Wikipolicy: the development of institutional policy using social software. In 2008, the University initiated a project entitled “Policy Workshop 2013” to deliver the “2009 - 2013 policy framework”. This new policy should encapsulate the insights, opinions and wishes of students, staff and stakeholders. It was decided alongside other methods to use a wiki as a policy instrument. Results: A wiki has power, participating in the wiki was very limited and the wiki was used for a topic that was not close to non-participants. In general, the attitude with respect to an open dialogue is not positive unambiguously. Does everybody have to co-decide everywhere? Does it have any bene-fits for the organisation?
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This paper analyzes the institutional context of maintenance purchasing in higher education. It aims to provide insights into the institutional complexities of smart maintenance purchasing in higher education institutes. In a case study, six external institutional fields and two internal institutional logics are identified. They create two types of institutional complexities that impede innovation if not treated correctly. Three ways are discussed to deal with those institutional complexities, 1) negotiating institutional field boundaries, 2) creating new institutional logics and practices, and 3) implementing institutional changes.
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In 2005 and 2006, almost sixty Dutch National Sport Federations (NSFs) participated in a special program for creating a marketing strategy for the next four years. This program was initiated and organized by NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic Umbrella Sports Organization). The NSFs had to joint the project to receive funds. For most of them it was the first time they seriously analyzed the market with the aim of developing new programs. The purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent Dutch NSFs are capable to change their structures to become more market oriented and more market responsive in order to write strategic plans. The changed structures are investigated using the "institutional theory" (Tolbert & Zucker, 1996) and are explained by exogenous (market context and institutional context) and endogenous (interests, values, power dependencies, and capacity for action) dynamics from the neo-institutionalist framework (Greenwood & Hinings, 1996). In 2005 NSFs were expected to be in a pre-institutionalized stage, i.e. they were supposed to develop new organizational structures in response to specific problems (Kikulis, 2000). Now, approximately 1½ years after finishing their strategies, the question arises whether they have reached the semi-institutional stage, i.e. whether the new structures or actions are diffused across organizations, yet still subject to change and whether old structures are yet eroding (Kikulis, 2000). Methods Studying the intended structural change of NSFs requires an in-depth study of their social reality and the reactions and interpretations of involved actors, including their applied meanings to certain situations. Greenwood & Hinings (1996) plead for detailed comparative case-studies when studying institutional changes. Therefore three NSFs has been selected: The Royal Dutch Korfball Federation (KorfFed); The Royal Dutch Billiards Federation (BillFed); and the Dutch Jeu de Boules Federation (JeuFed). These three federations differ on size, amount of housed sports, number of associated clubs, sorts of intermediary decision making bodies, employed FTE's, and more. Therefore it is expected that the tempo of institutionalization of the new, market oriented, structures, will differ among them. Sugden & Tomlinson (2002) developed a multi-method style of qualitative research for making sense of the deep, inside information below the surface of everyday life. They call it the "Brighton method. Applying the Brighton method for this research implies that the three cases will be studied with respect to their history, their present marketing actions, their results and the changes in their organization. In-depth interviews, document analysis (policy plans, marketing plans and more), and where possible observations and participations are used to create a critical and investigative view of the organizations in change. Results The KorfFed used the marketing program to further develop existing programs. Although the outcomes of these programs were not new, the program has opened the eyes of the president, director and staff members. They are now conscious of the urgency of a market orientation, and a marketing orientation (a marketing position has already been introduced), and they see opportunities in attracting non-competition playing korfball players. They have, however, not yet reached the phase of semi-institutionalization of the market oriented structures. This can be concluded from the following: - The organization still has an ad-hoc character; - Some board members still make decisions based on their own insights rather than on information from the professional part of the organization; - Decisions to start programs are still grounded on subsidy possibilities rather than on market possibilities. Interest dissatisfaction and power dependencies are the main dynamics that form barriers in the planned organizational change. The BillFed is a federation that covers four disciplines, i.e. pool, snooker, carom, and billiard 3 cushions. The federation used