Learning Alliance Research Articles

From Action Research to Action Learning: How can film communicate

This article forms part of the emerging issue of Learning Alliances (LA), in the field of education of vulnerable and disempowered children. On a theoretical level, a rigorous application of participatory action research methodology is presented to tease out the potential for knowledge exchange through a Learning Alliance approach in conjunction with best practices of film in this field. LA on a theoretical level is readily conceivable based on communicative action in a Habermasian sense.

Bringing Transition Management to Cities: Building Skills for Transformative Urban Governance

Cities are open to trialing new approaches for advancing their planning and urban governance practice. Evidence from urban research and practice shows that transition management has been widely and diversely applied for strategic planning for climate mitigation and adaptation, regeneration, as well as sectoral (energy, water, waste) and social cohesion agendas. Despite the amounting evidence of the applications of transition management, the research has not identified what it is required in terms of skills to apply such a governance framework for participatory governance in cities. In this paper, we respond to this gap by providing evidence from 11 cities across Europe that applied transition management as an approach to participatory urban governance for unpacking what transformative actions are required to strengthen urban resilience in deprived neighborhoods. Our multi-case study research and analysis reveals that a multitude of vocational and academic skills are required for the application of transition management approach including systems thinking, creativity, theory-to-practice application skills, diplomatic skills for forging partnerships and learning alliances and openness to learning-by-doing during experimentation. Transition management application in cities in the Resilient Europe project brought about positive outcomes in terms of developing new skills, embedding new knowledge about urban resilience and transition management in planning.

Pedagogias dentro do currículo de terapia ocupacional: centrando uma práxis decolonial na prática de desenvolvimento comunitário

Abstract Introduction Critical occupational therapy aims to promote occupational justice through addressing the social determinants of health and the socio-political structures that affect peoples’ occupational engagement. Objective This paper reports on two objectives from a case study, namely: To describe the teaching and learning practices in South Africa, University of Cape Town Occupational Therapy, Community Development Practice curriculum, and the pedagogy informing it. Method Multiple methods were used as data in the construction of the case. These included the review of curriculum documents and a focus group discussion with academics who teach on the programme. These academics also wrote reflective journal entries which were included in our analysis. Data was analysed using a critical interpretive synthesis. Results An overarching theme emerged, namely “Modelling a development processes in a teaching and learning alliance”. This theme identified our key pedagogical approach, illustrating how a decolonial praxis that involves consciously resisting coloniality in the design and implementation of the curriculum occurred. This was made possible through pedagogical actions embedded in the approach and reflected in three categories: “Partnering to bring our critically reflexive and authentic selves”; “The labour of working with individual and systemic processes of struggle” and “Being committed to facing uncertainty together”. Conclusion Our interpretation of our pedagogical approach within the curriculum demonstrates how decolonial pedagogies open up pathways that promote the kind of dialogic and transformative learning that is important for critical occupational therapy. These decolonial pedagogies hold significance for addressing health inequities and developing a justice-oriented profession.

Evaluation of Online Andrology Medical Services in Central Regions of China During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Data Analysis Study.

To provide an overview of the current situation, challenges, and trends in online medical services from the perspective of andrology and promote the development of online medical services. Users of the Learning Alliance of Urology, who mainly worked in central regions of China, were invited to complete the questionnaire that included information on the participants and their institutions and their involvement in and concerns for online medical services. We received 875 complete responses. The percentage of online andrology patients at most institutions was less than 30%. The most common services were online appointment registration (92.7%) and online payment (81.8%). Online chat consultation (77.7%) was the most common form of consultation. Only 1 in 5 of the institutions had constructed their Internet hospital. Factors related to the percentage of online andrology patients included specialized andrology clinics and wards, sufficient time for doctors to provide online services, more diversified services, and online clinic training. The biggest challenge for online medical services was diagnosis and treatment safety. It is essential to raise awareness of online medical services for hospitals and patients and strengthen standardized management and training of online medical services, especially applicable to central regions of China. However, online medical services cannot wholly replace offline services due to insufficient diagnosis and treatment.

