Search For New Ideas Research Articles

Entrepreneurs and New Communication Technology: Obstacle or Challenge?

Abstract Entrepreneurship represents a certain way of thinking and type of behaviour; it’s a continuous search for new ideas, creativity, proactivity and initiative in achieving goals. A successful promotion of an entrepreneurial idea is achieved through marketing communication with consumers. The purpose of this empirical research was to discover the extent in which entrepreneurs use social networks as a new form of communicating with consumers. A total of 172 companies have given information through a specifically designed questionnaire. Research has shown a difference in the extent of using social networks between domestic and foreign owned companies. Moreover, companies with more educated staff have proven to be more open towards accepting information technology in their business activities. This research hasn’t shown significant statistical differences between different age groups.

Open innovation search strategies in family and non-family SMEs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate what types of open innovation search strategies are associated with internal innovation activities in family and non-family SMEs within natural resource-based clusters. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on an empirical analysis of a sample of 245 Chilean firms. Findings Results suggest that while family and non-family SMEs do not significantly differ in terms of internal innovation activities, important differences exist in terms of open innovation search strategies. In particular, family SMEs search for new ideas and knowledge within their closest network of relationships (e.g. customers, suppliers and competitors), whereas non-family SMEs mainly focus on broader network relationships (e.g. universities, public institutions and fair trade organizations). Practical implications This study shows that within a natural resource cluster, the types of firm do matter. In fact, family and non-family SMEs use different open innovation search strategies to innovate; hence, this research may help and assist policy makers in tailoring innovation policies aimed at expanding the potential benefits of clusters for regional growth and development. Originality/value This research addresses the call to further investigate the link between family SMEs and innovation in developing countries, given that SMEs may also act as a lively player for regional development.

Book Review: Tastes of the Divine: Hindu and Christian Theologies of Emotion

Tastes of the Divine: Hindu and Christian Theologies of Emotion. By Michelle Voss Roberts. Comparative Theology: Thinking Across Traditions. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014. 256 pp. $28.00 (paper).Americas religious culture is changing. Fewer people accept inherited religious truth uncritically, as the creed of their family or nation. Instead, they judge religion's effectiveness within their own lives. They explore various beliefs and practices and tinker with the possibilities that spirituality offers. The criterion of evaluation is helpfulness-they want to know what works, what makes their lives more meaningful, what gives them more peace, what opens them to more joy, what creates deeper community. If it works, they keep it. If it doesn't, they discard it. In the end, how thoughts and actions make them feel determines the status of that thought or action. And this process need not be criticized as selfish or shallow. Most of these seekers, being Americans, have tried egoism and found it wanting. They are searching for God, and they want to feel the God that cannot be thought.Yet the West has never been particularly good at mapping the interior spaces of the spirit. Suspicious of any claim to divinity, we have based our thought about God on scripture, reason, and tradition more than experience. But now, experience-social, historical, interior-is rising in theological importance (pp. 3-5). And as we emerge into this new method of talking about God, Hinduism may help us to mark our way, for Hindus have long looked inward when the West looked outward.Michelle Voss Roberts plumbs the depth of this assistance in her latest book. Tastes of the Divine: Hindu and Christian Theologies of Emotion. Within this work Roberts utilizes sophisticated, systematic Hindu reflection on rasa-taste, flavor, essence. This term can apply to food, but also to the moods of life or, in an elevated sense, the emotions (pp. 5-10). Roberts selects three of these rasas in particular-peace, love, and fury-and weaves them into Christian thought.Peace and love have a salient place in Christian tradition, and it makes sense to explore Hindu writing about them in a search for new ideas. But fury seems a bit of a misfit. Roberts explains that whenever aesthetic sensibilities are used in theological method, the risk of spiritual hedonism arises. Religious pleasure may numb us to social injustice. In order to protect ourselves from this complacent egoism, we must also value the rasa of fury- righteous fury at injustice, prophetic fury against corruption, and furious struggle against oppression. As long as there is an oppressed neighbor, fury against the oppressor is our divine summons (pp. …

