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This chapter is based on the findings of the empirical material gathered in Finland and Sweden through interviews with education and audiovisual (AV) media actors and policymakers…
Abstract
This chapter is based on the findings of the empirical material gathered in Finland and Sweden through interviews with education and audiovisual (AV) media actors and policymakers in 2017–2018. The aim of the chapter is to discuss the innovation systems of the education sector and Finland and Sweden in general, compare the sectoral innovation models of the two sectors, and conclude with discussing the resulting challenges for policymakers. Our results show that a new EdTech sector employing the competences of the education, information and communication technology, and AV media sectors has begun to emerge and actors in the both countries have eagerly taken actions to boost its development as a business and export field. We discuss the reasons and consequences of this development.
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In times of converging and diversifying audiovisual (AV) industries, digitising health sector and the increasing phenomenon of cross-sectoral innovation, the question arises about…
Abstract
In times of converging and diversifying audiovisual (AV) industries, digitising health sector and the increasing phenomenon of cross-sectoral innovation, the question arises about the state of affairs between the health and AV sectors. The chapter aims to explore what the main modes of cross-sectoral cooperation between the health and AV sectors are and what supports and hinders the emergence of a related cross-innovation system. The chapter introduces two case studies carried out in Estonia and the wider Aarhus region (Midtjylland) in Denmark. At each site representatives of the main stakeholders of both sectors were interviewed – policy makers, entrepreneurs, educators and professionals. The results demonstrate the crucial role of path-dependencies – in terms of both hindering and enabling cross-sectoral dialogues – and also the importance of effective coordination in supporting cross-innovation.
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Rocco Palumbo, Elena Casprini and Mohammad Fakhar Manesh
Institutional, economic, social and technological advancements enable openness to cope with wicked public management issues. Although open innovation (OI) is becoming a new…
Abstract
Purpose
Institutional, economic, social and technological advancements enable openness to cope with wicked public management issues. Although open innovation (OI) is becoming a new normality for public sector entities, scholarly knowledge on this topic is not fully systematized. The article fills this gap, providing a thick and integrative account of OI to inspire public management decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
Following the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, a domain-based literature review has been accomplished. Consistently with the study purpose, a hybrid methodology has been designed. Bibliographic coupling permitted us to discover the research streams populating the scientific debate. The core arguments addressed within and across the streams were reported through an interpretive approach.
Findings
Starting from an intellectual core of 94 contributions, 5 research streams were spotted. OI in the public sector unfolds through an evolutionary path. Public sector entities conventionally acted as “senior partners” of privately-owned companies, providing funding (yellow cluster) and data (purple cluster) to nurture OI. An advanced perspective envisages OI as a public management model purposefully enacted by public sector entities to co-create value with relevant stakeholders (red cluster). Fitting architectures (green cluster) and mechanisms (blue cluster) should be arranged to release the potential of OI in the public sector.
Research limitations/implications
The role of public sector entities in enacting OI should be revised embracing a value co-creation perspective. Tailored organizational interventions and management decisions are required to make OI a reliable and dependable public value generation model.
Originality/value
The article originally systematizes the scholarly knowledge about OI, presenting it as a new normality for public value generation.
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Rasha Kamal El-Deen El-Mallah, Alia Abd el Hamid Aref and Sherifa Sherif
The purpose of this paper is as follows: First, understanding the nature of the relationship between corporate adoption of the concept of societal responsibility [availability of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is as follows: First, understanding the nature of the relationship between corporate adoption of the concept of societal responsibility [availability of environmental awareness, clear vision of the impact of societal responsibility on financial performance, managers informing employees of the latest developments in societal responsibility programs, managers' response to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) proposals] in the form of an annual report that supports the success of the company's objectives, the company's management encourages employees to participate collectively in societal responsibility programs and to protect the environment from pollution in the petrochemical industry. Second, understand the nature of the relationship between the dimensions of corporate social responsibility concept (cultural, social, economic, ethical and legal) and protect the environment from pollution in the petrochemical industry. Third, the research also seeks to show the role of societal responsibility and its application in the petrochemical companies to protect the environment from pollution in The Governorate of Alexandria – Egypt, and come out with results and recommendations that could help protect the environment from the forms of environmental pollution resulting from the production processes of this industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The researcher has relied on each of the following approaches: Case study methodology is a research strategy aimed at solving a problem or facing a particular situation. It is based on preliminary hypotheses through full analysis of all data collected and recorded. Which depends on the study of a limited number of cases or vocabulary in-depth comprehensive study through the study of all or a large number of variables overlapping and interrelated and influential on the problem under consideration. Thus, it provides a deep and rich understanding of what is going on around the research and the processes that are related to it, and not only the external or apparent description of the situation or phenomenon; it cares about the total description and looks at the particles, in relation to the whole. Quantitative approach: by giving a numerical description indicating the size or size of the phenomenon or the degree of association with the phenomenon. Other phenomena. Accordingly, the role of the petrochemical companies in Alexandria Governorate, and the social responsibility programs carried out within the governorate in terms of importance, growth and requirements, and the most important characteristics and constraints and components and methods of work and developments have been described. Thus, the researcher can analyze the relationship between CSR and environmental protection from pollution in Alexandria Governorate.