Multiplicity of alliance learning in the entrepreneurial process: strategies of early-stage biotech firms

Entrepreneurial firms depend on knowledge variety and the ability to manage alliance-network learning for knowledge acquisition, which are both challenging. Some studies argue reliance on one key alliance partner is more effective for entrepreneurial firms with limited resources as it is less demanding than collaborations with multiple ones, while others demonstrate that alliances with different organizations significantly benefit them. Firm strategies and mechanisms of the alliance-network learning with multiple partners remain unclear, and illuminating this puzzle is relevant for understanding small and young firms creating innovations. Focusing on the early stages of human health biotech firms in Canada, this paper examines how they use the alliance-network to identify learning opportunities and pursue knowledge accumulation over their successive developmental stages. Adopting the multiple case study method and analyzing the focal firms’ collaborations and learning outcomes, this research advances a processual model of multiplicity of learning. The model identifies firm-specific strategies combining a variety of knowledge building mechanisms and multiple partners guided by organizational goals to innovate. The study contributes to the intersection of entrepreneurial development and alliance learning literatures with a novel view of early-stage firm learning strategies, and offers insights to entrepreneurs, small firms, and policymakers for innovation.

Games theory and strategic alliances: applications to British Russian partnership

PurposeThis conceptual paper examines the need for viable theoretical models of international learning alliances in the light of cooperative games and complexity in two distinguished educational settings. Game theory is used to demonstrate the need for the top managerial executives to acquire a detailed understanding of decision makers' behaviours and trigger the deployment of complex analytical methods. The paper scrutinizes Russia's pursued aggressive approach using shock therapy, also suggest the critical need to reform policy.Design/methodology/approachCombining the critical analysis of (1) cooperative games and (2) adaptive systems structures, a dependable model is derived, which sets the baseline for determining the role of costs and gains. The analysis is supported using a real-world example of an alliance between British University (the X and Y alliance) and Russian University. It also emphasizes the importance of both internal and external pressure variables closely connected with the cooperative games, adaptive system and shock therapy.FindingsTwo features of alliances have been emphasized. The first is the importance of informal relationships in the evolution of partnerships and of cooperation. This is a well-known factor in the success of any relationship. Especially in international partnerships, empathy at the individual level is perhaps necessary to bypass the influence of historical and cultural differences that are barriers at the macro level, preconditions rather than consequences of successful policies and contractual arrangements at the level of organizations and governments. The second feature is interdependence at the cost–benefit level and in the domain of decisions. The cooperation of both partners is required to realize payoffs.Practical implicationsThe implication of this paper is a guideline for regulators and policymakers designing worldwide alliances in higher education. In addition, this paper covers an interesting domain that could be of interest to organizations involved in forming strategic alliances, developing and re-engineering policies for strategic coalitions and setting future profitable payoff relationships within the contextual limitations of X and Y.Originality/valueThis paper creates new knowledge by concisely examining the meaning of strategic alliances in the context of the global education industry.

Blue Pencil


 
 
 This article aims at analyzing and discussing the proposed objectives and outcomes of a transmedia project that was run in partnership with CICANT/Universidade Lusófona, in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Portuguese media group Impresa, as part of a European Commission-funded project named CIAKL-Cinema and Industry Alliance for Knowledge and Learning. The Blue Pencil project had as its main objective the development of a transmedia narrative that grouped different platforms and technologies, which included intersections inside the narrative within the genres of entertainment and education. Taking as its central theme the censorship in Portugal during the Estado Novo, the narrative extends into a short fiction film, a documentary, a site with archive material, an online game that challenges writing on freedom of the press, an online store, and a school program, in partnership with the network of school libraries, to launch the debate of censorship in schools.
 
 

The Gestalt Action Research and Development Approach: Examining ageing with dignity as an example of integrating research into practice and impacting society

The author presents the ‘Gestalt Action Research and Development’ model and method she has developed and applied on various ‘levels of system’. She illustrates how she has applied this meta-model and approach in driving the EI WISH programme together with refugee and migrant elders, their families, and other key stakeholders dedicated to well-being, human rights, and ageing in three Swedish cities. In this programme, she explores and assesses what supports and hinders ageing migrants’ well-being and their integration into Swedish society, demonstrating how research becomes ‘action’ leading to transformation. By applying Gestalt concepts together with the Action Research & Development (AR&D) approach, she explores the possibilities of designing more conscious and collaborative ways of working that honour diversity in needs and perspectives. Keywords action research, Gestalt cycle of experience, reflexivity, relationships, well-being, diversity, integration, learning alliances, mobilising stakeholders for collaboration, societal innovation and impact, field theory, cross-sectionality, learning alliances, ageing

Online supervision in a professional doctorate in education: Cultivating relational trust within learning alliances

ABSTRACT In this case study research, we examine online supervision and engagements in a blended education doctorate (EdD) programme through a lens of relational trust. Interviews with supervisors and EdD graduates enabled us to examine practices and strategies used to cultivate relationships and learning alliances that supported doctoral candidates in conducting research and dissertation writing. We explored opportunities and challenges in fostering effective supervisory relationships online. Five enabling factors for cultivating effective online supervisory relationships address programme design, supervisors’ roles and responsibilities, and doctoral students’ experiences. Establishing relational trust and learning alliances in early and ongoing engagements in programme through to culminating milestones was vital for effective student-supervisor relationships.