In the Wake of the Cultural Revolution: Chinese Translations of Hard Times (1978) and Great Expectations (1979)

In the Wake of the Cultural Revolution:Chinese Translations of Hard Times (1978) and Great Expectations (1979) Minghui Li (bio) The Cultural Revolution in China (1966–1976) represented a major and defining era in the nation’s history: the political, economic and social impact on the population was huge. In the immediate aftermath of this painful period, a search for new ideas and points of orientation began, an impetus that called on the nation to look back before looking forward. In the three decades following the Cultural Revolution, the novels of Charles Dickens enjoyed a remarkable reaffirmation of the place they had formerly held in the country’s cultural life since the early twentieth century. It is of particular significance that the first two translations of his works to be published after “the storm” were Hard Times and Great Expectations.1 The titles themselves appeared to speak to the wounded Chinese soul, although nothing was said directly on this subject in the individual forewards that accompanied the publication of each novel at the time. Prior to the Cultural Revolution, the attitude to Dickens had been one of enthusiasm, a predictable response given the author’s critical portrayal of capitalist society. Equally unsurprising, the artistic value of his fiction had received less scrutiny. After 1976, however, Dickens’s work was seen to present broader opportunities for the publishing houses. As the Chinese authorities tried to distance themselves from the Cultural Revolution, the novels of the English author offered the chance to consider humanism as opposed to realism, individualism as opposed to collectivism; at the same time, the translation and publication of several of his works was considered [End Page 300] to be an important task for publishers. Evidence of this is that the following were published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House: Hard Times (1978), translated by Quan Zenggu (全增嘏) and Hu Wenshu (胡文淑); Great Expectations (1979), translated by Wang Keyi (王科一); Bleak House (1979), translated by Huang Bangjie (黄邦杰), Chen Shaoheng (陈少衡) and Zhang Zimo (张自谋); The Pickwick Papers (1979) translated by Jiang Tianzuo (蒋天佐), although Pickwick had been first published in 1947; David Copperfield (1980) translated by Zhang Guruo (张谷若); and A Tale of Two Cities (1989), translated by Zhang Liang (张玲) and Zhang Yang (张扬). But the two most important novels were, without doubt, Hard Times and Great Expectations. For such politically charged but also versatile works, the challenge for any translator was going to be great. While Hard Times had already been translated during the 1920s, the publication of Great Expectations in 1979 was an important literary event marking the first Chinese translation of the novel. The linguistic challenges of the two novels, as well as their critical treatment of capitalist values, suggest that these two works held particular significance for Chinese literary and translation history. The timing of the publication in 1978 and 1979 during a period of drastic social, political and cultural upheaval lent even more impact to their reception in China. For these reasons, any study of the global significance of Hard Times and Great Expectations must take into account their literary, political and socio-cultural contribution to intellectual life in China. Before considering the specific translations, let me comment briefly on the previous history of Chinese translations of Dickens, not least since he was one of the earliest European-American writers introduced into China. Dickens was also one of the most translated foreign writers in Chinese translation history. Following the first group of translations – Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Dombey and Son, introduced by Lin Shu to China between 1907 and 1909, interest in his works increased. The only real interruption occurred between 1966 and 1976. Both before and after the Cultural Revolution, Dickens was highly regarded as an outstanding critical realist in China, whose novels, literary critics agreed, illuminated various aspects of humanistic thought. To coincide with the 125th anniversary of his birth, a Chinese journal titled Translation devoted a special issue to Dickens in 1937, presenting three articles about his work to Chinese readers. Written by a Soviet critic, the first was entitled “迭更斯论—为人道而战的现实主义大师” (“The Realist Master of Humanism”).2 The author’s objective was to present [End Page 301] Dickens to Chinese readers as an...

