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Article
Publication date: 13 November 2017

William Swan, Richard Fitton, Luke Smith, Carl Abbott and Liz Smith

The Retrofit State of the Nation Survey has tracked the perceptions of social housing sector professionals’ views of retrofit since 2010. It has taken the form of three surveys…

Abstract

Purpose

The Retrofit State of the Nation Survey has tracked the perceptions of social housing sector professionals’ views of retrofit since 2010. It has taken the form of three surveys conducted in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Here, the authors bring together the three surveys to specifically address the adoption and perceived effectiveness of retrofit technology in social housing projects. The purpose of this paper is to identify the changing perceptions of social housing professionals over a period of significant policy change within in the sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The research takes the form of a cross-sectional attitudinal, self-completion survey, covering sections considering the adoption levels and perceived effectiveness of different retrofit technologies. The target sample was medium to larger scale registered social housing providers. The surveys were conducted in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

Findings

In terms of effectiveness, the reliance on tried and tested technologies is apparent. Emerging or more complex technologies have declined in perceived effectiveness over the period. It is clear that social housing has adopted a wide range of technologies, and the larger providers, with whom this survey is undertaken, potentially represent a significant pool of UK retrofit experience.

Originality/value

The survey provides a record of the changing attitudes of social housing providers to specific technologies over the period of 2010-2015, which has seen significant changes in the energy and social housing policy. The findings show the link between policy instruments and adoption, with policy instruments mapping to adoption in the sector. Perceived effectiveness reflects a preference for more established technologies, an issue that is highlighted in the recent Bonfield Review.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. 35 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2010

Ghassan Aouad, Beliz Ozorhon and Carl Abbott

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight for future innovation research activities and for the role of universities in working with industry to promote innovation.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight for future innovation research activities and for the role of universities in working with industry to promote innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides an overview and synthesis of the literature on innovation and the role of universities. This is supported by interviews, case studies, and surveys within academic and industrial communities.

Findings

The paper identifies that innovation, whether at an international, national, regional, firm or project level of analysis, continues to be at the forefront of the mind of policy makers and practitioners alike. Nevertheless, our understanding of innovation is far from complete. More research is required to study innovation at these different levels of resolution and at different points in the project life cycle. In order for the research base to play its part in promoting construction innovation, an engagement mechanism is required that brings together academia and industry in a way that recognises and responds to these multiple perspectives on innovation.

Originality/value

The paper creates value by synthesising literature on construction innovation and highlights areas for further research. Based on this, a model for effective industry/university engagement is proposed.

Details

Construction Innovation, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Martti Mäkimattila, Timo Junell and Tero Rantala

The purpose of this paper is to examine the doing, using, and interacting (DUI) of Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) while developing intra- and inter-collaboration with…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the doing, using, and interacting (DUI) of Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) while developing intra- and inter-collaboration with industry. It also reviews recent literature related to the roles of absorptive capacity (AC) and social capital (SC) in interaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative case research on developing collaborations between UAS and small- and medium-sized enterprises for innovation activities.

Findings

Prior knowledge and contacts vary in organisations, and interaction should be supported while aiming to maximise benefits of internal and external resources available for innovation. This paper contributes by pointing out the importance of the interconnection of DUI, AC, and SC while developing collaboration.

Originality/value

This paper describes issues challenging the collaborative innovation activities and directions to focus on structural development to support interaction with parties having different backgrounds, goals, and strengths. The study highlights the importance of knowledge exchange with several universities and firms, and the different learning modes related to innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Sheila Martin, Marko Pahor and Marko Jaklič

The recent economic crisis has significantly slowed Slovenia’s recent social and economic progress and exposed some important long-term problems such as a reliance on low value…

Abstract

Purpose

The recent economic crisis has significantly slowed Slovenia’s recent social and economic progress and exposed some important long-term problems such as a reliance on low value added industries and lagging labor productivity. The Slovenian government has taken steps to create research partnerships between public science and the private sector and among multiple private sector companies. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a social network analysis (SNA) of the research partnerships and examine whether public funding has created the desired partnerships.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a SNA in two stages. In the first stage, the authors treated the founding partners of government-funded 32 research centers as a single two-mode network and investigated how each of the members was bound to the network. In the second stage of the analysis the authors used project data from ten of the centers to characterize a project network based on collaborations on specific projects. Thus, the second stage overlaps the center network with the project network. The authors used information from interviews with network members to assist in interpreting the results.

