scholarly journals An agent of change against all odds? The case of Ledger in Vierzon, France

Author(s):  
Arnault Morisson ◽  
Heike Mayer

The literature in economic geography is increasingly interested in the role of human agency in local and regional development. The understanding of the role of agents of change on path development is especially critical for small- and medium-sized towns (SMSTs), which tend to be less diversified and to have fewer localised capabilities. The town of Vierzon in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region in France is a medium-sized old industrial town in a structural crisis. It is suffering from deindustrialisation, population decline, unemployment and poverty. This article takes a micro-perspective with a case study approach to explore the creation and growth of Ledger – a frontier blockchain start-up that designs, produces and commercialises hardware wallets for cryptocurrencies – against all odds in Vierzon, France. It underlines the role of a Window of Locational Opportunity, agency, chance, the broader institutional context in the location of Ledger in an unlikely place and subsequent unrelated diversification and path creation. It contributes to the debate on the interplay between agency and structure by linking agents of change in SMSTs to the broader institutional context and to the understanding of the emergence of place-based leadership.

Author(s):  
Laura Balsalobre Aguilar ◽  
Rosario Isabel Herrada Valverde

RESUMEN El Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos (ABP) es una metodología activa que está adquiriendo una gran importancia a la hora de promover la implicación de toda la comunidad educativa, dar respuesta a las necesidades de su alumnado, y atender a las demandas sociales emergentes. En el presente estudio, se indaga en el papel desarrollado por el orientador como agente de cambio y asesor para el desarrollo de innovaciones educativas y metodologías activas en un instituto de educación secundaria (IES) en el que se aplica ABP. Entre otros aspectos, se analizan las funciones que desempeña el orientador a la hora de aplicar dicha metodología; qué conceptos manejan el orientador, los docentes y el alumnado sobre metodologías activas; los cambios provocados por el ABP en términos de coordinación, organización y relación entre personas; así como la relevancia y proyección de futuro de esta metodología en el currículo. Para ello, se lleva a cabo una investigación cualitativa basada en el paradigma fenomenológico o etnográfico, en el que se analizan las opiniones del orientador, director, docentes, y alumnos de este centro educativo. Para la recogida de información con los docentes y el orientador, se escogió la técnica de la entrevista semi-estructurada. A partir de los resultados obtenidos, se concluye que el orientador es un agente de cambio fundamental no solo por el asesoramiento y apoyo que ofrece al equipo directivo, sino también para toda la comunidad educativa en la que se involucra.ABSTRACT Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an active methodology that is becoming increasingly important in promoting the involvement of the entire educational community, responding to the needs of its students, and meeting emerging social demands. The present investigation analyzes the role of the school counselor as an agent of change and advisor for the development of educational innovations and active methodologies in a secondary school in which PBL is applied. In particular, they are analyzed the functions that the school counselor plays when applying this methodology; the information the counselor, teachers and students have about active methodologies; the changes caused by the ABP in terms of coordination, organization and relationship between people; as well as the relevance and future projection of this methodology in the curriculum. To this end, qualitative research is carried out based on the phenomenological or ethnographic paradigm, in which the opinions of the advisor, director, teachers and students are analysed. The semi-structured interview technique was chosen for the collection of information with the teachers and the counsellor. From the results obtained, it is concluded that the school counsellors are important agents of change not only because of the advice and support they offer to the management team, but also the entire educational community.