Using the Behaviour Change Wheel to design an intervention for partner abusive men in drug and alcohol treatment

BackgroundWe aimed to establish what core elements were required in a group therapy programme for men who disclose perpetrating intimate partner abuse in a substance use setting and develop, and test the feasibility of delivering an intervention in this setting.MethodsWe describe the theoretical development and feasibility testing of an integrated substance use and intimate partner abuse intervention (‘ADVANCE’) for delivery in substance use services. We employed a comprehensive eight-stage process to guide this development applying the ‘COM-B’ (‘capability’, ‘opportunity’, ‘motivation’ and ‘behaviour’) model for intervention design which specifies the following: (1) define the problem, (2) select the target behaviour, (3) specify the target behaviour, (4) identify what needs to change, (5) identify intervention functions, (6) identify policy categories, (7) select behaviour change techniques, and (8) design a mode of delivery. The development was informed by primary research conducted by the authors, consulting with organisation steering groups and by those with personal experiences. The identified targets for intervention and mode and method of delivery were then refined over 4 intervention development meetings, using the nominal group technique with the ADVANCE experts, then further refined following consultation with service user groups and wider expert groups via a learning alliance meetings.ResultsOur final intervention, the ADVANCE intervention consisted of a group intervention comprising of up to four pre-group individual interviews, followed by 12 × 2-h group sessions supported by integrated safety work for victim/survivors, and risk and safety support and integrity support for the professionals. The main targets for change were personal goal planning, self-regulation, and attitudes and beliefs supporting intimate partner abuse. The intervention was regarded as very acceptable to both staff and clients in substance use services, with group attendees reported positive behaviour changes and development of new skills.ConclusionWe have demonstrated the ability to employ a structured eight-step process to develop an integrated intervention to address substance use-related intimate partner abuse that is acceptable to staff and clients in substance use services. This led to a feasibility study (ISRCTN 79435190) involving 104 men and 30 staff at three different locations across the UK was conducted to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and to refine the content and approach to delivery (BMC Public Health, 21: 980, 2021).

Scenarios for public systems transition using learning alliances: the case of water supply in Uganda

ABSTRACT Uganda’s Vision 2040 aims to modernize rural water supply through a transition from community-managed point sources to professionally managed piped water services. At the start of the transition period, a learning alliance established in Kabarole District participated in action research to develop scenarios predicting possible future development trajectories. The diversity of its membership, whose formal institutional roles spanned national, district and niche levels, increased the robustness of the strategies proposed for the adaptively managed transition of the public water service. The learning alliance has been facilitated by a non-governmental organization providing funding and expert advice; the effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated.

The invention performance implications of coopetition: How technological, geographical, and product market overlaps shape learning and competitive tension in R&D alliances

AbstractResearch SummaryWe examine how technological, geographical, and product market overlaps between a firm and its alliance partner influence the firm's invention performance by shaping the learning and competitive tension in an R&D alliance. Drawing on research on learning in alliances and competitive dynamics, we argue that the firm's invention performance is influenced positively by technological and geographical overlaps and negatively by product market overlap. We further argue that product market overlap negatively moderates the positive relationships between technological and geographical overlaps and the firm's invention performance. Testing our theory on a dataset of 215 R&D alliances provides support for most of our hypotheses. We discuss how our theory and findings enrich coopetition and alliance research.Managerial SummaryProminent R&D alliances, such as between BioNtech and Pfizer or Samsung and Sony, typify coopetition—the collaboration between competing firms. In this context of coopetition, we study how a firm's invention performance is influenced by the technological, geographical, and product market overlaps it has with its R&D alliance partner. Empirical results from a sample of 215 R&D alliances formed between U.S. pharmaceutical firms confirm our theory that product market overlap is distinct from the other types of overlap: it changes the thrust of the alliance from joint value creation toward private value appropriation. This way, product market overlap not only decreases a firm's invention performance, but also weakens the positive impacts of technological and geographical overlaps on a firm's invention performance.

