Search results for "case study"
showing 10 items of 204 documents
Important themes in research on and education of young children in day care centres: Finnish viewpoints
2013
The aim of this article is to outline important themes, according to Finnish early childhood education researchers, that need to be addressed in researching and educating children under three years of age in Finland. To achieve this aim, the article divides into two parts. First, we present and discuss the results of a small-scale survey, conducted in Finland, on the views of key informants in the early childhood education units of Finnish universities. Second, the views presented in the survey are used as a starting point to introduce two ongoing qualitative case studies on the everyday life of toddlers in Finnish day care centres. In line with the survey findings, these case studies empha…
Negotiating Ethics-in-Action in a Long-term Research Relationship with a Young Child
2021
AbstractThis article continues the discussions of relational ethics put forward in Human Arenas in “Arena of Ethics” (Hilppö et al., 2019). Our aim in this article is to explore and discuss relational ethics, as ethics-in-action, in a long-term research relationship with a child. Our question is: How is ethics-in-action negotiated during critical incidents in the construction of a research space that involves a long-term research relationship with a young child? This article is based on a research project that focused on children’s transitions in early childhood education and care (ECEC). These transitions include the transition from home care to ECEC as well as transitions from child group…
The role of roles in risk management change: the case of an Italian bank
2014
This paper explores the role of roles (i.e. groups of actors characterised by the same functional tasks within an organisation), and of their interactions, within processes of change in risk management (RM). By combining insights from the literature on RM and from institutional studies, this paper suggests that change in RM can be interpreted as a process that involves both enabling and precipitating dynamics [Greenwood, R., & Hinings, C. R. (1996). Understanding radical organizational change: Bringing together the old and the new institutionalism. The Academy of Management Review, 21, 1022â1054. doi:10.5465/AMR.1996.9704071862] between different roles. Aiming to address these dynamic…
A Critical Analysis of the Intellectual Capital Measuring, Managing, and Reporting Practices in the Non-profit Sector: Lessons Learnt from a Case Stu…
2014
In management literature, intellectual capital (IC) is considered the key driver of the competitive advantage of the third millennium enterprise firm; consequently, measuring, managing and reporting IC has become a critical issue. Frameworks addressed to measure and report IC have proliferated, nevertheless the adoption of these frameworks is not so widespread in practice. The strong call for critically investigating IC practices has been raised by several leading authors in the area. Doing a critical and performative IC research means empirically researching IC organisational practices in specific contexts, in order to increase the understanding of the IC dynamics. By critically analysing …
Quality management in the public sector accounting department - (un)avoidable quality costs and unlikely financial impacts
2017
This paper investigates the nature of quality costs and the likelihood of their having financial impacts in the public sector. An illustrative quality development case project in an accounting department of a Finnish city administration is presented. The empirical data includes answers to a qualitative project question sheet, workshop material and participative observation. Quality problems are classified according to their quality cost category and the extent to which they are avoidable. Some of the quality costs proved unavoidable and some are likely to lack financial impact, exhibiting sticky cost behaviour. The study indicates that certain prevention and appraisal costs in the public se…
Energy-environmental and cost assessment of a set of strategies for retrofitting a public building toward nearly zero-energy building target
2017
Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess an energy retrofit of a building representative of those in public tertiary stock, to improve energy performance toward nearly Zero-Energy Building (nZEB) requirements. The building is located in the campus of the Politecnico di Milano University (Italy). Several hypothetical improvements regarding the building envelope and plants were assessed in terms of energy savings, costs, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the study show that it is possible to reduce primary energy demand and associated emissions up to 40% from the current values by adopting market-available and well-proven technological solutions for retrofi…
Identification and Evaluation of Industry 4.0 Solutions In the Automotive Industry - a Case Study
2020
This paper attempts to provide an identification and an evaluation of the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions in a Polish enterprise in the automotive industry from the SME sector. This research investigation enhances the literature on Industry 4.0 by providing evidence that the implementation of this concept is beneficial to an economic entity. Despite this, human work on certain activities in the production process cannot be replaced by a robot or automated machine. Based on the research, it can be concluded that the concept of Industry 4.0 is being developed step by step. Automated machines and devices are introduced to facilitate the production process. Data sets are used to make d…
Battery storage systems for peak load shaving applications: Part 1: Operating strategy and modification of the power diagram
2016
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) are gaining more and more attention in the current global energy landscape, thanks to some peculiar characteristics such as the versatility, modularity, scalability, fast response time, etc. BESSs can advantageously be used in the ancillary services market, in order to provide all the services necessary to ensure the stability and the reliability of the power system. Among other applications, BESS can also be used to shift electricity demand from on-peak to off-peak periods, also contributing to relieve peak demand charges, thus ensuring a saving for the customers. The BESS is charged when the electricity prices are the lowest (during the night) and di…
Ten essential features of European dual career development environments: A multiple case study
2021
Aim: Dual career development environments (DCDEs) support athletes’ effort in combining their competitive sporting careers with education or work. The characteristics of the environments may differ across cultures. The aim was to identify essential features of DCDEs based on a cross-case analysis of seven European DCDEs in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom within the Erasmus+ Sport project “Ecology of Dual Career”. Design: The study was designed as a multiple case study and based on two holistic ecological working models (Henriksen et al., 2020). The cross-case analysis included series of focus group discussions, in which two-three researchers from e…
The ethical narrative in the sensemaking process : a case study of three hospital teams
2017
This thesis deals with the construction of meaning in the workplace, favoring the continuation, or the resumption, of the ongoing activity within organizations (Weick, 1969-2009). More specifically, it seeks to link the perspective of sensemaking to ethics. It is mainly based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with three hospital teams. After discussing the near-absence of analyses of the ethical dimension of sensemaking (Maitlis and Christianson, 2014), we focused on ethical philosophies in order to account for the organizational behaviors described during the interviews and to conceptualize the empirical data. On the theoretical level, the main contribution of this th…