U.S. Department of Energy ; U.S. National Science Foundation ; Ministry of Science and Education of Spain ; Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom ; Higher Education Funding Council for England ; National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ; Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago ; Center for Cosmology andAstro-Particle Physics at the Ohio State University ; Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas AM University ; Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos ; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) ; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) ; Ministerio da Ciencia ; Tecnologia e Inovacao ; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey ; National Science Foundation ; MINECO ; Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa ; European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)/including ERC grant ; NASA through the Einstein Fellowship Program ; ICREA ; Science and Technology Facilities Council ; National Science Foundation: AST-1138766 ; MINECO: AYA2012-39559 ; MINECO: ESP2013-48274 ; MINECO: FPA2013-47986 ; Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa: SEV-2012-0234 ; European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)/including ERC grant: 240672 ; European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)/including ERC grant: 291329 ; European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)/including ERC grant: 306478 ; NASA through the Einstein Fellowship Program: PF5-160138 ; Science and Technology Facilities Council: ST/L000768/1 ; Science and Technology Facilities Council: ST/M001334/1 ; Cosmic voids are usually identified in spectroscopic galaxy surveys, where 3D information about the large-scale structure of the Universe is available. Although an increasing amount of photometric data is being produced, its potential for void studies is limited since photometric redshifts induce line-of-sight position errors of >= 50 Mpc h(-1)which can render many voids undetectable. We present a new void finder designed for photometric surveys, validate it using simulations, and apply it to the high-quality photo-z redMaGiC galaxy sample of the DES Science Verification data. The algorithm works by projecting galaxies into 2D slices and finding voids in the smoothed 2D galaxy density field of the slice. Fixing the line-of-sight size of the slices to be at least twice the photo-z scatter, the number of voids found in simulated spectroscopic and photometric galaxy catalogues is within 20 per cent for all transverse void sizes, and indistinguishable for the largest voids (R-v >= 70 Mpc h(-1)). The positions, radii, and projected galaxy profiles of photometric voids also accurately match the spectroscopic void sample. Applying the algorithm to the DES-SV data in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.8, we identify 87 voids with comoving radii spanning the range 18-120 Mpc h(-1), and carry out a stacked weak lensing measurement. With a significance of 4.4 sigma, the lensing measurement confirms that the voids are truly underdense in the matter field and hence not a product of Poisson noise, tracer density effects or systematics in the data. It also demonstrates, for the first time in real data, the viability of void lensing studies in photometric surveys.
A New Public Tool for Planning Cost-Effectiveness ResearchRigorous research on cost is needed to generate reliable and transparent estimates of cost-effectiveness — but a high quality cost study has to be planned prospectively.CEGA Program Scientist Liz Brown launches a new Costing Pre-analysis Planning template to foster collaboration between cost and impact evaluation research. This work was developed by CEGA's Cost Transparency Initiative and we welcome your feedback.A young woman sells tomatoes in a local market using her mobile phone to process the transaction. | Credit: Confidence Nzewi via Dreamstime.comJust one in five impact evaluations include any type of cost evidence (Brown & Tanner, 2019), which means that decision makers frequently lack key information to compare per beneficiary cost-per-impact across studies. CEGA's Cost Transparency Initiative has developed a new tool for researchers to help generate a rigorous estimate of the cost-effectiveness of an intervention, improve confidence in their findings, and provide actionable costing insights for policymakers. The publicly-accessible Costing Pre-analysis Planning template aligns impact estimates of an evaluation with final cost estimates, generating a rigorous and transparent estimate of cost per impact per beneficiary at the close of the study.CEGA developed and field-tested our cost pre-analysis planning tool on five cash-benchmarking impact evaluations completed in 2023. Throughout this engagement, we encountered wariness about the reliability and reproducibility of cost estimates and uncertainty about the underlying need for cost "research" among academic research economists. CEGA now routinely completes Costing Pre-analysis Planning templates in advance of conducting cost research, with costing-pre analysis plans in place on three active impact evaluations, Lishe Bora, Titukulane, and Takunda.The Costing Pre-analysis Planning template is designed using LaTeX so that it can either efficiently integrate with the pre-analysis plan (PAP) of an impact evaluation or serve as a standalone draft of a costing report that is fit for publication. The tool includes a structured outline and prompts to motivate the cost analysis, define the primary and secondary cost research questions, and identify the cost-relevant features of the intervention design and delivery.Cost pre-analysis plans document cost study designs and