Innovation In Provision Research Articles

A conceptual approach to the relationships between the social economy, social welfare, and social innovation

Purpose With the aim of finding a balance between social and economic benefits, the social economy has reemerged in the crisis of the welfare state. The Fordist welfare state can be characterized by state-provided welfare, the mediation of paid work and welfare by the labor market and redistributive policies. Globally, neoliberalism and the market have given rise to social exclusion; in this context, the social economy is emerging as an alternative to the market domination of societies. This paper aims to construct a conceptual framework of welfare provision in an open innovation era. Design/methodology/approach The welfare state system between the Fordist welfare state and post-Fordist welfare state is different on provision and delivery of welfare service. To construct the conceptual relation among the social economy, the state and the market and welfare provision in the social economy, this study mainly used the literature review. Findings Attention should be paid to civil society at the local level to ignite social economy through open social innovation. Various social actors in the local community need to change and develop the social economy with collaborative entrepreneurship and collaborative economic mindsets. Research limitation/implications This paper presents the welfare service model led by social economy and open innovation, as well as social change. To fill the shortage of welfare provision caused by crisis of the welfare state, social economy is considered as an alternative for neo-liberalism. This study emphasizes that endogenous local development is a prerequisite for social economy as a welfare supplier. Practical implications In the social economy, reciprocity, democracy, self-help and social capital at the local level are emphasized. Also, open innovation put emphasis on collaboration economy among the local community, firms and the public sector: this emphasis can be expected to affect the welfare provision system and the social relations surrounding welfare. To address social problem and social needs, the social economy can adapt and apply the open innovation model. Originality/value The previous researches on open innovation mainly deal with the business sector and the public sector, but this paper has a focus on the relation between provision of social welfare and social innovation. The social economy is likely to function properly on the foundation of open social innovation.

The barriers to re-purposing not-for-profit real property assets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers to the re-purposing of under-utilised real property assets owned by Australian not-for-profit (“NFP”) organisations for affordable housing provision. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory research was undertaken with five diverse (non-housing) NFP organisations. Findings – The research indicates that NFP organisations who are not principally engaged in housing provision, but hold surplus or under-utilised land and property assets, may be willing partners in affordable housing provision. However a range of institutional and structural barriers would need to be overcome for housing developments to occur on under-utilised NFP organisations land holdings. Research limitations/implications – The small scale of the study limits generalisation from the research findings. However, the findings point to an opportunity for innovation in housing land supply that warrants larger scale research. Practical implications – This research provides evidence that a source of well-located land is potentially available for future affordable housing provision, but that NFP organisations would require skills and financial resourcing in order to make their land available for this purpose. Social implications – Well-located land is a major cost input for the provision of affordable housing, and the re-purposing of NFP organisations land or assets for affordable housing could make a significant contribution to the stock of social housing. Originality/value – There has been no research on how NFP organisations view opportunities to repurpose their land for affordable housing despite this sector being actively encouraged to do so. This paper reports the first Australian study of dispositions and barriers to the re-use NFP organisations land assets.

Business model innovation in electricity supply markets: The role of complex value in the United Kingdom

This research investigates the new opportunities that business model innovations are creating in electricity supply markets at the sub-national scale. These local supply business models can offer significant benefits to the electricity system, but also generate economic, social, and environmental values that are not well accounted for in current policy or regulation. This paper uses the UK electricity supply market to investigate new business models which rely on more complex value propositions than the incumbent utility model. Nine archetypal local supply business models are identified and their value propositions, value capture methods, and barriers to market entry are analysed. This analysis defines 'complex value' as a key concept in understanding business model innovation in the energy sector. The process of complex value identification poses a challenge to energy researchers, commercial firms and policymakers in liberalised markets; to investigate the opportunities for system efficiency and diverse outcomes that new supplier business models can offer to the electricity system.