Findings

Networking policies are stimulating collaborations among different types of centers and partners, but to differing degrees. While the formal collaborative network showed strong participation from the private sector, public research organizations, and higher education institutions, some of the centers are not well connected to the rest of the network. Partnership in the development of a proposal in response to a tender does not always translate into project collaboration, and the networks have evolved as project workplans and staffing plans are developed. The innovation network is evolving into an international network within and across scientific areas. Networks are path dependent and require policy stability; experienced bridging institutions can fill gaps where partners lack experience.

Research limitations/implications

The definition of a network member is the company, faculty, or department. In reality, individuals within these organizations are acting on their own connections and experiences, and these may or may not encourage other individuals in the same organization to engage in partnerships. Thus, the authors may be overstating the extent to which one connection among organizations generates experience that will lead to future connection. Another important limitation of the data is that for the second stage of the analysis the authors received project information from only ten of the 32 formal center programs examined in the first stage.

Practical implications

Partnership is a learned behavior and the development of trust among partners takes time. The Slovenian government should provide policy stability and allow niches of technical excellence to emerge through consortium proposals. They should monitor the project partnerships and adjust funding so that it is reaching applicants that are actually partnering on projects rather than working alone or within their own institutional types. Other nations should also monitor the impact of partnership programs to ensure that as they evolve the funding is continuing to support and demonstrate the benefits partnership behavior.

Social implications

Due to the path dependent nature of innovation partnerships, the authors expect participation in innovation networks to generate a change in the culture of research and development (R & D) partnerships in Slovenia. However, this transition will occur faster as organizations partner face-to-face on actual projects. Centrality in a network fosters common understanding and shared principles of collaboration.

Originality/value

Like many nations struggling to emerge from the recession, Slovenia has to examine its long-term strategy for upgrading its industries and improving productivity. This paper demonstrates how policies to enhance the innovation agenda might be more effective by examining how the networking resources are actually being used, whether participants are participating in networks that cross institutional types, whether policies are encouraging the exchange of information across stages of the innovation process, and therefore whether the policy will move the culture toward greater collaboration and R & D effectiveness. The results can assist Slovenia’s policymakers in redesigning innovation network policy.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Heikki Moilanen, Mirje Halla and Pauli Alin

The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of decision making of managers of intermediary organizations in university-industry (UI) collaboration by probing…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of decision making of managers of intermediary organizations in university-industry (UI) collaboration by probing managerial perceptions of openness in that context.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted 11 semi-structured interviews of managers of intermediary organizations in the context of UI collaboration. Using Grounded Theory, the authors analyzed how the managers talked about openness.

Findings

The authors found that the managers perceived openness in four distinct ways: first, openness as driven by management of the relationship, second, openness as driven by bringing people together, third, openness as a driver of co-creation and fourth, openness as a driver of beneficial results. From these findings the authors induce a framework for perception of openness.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on a relatively limited data set, which is a limitation of the study. Future research should study whether differences in perception of openness exist among different contexts or partners of UI collaboration.

Practical implications

The findings can potentially provide useful guidance to managers in UI collaboration as to how better understand the important concept of openness in that context.

Originality/value

This study addresses the lack of research on managerial perceptions on openness in the context in UI collaboration. Probing managerial perceptions of openness provides us with better understanding of managerial decision making in UI collaboration. The study contributes to scientific discussions on managerial perceptions of openness and to discussions on managerial decision making in UI collaboration.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Paul Benneworth and Jorge Cunha

– The purpose of this paper is to resolve a tension in understanding how universities contribute to knowledge-based urban development (KBUD).

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to resolve a tension in understanding how universities contribute to knowledge-based urban development (KBUD).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a conceptual paper, which analyses the tension as emerging between the university and the wider societal activity. The paper creates a framework for combining insights from both those theoretical frameworks to better understand why universities might choose to contribute to KBUD.

Findings

The paper argues that it is important to understand the benefits that the universities get from participating in the KBUD. This can be through the unique tacit knowledge that emerges in the social innovation process, but their might also be value for the university in terms of two other variables, material resources and symbolic legitimacy.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is a literature review and therefore is limited to raising a series of future questions and directions for research in the field, as well as to providing a lens and context for existing work.