Findings
There is paucity in the studies that dealt with the relationship between CSR and environmental protection against pollution in public organizations. There is agreement among the sample on the importance and feasibility of adopting the concept of social responsibility and placing it at the top of the top management concerns, especially in the field of petrochemical companies. With the need to take concrete implementation measures to support social responsibility programs aimed at serving the community among all stakeholders. The effective implementation of the mechanisms for the implementation of meaningful social responsibility programs requires fundamental changes in management practices, existing organizational structures and the quality of personnel working in the relevant departments, in general, and the social responsibility group, in particular, which may be difficult for political and economic reasons.
Research limitations/implications
Time: The study period was set from 2015 to 2017. Place: The study focuses on the petrochemical companies operating in Alexandria. Humanity: The study focuses on the employees of the petrochemical companies operating in Alexandria Governorate.
Practical implications
The adoption of social responsibility positively affects the protection of the environment from pollution, and this effect shows that the adoption of the concept of corporate social responsibility is influenced by the following factors: increasing the participation of workers with healthy environmental contributions to the productive process; increasing the companies' economic and social activities toward protecting the environment from pollution; increasing the capacity of companies to pay greater costs to preserve the environment; increasing the awareness of green consumers with the products it offers Companies; development of continuous internal work environment companies; and clearly defined strategy followed in social responsibility programs.
Social implications
The social responsibility of the public organizations derives their strength through, first, the keenness of these organizations to analyze the variables of the ethical dimension of social responsibility and their availability, which will lead the organizations to provide their services with the highest quality and sincerity. That this analysis (ethics of individuals) as training members of the social responsibility team to solve problems using brainstorming and provide employees with official data related to improving work (ethics of leadership), such as the identification of business objectives through the participation of managers with subordinates, and the punishment of workers who exhibit immoral behaviors (ethics of productive processes) as a decision-making process to ethical standards regardless of the costs involved. When there is an immoral behavior and managers are responsible for implementing the changes needed to reach the targeted outcomes), second, promote partnerships with other relevant sectors for community service.
Originality/value
According to the results of the previous studies and the applied study results, the researcher would like to submit a mechanism to the directors and heads of the boards of directors of the Egyptian petrochemical companies under study.
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Antti Rautiainen and Vilma Luoma-aho
This article analyzes the links between financial reports and reputation in the context of Finnish public sector organizations. In general, the paper discusses the accounting…
Abstract
Purpose
This article analyzes the links between financial reports and reputation in the context of Finnish public sector organizations. In general, the paper discusses the accounting treatment of intangible and tangible assets and the quality and relevance of public sector financial reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
For data, we combine three data sets: financial statement information of eight anonymous Finnish public organizations, the results of a reputation survey among their key stakeholders (N = 914) and a sample of the social media sentiment around the organizations.
Findings
Our findings suggest that a decrease in spending and, surprisingly in the nonprofit sector, an increase in the surplus, indicate better perceived financial performance. An increase in surplus is positively linked with the reputational factors, for example, trust. However, disclosing excessive amounts of information, for example, in financial reporting seems to contribute to negative discussions on social media.
Practical implications
We highlight the importance of managing intangibles, including those not recognized in the balance sheet, such as reputation. We present three propositions with potential managerial relevance.
Originality/value
Despite the considerable amount of financial information disclosed by public sector organizations, few studies have analyzed its relevance or connection to reputation. This first-of-a-kind paper combines intangible and tangible assets by analyzing how financial data and intangible reputation are linked in the public sector accounting context. Six reputational factors were discovered, and financial performance was found to correlate with trust in the public sector.
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Alan Bandeira Pinheiro, José Carlos Lázaro da Silva Filho and Márcia Zabdiele Moreira
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of characteristics of the institutional environment on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of characteristics of the institutional environment on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Design/methodology/approach
This is a quantitative and descriptive research. The dependent variables used were environmental dimension (ED) and social dimension (SD) that together compose the corporate social performance (CSP). The independent variables that will be used are the characteristics of the institutional environments of Brazil and the UK. Thus, for this end, variables of the national business system of both countries will be used: corruption transparency, access to credit by countries, quality of the education system and labor relations. After their collection, the data were submitted to descriptive and inferential statistics and hierarchical regression.
