In recent years, the subsidiarity principle has been underlined in Sport-for-All policies in countries such as Germany, Austria and Belgium. According to this organising principle, issues need to be handled by the lowest possible political and administrative level, and as close to the citizens as possible. The 2007 decree concerning Sport-for-All policies at the local level in Flanders (Belgium) clearly referred to this. It emphasised the decentralisation of the Sport for All policy, and highlighted the regulatory and coordinating role of local sports authorities. As a consequence, they may face conflicting roles of being coordinator, regulator and provider of mass sport at the local level. In this paper, a mixed-method approach is used to give a closer insight in the role perceptions of local sports authorities in Flanders, and their position towards private sport providers. The results show that local sports authorities consider the coordination and regulation of mass sport in their municipality as their primary task. Yet, it appears that private sport providers also perceive competition from local sports authorities. Moreover, a considerable number of the local sports authorities believe they can combine the roles of provider and coordinator. As there appears to be considerable goal ambiguity, it is necessary for local sports authorities to formulate clear goals. Referring to the principle of subsidiarity, it is argued that sports authorities should only intervene when (non-)profit sport providers are not able to achieve the desirable outcomes with regard to sport and the welfare agenda.
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Internationalizing curricula. Needs and wishes of alumni and employers with regard to international competencies. Internationalization has become of great importance for universities acrossthe globe. The labour market is becoming international, with internationalopportunities and international competition. Emerging markets such as India, China and Russia are gaining economic power. Global challenges demand world-wide solutions. Production and marketing networks span the globe and various forms of migration have resulted in a large cultural diversity within nations. As a result, societies and labour markets are changing as well. In order to deal with these societal changes adequately and to succeed in today’s labour market, graduates need to be equipped with international competencies. In a survey among 500 chief executives, ICM Research (on behalf of Think Global and The British Council, 2011) showed that employers strongly value staff members who are able to work in an international and multicultural environment. Similar results were found in Diamond et al. (2011), in which ‘multicultural teamwork’ was considered most important. The Hague University of Applied Sciences seeks to prepare its students adequately for the world of tomorrow. The University’s development plans (e.g. HogeschoolOntwikkelingsPlan, HOP 7, 2009-2013 and HOP 8, 2014-2017) indicate that its vision is to train students to be globally-minded professionals with an international and multicultural perspective, who are world-citizens, interested in global issues and able to deal with diversity in a constructive manner. They are to be professionals, who possess the competencies to function well in an international and intercultural environment. Internationalization is therefore high on the agenda of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) which is illustrated by the fact that, as of 2014, new students in all academies have to fill 12.5% (30 ECTS) of their four-year Bachelor program with international activities. These activities can range from an internship or semester abroad (student mobility) to participating in full programs of study or minors in which English is the medium of instruction, or an internationally themed minor (Internationalization at Home, IaH). And this is only the beginning. Internationalization is a means, not an end. All THUAS courses are looking into ways in which they can internationalize their curriculum. And in doing so, they need to be innovative (Leask, 2009) and keep in mind the specific needs and wishes of alumni and their employers with regard to international competences. The THUAS research group International Cooperation supports these internationalization policy objectives by investigating various aspects, such as: • The acquisition and development of international competencies among students. • The extent to which lecturers possess international competencies and what their needs and wishes are for further development. • The international competencies THUAS graduates have acquired as part of their degree and how THUAS has stimulated this development. • The international competencies that employers and alumni consider important. Although international competencies and employability have received growing attention in internationalization research, existing studies have mainly focused on: • The effects of study abroad on the development of international competence (cf. Hoven & Walenkamp, 2013). • The effects of an experience abroad (study, internship, voluntary work) on employability. • A more general analysis of the skills employers look for in prospective employees.
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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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Summary Project objectives This study fits into a larger research project on logistics collaboration and outsourcing decisions. The final objective of this larger project is to analyze the logistics collaboration decision in more detail to identify thresholds in these decisions. To reach the overall objectives, the first step is to get a clearer picture on the chemical and logistics service providers industry, sectors of our study, and on logistics collaboration in these sectors. The results of this first phase are presented in this report. Project Approach The study consists of two parts: literature review and five case studies within the chemical industry. The literature covers three topics: logistics collaboration, logistics outsourcing and purchasing of logistics services. The five case studies are used to refine the theoretical findings of the literature review. Conclusions Main observations during the case studies can be summarized as follows: Most analyzed collaborative relationships between shippers and logistics service providers in the chemical industry are still focused on operational execution of logistics activities with a short term horizon. Supply management design and control are often retained by the shippers. Despite the time and cost intensive character of a logistics service buying process, shippers tendering on a very regular basis. The decision to start a new tender project should more often be based on an integral approach that includes all tender related costs. A lower frequency of tendering could create more stability in supply chains. Beside, it will give both, shippers and LSPs, the possibility to improve the quality of the remaining projects. Price is still a dominating decision criterion in selecting a LSP. This is not an issue as long as the comparison of costs is based on an integral approach, and when shippers balance the cost criterion within their total set of criteria for sourcing logistics services. At the shippers' side there is an increased awareness of the need of more solid collaboration with logistics service providers. Nevertheless, in many cases this increased awareness does not actually result in the required actions to establish more intensive collaboration. Over the last years the logistics service providers industry was characterized by low profit margins, strong fragmentation and price competition. Nowadays, the market for LSPs is changing, because of an increasing demand for logistics services. To benefit from this situation a more pro-active role of the service providers is required in building stronger relationships with their customers. They should pay more attention on mid and long term possibilities in a collaborative relation, in stead of only be focused on running the daily operation.
