This paper explores inter-organisational relationships, in terms of cooperation, between three main types of sport providers at the local level: voluntary sport clubs, for-profit fitness and health clubs, and local sports authorities. Both withinand cross-sector cooperation are analysed and related to organisational characteristics as well as the perceived competition from other sport providers. Data are obtained from three quantitative panel surveys: the Flemish Sport Club Panel 2009, the Flemish Fitness Panel 2009, and the Flemish Local Sports Authorities Panel 2010. The results show that sport providers influence and are influenced by other sport providers in their environment. The three selected groups of sport providers differ with regard to the occurrence and the nature of the cooperation. Local sports authorities (i.e., public sector) are found to be the most cooperative sport provider. Evidence is provided for the use of cooperation as a strategy to meet competitive challenges.
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Interest in the notion that there is an untapped market with significant buying power hidden at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) has enjoyed increased attention over the last few years. The discourse on this matter is lively and abounds with opposing opinions. Although this discourse is acknowledged in this paper, it is argued that benefits can be derived for all parties if one considers partner cooperation issues (or problems) in a structured way. Partner cooperation in the case of this research refers to the cooperation between multinational information technology companies and local partners in African countries. This area is of interest because of (frequently high) expectations that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can make a contribution toward development goals in BOP markets. However this is not always achieved and, as has been found by several researchers, this unfavorable outcome is, amongst other things caused by cooperation problems between partners. The basic argument of this paper is that successful contribution of ICT to development goals is partly dependent on the nature of the cooperation between partners. Thus if there is a need to assess the contribution of ICTs, then one need to look further than just the basic quantitative measures and include cooperation issues as criteria for success. The purpose of the research reported in this paper was therefore to take one step closer towards a framework of cooperation issues in so-called BOP projects, specifically in the ICT arena, with the ultimate aim of developing a way to assess factors that may present a risk to the success of these projects. This framework could serve as the foundation for further research into developing a diagnostic instrument for this purpose. The research was conducted in 10 BOP projects involving multinational ICT companies, which were studied as separate case studies. Qualitative data was collected using the case study method and the data was analyzed for emerging patterns. It was found that problems with partner cooperation revolve around six core categories. These are explained in this paper. It is suggested that further research can serve to interrogate the proposed framework.
Sarah Banks (2012) describes ethics work mainly as the effort people put into developing themselves as good practitioners. She discerns six aspects of ethics work: identity work, framing work, reason work, emotion work, role work and performance work. Although ethics work focuses on the ethical development of individual practitioners within their profession, the concept and all its aspects can be transferred into an ethical guideline for the collective development of practitioners in interprofessional cooperation. As such the concept of collective interprofessional ethics work can also be used as a set of criteria for the ethical evaluation of interprofessional cooperation, as is shown on the basis of an experiment in Belgium
The focus of this project is on improving the resilience of hospitality Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by enabling them to take advantage of digitalization tools and data analytics in particular. Hospitality SMEs play an important role in their local community but are vulnerable to shifts in demand. Due to a lack of resources (time, finance, and sometimes knowledge), they do not have sufficient access to data analytics tools that are typically available to larger organizations. The purpose of this project is therefore to develop a prototype infrastructure or ecosystem showcasing how Dutch hospitality SMEs can develop their data analytic capability in such a way that they increase their resilience to shifts in demand. The one year exploration period will be used to assess the feasibility of such an infrastructure and will address technological aspects (e.g. kind of technological platform), process aspects (e.g. prerequisites for collaboration such as confidentiality and safety of data), knowledge aspects (e.g. what knowledge of data analytics do SMEs need and through what medium), and organizational aspects (what kind of cooperation form is necessary and how should it be financed).
Digital transformation has been recognized for its potential to contribute to sustainability goals. It requires companies to develop their Data Analytic Capability (DAC), defined as their ability to collect, manage and analyze data effectively. Despite the governmental efforts to promote digitalization, there seems to be a knowledge gap on how to proceed, with 37% of Dutch SMEs reporting a lack of knowledge, and 33% reporting a lack of support in developing DAC. Participants in the interviews that we organized preparing this proposal indicated a need for guidance on how to develop DAC within their organization given their unique context (e.g. age and experience of the workforce, presence of legacy systems, high daily workload, lack of knowledge of digitalization). While a lot of attention has been given to the technological aspects of DAC, the people, process, and organizational culture aspects are as important, requiring a comprehensive approach and thus a bundling of knowledge from different expertise. Therefore, the objective of this KIEM proposal is to identify organizational enablers and inhibitors of DAC through a series of interviews and case studies, and use these to formulate a preliminary roadmap to DAC. From a structure perspective, the objective of the KIEM proposal will be to explore and solidify the partnership between Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas), Avans University of Applied Sciences (Avans), Logistics Community Brabant (LCB), van Berkel Logistics BV, Smink Group BV, and iValueImprovement BV. This partnership will be used to develop the preliminary roadmap and pre-test it using action methodology. The action research protocol and preliminary roadmap thereby developed in this KIEM project will form the basis for a subsequent RAAK proposal.
Teachers have a crucial role in bringing about the extensive social changes that are needed in the building of a sustainable future. In the EduSTA project, we focus on sustainability competences of teachers. We strengthen the European dimension of teacher education via Digital Open Badges as means of performing, acknowledging, documenting, and transferring the competencies as micro-credentials. EduSTA starts by mapping the contextual possibilities and restrictions for transformative learning on sustainability and by operationalising skills. The development of competence-based learning modules and open digital badge-driven pathways will proceed hand in hand and will be realised as learning modules in the partnering Higher Education Institutes and badge applications open for all teachers in Europe.Societal Issue: Teachers’ capabilities to act as active facilitators of change in the ecological transition and to educate citizens and workforce to meet the future challenges is key to a profound transformation in the green transition.Teachers’ sustainability competences have been researched widely, but a gap remains between research and the teachers’ practise. There is a need to operationalise sustainability competences: to describe direct links with everyday tasks, such as curriculum development, pedagogical design, and assessment. This need calls for an urgent operationalisation of educators’ sustainability competences – to support the goals with sustainability actions and to transfer this understanding to their students.Benefit to society: EduSTA builds a community, “Academy of Educators for Sustainable Future”, and creates open digital badge-driven learning pathways for teachers’ sustainability competences supported by multimodal learning modules. The aim is to achieve close cooperation with training schools to actively engage in-service teachers.Our consortium is a catalyst for leading and empowering profound change in the present and for the future to educate teachers ready to meet the challenges and act as active change agents for sustainable future. Emphasizing teachers’ essential role as a part of the green transition also adds to the attractiveness of teachers’ work.