The European Union's Proposal for an International Investment Court: Significance, Innovations and Challenges Ahead

Rampant discontent with the system that governs the protection of international investment and the functioning of investment tribunals has led to a widespread view that there is an urgent need for reform. This is particularly pronounced in the context of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The European Union (EU) has responded to this need by proposing the creation of an international investment court. With its political weight, the EU confers unprecedented legitimacy on the critics of the current ISDS system and breaks with the latter's background in commercial litigation. The article explores the EU proposal, focusing on its significance, innovative provisions, and projected impact. It argues that the international investment court constitutes a ground-breaking reform proposal for ISDS but it also faces challenges. These need to be tackled in order to avoid affecting the court’s “legal feasibility” and prospective functioning, and the article proposes steps that can help address these issues.

Seeking Educational Excellence Everywhere: an exploration into the impact of academisation on alternative education provision in England

This article presents a policy analysis of the UK Government's Academies programme and explores the impact that this might have on young people who have become disengaged from the mainstream education system and are thus educated in 'alternative provision' (AP) settings. It argues that the academisation proposals curtail some of the 'freedom to learn' which is currently experienced by young people in innovative alternative provision environments. These proposals potentially limit access to genuinely individualised, needs-led alternative educational provision in England. The article concludes by arguing that the Government is pursuing a top down reorganisation of AP that has no basis in evidence and that as a result, has silenced and further marginalised young people who are already disengaged from the mainstream education system.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ORGANIC PRODUCTION IN AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES: PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES

In the article organic standards in agricultural enterprises are systematized. Regulation of organic production in the leading countries of the EU and Ukraine is considered. Innovative provisions in the standards for the organic production are offered. The necessity of maintaining The Anti-Fraud Initiative in Ukraine is substantiated.

A paradigm shift in models of oral health care: An example and a call to action

The consequences of oral disease are wide-ranging and can have a major impact on an individual’s and that person’s family’s quality of life. A range of factors interact to determine a person’s oral and general health. Such factors can be biological, social, economic, political, cultural, or environmental, in addition to knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. Traditional models of oral health care, however, have generally ignored these factors and instead have focused on the treatment and management of existing pathology (tertiary prevention/downstream approach). This has had no effect on the rate of hospitalization or the inequitable distribution of dental diseases. To reduce the prevalence and severity of oral diseases at the individual and population levels, holistic evidence-informed prevention-based health-promoting models of care that focus on upstream determinants of health are required. The Oral Health Program at North Richmond Community Health in the state of Victoria, Australia, has developed an innovative model of oral health care based on the following principles: health promotion, disease prevention, risk-based access to care, client- and family-centered care, team-based provision of care, multidisciplinary care, and innovation. Evaluation of this approach is currently being conducted to study the sustainability of such a model under the current public dental service funding model.

The Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments within the Framework of the European Arbitration Convention: The Interpretation of Article 4(2) of the AC

At the Joint Transfer Pricing Forum meeting of 12 March 2015, the issue of improving the functioning of the European Arbitration Convention on Transfer Pricing was the main item of discussion. In particular, the Joint Transfer Pricing Forum (JTPF) members reached an agreement on the finalized text of the revised Code of Conduct, which is due to replace the previous 2009 version. One of the most innovative and complex provisions introduced by this latest version of the Code of Conduct is included in the new point 6(b) concerning the interpretation of Article 4(2) of the Arbitration Convention on the attribution of profits to permanent establishments. The drafting of this provision spurred a wide debate within the JTPF, which is worth to look at in its essential features, since it involved the main issues on the functioning of the Arbitration Convention, starting from its purpose, its legal nature, its raison d’etre, up to the complex issue of its interpretation and relationship with Double Taxation Conventions (DTCs).

A Cleaner Energy System: Renewable Energy and Electricity Market Design [In My View

The rapid growth rates for renewable energy are part of a larger policy agenda to promote a cleaner energy system. The health and environmental impacts of emissions from traditional fossil fuel technologies provide a substantial reason for changing the energy system. For the greatest part, these emission impacts are externalities that provide a justification for policy to supplement natural market forces. The idealized example of a tax on harmful emissions provides a benchmark for comparing the efficacy of various policies. The author questions the policy approach that has been chosen around the globe to reduce emission impacts and externalities by forcing renewable technologies through mandates or subsidies. The author warns that solar levelized costs for 2019 entry would be 90% more expensive in the United States than an advanced gas combined cycle plant, even with emission taxes. The author favors, instead, a better market design, through an emission tax, that would work through the market to affect production, consumption, and investment. He claims such a tax would better stimulate technological innovation in economic renewable supply and in demand-side alternatives.