IMP Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Cantù

Purpose Even if in a traditional perspective the discovery and the exploitation of opportunities are associated to the entrepreneur’s capabilities, a relational perspective is required to better analyze the phenomenon of starting up a new venture. The growing attention to interaction with the external environment has been emerging as a precondition of the entrepreneurial processes as it creates the knowledge and the experience necessary to perceive the opportunity. The entrepreneurial opportunities are created through joint acts with others through social relationships. Shifting the attention from social to business relationships, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the discovery and the exploitation of collective entrepreneurial opportunities in starting up new business. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of relational proximity in the entrepreneurial journey considered as an emergent process of transforming potentiality into actuality. Design/methodology/approach The paper applied a qualitative methodology (Dubois and Araujo, 2004) and a case study approach (Barrat et al., 2011). The case concerns the dyadic spin-off relationship between the innovative start up, ShapeMode (the generated firm), and the Milan FabLab (the generating firm) located in Lombardy Region (Italy). Findings The emerging of collective entrepreneurial opportunities could be analyzed at two levels: the first one concerns the dyadic spin-off relationship, while the second one is founded on the business relationships that the start-up can activate with the business partners of the generating firm. The collective entrepreneurial opportunities are positive influenced by jointness of the actors and their co-evolution, founded on the shared values and goals. Research limitations/implications Although the case study approach allowed the researcher to gain detailed information about the spin-off relationship, this effort does not measure the performance outcomes of the relationships and actions that were taken to improve the competitiveness of the start-up. Future studies would benefit from a large-scale questionnaire given to the members of the start-up and to the actors of its Entrepreneurial Network, so to analyze all of its performance implications for the start-up and the network as a whole. In addition, it could be of interest for future research to investigate the effects of collective entrepreneurial opportunities in order to examine this topic more deeply. Practical implications From a managerial point of view, even if the growing number of start-ups has been associated to a temporary phenomenon, the development of new ventures is now consolidated. A new managerial approach is required to promote the birth and the growth of the start-ups. The development of a new venture requires to shift the attention from the collection of financial resources to the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities generated by interconnected business relationships. In this way a relevant attention should be recognized to the new role of organizations that can be considered as facilitators of business relationships, such as the FabLab. This paper sheds light on the relevance of the strategic networking that sustains the generation of collective entrepreneurial opportunities. The networking involves actors that belong to different geographic area and different countries but that are focused on the same business dream related to the exploitation of potentialities of digital fabrication. The policymakers should recognize the role of the FabLab as facilitator of knowledge diffusion concerning digital fabrication. Originality/value The entrepreneurial opportunities such as the starting up of a new business and its evolution, are enacted, discovered and exploited through interconnected business relationships. In particular the main entrepreneurial opportunities are generated by the activation of business relationships with new business actors. Focusing on the dyadic spin-off relationship, the exploitation of collective entrepreneurial opportunities depends on the sharing of third actors. The business partners of the generating actor (FabLab) became business partners of the generated actor (start-up). The evolution of the generating firm (FabLab) influenced the birth and the evolution of the generated firms (start-up). The dyadic relationship allows the generated firm to discover entrepreneurial opportunities and to exploit them, accessing to the business partners of the generating firm. The effectiveness of the spin-off relationship sustains the replication of the model of new firm generation, that could benefit from the relationships of the two actors of the dyad. Moreover the strong relationships are founded on relational proximity that is characterized by the sharing of values, vision and business dreams.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Rochanah Rochanah

<p align="center"><strong><em>Abstrak</em></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>The purpose of this study was to find out what roles PGMI students can play as agents of change during the COVID-19 pandemi. This type of research is a field research with a qualitative approach. In collecting data, researchers used interview techniques. In particular, the problems that the researchers raised in this study were; What is the role of students as agents of change in supporting children's learning activities during the Covid-19 pandemi? The focus of this research is in the neighborhood where the students live, namely the Pantura area, covering Kudus, Pati, Jepara, Demak. This research is a qualitative research with a descriptive-analytical method. Data collection techniques through interviews. This study resulted in a conclusion that the role of students as agents of change in the education sector during the Covid-19 pandemi includes; become a facilitator in learning activities, create fun learning, provide education about healthy lifestyles, instill adab, provide skills to children.</p><p><strong><em><br /></em></strong><em></em></p><p align="center">Abstrak</p><p>Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui peran apa saja yang dapat dilakukan mahasiswa PGMI sebagai agent of change di masa pandemi Covid-19. Jenis penelitian ini merupakan penelitian lapangan dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Dalam mengumpulkan data, peneliti menggunakan Teknik awancara. Secara khusus, permasalahan yang peneliti angkat dalam penelitian ini adalah; bagaimana peran mahasiswa sebagai agen perubahan mendukung kegiatan pembelajaran anak pada masa pandemi Covid-19? Lokus penelitian ini adalah di lingkungan tempat tinggal siswa yakni wilayah Pantura, meliputi Kudus, Pati, Jepara, Demak. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif-analitis. Teknik pengumpulan data melalui wawancara. Penelitian ini menghasilkan suatu kesimpulan bahwa peran mahasiswa sebagai Agent of change dalam bidang pendidikan di masa pandemi Covid-19 meliputi;  menjadi fasilitator dalam kegiatan pembelajaran, menciptakan pembelajaran yang menyenangkan, memberikan edukasi tentang pola hidup sehat, menanamkan adab, memberikan keterampilan pada anak.<strong></strong></p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chul Hyun Uhm ◽  
Chang Soo Sung ◽  
Joo Yeon Park

Purpose This study aims to explore Accelerators and their practices in sustaining start-ups within their innovative programs for these companies based on the resource-based perspective. Moreover, with an ever-increasing demand for Accelerators amongst start-up companies, this study also demonstrates the importance of Accelerators, as it pertains to new venture creation. Design/methodology/approach This research uses an exploratory case study approach to examine a comparative view of leading Accelerator companies in the USA and Korea based on resource support. Findings The results of this study show that there are a number of differences between Accelerators of the two countries in terms of the resources they support for early-stage start-ups. The findings also show some similarities. However, in Korea, the Accelerator landscape is limited, where mentorship, resources and investments are not readily accessible, resulting in low success rates for Korean start-up companies. These limitations have had a negative trickle-down effect when providing entrepreneurs with strong access to resources and investors, which highly affects the success rates of early-stage start-ups. Practical implications In terms of the resource-based theory, this study contributes to the growth of early start-ups by emphasizing the role of the accelerator and suggesting the extent and impact that entrepreneurs have access to resources and investors. Originality/value With significant growth in start-ups around the world, the necessity for start-up funding and mentorship has increased drastically. Start-up companies need various types of assets, systems, knowledge and information to achieve their goals. In Accelerators, start-ups receive all the aforementioned resources while also improving their entrepreneurial skills. Start-up companies have many options in seeking investors who support both tangible and intangible resources to boost growth. While there is a wealth of information on traditional funding methods, there are few studies that shed light on the role of Accelerators from the resource-based point of view.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Faridahtul Jannah ◽  
Ani Sulianti

