Valuing the project: a knowledge-action response to network governance in collaborative research

The delegation of research to self-directed networks is a relatively new strategy to focus academic endeavour on public priorities. Networks involve policy-makers, knowledge producers and knowledge users in unfamiliar governance and management relationships. Here we reflect, as practitioners, on research networks as complex governance systems and on their projects as knowledge-action systems designed to deliver public value. Projects represent the currency in which delegated research is issued, but their conversion into monetary grants and awards diverts attention from their potential as boundary organizations or communities of practice in the production of societal knowledge and understanding. Recognizing and supporting projects as scalable components of enduring knowledge-action systems, rather than as transient instances of research funding, is key to sustaining delivery of public value under conditions of network governance.     

Non‐profit vulnerability: An exploratory study

This mixed‐method study explores the symptoms and potential causes of non‐profit vulnerability within the Australian context. Following two focus groups with CEOs and Chairs of non‐profit organizations, an online survey was developed, pilot tested and distributed to non‐profit CEOs. Our findings suggest three symptoms that might be particularly useful in identifying non‐profit vulnerability: a substantial increase in unit costs/delivery hours; a substantial increase in the proportion of administration to program expenses; and a reduced ability to pursue the organization's mission. The results also suggest various potential causes of non‐profit vulnerability; in particular, Board inadequacies; External environmental threats; Project management issues; and Funding constraints.     

When Paradigms Meet: Interacting Perspectives on Evaluation in the Non‐Profit Sector

This study examines a public debate in Australia, arising from a national government report, around how social contribution in the nonprofit sector should be assessed. Guided by several meta‐perspectives on evaluation, we identify connections between foundational assumptions and normative positions on evaluation espoused by non‐profit organizations (NPOs), and examine the ways in which the inter‐paradigmatic context of the non‐profit sector contributes to the emergence of NPOs’ different normative positions on evaluation. We conclude that particular paradigmatic orientations of NPOs (positivism, interpretivism, constructivism) lead to particular perspectives on how NPOs should engage with alternative paradigms (monism, impartial pluralism, radical pluralism).     

Transaction services and SME internationalization: The effect of home and host country bank relationships on international investment and growth

Building on the argument put forward by North and Wallis (1994) that the transaction sector enables economic growth by lowering the costs of transacting, we investigate how internationalizing firms’ host and home country bank relationships affect their international specific investments and growth. Banks provide payment, liquidity, and risk management services, which are essential to international business relationships, yet little is known about how banks affect international business relationships. In a sample of 255 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find that host and home country bank relationships affect the dependent variables differently. We contribute to the literature by explicating the role and effects of banks in international business relationships. Our findings have implications for understanding transaction services in international business as well as the choices made by their customers.     

The Organizational Embeddedness of Social Capital: A Comparative Case Study of Two Voluntary Organizations

Social capital is a popular, but contested concept. It draws attention to the way in which social relations and constructed forms of social organization can produce outcomes on individual and collective levels. However, it is often founded on individualistic, rational-choice models of human behavior that neglect its embeddedness. I explore the embeddedness of social capital through a comparative case study of two voluntary sport organizations in the UK. Through close analysis of in-depth interviews and longitudinal observation, I look at the processes of social capital development and the way socio-organizational context and identity shape these processes.     

Understanding the Social Role of Entrepreneurship

There is a need to rethink and redefine the social value added of entrepreneurial activities to society. In this paper we develop five pillars on which the evolving social role of entrepreneurship can rest and have its impact: (1) connecting entrepreneurial activities to other societal efforts aimed at improving the quality of life, achieving progress, and enriching human existence, (2) identifying ways to reduce the dysfunctional effects of entrepreneurial activities on stakeholders, (3) redefining the scope of entrepreneurial activities as a scholarly arena, (4) recognizing entrepreneurship's social multiplier, and (5) pursuing blended value at the organizational level, centring on balancing the creation of financial, social and environmental wealth. In a final section we discuss implications for practices and for further research.     

Financial and Economic Management in Autonomized Dutch Public Organizations

Alongside with the introduction of New Public Management, many governmental organizations in the Netherlands were autonomized. The aim of this paper is to analyze the changes in financial and economic management that accompanied these autonomizations. Case research was carried out in six public organizations. The financial management of these organizations improved somewhat after the autonomization. However, there were hardly any real changes in the economic management. The paper gives an overview of the changes in financial and economic management. It also discusses what factors might have prevented the realization of the planned changes in the (financial and) economic management.     

国外工业转型的研究进展

作为全球环境人类行为计划（ＩＨＤＰ）６ 个首要研究课题之一的工业转型（Ｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｉａｌ Ｔｒａｎｓｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎ） 的提出基本体现了国际上对如何发展工业才能减少其环境影响的思想,本文重点介绍了目前国外工业转型（ＩＴ） 所涉及到的研究领域及方法,旨在为推进我国更多地从生态环境安全的角度发展工业提供一个思路。     

非营利组织体验营销的特征及组合策略研究

体验营销随着体验经济的到来而产生,并开始为各类组织所应用,但有关非营利组织体验营销的研究仍为少见。文章在文献研究与调查访谈的基础上,结合非营利组织性质展开研究,归纳了非营利组织体验营销特征并提炼出非营利组织开展体验营销的组合策略。     

从资本保全角度看民间非营利组织会计制度中的改革

非营利组织的资产保全重点是净资产的保全,《民间非营利组织会计制度》对净资产保全的规定有所欠缺,影响了非营利民间组织的发展。据此,笔者针对如何对其进行改革的问题,提出了个人意见。