scholarly journals Mission Alignment and Operationalization: The Case of the United World Colleges

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Angel B Perez

This research study explored how a large, complex global educational organization operationalizes its mission and socializes its constituents to support its mission and values. The study’s unit of analysis was the United World Colleges (UWC), a group of complex international schools whose multi-campus and multinational structure shares a values-driven and activist-oriented mission. With an interest in exploring causation, the researcher employed case study methods to understand how this large organization brings its mission to life on a daily basis.Extensive interviews, observations and document analysis at five units of the organization led to eight themes consistent across all data collected. The research study revealed that the following factors play a significant role in mission operationalization and alignment: (1) The entrance and exit strategy for members of the organization; (2) selection of the organization’s members; (3) curricular choice and teaching methods; (4) use and structure of the physical space; (5) programming; (6) residential life; (7) reflection; and (8) simplicity and tangibility of the mission statement.The study has implications for international schools and organizations keen to create strategic alignment between their mission and daily operations. The findings in the study are generalizable and could inform international organizations in their attempt to implement best practices and make resource allocation decisions to maintain mission fidelity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
Tanjeel Ahmed

The Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the most complex issues in nature; the issues of sovereignty, territorial issues, and much more are still unresolved in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. More specifically, this ongoing conflict had affected the Palestinians' life, identity, psychology, and development. A thorough literature review reveals that there is an absence of scholarly research in the area of academic migration of Palestinian scholars about the educational challenges in Indian universities. This research uses a qualitative approach with case study methods. The researcher used field study and Snowball Sampling methods to select the study samples. The in-depth perception of six cases was analyzed on the issues of their stay in India, educational challenges in universities, a pedagogical transaction in the classroom, and the different cultural contexts (of their home country and destination country). The study revealed the academic disparities they face about language were problematic, and this hampered the conversation. Critically understanding the international scenario and position of the Palestinian scholars, this research study will contribute to the development of an empathetic understanding of the students from different conflict zones.


Author(s):  
Ilkka Ritola ◽  
Rokas Siugzda ◽  
Lazar Rusu

Business-IT alignment continues to remain a top management concern. Regardless of ample research, achieving and sustaining business-IT alignment remains challenging to organization's management. To this day, the influence of organizational politics remains unstudied in the light of business-IT alignment. By performing a case study in a large organization in Sweden, the authors present and discuss how organizational politics influences business-IT alignment from the viewpoint of practitioners. They find that organizational politics has a negative influence on communications, partnering, IT governance, IT scope, and business and IT skills of the Strategic Alignment Maturity model. Furthermore, the authors identified several root causes for organizational politics in the business-IT alignment context, not addressed by the commonly used business-IT alignment constructs. The findings of this research study are useful to business and IT practitioners for achieving and sustaining business-IT alignment in their organizations considering the influence of organizational politics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-180
Author(s):  
KerryAnn O’Meara ◽  
Dawn Culpepper

Purpose Using the lens of social physics, this study aims to examine how, if at all, one graduate training program fostered collisions or meaningful interactions, between students and faculty from different disciplinary backgrounds. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative, ethnographic case study methods. Findings The University of Maryland’s National Research Traineeship program fostered collisions between students and faculty from different disciplinary backgrounds by facilitating exploration, idea flow and engagement within an interdisciplinary scholarly community. These collisions generated productive opportunities for student learning, development and collaborations, but at times also produced non-generative outcomes. Practical implications This study names specific, strategic activities (e.g. regular research talks, physical space) that graduate programs can use to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations among students and faculty and considers the extent to which such activities contribute to organizational change. Originality/value This paper applies new theories (collisions and social physics) to understanding interdisciplinary collaboration and identifies aspects of graduate training programs that may be replicable in other institutional settings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-173
Author(s):  
Min-Su Jung ◽  
◽  
Hang-Bae Chang
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Apgar

As destination of choice for many short-term study abroad programs, Berlin offers students of German language, culture and history a number of sites richly layered with significance. The complexities of these sites and the competing narratives that surround them are difficult for students to grasp in a condensed period of time. Using approaches from the spatial humanities, this article offers a case study for enhancing student learning through the creation of digital maps and itineraries in a campus-based course for subsequent use during a three-week program in Berlin. In particular, the concept of deep mapping is discussed as a means of augmenting understanding of the city and its history from a narrative across time to a narrative across the physical space of the city. As itineraries, these course-based projects were replicated on site. In moving from the digital environment to the urban landscape, this article concludes by noting meanings uncovered and narratives formed as we moved through the physical space of the city.