Collaborative Creativity with eCiC

Students are often attentive highly motivated individuals who have good ideas which can provide successful solutions for all parties concerned, but mostly they have no way of bringing in and developing new ideas with other students in order to improve learning and educational processes. To enable collaborative creativity, the eCollaboration-Research Team at the Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences has developed a solution whereby students or teachers can collaborate and nurture new creative ideas in a structured and guided way. In our solution, this nurturing takes place by means of a collaborative online process in which the “idea seed” will be “cultivated” during various interactive phases as defined by the eCIC method and supported by the eCIC online tool (eCiC = electronic Collaborative idea Cultivation). Together the method and tool constitute the eCIC system. The eCiC interaction method is a procedure which defines a creative collaboration session in three stages: 1) the setting up of a creative collaboration session, 2) ideas processing according to the “Stockalper model” as well as applying the Solution Finder Model (SFM) and 3) closing the creative collaboration session. Stage 2 contains the use of two relevant models, the “Stockalper Model” which guides the user through three different questions, symbolised by the moon (illuminate your way in the darkness), stars (search for new ideas) and sun (deploy your solution) as well as the Solution Finder Model, a problem-solving method which is based on the principle that in order to find a high quality solution, the 3 elements of need, objective and solution should always be identified and explicitly connected to build a coherent triad (the unity). This paper describes the eCiC approach, the method and models, the online tool as well as some applications in educational situations. As the eCiC system has already been used in distributed research teams, worldwide business companies and distant driven educational courses, a summary of experiences, possible applications and future developments will be made.

Ingredients for a More Radical Strategic Spatial Planning

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to the debate on existing planning approaches—more specifically, strategic spatial planning—and the search for new ideas. Therefore, after briefly dealing with the history, logic, aims of strategic planning, and some critiques the paper sketches the contours of a more radical strategic planning, introduces coproduction as a corner stone of this approach, and opts for working with conflicts and legitimacy as additional building blocks. The paper relies on a selective review of critical planning literature and the authors' experience in practice.

NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center for Electrochemical Processes and Technology a Model for Open Innovation

Introduction In the path from invention to product it becomes important to consider multiple options for generation of ideas that could lead to out of the box solutions to technological problems. In the search for new ideas and solutions the concept of Open Innovation has become a new paradigm for companies [1]. Within this paradigm cooperation among industry, universities, customers, and rivals is needed for success. One model that has been successful in such approach is the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program.Over the past three decades, the I/UCRCs have led the way to a new era of partnership between universities and industry, featuring high-quality, industrially relevant fundamental research, strong industrial support of and collaboration in research and education, and direct transfer of university developed ideas, research results, and technology to U.S. industry to improve its competitive posture in world markets [2].In this talk, the implementation of the NSF I/UCRC model will be described within the context of electrochemical processes and technology. A new NSF I/UCRC: Center for Electrochemical Processes and Technology (CEProTECH) had been established [3]. CEProTECH is dedicated to the improvement of chemical and biological processes utilizing novel, electrochemically-focused approaches. Ohio University (OHIO, lead Center site) and Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL, Center site) are the founding universities. The Center facilitates fundamental, cross-cutting process analysis and research for a diverse range of industry applications. This includes both the classical electrochemical processes - chlor-alkali and aluminum processes, batteries, etc.- as well as processes that typically would not utilize electrochemical methods -remediation, advanced synthesis, and production of specialty gases, chemicals, and materials, etc.-. This talk will discuss the process of engaging companies to partner with the center and learning about their advanced manufacturing needs that electrochemical solutions can address.This presentation will focus on the path for the creation and operation of an industry focused research center, CEProTECH, the technology roadmap, the education opportunities for the participants, as well as discussing potential ways of collaboration.