The Normative Framework of the African Human Rights Regime on the Rights of Minorities

Minority issues in Africa have surfaced in various dimensions affecting thesocio-political landscape of the continent. The protection of minorities iswithout doubt crucial to securing sustainable peace, economic developmentas well as protection and enforcement of human rights. Even though domestic mechanisms of accommodating ethnic diversity play a decisive role in the protection of minorities, the African human rights regime is also important in the protection of minorities. The African Bill of Rights embodies numerous innovative provisions which can lend support to the various minorities in Africa. The ground-breaking decisions by the African Commission also add to the existing normative discourse on minorities, especially, those dealing with peoples’ rights. However, there is still much to be desired for in extending normative and jurisprudential exercises to reach out to minority issues of all sorts.Key words: Minority Rights, African Bill of Rights, Ethnic diversity, Peoples’ right, Africa

Innovation Provision of Kazakhstan Industries Competitive Development

The article deals with the current state of Kazakhstan industries from the position of achieving the internationalcompetitiveness by the way of structural and spatial modernization. There is revealed the concept of theinnovative potential and its components. There are considered the basic theoretical approaches and practicaltrends of providing the innovation development of Kazakhstan economy.

Bridge over Troubled Water: The Revised Insolvency Regulation

The EU legislature has used the last two and a half years to negotiate a modernised framework for cross-border insolvencies largely outside the spotlight of public debate. The revised Insolvency Regulation introduces new rules on secondary proceedings and innovative provisions on insolvency proceedings for groups of companies. Some parts of the final reform package were not originally envisaged by the European Commission, and it was the European Parliament and the Council that, in an unusual display of unity, agreed on more ambitious steps than the EU executive had proposed. However, not all that glitters is gold. The legislature missed the opportunity to clarify the concept of Centre of Main Interest, and it is still for the courts to establish international jurisdiction on the basis of rather vague criteria. It will soon be time to give life to the rules and ensure that cross-border insolvencies are conducted more effectively than they are today. The new rules entered into force on 25 June 2015 and apply from 26 June 2017. Copyright © 2015 INSOL International and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Innovation and investment provision for the environmental management development at industrial enterprises

Innovation and investment provision for the environmental management development at industrial enterprises

The acceptance of process innovations in drug supply – An empirical analysis of patient-individualized blister packaging in stationary nursing facilities

Purpose of the studyProcess innovations in drug supply can be an instrument to avoid future cost increases in health services. Besides economic and technical aspects, the success of such process innovations depends on the acceptance of the groups concerned. This paper examines the effect of patient-specific drug supply on involved physicians and nursing staff.MethodsEighty-two caregivers and 15 physicians involved in a project about patient-specific drug blistering were questioned based on a research study accomplished from June 2009 to January 2011. The survey on the consequences for physicians, nursing staff, and patients was carried out by using a structured and anonymous questionnaire.ResultsThe interviewed caregivers as well as the physicians agree in principle on patient-individualized blistering as a useful process innovation in drug supply. In particular, time relief for the nursing staff as well as rising security of supply is positively assessed. The slow adjustment of medication is evaluated to be a disadvantage.DiscussionThe results of the survey demonstrate that the affected group of professionals does not fundamentally reject process innovations in drug supply. By applying certain conditions, patient-specific drug blistering can possibly lead to an increasing efficiency in pharmaceutical supply.

Accessibility Obligations in the un Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Nyusti & Takacs V Hungary

Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an innovative provision which articulates, for the first time in a UN human rights treaty, a right to accessibility. Article 9(1) requires States Parties to take: appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.

