in physical education lessons. It is substantiated that the implementation of a modular system in lessons has a number of advantages for increasing the motivation of young students to engage in physical education through the structuring and productivity of the educational process, the dynamism and transformation of the content of physical education lessons, the variability of means, methods, and teaching methods; possibilities of quick adaptation, mobility; ensuring an individual approach to learning; personalization and differentiation of the content of physical education lessons; establishment of active, dialogic, subject-subject interaction "teacher - student" when choosing teaching aids; the flexibility of designing the educational process when choosing modules that correspond to the interests of students, the goals and objectives of education.

Cultural Censorship and Institutional Trust in Africa

What are the consequences of cultural censorship on trust? Previous literature on institutional and political trust informs this article which extends the work to consider the importance of artistic spaces for shaping political attitudes. These spaces may allow individuals to form trust relationships with each other. The importance of these cultural spaces is highlighted when, in both democracies and autocracies, we observed cultural censorship. While the rationale for censorship may differ across regime types, some of the effects look strikingly similar. Using survey data from the Afrobarometer and measures of censorship from Varieties of Democracy, this article suggests that trust in executive and legislative institutions among regime supporters is increased, when autocracies engage in cultural censorship. Additionally, this article argues that trust in the ruling party increases and trust in the opposition party decreases with more cultural censorship in both autocracies and democracies. Taken together this descriptive initial test of the theory, consistent with the theory presented, offers additional insights about how authoritarian regimes might use cultural censorship to maintain system support, but also suggest reasons why even democratic regimes can be motivated to engage in censorship for political gain.

Exploring Educators’ Perception of and Readiness for Hybrid Flexible Learning in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Higher Education

In Malaysia, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) focuses on equipping students with practical skills for specific careers, blending classroom instruction with hands-on training. Regarding hybrid flexible (HyFlex) learning, which integrates face-to-face and online instruction, TVET institutions face both opportunities and challenges in incorporating digital tools into practical training. This study explores educators’ perceptions of and readiness for HyFlex learning in TVET higher education. A quantitative survey was conducted with 30 purposively selected educators to assess their attitudes, beliefs, and preparedness concerning HyFlex implementation. The data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed using the SPSS v25 software. The educators viewed HyFlex learning positively, with mean scores above 3.29 indicating approval of its benefits. They also felt confident about students’ success (mean = 4.16) and their own technological skills (mean = 3.92). However, concerns were noted regarding increased workload (mean = 3.44) and the need for better training and resources, as reflected in the lower scores for instructional design (mean = 3.54) and access to resources (mean = 3.77). Therefore, enhancements in training and resources are necessary. This study recommends strategies to improve educators’ readiness, including the provision of clear workload guidelines, support for instructional design, professional development, technological resources, and a supportive institutional culture. Addressing these areas will facilitate more effective and sustainable adoption of HyFlex learning models. KEYWORDS hybrid flexible learning, educator perception, readiness, TVET, higher education, instructional design

What is the “best” way to measure the relative location variables in the market value assessment? An econometric method applied to an Italian case study

The present research is dedicated to investigating the explanatory power of relative location variables in assessing and forecasting market values. Here, relative location refers to the spatial position (geographical context) of a building or property in relation to a given Point Of Interest (POI). Specifically, a methodological approach is proposed for identifying the most suitable quantification modality based on statistical performance and consistency with the market mechanisms of the specific reference context. For a case study in Northern Italy, we collected data on 615 residential properties and 2673 POIs, including cultural facilities, school and education institutions, commercial services, sports, entertainment, and leisure facilities, health and care services, public transport systems, urban parks, and green areas. The relative location between the collected properties and the POIs is assessed using an automated calculation procedure developed in the Python programming language, in conjunction with Geographic Information Software (GIS). This automatism allows the assessment of relative location in terms of different Units Of Measure (UOM), such as straight-line distance, travel time by car, travel time on foot, travel time by public transport, and the number of POIs in a 400 m/1 km ring buffer. Since 615 residential buildings and 2673 POIs were analysed, with their relative locations measured using six different UOMs, a database of 9'865'215 data was produced. Furthermore, for each category of POI, a feature importance analysis guides the selection of the best UOM, i.e., the most statistically significant one. Considering the chosen UOM, an optimised econometric technique is finally implemented to analyse the functional relationships between the market values of residential properties and the set of identified relative location variables.