Author(s):  
Edmund J.Y. Pajarillo

Information and knowledge-seeking vary among users, including home care nurses. This research describes the social, cultural and behavioral dimensions of information and knowledge-seeking among home care nurses, using both survey and case study methods. Results provide better understanding and appreciation of nurses’ information behavior.La recherche d’information et de connaissances varie selon les usagers, y compris parmi les infirmiers et infirmières des soins à domicile. Cette recherche décrit les dimensions sociales, culturelles et comportementales de la recherche d’information et de connaissances parmi les infirmiers et infirmières des soins à domicile, en utilisant les méthodes de sondage et de l’étude de cas. Les résultats offrent une meilleure compréhension et connaissance du comportement informationnel des infirmiers et infirmières. 


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4339
Author(s):  
Marta Mańkowska ◽  
Michał Pluciński ◽  
Izabela Kotowska ◽  
Ludmiła Filina-Dawidowicz

The world-wide crisis caused by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on the global economy functioning and the sustainable development of supply chains. The changes also affected seaports being the key links of maritime supply chains. The purpose of the research study described in this article was to identify the sources and kinds of disruptions observed in various maritime supply chains as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on the operations of various types of seaport terminals, namely those serving bulk (universal, specialised) and general cargoes (universal, specialised). An additional purpose was to identify the dependencies between the type of terminal and its main function, and the tactical decisions adopted by the particular terminals. The research was carried out using the multiple-case study method. The study covered some selected port terminals functioning in Polish seaports (Gdańsk, Szczecin, Świnoujście), applying direct, semi-structured in-depth interviews. The analysis of the results was carried out using the inductive reasoning method. The research study has shown that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic some maritime supply chains ceased to exist, some of them were operating with decreased cargo volumes, while in other cases the transshipment volumes actually rose during the pandemic. Among terminal operators’ tactical responses to disruptions in maritime supply chains, there were pro-active and adaptive measures. Pro-active (offensive) measures included actions taken by an enterprise in order to engage in new maritime supply chains, and even participating in establishing new maritime chains in response to limitations caused by the pandemic. Adaptive (defensive) measures covered actions taken by the port terminals as a consequence of changes in the existing maritime supply chains, caused by the pandemic in the port’s foreland or hinterland. The research study results revealed that the terminals extent of engagement and tactical decisions related to the pandemic were depended on the type of terminal (universal or specialised) and its main function played within a supply chain.


Author(s):  
J Poolton ◽  
I Barclay

There are few studies that have found an adequate means of assessing firms based on their specific needs for a concurrent engineering (CE) approach. Managers interested in introducing CE have little choice but to rely on their past experiences of introducing change. Using data gleaned from a nine month case study, a British-wide survey and a series of in-depth interviews, this paper summarizes the findings of a research study that examines how firms orientate themselves towards change and how they go about introducing CE to their operations. The data show that there are many benefits to introducing CE and that firms differ with respect to their needs for the CE approach. A tentative means to assess CE ‘needs’ is proposed which is based on the level of complexity of goods produced by firms. The method is currently being developed and extended to provide an applications-based framework to assist firms to improve their new product development performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-103
Author(s):  
Wasia Hamid ◽  
Tanveer Ahmad Khan ◽  
Mohmad Saleem Jahangir

The present study investigates the level of empowerment among tribal women in terms of their participation in the decision-making process and to identify the factors that affect their level of participation. Fifty women from the Gujjar community of Kashmir Valley were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The interview and case study methods were employed for collecting data from the potential participants. The study revealed that tribal women’s right to make decisions was confined to minor household issues only. A significant positive correlation was also noted between family size, type of family, age, level of education, employment status and participation of the tribal women in decision-making.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document