The Gender Justice Shadow of Complementarity: Lessons from the International Criminal Court's Preliminary Examinations in Guinea and Colombia

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) includes gender justice provisions, notably the recognition of crimes of sexual violence experienced by women in armed conflict. The Statute also institutes a complementarity regime, leaving states parties with primary responsibility for prosecuting international crimes. However, it fails to link these two innovative provisions, leaving a ‘gender justice complementarity shadow.’ Through an analysis of ICC preliminary examinations in Guinea and Colombia, this article argues that the Office of the Prosecutor’s apparent inattention to gender biases underpinning domestic legal systems has left impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence intact and the victims of these crimes unrecognized. It argues that to tackle impunity for sexual violence through complementarity requires the ICC prosecutor to include an examination of gender biases in domestic legal systems when testing state action, willingness and ability in order to understand how these biases impede access to justice for victims of sexual violence.

Enhancing students' employability through business simulation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce an approach to business simulation with less dependence on business simulation software to provide innovative work experience within a programme of study, to boost students’ confidence and employability.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on analysis of existing business simulation literature, which is synthesised with contemporary pedagogic trends and the outputs of the authors’ longitudinal research on improving the effectiveness of business simulation as a teaching method.FindingsThe use of business simulation as a pedagogic tool can be considerably extended beyond built‐in functionality to match the needs of various business‐related disciplines. Learning from their own mistakes enabled students to appreciate the gap between theory and its application.Research limitations/implicationsBusiness simulation can provide an innovative provision of work experience for students, if its design utilises continuous formative feedback and reflective practice amongst other pedagogical elements rather than relying on sophisticated business simulation software.Practical implicationsThis paper offers a blueprint for the provision of business simulation exercises in higher education as means for equipping participants with a work‐like experience.Originality/valueThe article presents a fresh view on the use of business simulation in the educational process, while contributing to the long‐standing debate on bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Jurisdictional arbitrage by multinational companies: a national law solution?

This article suggests that innovative provisions in Albanian company law provide a promising initial framework for the future construction of multinational corporations' accountability for environmental and human rights abuses. Such robust national provisions hold out hope for overcoming the limitations and inhibitions presented by extraterritoriality, while exceeding the promise of universal jurisdiction, to offer a relatively detailed ‘enterprise liability’ construct in national company law.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A New Approach to Decision-Making in Mental Health Law

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) requires us to engage in new approaches to decision-making in mental health law. The reclassification of mental health rights to the realm of disability rights is an important step towards equal treatment for persons with psychosocial disabilities. Law reformers worldwide are beginning to consider the implications of the provisions. Legislators will be required to understand the underlying philosophy of the CRPD to realise the rights set out in it. The CRPD possesses a number of innovative provisions which can transform decision-making in the mental health context. Article 12 provides a new conceptualisation of persons with disabilities and their capacity to participate by requiring support to exercise legal capacity. While good practice exists, the provision has yet to be fully implemented by many State Parties. This article discusses the impact of the CRPD on mental health law, legal capacity law and describes examples of supported decision-making models for mental health care.

Revisiting the law on website accessibility in the light of the UK's Equality Act 2010 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Use of the Internet has been proven to provide significant, wide-ranging benefits for disabled people research, however, such as a large scale global study commissioned by the United Nations, has determined a low level of accessibility. These findings have been supported by further multi-disciplinary work. While in other jurisdictions there have been definitive rulings on the need for the provision of accessible websites, a UK court has yet to lay down such a duty in relation to a website. It is accepted that there are a number of wide ranging issues interacting in this multi-faceted area, such as standardisation, industry self-regulation and the determination of an international consensus on what constitutes accessible design. However, this paper will focus upon the Equality Act 2010 and the changes it makes which could impact upon the creation of a definitive precedent. The Equality Act 2010 amended and combined pre-existing anti-discrimination provisions into one overarching piece of legislation. An analysis can be undertaken of how this legislation through its reasonable adjustment duty, public sector duty and the potential to validate regulations may be able to bring clarification in the area of website accessibility. Furthermore, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its Article Nine specifically applies to access to the Internet. Given the international nature of website accessibility and the innovative provisions contained in the Convention, its impact on website design and inclusion could potentially be far-reaching. This article analyses the area of website design in the light of these recent legislative developments.