INFLUENCE OF THE OLYMPIC EDUCATION ON 12-13 YEAR OLD ADOLESCENTS' EXPRESSION OF MORAL VALUES IN SPORT

The research aim - to determine 12–13 year old adolescents’ expression of moral values in sport and to measure efficiency of the Olympic education. The research sample consisted of 126 pupils. Out of the eight general education schools, participating in a diagnostic research in Lithuania, four schools were randomly selected with 12-13 year old adolescents making the research sample. Each of the four schools had one experimental (E) and one control (C) group. The experimental group had 60 sixth-formers and 66 sixth-formers comprised the control group. The research methods: scientific literature analysis, description of moral values, educational experiment, statistical analysis. The results show that 12-13 year old adolescents in the experimental group were able to better define the essence of moral values as expression of their perception of values is higher, i.e. extensive and very detailed; grew significantly more than that of the control group participants. It was identified that data analysis of the empirical research conducted within a framework of the Olympic education manifested the expression of positive changes when contributing to the development of a moral value system, internalized by 12-13 year old adolescents. Therefore, it is highly important that adolescents’ value system would be constantly developed through the search for new ideas, pursuit of effective activity results, and use of the Olympic education. KEYWORDS: Olympic education, adolescents, moral values in sport. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/atee.v1i0.669

Innovation exploitation, exploration and supplier relationship management

This paper describes how supplier relationship management facilitates innovation exploitation and exploration in brewing and bus manufacturing. In the two industries examined, strong ties are associated with exploitation whilst mixed features of strong and weak ties benefit exploration. This is in contrast to the findings of Gilsing and Nooteboom (2005) and suggests that tie strength associated with exploitation and exploration differs according to the industrial context in which firms operate. The findings also suggest different streams of capabilities are required to manage supplier relationships. In exploitation strong ties facilitate capabilities to identify new opportunities, to form a collective to pool resources and to work across organisational boundaries. In exploration weak ties are conducive to the search for new ideas but impede firms’ capability to realise potential innovations. Relationship management becomes challenging when innovations are radical, with high complexity in communication and coordination of actors across organisational boundaries.

지역 어메니티 촉진을 위한 마을만들기 운영사례 비교연구

The aim of the research was to analyze programs, outcomes, promotion process, and operation methods of neighbourhood making to provide basic information for progressive improvement directions in the future. Buk-gu in Gwanju city, samdeok-dong in Daegu city and dongpirang in Tongyeong city were selected for a comparative analysis. The main bodies of neighbourhood making for promoting a local amenity were analysed for this research. The results indicated that a voluntary and continuous participation of residents was expected in the case of neighbourhood making led by the residents. However, a steady budget support from the outside was necessary for the continuous management and improvement of neighbourhood organization. For this, a voluntary agreement was required through the consultative group and committee formation. The member of civil organization has a limitation in the ability to develop and maintain continuos activities in the case of neighbourhood making led by a civil organization. This research found that operation methods including the constant checking, the search for new ideas through assessment of the resident's participation, local festivals for a community formation and real satisfactions of residents' desires were needed in the neighbourhood making led by a civil organization. A participation rate in neighbourhood making was low in the case of neighbourhood making led by administrative bodies. This result indicated that the long-term strategics for space renewal and community revitalization were important. Various easy ways of residents' participation to reflect their interests and operation systems were also needed. Finally, current local issues, active residents' participation and residents' opinions would be included in the process of neighbour making in the future.