to act upon these four disciplines. The marketing program has made clear that the BillFed should act upon target groups instead of on these disciplines. Therefore, the federation created a vision to reach youth, young adults, as also elderly people. Carrying out this new vision requires a market orientated structure (focus on target groups) instead of an internal orientated structure (focus on discipline groups). This new vision is created on an upper level (general board together with professional staff) in the organization. This federation also introduced a professional marketing position. Unfortunately, the underlying layers remain slightly passive and are not willing to work along the new structures, which mean that the new structures have not been diffused across the whole organization. Interest dissatisfaction, value commitments and power dependencies are the problematic dynamics. The JeuFed used to have a strong competition and tournament (internal) orientation, while many jeu-de-boules players play the game just for fun. The marketing program has created the insight that the just-for-fun players are also an important target group. Hence, 3 projects are developed to make club membership more attractive for all jeu-de-boules players. Since the federation never worked with projects before, they just found out that implementing projects such as these requires new structures. The JeuFed has just arrived in the pre-institutionalized phase, still far away from the semi-institutionalized chapter. Power dependencies and a lack of capacity for change are influencing dynamics in this case. Discussion Although it is already 1½ years ago that Dutch NSFs finished their marketing program, in none of the described cases the new structures have reached the semi-institutional stage. These new structures or actions are not yet diffused across the organizations, and the old structures are not eroding. In all three cases another combination of endogenous dynamics are influencing the process of organizational change. Continuing research is needed to find out whether these federations will ever reach the next stage of institutionalization and which dynamics will play an important role.
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A welcome policy can be embedded in a municipal authority organisation in a number of different ways. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. To be effective, the local policy makers must be clear on how they hope to make use of the welcome policy and how this will benefit or suffer from different organisational structures. No one ‘ideal’ structure will ‘fit’ all municipal situations in Europe. However, to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisational structure that most closely resembles the local situation can increase the chances of successful policy implementation.
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Energy policies are vital tools used by countries to regulate economic and social development as well as guarantee national security. To address the problems of fragmented policy objectives, conflicting tools, and overlapping initiatives, the internal logic and evolutionary trends of energy policies must be explored using the policy content. This study uses 38,277 energy policies as a database and summarizes the four energy policy objectives: clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient. Using the TextCNN model to classify and deconstruct policies, the LDA + Word2vec theme conceptualization and similarity calculations were compared with the EISMD evolution framework to determine the energy policy theme evolution path. Results indicate that the density of energy policies has increased. Policies have become more comprehensive, barriers between objectives have gradually been broken, and low-carbon objectives have been strengthened. The evolution types are more diversified, evolution paths are more complicated, and the evolution types are often related to technology, industry, and market maturity. Traditional energy themes evolve through inheritance and merger; emerging technology and industry themes evolve through innovation, inheritance, and splitting. Moreover, this study provides a replicable analytical framework for the study of policy evolution in other sectors and evidence for optimizing energy policy design
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The literature on how organizations respond to institutional pressure has shown that the individual decision-makers’ interpretation of institutional pressure played an important role in developing organizational responses. However, it has paid less attention to how this interpretation ultimately contributes to their range of organizational decisions when responding to the same institutional pressure. We address this gap by interviewing board members of U.S. and Dutch hospitals involved in adopting best practices regarding board evaluation. We found four qualitatively different cognitive frames that board members relied on to interpret institutional pressure, and which shaped their organizational response. We contribute to the literature on organizational response to institutional pressure by empirically investigating how decision-makers interpret institutional pressure, by suggesting prior experience and role definition as moderating factors of multidimensional cognitive frames, and by showing how these cognitive frames influence board members’ response to the same institutional pressure.
