Presented at the 14th 14th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance ECMLG 2018: From the article: "Abstract: Scientific literature and practices emphasize that organizations have to align their business strategies with their IT strategy. Strategic alignment of business with IT in organizations is not only a prerequisite for organizations to be successful or competitive but also positively influences IT effectiveness and leads to greater profitability. At the same time organizations have been struggling for a long time with the concept of strategic alignment. In this paper an enhanced concept of strategic alignment is given in such a way that organizations can practically use to align their business and IT. Based on scientific research in this study the existing concept of strategic alignment model, i.e. the relationship between business and IT, was enhanced by placing the discipline of information management between business and IT and thus making information management responsible for the alignment or linking of business with IT. This conceptually enhanced concept of strategic alignment was practically enhanced even further with the use of the Business information Service Library (BiSL) framework. This framework links business with IT on the strategically, managing and operational level of an organization. The BiSL process framework thus provides an description of the information management processes on the different levels of an organization that have to be implemented and carried out to achieve strategic alignment within an organization. With the support of three experts in the field of information management and BiSL, an enhanced Strategic Alignment Model was constructed. To validate this model 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted in eleven organizations. The results of these interviews show not only a strong and solid support for adding information management to the existing concept of strategic alignment but also indicate a strong and solid support for the use of the BiSL framework for implementing information management. These findings support the notion that the BiSL enhanced Strategic Alignment Model not only provides a conceptually enhanced strategic alignment model but also provides organizations with a concept of strategic alignment that organization can practically use to align their business with IT."
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This paper examines how a serious game approach could support a participatory planning process by bringing stakeholders together to discuss interventions that assist the development of sustainable urban tourism. A serious policy game was designed and played in six European cities by a total of 73 participants, reflecting a diverse array of tourism stakeholders. By observing in-game experiences, a pre- and post -game survey and short interviews six months after playing the game, the process and impact of the game was investigated. While it proved difficult to evaluate the value of a serious game approach, results demonstrate that enacting real-life policymaking in a serious game setting can enable stakeholders to come together, and become more aware of the issues and complexities involved with urban tourism planning. This suggests a serious game can be used to stimulate the uptake of academic insights in a playful manner. However, it should be remembered that a game is a tool and does not, in itself, lead to inclusive participatory policymaking and more sustainable urban tourism planning. Consequently, care needs to be taken to ensure inclusiveness and prevent marginalization or disempowerment both within game-design and the political formation of a wider participatory planning approach.
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Background and purpose: Automatic approaches are widely implemented to automate dose optimization in radiotherapy treatment planning. This study systematically investigates how to configure automatic planning in order to create the best possible plans. Materials and methods: Automatic plans were generated using protocol based automatic iterative optimization. Starting from a simple automation protocol which consisted of the constraints for targets and organs at risk (OAR), the performance of the automatic approach was evaluated in terms of target coverage, OAR sparing, conformity, beam complexity, and plan quality. More complex protocols were systematically explored to improve the quality of the automatic plans. The protocols could be improved by adding a dose goal on the outer 2 mm of the PTV, by setting goals on strategically chosen subparts of OARs, by adding goals for conformity, and by limiting the leaf motion. For prostate plans, development of an automated post-optimization procedure was required to achieve precise control over the dose distribution. Automatic and manually optimized plans were compared for 20 head and neck (H&N), 20 prostate, and 20 rectum cancer patients. Results: Based on simple automation protocols, the automatic optimizer was not always able to generate adequate treatment plans. For the improved final configurations for the three sites, the dose was lower in automatic plans compared to the manual plans in 12 out of 13 considered OARs. In blind tests, the automatic plans were preferred in 80% of cases. Conclusions: With adequate, advanced, protocols the automatic planning approach is able to create high-quality treatment plans.
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This article examines whether calls for European ‘strategic autonomy’ in response to Trump’s rhetoric are qualitatively different from earlier disagreements in US-EU relations. By doing so, it re-assesses Geir Lundestad’s concept of “Empire by Invitation” to illustrate constraints for the development of such an autonomy especially in defence affairs. We argue that the US’s involvement in European defence affairs was never an invitation to ‘empire’, as the invitational aspect was based on consent. A process has been accelerated by the Trump presidency whereby this consent has shifted towards strategic estrangement. However, the article argues that the reactive and intergovernmental nature of EU foreign and security policy continues to hamper more autonomous policy planning in CSDP matters – different readings about cyclical disruptions in EU-US relations notwithstanding. The article finally discusses how the introduction of new CSDP mechanisms impacts on this debate. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martijn-lak-71793013/
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From the article: "After 1993, the concept of strategic alignment is evaluated from the connection between IT and business to much broader definitions in which the connection between all business functions, horizontally and vertically, and later also with projects and stakeholders is mentioned. To achieve stategic alignment there must be a coordination between the strategy of organizations and those who contribute to the implementation of the strategy and the actual performance of an organization. This process is called Human Oriented Performance Management (HOPM). The HOPM model consists of four dimensions: strategy translation, information and visualization, dialogue and action orientation, and continues improvement and organizational learning. To measure the effect of strategic alignment a range of financial performance indicators are used. Based on a literature review this paper explores which financial performance indicators could be used to measure the effect of HOPM. The literature was selected over a period from 1996 – 2015. The research is not only focused on the top of the strategy map, but also on the cause-effect relationships in the strategy map. The underlying performance indicators in the strategy map can show on which figures the dialogue in the HOPM model about strategy implementation must be based. This dialogue is the input to action in which strategic alignment comes about. The goal of the research is to optimize this dialogue by looking for performance indicators that can show the effect of HOPM" The article is used for the course: 'corporate policy' minor MSMM (Masterclass Strategic Marketing Management).