Findings
Data show that UK companies make more disclosure in CSR than Brazilian companies. Through linear regression, it can be seen that the institutional environment affects disclosure in CSR. In the UK, a country with better educational, labor, political and financial indicators than Brazil, it presented better CSR practices. The findings reveal that the better an institutional environment, the more firms act in CSR. The findings of the research confirm the premise of institutional theory: different institutional fields can modify business performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study analyzed only the disclosure practices of companies in the public sector. Thus, the results should be carefully analyzed, without generalizations for all industry sectors. Therefore, it is suggested that future research looks at other industry sectors as well as other institutional contexts, i.e. other countries.
Practical implications
Multinational companies may have different CSR practices according to the institutional environment in which they operate. For example, companies in developed countries, such as the UK, have greater stakeholder pressure. Given this, managers must adapt their environmental strategies according to the institutional environment in which they operate.
Originality/value
This research contributes to CSR studies in various institutional contexts. There is a consensus in the literature that institutional environments affect firms' CSR practices. However, few empirical studies show results between the national business system and CSR. Thus, the present study intends to fill this research gap.
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James Guthrie, Francesca Manes Rossi, Rebecca Levy Orelli and Giuseppe Nicolò
The paper identifies the types of risks disclosed by Italian organisations using integrated reporting (IR). This paper aims to understand the level and features of risk disclosure…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper identifies the types of risks disclosed by Italian organisations using integrated reporting (IR). This paper aims to understand the level and features of risk disclosure with the adoption of IR.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use risk classifications already provided in the literature to develop a content analysis of Italian organisations’ integrated reports published.
Findings
The content analysis reveals that most of the Italian organisations incorporate many types of risk disclosure into their integrated reports. Organisations use this alternative form of reporting to communicate risk differently from how they disclose risks in traditional annual financial reporting. That is, the study finds that the organisations use their integrated reports to disclose a broader group of risks, related to the environment and society, and do so using narrative and visual representation.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a narrow stream of research investigating risk disclosure provided through IR, contributing to the understanding of the role of IR in representing an organisational risk.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the conceptual framework about human resources downsizing and restructuring and how organizations of the public sector can do that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the conceptual framework about human resources downsizing and restructuring and how organizations of the public sector can do that effectively and efficiently. These facts drive to the conclusion that the implementation of early retirement incentives requires the most elaborate planning and execution to be effective, predictable and safe in the long term.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts an analytical, descriptive methodology approach to describe the basic features of the data by using the descriptive research design. Data have been collected through different sources, which include secondary data, to introduce the theoretical literature of the subject as books, journals, articles, published working papers and referred previous studies related to the same subject.
Findings
Downsizing process is a deliberate administrative process that includes, but is not limited to, workforce reduction and is primarily aimed at achieving efficiency in public organizations. The definition of workforce downsizing may be narrowed to reducing the number of workers, or more likely to refer to general efforts to restructuring human resources in public organizations, Early Retirement Incentive Programs (ERIP) represents a viable alternative for organizations seeking to reduce staff. For the ERIP to be successful, the program coordinator must understand the business objectives and goals that the organization is trying to obtain.
Originality/value
Human resources strategies concerning downsizing public administration workforce should be more appropriate to those who leave the organization and those who stay at work, reducing the negative psychological, administrative and economical effects. This could be achieved through a strategy called early retirement incentive programs.
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This case study aims to analyse the different factors that cause a decline in an organisation's performance. It projects data for the prospective case readers to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
This case study aims to analyse the different factors that cause a decline in an organisation's performance. It projects data for the prospective case readers to explore the possible approaches for the Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to turnaround both the organisations. Furthermore, the case compels the readers to study the Indian Telecom industry to analyse the competitive behaviour and the consequent actions necessary to survive and thrive amongst their peers. From the theoretical perspective, the case emphasises the recent change observed in the Telecom industry regarding the transition from value-chain to value-network.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected the case facts and data for the case study from secondary sources like the latest news articles, the CRISIL database, company annual statements, company press releases and government regulatory body web portals.
Findings
The case study has identified the issues pertinent in the public sector companies in India, especially in the telecom sector, concerning leadership, pending government financial commitments and a slow-moving attitude towards taking action.
Originality/value
The case study highlights the management problems faced by the CMD of the two public sector telecom companies i.e. BSNL and MTNL.
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