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This report presents research on success factors of learning communities with a case study of the Innovation Lab Hanze International Business Office (further – Innovation Lab HIBO) at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, the Netherlands. The research project is a part of the broader research programme on innovation of education and the success factors of learning communities carried on by a number of researchers at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen (further – Hanze University AS).In answering the main research question on success factors of learning communities and, specifically, the Innovation Lab HIBO, two sub-questions were formulated: the first deals with school level expectations about the Innovation Lab HIBO, whereas the second explores what are the institutional expectations and guidelines regarding living labs at Hanze University AS. The research focus is on formalised expectations about the goals and outcomes of living labs, as attaining the established goals and outcomes would testimony a successful activity of a living lab. The factors that facilitate or determine whether the goalsand outcomes of living labs are achieved are therefore the success factors.The analysis of both school level expectations about the Innovation Lab HIBO and the institutional expectations and guidelines regarding living labs reveals a number of success factors, conditions, and preconditions. As these do not coincide, it is argued that finding the right balance between local, school level, expectations and the institutional goals is crucial for the successful performance of living labs. Another important factor for successful performance of the living lab and, specifically the Innovation Lab HIBO, is development of a learning community. This process would require strengthening of an open organisationalculture and facilitation of exchange of ideas and learning process.The research project was carried on in the period from February 1, 2020, till August 30, 2020. From September 2020 the follow up research is planned into operationalization of success factors, definition of performance criteria, performance evaluation, development of suggestions for improvement of performance, and development of a blueprint for the establishment of innovation labs.
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As multifunctional places that combine shopping and hospitality with public space and residential functions, urban consumption spaces are sites where different normative orders surface and sometimes clash. In Amsterdam, such a clash emerged over touristification of consumption spaces, eroding place attachment for local residents and urging the city government to take action. Based on policy analysis and interviews with entrepreneurs and key informants, we demonstrate how Amsterdam’s city government is responding to this issue, using legal pluralism that exists within formal state law. Specifically, the city government combines four instruments to manage touristification of consumption spaces, targeting so-called tourist shops with the aim to drive them out of the inner city. This strategic combination of policy instruments designed on various scales and for different publics to pursue a local political goal jeopardizes entrepreneurs’ rights to legal certainty. Moreover, implicitly based on class-based tastes and distrust towards particular minority groups of entrepreneurs, this policy strategy results in institutional discrimination that has far-reaching consequences for entrepreneurs in itself, but also affects trust relations among local stakeholders.
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June 2015 the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science formulated an ambitious program for open and online education in the Netherlands in its Strategic Agenda “HO2025, de waarde(n) van weten” (“Higher Education 2025, the value(s) of knowledge”). According to Minister Mrs. Jet Bussemaker: “I aim to ensure that all Dutch higher education institutions have made their teaching materials available in open format by 2025 (Open Access to Higher Education), propelling the Netherlands to a leading global position.”(…) “As apart of this process, we must also ensure that the various Dutch higher education institutions recognise each other’s MOOCs and Open Educational Resources” (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2015, p. 30) To realize these ambitions, a taskforce within the Ministry investigated which measurements where needed for this. This resulted in a program “Open and connected higher education – Exchange of digital learning materials”. One of the elements was to start with two so-called “moonshot projects” in cross-institutional open sharing of learning materials. These projects should on the one hand serve as good practice for Dutch Higher Education and on the other hand provide more detailed insight into what is needed for the Ministry to take the next step in implementation of their ambitions. The two projects are on developing resources on mathematics, done by the 4 Universities of Technology, and on developing resources for the Bachelor Nursing program, done by 5 Universities of Applied Sciences. In this presentation we will provide more insights into the background and approach of these projects and compare them with similar approaches for supporting national policies elsewhere.
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In January 2017, relations between Greece and Turkey were under severe strain when warships from both sides engaged in a brief standoff near a pair of uninhabited Greek ‘islets’ in the Aegean, whose sovereignty is disputed by Turkey. Theoretically informed by the literature of foreign policy analysis, we examine how the Greek diplomats, military officers and political analysts interpreted Turkey’s behaviour at that particular time. The article considers the following research question: which factors, from a Greek point of view, explain Turkey’s foreign policy in the Aegean in January 2017? Our theoretical expectation is that, in the aftermath of the coup attempt in Turkey, Greek diplomats, military officers and political analysts would ascribe domestic calculations into Turkey’s activities. We employed Q- methodology to uncover socially shared perspectives on this topic. Based on our findings, we uncovered two viewpoints: (1) Turkey’s diachronic strategy in the Aegean and (2) the strongman style. According to the former and most widely shared viewpoint, a consistent ‘rationalist’ strategy to change the status quo in the Aegean explains Turkey’s behaviour. According to the second one, the belief system of Turkey’s leadership legitimises the use of force in the conduct of foreign policy.
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