EDITORIAL

You are looking at the third issue of Contemporary Military Challenges. Initially, the topic that was planned to be discussed within the Editorial Board's programme of work drafted last year was the role of the Republic of Slovenia in international structures and its opportunities in the region of south-eastern Europe, with special emphasis on the Balkans. Since then, the contemporary security environment has changed again. New cir- cumstances, situations, crises and opportunities have arisen. These changes manifest themselves in various forms, in various parts of the world and in various areas. The selection of articles in this issue aims at responding to some of them. The findings and insights of international authors thus offer interesting reading on different topics and at the same time inspire the search for new ideas and solutions. So where to start when it comes to security? With the state. The state possesses various levers of power. Some of them it can and some of them it has to use in the or- ganisation and provision of national security, which can neither now nor in the future be perceived as a constituent of international security. State’s levers of power and their handling are discussed in the article ‘Orchestrating the instruments of national power’ by Igor Kotnik. The author presents the varying strength of their power, the possibilities of their interrelation, final goals, the state’s interests, etc. He claims that the state’s instruments of power are an important factor of prevention and thus have to be devoted adequate attention. Their basic mission is to preserve peace, security and stability. The possibility to act comes second. 'Kurdish awakening and the Syrian crisis' is the article by Georgios Protopapas. The author acquaints us with the Syrian crisis and potential Kurdish awakening in Syria. Such scenario could change the borders of Syria and its neighbouring countries. The author analyses some of the possibilities for the formation of Greater Kurdistan. Jerzy Stańczyk in his article ‘Poland towards the contemporary challenges’ presents and reflects upon various security trends and their impact on the security en- vironment in Poland and beyond, as well as discusses the integrated national security system in Poland as a possible reaction to them. Gregor Garb writes about 'The role of financial resources in establishing contem- porary security paradigm in defence area for the selected countries'. He presents and compares the guidelines for financing defence systems of five countries – the Republic of Slovenia and its neighbours. Peter Álmos Kiss in his article ‘Intelligence and the new paradigm of warfare’ studies new intelligence trends. Are these really new trends or are they perhaps the already tested methods and approaches that have been gradually suspended as tech- nology developed? ‘The troubled position of a Sergeant: mediating between esprit de corps and social cohesion in a peace operation’ is the subject presented by Claus Kold. The author writes about the differences in communication with officers and non-commissioned officers, relying on the case of a Danish Sergeant. This is what this issue has to offer. As usually, we invite all the interested authors to write and share their scientific and professional experiences with us and our readers. The instructions to authors can be found at the end of the publication. We are well aware that a lot of interesting developments revolve around security. Those of you, who have the opportunity and the privilege to follow them personally, are kindly invited to share them, particularly, if they can be informative for the rest of us.

A Multi‐Level Model for Organizational Ambidexterity in the Search Phase of the Innovation Process

Innovation is one of the most critical means in supporting and improving the competitive position of the firm, in particular, and a firm's survival and growth depend greatly on its ability to balance the exploitation of existing knowledge with the exploration of new possibilities, by building ambidexterity capability. While different alternatives to realize the simultaneous reconciliation of exploration and exploitation at an operational level have been proposed, how organizations build ambidexterity capability is not fully understood. The aim of this paper is thus to explore how exploration and exploitation balancing can be achieved in practice. We decided to focus on the early phase of the process where firms search for new ideas with which to renew themselves. To this end, we analysed the search phase of a highly innovative technology‐based company by investigating structural design choices combined with the presence of specific roles and searching practices. The results show how the exploration and exploitation balancing act can actually be achieved and maintained through a multi‐level approach that integrates both the operational and the strategic levels. Our findings thus contribute to the organizational ambidexterity literature, by proposing a first interpretative model for dealing with ambidexterity in the search phase of the innovation process.

Health Disparities Research in Global Perspective: New Insights and New Directions

This commentary introduces this volume's symposium on "Comparative Approaches to Reducing Health Disparities." Disparities in the health of socially and economically disadvantaged compared with more advantaged populations are observed worldwide. The lack of progress in addressing these disparities compels a continuing search for new ideas and evidence about potential solutions as well as efforts to understand when and where these solutions work and how they work. The symposium consists of five in-depth reviews led by established scholars who approach the topic from their different disciplinary and topical perspectives. Taken together, these reviews point out the conceptual and methodological opportunities for generating more effective disparities research within biomedical, public health, and health services approaches, the value of also applying theory and methods from disciplines such as political science and economics to health disparities research, and insights to be gained from comparisons of how disparities occur and are remedied in different societies.