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This case study describes a special edition of the European Project Semester at the course Sustainable Packaging Design and Innovation at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (Fall Semester 2017). In this special edition, unique cooperation took place between 12 parties. The parties were three research institutes, six universities, and three companies. Some parties have developed an educational module focused upon sustainable and circular packaging design, including the use of a dedicated tool for life cycle assessment. This module was embedded in the regular EPS. At The Hague University of Applied Sciences, an international class of 16 students worked in four teams on a real-life design assignment. They were offered a wide range of lectures, workshops, pitches, and presentations. The chapter concludes with a review of the followed processes and organizational, managerial, and practical concerns. Although run as a unique edition, all parties discuss to continue this cooperation.
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Internationalisation is the expansion of a firms operations to foreign markets and includes not only import and export but also foreign direct investments and international cooperation. Today’s globalising economy has resulted in a growing number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) undertaking international activities. Internationalisation has been shown to be very beneficial for firms. Cross-border activities are an important means through which SMEs are able to create value, generate growth and access new knowledge and technologies. A strong relation has also been found between innovation and internationalisation: innovation may both be necessary to enter foreign markets as well as be a consequence of a firm’s foreign market activities. In addition to value creation at the firmlevel, crossborder entrepreneurship is assumed to create wealth at an economy wide level. With so many evident benefits to internationalisation, why don’t more SMEs internationalise? In her inaugural lecture Anne van Delft will illustrate the importance of “cooperation within networks” in international business. In today’s “network economy” it is important for firms to leverage their networks. Managing the interplay between networks and knowledge will be one of the key challenges for the 21st century. Cooperation with other firms is especially important for SMEs because it allows firms to utilise their limited resources in the most efficient way. Some of the sectors in the Rotterdam region are world leaders but nevertheless their main competitor might soon come from an emerging market rather than form within the regional cluster. The benefits of cooperation and knowledge sharing should therefore be exploited fully by SMEs in the Rotterdam region as global competition increases.
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This article examines the network structure, criminal cooperation, and external interactions of cybercriminal networks. Its contribution is empirical and inductive. The core of this study involved carrying out 10 case analyses on closed cybercrime investigations – all with financial motivations on the part of the offenders - in the UK and beyond. Each analysis involved investigator interview and access to unpublished law enforcement files. The comparison of these cases resulted in a wide range of findings on these cybercriminal networks, including: a common division between the scam/attack components and the money components; the presence of offline/local elements; a broad, and sometimes blurred, spectrum of cybercriminal behaviour and organisation. An overarching theme across the cases that we observe is that cybercriminal business models are relatively stable.
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The concept of internationalization has been seen as a buzz word and container concept. The meaning of internationalization includes everything that relates to international, meanwhile internationalization is losing its meaning. This study takes a practical approach to searching for some clarification of this concept. During the period 2009-2011, 73 key actors in the field of internationalization at 16 Dutch higher education institutions (HEIs) were interviewed. Among the 14 elements identified by this study as constituting the concept of internationalization, many may be commonly know. However, the value of this study is that it ranks their significance and provides a sound base for further comparative studies in other countries. Moreover, this study compares and contrasts the differing interpretations of what the pursuit of internationalization means in research universities and universities of applied sciences and concludes that internationalization is pursued differently in the two sectors and clarifies the cause of these differences. These sectoral differences are important but have so far been rarely acknowledged in the internationalization literature. Finally, knowledge about practitioners’ perceptions of internationalization is not widely available in the education literature on internationalization. This study provides this knowledge based on the Dutch situation and argues that the current trend of theoretical development and general conceptualization in this field needs to recognize the actual practices, if our aim is to produce meaningful and feasible models/guidelines/frameworks that are recognizable by the practitioners.
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This one-off magazine is a joint publication of Dutch and Indonesian partners in the INNOCAP and vegIMPACT NL programmes. These partners worked together to strengthen agricultural education in poultry, horticulture and ruminant production at SMK level. SMKs (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan) are vocational upper secondary schools. All programme partners share the conviction that educational cooperation and private sector development should go hand in hand. The digital version of this magazine is enriched with links to websites and videos of the programme partners and their highlights of the results of the joint Indonesian - Dutch programmes. “The cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands can build further on the lessons learned from INNOCAP and vegIMPACT NL programmes to invest in vocational education for agricultural growth”.
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This one-off magazine is a joint publication of Dutch and Indonesian partners in the INNOCAP and vegIMPACT NL programmes. These partners worked together to strengthen agricultural education in poultry, horticulture and ruminant production at SMK level. SMKs (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan) are vocational upper secondary schools. All programme partners share the conviction that educational cooperation and private sector development should go hand in hand. The digital version of this magazine is enriched with links to websites and videos of the programme partners and their highlights of the results of the joint Indonesian - Dutch programmes. “The cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands can build further on the lessons learned from INNOCAP and vegIMPACT NL programmes to invest in vocational education for agricultural growth”.
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