Co-exploitation (or co-exploration) vs go it alone? The role of alliance learning capability on firm performance

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the moderating role of a firm’s alliance learning capability. The aim is to investigate the comparative performance of developing exploitation (or exploration) activities in collaboration with others vs adopting a go-it-alone posture.Design/methodology/approachThe authors compare high levels of co-exploitation (or co-exploration) that represent the collaboration stance vs low levels of co-exploitation (or co-exploration) that characterize the go-it-alone posture. Data were collected using a sample of 262 manufacturing firms that developed exploitation-based innovations and 239 exploration-based innovations. Regression models were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsEmpirical results suggest that the best performance is reached by firms that exploit or explore collaborating with others at high levels of alliance learning capability. In contrast, firms perform better by going alone in exploitation activities at low levels of alliance learning capability.Practical implicationsFirms may complement internal efforts of exploitation or exploration by co-developing knowledge with other organizations for higher performance. However, collaborating with others is not free of drawbacks, and, under certain circumstances, the go-it-alone strategy is more convenient.Originality/valueThis paper provides evidence of the role of a firm’s alliance learning capability in determining the differential performance of carrying on exploitation or exploration activities in collaboration with others vs adopting a go-it-alone stance. Thus, it offers an alternative perspective in the literature on organizational learning and innovation management, in contrast with the exploitation and exploration balanced perspective of ambidexterity, by explaining how alliance learning capability fosters firm performance combining exploitation or exploration at organizational and inter-organizational levels.

University-Industry R&D Alliances – An Exploration of Alliance Capabilities Measures

Background: Alliance capabilities studies have long emerged since the 1990s, focusing mainly on firm-to-firm collaboration. However, research on university-industry alliances only emerged from the 2000s. Alliance capabilities are portrayed as a crucial condition to achieve the targeted collaboration outcomes and sustainable relationships. As most alliance capabilities studies focus on firm-to-firm collaboration, research on university-industry research and development (R&D) alliance is still scarce. Thus, the measurement items for alliance capabilities in the university-industry R&D context are still under-developed. Thus, to investigate how alliance capabilities affect university-industry R&D performance in Malaysia, the relevant measures must first be defined. This paper intends to properly define the measurement items for alliance capabilities in the context of university-industry R&D alliances. Methodology: The alliance capabilities measures are adapted from various literature to accommodate both university and industry perspectives. In finalizing the measurement, in-depth pre-testing was conducted by five strategic management subject matter experts in ensuring face and content validity. Results: There are three alliance capability dimensions. The first dimension is alliance management capability which includes goal setting, process configuration, alliance structure, coordination, management support, and alliance evaluation. The second dimension is alliance integration capability which incorporates relational capabilities, inter-organizational communication, relational capital, and project team effectiveness. The third is alliance learning capability which measures alliance experience, knowledge articulation, knowledge sharing, knowledge codification, internalization, and relationship learning. Although this study successfully develops a set of measurement items for alliance capabilities in university-industry R&D, further statistical analysis is required to test this scale. Conclusion: To date, quantitative measurement items for alliance capabilities in the context of university-industry R&D alliances are still at the infancy stage. Although the measurements are yet to be statistically analyzed, they can be used as a benchmark for future university-industry R&D alliances studies.

Editorial. Vol. 8, Issue 3

This issue includes four papers selected among the best presented at the Games and Learning Alliance Conference (GaLA Conf), that in 2020 was held in the Laval virtual world, organized by the University of Le Mans. Beside the special issue, this number of the International Journal of Serious Games also features two regular papers, that I briefly introduce in the following.

Does the predator become the prey? Knowledge leakage and role reversal in alliances

Research on learning in alliances explains how firms simultaneously seek to absorb their partners’ knowledge while protecting their own knowledge from involuntarily leaking to their partners. We co...

Alliance Management Capability in Family Business: Evidence from a Politically Instable Economy

We have a lack of understanding of the role of socioemotional wealth (SEW) in determining the success of alliances formed by family firms. By integrating the SEW of family businesses, and alliance management capability (AMC) of strategic alliance, literature, this study investigates how the extent of SEW in family firms operating in politically unstable contexts influences the development of AMCs, which in turn acts as a determinant of alliance success. By gathering data from 302 family firms in a politically unstable, the Libyan context, we found that the greater the SEW of family firms, the more likely they are to develop three types of AMCs: namely, alliance proactiveness (firms’ ability to identify valuable partners for alliances), alliance coordination (firms’ ability to manage the relationship with alliance partners), and alliance learning (firms’ ability to learn from alliance partners), capabilities, which in turn increases the success of alliances formed by family businesses. We also found that the level of political instability confronted by family businesses positively moderates the positive relationship between the extent of SEW and AMCs. Our results also generate useful practical implications to family businesses, their strategic alliance partners, and policymakers involved in supporting family businesses.

