Search results for " business."

Growth Into Citizenship: Framework for Conceptualizing Learning in NGO Interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa

2018

This article develops a theoretical framework for analyzing adult learning in projects aiming to strengthen citizenship implemented by nongovernmental organizations, especially in the contexts of sub-Saharan Africa. On the basis of a review of international development research, we suggest that a new framework should address the need for a conceptualization of learning as a gradual process and for capturing the gap between ideal models and everyday experiences of citizenship. We argue, building on John Dewey’s philosophy, for a framework of growth into citizenship, and introduce the notions of learning as reorganization of habits and the method of democracy as an avenue for learning as nove…

Strategic choices of Finnish universities in the light of general strategy frameworks

2016

This study examines university strategies from the content perspective. Since the early 1980s, the pressure to adopt strategic management in universities and other higher education institutions has increased because of issues including reduced public funding, pressures and possibilities for internationalization, developments in teaching technologies, and demands for increased accountability to stakeholders. The study employs content analysis and multivariate statistical techniques to examine the written strategies of 13 Finnish universities formulated after the University Act 2010 that aimed at enhancing their competitiveness in the global arena. The studied organizations cover practically …

Behavior change types with Pokémon GO

2017

Digital games1 are one of the most popular entertainment media in the world. Teir allure and widespread popularity makes them an interesting and highly potential platform for behavior change atempts. In this paper, we investigate what types of behavior changes Pokémon GO has promoted or induced among its players. Te study is based on an online survey sample of 262 Pokémon GO players, collected using the critical incident technique and analyzed using qualitative methods. Te analysis shows that the behavior changes induced by Pokémon GO are not just restricted to increased physical activity or social behavior but are actually much more multifaceted: players were more social, found their routi…

Distributed leadership in practice in Finnish schools

2017

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to explore what aspects the principals and the members of the management teams in the primary and upper secondary education schools in Vantaa support distributed leadership in their school and how necessary they see that distributed leadership is extended to the students in matters concerning the curriculum and the development of teaching practices. The research method was a survey based on a questionnaire of 48 questions, where the respondents evaluated the preconditions of distributed leadership in their school. The principals and members of the management teams in the primary and upper secondary schools in Vantaa see distributed leadership mostly as deleg…

Strengthening Institutional Isomorphism in Development NGOs? Program Mechanisms in an Organizational Intervention

2017

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in international development struggle between being actors in the mainstream or representatives of alternatives to it. However, many NGOs all over the world align with the mainstream and are increasingly similar to each other. This homogenization results from institutional isomorphism, which is affected by their aspirations to be legitimate vis-á-vis the international field. Consultancies are among the main practices to promote normative isomorphism, but little is known about their micro-level dynamics. Drawing on the notion of program mechanisms in realistic evaluation, we scrutinize how external facilitators in organizational development processes enab…

Corporate business model transformation and inter-organizational cognition: the case of Nokia

2013

This article distinguishes between a firm’s corporate business model and business models of its various business units. Our aim is to provide new insights into how executives’ cognitive processes can influence corporate business model transformation decisions. We focus especially on top managers’ recognition of inter-organizational cognitions, that is, such cognitions about the firm and its businesses that are shared by the top managers and stakeholders of the firm in the industries and communities where it operates. We support our theoretical work with an historical case study of Nokia’s corporate business model transformation between 1990 and 1996, which proved highly successful. We find …

The Conference Reimagined. Postcards, Letters, and Camping Together in Undressed Places

2019

In this paper, five authors account for the rethinking of a conference as a series of postcards, letters, rules and silent moments so that traditional hierarchies of knowledge could be overturned or, at least, sidelined. We recount how the place we convened was enlisted as an actor and the dramas and devices we applied to encounter it. We use this accounting to problematize the conventional practices of goal-oriented meetings and co-authored papers as forms of academic meaning-making. In finding a meeting point where expertise was disorientated and status undressed, we were able to investigate the idea of co-being between human and nonhuman realities as the step social theory needs to take …

Social lnnovation: The Y-Foundation Case

2017

The starting point of this paper is that advancing social inclusion – making all groups of people feel important and valued – is crucial to consider since it advances the quality of life and development of humans, organizations, and societies. The objective of this paper is to introduce the case of a social innovation called the Y-Foundation. The Y-Foundation is a social enterprise operating in Finland and aiming to promote opportunities for homeless people. Having a home can make solving health and social problems much easier. In addition, a linkage between ethics and innovation in the Y-Foundation’s operations is discussed. peerReviewed

Understanding mentoring of new teachers: Communicative and strategic practices in Australia and Finland

2018

Contents and functions of dramatizations in team decision making

2017

This study examines the contents and functions of dramatizations in natural team decision making. Theoretically, the study employs symbolic convergence theory to understand decision making as a complex phenomenon constructed in symbolic communication. Observational meeting data and thematic interview data from an autonomous team in Finland were analyzed. A fantasy theme analysis and an inductive, rhetorical discourse analysis revealed three rhetorical visions and seven functions of dramatizations in the team’s decision making. Visions represented social, righteous, and pragmatic master analogues. The functions of dramatizations were legitimizing independent and current decisions, reinforci…