Practical implications

There are clear implications for those seeking to improve universities contributions to KBUD. It is not merely enough for strategic leaders to come together and agree that promoting the university will promote KBUD: it is necessary to modify a range of processes within the university to ensure that a wide range of actors are able to benefit from participating in KBUD activities, and that it facilitates their own teaching and research activities.

Social implications

For universities to make a substantive contribution to promoting KBUD, policy-makers must ensure that they do not create disincentives through universities’ teaching and research activities.

Originality/value

This is the first time that a paper has sought to bridge between theories of urban development and social innovation, and universities’ internal institutional and organisational dynamics.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Ludmila Striukova and Thierry Rayna

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of what Open Innovation means within university context. Focus is also put on the role universities believe they…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of what Open Innovation means within university context. Focus is also put on the role universities believe they should play in Open Innovation, as well as the changes that might have arisen as a consequence of universities’ greater awareness of this concept.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology used is an exploratory study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews of Pro-Vice-Chancellors (or equivalent level) of a variety of British universities. The study was designed around five main research themes: discourse, change, strategy, management, Open Innovation success.

Findings

In addition to the traditional teaching, research and knowledge transfer roles of university, this study has uncovered a new role of universities: trusted intermediary (or “Open Innovation Hub”). Another key finding of this study is that it highlights the diversity that prevails in the UK with regard to Open Innovation.

Research limitations/implications

The number of the interviews conducted for this study is probably not large enough to allow a solid generalisation. Data saturation, however, was achieved in this study. The insight provided by this study is particularly significant as interviewees were amongst the highest-ranking executives in their respective universities. Hence the views reported in this study are what “drives” Open Innovation policies in the universities that participated in this study.

Practical implications

This new role of a trusted intermediary played by universities is very likely to change the existing Open Innovation landscape and re-shape policies.

Social implications

The changing role of universities within Open Innovation context may potentially change the respective role of other stakeholders in the Open Innovation ecosystem.

Originality/value

This is the first study aimed at investigating how British universities understand Open Innovation and what opportunities and challenges they associate with this process.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Gene Carolan

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the structural features that are proving central to the stability of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the structural features that are proving central to the stability of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and those features that were detrimental to its predecessors.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a legalization framework derived from the model presented by Abbott et al. The simplicity of Abbott et al.’s theory allows for variation in the agreements’ text to be easily measured and compared. The inherent advantages of this model offset the difficulties in characterizing peace agreements under traditional legal methodologies, and reiterate the importance of legalized agreements in a conflict resolution context.

Findings

This paper finds that a more highly legalized approach to peace-making has resulted in greater agreement stability in the Philippines. More precise in detail and inclusive in scope, the legal nature of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement has made it more responsive to the root causes of the conflict, and resilient to incidents that threatened to derail the peace process.

Practical implications

This case study bears valuable lessons for conflict zones the world over, particularly the troubled negotiations on Syria, and the crisis in Ukraine. The study: lends tentative support to Gopalan’s claim that agreements that exemplify hard legalization are much more sustainable in the long run; stresses the advantages of inclusivity in agreement sustainability and stability; reiterates the importance of addressing the key issues relevant to the conflict if the process is to be sustainable, and; notes the limitations of the legalization framework, but presents the Philippine example as a blueprint for addressing various aspects of the Syrian and Ukrainian conflicts.

Originality/value

This is the first peer-reviewed analysis to explore the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement as a highly legalized conflict resolution instrument, and an adaptable template for peace agreement design generally.

Details

Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-6599

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 August 2017

Edward H. Spence

Using a general model of corruption that explains and accounts for corruption across professions and institutions, this chapter will examine how certain practices in the media…

Abstract

Using a general model of corruption that explains and accounts for corruption across professions and institutions, this chapter will examine how certain practices in the media, especially in areas where journalism, advertising and public relations regularly intersect and converge, can be construed as instances of corruption. It will be argued that such corruption, as in the case of cash-for-comment scandals, advertorials, infomercials, and infotainment, as well as public relations media releases disseminated misleadingly as journalistic opinion, is regular, ubiquitous, and systematic.

Details

The Handbook of Business and Corruption
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-445-7

Keywords

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