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In urban planning, 3D modeling and virtual reality (VR) provide new means for involving citizens in the planning process. For municipal government, it is essential to know how effective these means are, to justify investments. In this study, we present a case of using VR in a municipal process of civic participation concerning the redesign of a public park. The process included codesign activities and involved citizens in decision-making through a ballot, using 3D-rendered versions of competing designs. In codesign, 3D-modeling tools were instrumental in empowering citizens to negotiate design decisions, to discuss the quality of designs with experts, and to collectively take decisions. This paper demonstrates that, in a ballot on competing designs with 1302 citizens, VR headsets proved to be equally effective compared to other display technologies in informing citizens during decision making. The results of an additional, controlled experiment indicate that VR headsets provide higher engagement and more vivid memories than viewing the designs on non-immersive displays. By integrating research into a municipal process, we contribute evidence of cognitive and engagement effects of using 3D modeling and immersive VR technologies to empower citizens in participatory urban planning. The case described in the paper concerns a public park; a similar approach could be applied to the design of public installations including media architecture.
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Chronic diseases represent a significant burden for the society and health systems; addressing this burden is a key goal of the European Union policy. Health and other professionals are expected to deliver behaviour change support to persons with chronic disease. A skill gap in behaviour change support has been identified, and there is room for improvement. Train4Health is a strategic partnership involving seven European Institutions in five countries, which seeks to improve behaviour change support competencies for the self-management of chronic disease. The project envisages a continuum in behaviour change support education, in which an interprofessional competency framework, relevant for those currently practising, guides the development of a learning outcomes-based curriculum and an educational package for future professionals (today’s undergraduate students).
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Rational prescribing is essential for the quality of health care. However, many final-year medical students and junior doctors lack prescribing competence to perform this task. The availability of a list of medicines that a junior doctor working in Europe should be able to independently prescribe safely and effectively without supervision could support and harmonize teaching and training in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) in Europe. Therefore, our aim was to achieve consensus on such a list of medicines that are widely accessible in Europe. For this, we used a modified Delphi study method consisting of three parts. In part one, we created an initial list based on a literature search. In part two, a group of 64 coordinators in CPT education, selected via the Network of Teachers in Pharmacotherapy of the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, evaluated the accessibility of each medicine in his or her country, and provided a diverse group of experts willing to participate in the Delphi part. In part three, 463 experts from 24 European countries were invited to participate in a 2-round Delphi study. In total, 187 experts (40%) from 24 countries completed both rounds and evaluated 416 medicines, 98 of which were included in the final list. The top three Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical code groups were (1) cardiovascular system (n = 23), (2) anti-infective (n = 21), and (3) musculoskeletal system (n = 11). This European List of Key Medicines for Medical Education could be a starting point for country-specific lists and could be used for the training and assessment of CPT.
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Dutch National Sports Organizations (NSFs) is currently experiencing financial pressures. Two indications for this are described in this paper i.e. increased competition in the sports sector and changes in subsidy division. Decreasing incomes from subsidies can be compensated with either increasing incomes from a commercial domain or increasing incomes from member contributions. This latter solution is gaining interest as a solution for the uncertainties. Many NSFs have therefore participated in a special marketing program in order to enlarge their marketing awareness and create a marketing strategy, in order to (re)win market share on the sports participation market and gain a more stable financial situation. This paper introduces my research related to the introduction of marketing techniques within NSFs and the change-over to become market oriented. An overview of existing literature about creating marketing strategies, their implementation, and market orientation is given. This outline makes obvious that the existing literature is not sufficient for studying the implementation of marketing techniques and market orientation within NSFs. Therefore, it shows the scientific relevance of my research. The paper concludes with the chosen research methodology.
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This paper lays the groundwork for building a communication model that will help cultivate communities of practice through the use of strategic communications. Theoretical models describing communities of practice in organizational knowledge generation typically have three main actors; the individual, the community and the organization. These models usually mention the necessity for their interaction, but are never specific about how this should be done. Furthermore, there has been little research on how communication processes can affect the relationship between the three actors in the model. This paper proposes that the interaction between the community, the individual members of the community and the organization must be facilitated and promoted through specific strategic communications in order to guarantee the success of the community. Topics such as knowledge sharing, knowledge building and organizational learning are looked at through a communication perspective.
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