Organisational ambidexterity in the search phase of the innovation process. Evidence from a leading case study

How firms succeed in reconciling the exploitation of existing knowledge with the exploration of new possibilities is an open question in the literature and it represents the core of our paper, the aim of which is to explore how firms have actually achieved ambidexterity capability. In order to do so, we decided to focus on the very early phase of the process where firms search for new ideas with which to renew themselves. In particular, we analysed the search phase of a highly innovative technology-based company by investigating the structural design choices combined with the presence of specific roles and searching practices. The results show how exploration and exploitation can actually be achieved simultaneously and maintained through a multilevel approach that integrates both the operational and the strategic levels. Our findings, thus, contribute to the organisational ambidexterity literature by proposing a first interpretative model for dealing with ambidexterity in the search phase of the innovation process.

Organising, politics and education

FOCUS □ TRADEUNIONEDUCATION Organising, politics and education The roleoftrade unioneducation has been consciously recognised bythe ITFas a necessary and integralpartof the process to repositionunions and defendrights ALANA DAVE IsEducation Officer with the International Transport Workers Federation In London At the Federation theITF International global (ITF) Congress adopted Transport in1998, Mobilising affiliates Workers' of the InternationalTransport Workers' Federation (ITF) adopted Mobilising Solidarity , a programme whichasserted theneed to developa strategic responseto the negative impact ofneoliberal transport restructuring on the rights oftransport unions andworkers world-wide. This programme providedthe foundation from whichthemajority ofsubsequent policydecisions have evolved resulting in the current Strong Unions, Sustainable Transport policyframework. Since1998,thescaleoftransport restructuring and theaccompanying shifts in employment relationshipsand rights, has necessitated a muchdeeper, morecritical interrogation ofunionapproaches to organising, bargaining andcampaigning. Significantly, theroleoftradeunioneducation has been consciously recognised bytheITF as a necessary andintegral part oftheprocesstoreposition unionsand defendrights. Withtheshift in approach of the ITF articulatedinitiallyin Mobilising Solidarity , came a redefinition of the federation's education work. TheITF'sOrganising Globally- Fighting for our Rightsprogramme states: 'ITFeducation workhas changeddrastically .Previously mainly delivering basictradeunion educationcoursesfordeveloping countries, itis now dealingwiththeglobalrestructuring in the transport industry, industrial priorities of ITF industrial sections, and building organising, analytical and campaigning capacityon a regional, subregional and globallevel.Bothindustrialised anddeveloping countries aretargeted'. However,thereare severalchallengeswhich need to be faced forthe ITF to delivertrade unioneducationwhichleads to actionand ultimately contributes to socialchange.Firstly, how to developan educational approachto strategic organising. Secondly, how to bringpoliticsand ideologyintothefederation's tradeunioneducation discourse.And thirdly, how to link the processof educationto organisational developmentand growth atglobaland national levels. Educationand organising Organising inthetransport sectortakesdifferent forms, from international organising acrossbordersin multinational companiesor alongtransportcorridors , to organising a particular occupationalgroupofworkers within one company, to organising workerswithno clear employment relationships. Mostimportantly, andregardless of the formof organising, it is the workerswho need to be readyfororganising and driveand control thecampaign from below.Thisapproach presentsa politicalchallengeforinternational organisations, whereorganising priorities agreed ata globallevelmight ormight notcoincidewith thereadiness andmoodofrank-and-file workers and unionmembers to assertand defendtheir rights. In suchsituations, cantradeunioneducationcreatetheconsciousness necessary forinternationalorganising campaigns,or do workers and unionsturn to tradeunioneducation when thereare alreadyhighlevels of consciousness creating a demandand searchfornew ideas, skillsand strategies? These are the conceptual questions whichhavetobe asked,so that we can better understand thepossibilities andlimitations ofeducation fororganising at different moments and indifferent contexts. Whena unionor groupofworkers decidesto organise, thereshouldbe a close and dynamic interrelationship between theorganising strategy of a unionanditsformal andinformal education programme . However, often therolethateducation can playis too narrowly defined. In manycases, thelink between education andorganising isinterpreted as theneed to train organisers. Whilst the training oforganisers isindeedessential, education should not be limitedsolelyto thisfunction. Education mustplaya rolein everyaspectofa union's life, so as toincrease andstrengthen workers 'participation and control - building effective leaders,strengthening democratic structures and stimulating an active, involved andpolitically consciousmembership whoareprepared toarticulate andfight for working classrights andinterests. Likewise at an international level,thedifferent facetsof theITF'soveralleducation programme, needto be understood holistically inrelation to a globalorganising agenda. Whilst someprogrammes might be tailor-made to support theeducational needsofspecific organising projects, broader education programmes ona widerange ofissues affectingtransport arejustas essential tobuilding a cultureofsolidarity andorganising amongst affiliates. The participatory and collaborative practices of tradeunioneducationenablescollective knowledge , commoninterests and sharedneeds to emerge whichought todrive international organising campaigns. Without thisdeeper processof knowledgebuildingunderpinning international organising campaigns, theability to win internationalunionrights as well as to exercisethem, couldbe seriously weakened.An appreciation of themeaning ofthisprocessis captured byArlette Gayfrom an ITF affiliate in Chile:"Inorganising, thefirst thing we do is to shareinformation with other workers tobuilddeep confidence with each other and to buildtherealand deep solidarity of workers actingcollectively. Organising is fundamentally aboutbuilding thebase oftheunionand thedemocratic structures. Organising helpsmake ourunions moredemocratic". In relation to specific organising targets, there are particular educational challenges. Likeother unionorganisations, ITF affiliates arefacedwith INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 6Volume 19Issue 1201 2 thechallenge oforganising growing numbers of precarious and informal transport workers. The findings of an ITF global researchprojecton organising informal transport workers showthat unioneducation programmes mustbe specifically tailoredto addressthe needs and rights of informal workers. In manycases,unionorganisersand educators withexperience oforganising andeducation forformal workers finditdifficult to relateto the situation of informal workers. Thusthetraining oforganisers andactivists needs toaddress theparticular issues,situations anddifficulties of organising informal workers such as overcoming suspicion andbad experiences, dealingwithunionplurality , overcoming theoppositionoftheemployers or authorities, motivating workers tojoinunions, understanding their interestsandrights , andfinding thetimeandplaceto meetwithinformal transport workers. Educating, building capacity and empowering leadersintrade...