This study aims to determine: 1. Student's perspective as an agent of change. 2. The Role of Citizenship Education in forming Students as Agents of Change. The research method used is a qualitative method. Data collection techniques using observation and interviews. The data processing technique uses triangulation. Data analysis used inductive analysis, namely data reduction, unitization and categorization, data display and conclusion drawing. The results showed that: 1. Students as agents of change, namely students have an important role in a change regardless of the level of society or economic status, the intended changes are students who are agents of change, guardians of values, successors of the nation, moral strength and social control. 2. The role of civic education in shaping students as agents of change through several stages, namely: through cognitive, affective, and psychomotor instilled through civic education.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Eschen ◽  
Franzisca Zehnder ◽  
Mike Martin

This article introduces Cognitive Health Counseling 40+ (CH.CO40+), an individualized intervention that is conceptually based on the orchestration model of quality-of-life management ( Martin & Kliegel, 2010 ) and aims at improving satisfaction with cognitive health in adults aged 40 years and older. We describe the theoretically deduced characteristics of CH.CO40+, its target group, its multifactorial nature, its individualization, the application of subjective and objective measures, the role of participants as agents of change, and the rationale for choosing participants’ satisfaction with their cognitive health as main outcome variable. A pilot phase with 15 middle-aged and six older adults suggests that CH.CO40+ attracts, and may be particularly suitable for, subjective memory complainers. Implications of the pilot data for the further development of the intervention are discussed.


Author(s):  
Ujang Khiyarusoleh

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh adanya pendidikan yang diperuntukkan bagi semua anak, termasuk anak berkebutuhan khusus. Anak berkebutuhan khusus memiliki karakter yang berbeda-beda, khususnya slow learner dalam pembelajaran mengalami keterlambatan dalam memahami materi. Oleh karena itulah diperlukan peran orangtua dan guru pembimbing khusus untuk membantu memberikan pendidikan yang lebih baik sesuai dengan karakternya. Rumusan masalah penelitian ini yaitu bagaimana peran orangtua dan guru pembimbing khusus kepada slow learner di SD Negeri 5 Arcawinangun. Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu untuk mengetahui peran orangtua dan guru pembimbing khusus kepada slow learner di SD Negeri 5 Arcawinangun. Jenis penelitian ini yaitu penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi kasus. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah observasi, wawancara, dokumentasi dan triangulasi sumber. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa terdapat beberapa peran orangtua yaitu meliputi: orangtua sebagai pendamping utama, orangtua sebagai advokat, orangtua sebagai guru, orangtua sebagai diagnostian. Serta peran guru pembimbing khusus yang meliputi: merancang dan melaksanakan program kekhususan, melakukan identifikasi, asesmen dan menyususn program pembelajaran individual, memodifikasi bahan ajar, melakukan evaluasi, dan membuat laporan program dan perkembangan anak berkebutuhan khusus. Dengan peran peran tersebut, maka sebagian besar anak berkebutuhan khusus di SD Negeri 5 Arcawinangun dapat memberikan layanan dengan baik. Saran untuk penelitian ini orangtua senantiasa mendorong anaknya untuk belajar bersungguh-sungguh di rumah dan di skolah, serta menyediakan fasilitas belajar yang mendukung perkembangan pendidikan bagi anaknya. Kata Kunci: peran guru pembimbing khusus, peran orangtua, slow learner   ABSTRACT Background of the study was the existence of education aimed at all children, including children with special needs. Children with special needs have different characters, thus affecting their learning achievement. Therefore, the role of parents and special tutors were needed to help them improve learning achievement. The research question of this research was how the role of parents and special guidance teachers towards learning achievement of children with special needs in SD Negeri 5 Arcawinangun. The focus of this research was the role of parents and special guidance teachers on learning achievement of children with special needs in grades 1, 2 and 3 of SD Negeri 5 Arcawinangun. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of parents and special guidance teachers on the learning achievement of children with special needs in Arcawinangun 5 Public Elementary School. This type of research was qualitative research with a case study approach. Technique of data collection was observation, interviews, documentation and source triangulation. The results of this research indicated that there were several roles of parents, namely: parents as the main companion, parents as advocates, parents as teachers, parents as diagnostics. As well as the role of a special mentor teacher which includes: designing and implementing specific programs, identifying, assessing and arranging individual learning programs, modifying teaching materials, evaluating, and making program reports and development of children with special needs.With this role, most of the children with special needs in SD Negeri 5 Arcawinangun can improve their learning achievement well.Suggestions of this research were parents always encourage their children to study seriously at home and at school, and provide learning facilities that support the development of education for their children. Keywords: role of parents, role of special guidance teachers, slow learner


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