Rivals or Collaborators? Relational Ambidexterity and Absorption Speed

This study investigates how the configuration of rivals and collaborators within a firm’s alliance portfolio affects its speed of absorbing external knowledge (i.e., absorption speed). While prior research on learning alliances has predominantly focused on interfirm overall knowledge flows, we contend that absorption speed plays a critical role in technology-intensive industries where time-based competition is paramount. Additionally, most previous studies do not clearly distinguish a firm’s rivals from its collaborators within the alliance portfolio. Building on interorganizational learning theory, we propose that a simultaneous and balanced presence of both rivals and collaborators within a firm’s alliance portfolio, which we term relational ambidexterity, increases the firm’s speed of absorbing external knowledge. We further contend that while a firm’s internal knowledge variety strengthens the positive relationship between relational ambidexterity and absorption speed, the number of common third parties between a firm and its partner weakens this positive relationship. The results of an event history study of 467 firms in the pharmaceutical industry of the United States from 1990 to 2010 provide general support for our hypotheses.

Group Supervision in Psychotherapy - Development Stages, Development Phases of the Supervisory Relationship and the Supervisee’s Development Levels

The organisation and supervision of a group of therapists, during a long period of time, are commitments that the supervisor thinks about both before starting the activity with the group and throughout the existence of the group. Supervision models can provide a mental map accordingly used by the supervisor in the journey with each supervisee, but also with the group as a whole. During each supervision session, the supervisor places the group as a whole in a development stage (coagulation, maturation, final) and identifies at the stage of development for the supervisory relationship [1] with each member of the group and with his/her level of development [2], but also with the entire group, adapting his/her style to the characteristics of each supervisee, but also to the characteristics of the group as a whole. The learning alliance is the centre of the supervision relationship. The aim of the paper is to integrate the development stages of the supervision group with the development phases of the supervisory relationship and with the supervisee’s development levels. The paper is based on our practical activity as supervisors in group supervision.

Challenges to improved animal rabies surveillance: Experiences from pilot implementation of decentralized diagnostic units in Chad

Better surveillance is desperately needed to guide rabies prevention and control to achieve the goal of zero dog-mediated human rabies by 2030, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners in 2015. With the help of funding from the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) learning agenda, we implemented animal rabies surveillance based on One Health communication, improved accessibility of diagnostic testing and facilitated sample transport to increase case detection in three regions of Chad. Through the project, rabies surveillance, previously only available in N'Djaména, was extended to selected provincial rural and urban areas. Nine decentralized diagnostic units (DDU) were established, hosted by veterinary district agencies (VDA) in four different administrative regions. Four additional VDAs in the study area were reinforced with facilitation of sample collection and transport. Staff from all these 13 veterinary facilities were trained in sample collection and diagnostics. DDUs performed Rapid Immunodiagnostic Tests (RIDT) providing a preliminary result before samples were sent to the central laboratory in N'Djamena for confirmation with the standard Florescent Antibody Test (FAT). Within the project period from June 2016 to March 2018, 115 samples were reported by veterinary facilities in the study areas compared to 63 samples received from outside the study area, the vast majority of them originating from the capital city N'Djaména (N=61). Eighty nine percent of all 178 samples reported to IRED during the project period tested positive. Most of the samples originated from dogs (92%). Other confirmed rabies positive animals observed were cats, a donkey and a pig. Although surveillance of animal rabies was the focus, four human saliva samples were also submitted for diagnosis. We observed high differences in reporting rates between the four study regions. This could be attributable to differences in rabies epidemiology but are also influenced by the distance to the central laboratory in N'Djaména, the cultural background and the level of public awareness. The possibility for local testing through RIDT was very welcomed by local veterinary staff and preliminary insights suggest a positive influence on One Health communication and PEP initiation. However, these aspects as well as the relative impact of local testing on sample collection in comparison to reinforcement of sample collection and transport alone, need to be further investigated. Challenges encountered related to poor infrastructure (buildings, appliances, materials) and low logistic capacity (lacking means and material for transport and communication) of veterinary services in Chad. In addition, veterinary personnel lack experience in data management. Together with staff turnover, this leads to a need for repeated training. Major shortcoming of the approach was the high cost per sample and limited sustainability beyond the project timeframe.