O pensamento na arte contemporânea

No artigo, o autor explora a tese de que não há arte - e, particularmente, não há "arte contemporânea" - sem uma busca por novas ideias de arte, novas ideias do que seja a arte e de suas relações específicas com as instituições artísticas e com o próprio pensamento.

Management Insights

Management Insights

The need for methodological development within qualitative clinical caring research

The need for methodological development within qualitative clinical caring research

Lawrence B. Slobodkin (1928–2009): Integrating Theory, Models, and Experiments in Ecology

Lawrence B. Slobodkin (1928–2009): Integrating Theory, Models, and Experiments in Ecology

Project leadership skills in cooperative projects

PurposeIn search for new ideas outside the firm's boundaries most companies choose to implement cooperation in the form of discrete projects, increasing the importance of project management. As research in this area so far mainly dealt with formalized instruments of process control, the purpose of this paper is to focus on personal aspects, particularly on the role of project leadership.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 84 biotechnological projects were analyzed. A standardized questionnaire was developed and sent out to research and development managers from the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry. The level of analysis for the survey were single cooperative projects and basically regression statistics were employed.FindingsIt was found that the requirement for a stronger project leader is highly dependent on the degree of trust among team members and the administrative activity. In contrast, other factors, like the risk associated with a cooperative project, or the extent of upper management support are not significantly related to a stronger leader.Research limitations/implicationsAs only biotechnological projects were analyzed, other studies investigating the required project leadership style in other industries would be necessary to be able to generalize. Furthermore, there are several factors with a potential influence that could not be examined in this study.Practical implicationsThe findings would suggest to companies involved in cooperative projects that more emphasis should be put on the human factors of project management and not only on efficient instruments.Originality/valueThis paper focuses on the required strength of a project leader and should thus be of interest to managers trying to set up effective cooperative projects.