transparently share data, methods, and planned empirical analyses. As with PAPs for impact evaluations, costing PAPs minimize the risk of "cherry picking" specifications, such as narrowly-defining cost inclusion criteria that do not reflect the full cost of delivery or that only produce interesting cost-efficiency metrics. The tool improves collaboration around the use of sensitive and highly detailed expenditure data and the chances for better partnerships with decision makers on their cost research questions."Cost Is The Easiest Part" — A Common MisconceptionIt may seem straightforward to calculate the cost-effectiveness of an anti-poverty program: simply divide the total budget of the evaluated program by the number of households served, and compare it to the benefits per household. But there are several drawbacks to this approach:Expenditures in accountancy do not capture all relevant costs. There can be large deviations between budgets and actual expenditures — both in terms of the total cost and how resources are allocated across activities and time. Generally, actuals are the gold standard of cost data. However, the accountancy of the primary implementing partner(s) is a key source of data for this exercise. It has all the hallmarks of administrative data with some well-known advantages and limitations. We find that careful review of the chart of accounts, interviews, and supplementary data are needed to catch mis-classified expenses, to disaggregate "catch-all" categories of cost, and identify incompleteness.The development intervention and the development program may not be identical. Careful identification of treatment activities is needed to align the costing with the intervention that is the subject of the impact evaluation and the specific beneficiary population(s) of the evaluation. For example, our costing of a complex, large scale, bundled program of activities during a five-year intervention targets a subset of activities within the more 'complete' program. This well-established program has its own theory of change and targeting criteria. Our work isolates the costs of the intervention activities apart from the broader program.Different research questions require different cost data. It is not always evident which costs should be included in a cost evaluation. The criteria for inclusion or exclusion will depend largely on the research question at hand. For example, disentangling the cost of bundled intervention activities requires the identification of separate inputs for each component of the intervention. In this case, using the entire program budget as a proxy for cost would bias cost per beneficiary estimates by incorporating costs that are irrelevant to the research questions of concern to decision makers.Cost should match the estimand. To be valid, the estimate of cost per beneficiary should match the estimand that is the focus of the impact evaluation. Attention to the cost implications of sample attrition and non-compliance is needed to improve the accuracy of cost per beneficiary estimates.Implementation fidelity and costing accuracy. The real-world challenges of implementing a randomized evaluation complicates its costing. For example, a common assumption is that control groups incur no cost. However, this assumption fails when there is contamination between treatment and control groups. It is important to proactively plan the costing and track the intervention's implementation fidelity so that we can quickly identify anydata challenges that affect the accuracy of the costing.Variation in cost per beneficiary. A simple estimate of budget per beneficiary ignores a lot of important variation in cost per beneficiary. Beneficiaries who are more remote or more disadvantaged may incur a higher cost to reach. It might also prevent understanding how specific activities contribute to cost. A pre-analysis plan may help to plan out how to identify these differences.A completed costing pre-analysis plan template explains what the costing involves, how it fits with the impact evaluation research, and what data is needed to make it operational. The structure of this tool facilitates coordination not only within evaluation research teams but also with implementing partners and donors.Leaders need cost evidence to support the scale-up of effective interventions. For researchers to provide these data and insights, the field needs to develop and disseminate more open and transparent high quality tools for costing. We hope this new tool accelerates these efforts. Please join us by getting involved in the Costing Community of Practice.A New Public Tool For Planning Cost-Effectiveness Research was originally published in CEGA on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the European Journal of Family Business (EJFB), we are pleased to present this issue (volume 11, no.1) that has involved the participation of prominent authors who have made significant contributions to the growth and consolidation of the family business in the field of research and to EJFB over the years. The papers presented in this issue provide an ideal opportunity to present how the field has evolved in recent years, but also to reflect on contemporary challenges in the broad domain of family business.
When the journal was launched in 2011, family business research attracted widespread attention from a growing audience due to the relevance of the topic for scholars and practitioners. Family business practitioners (lawyers, accountants, business consultants, family office directors, family philanthropy managers, financial services advisors, management consultants, family therapists and psychologists among others) were key elements in the dawn of the family business (Sharma, Chrisman, & Gersick, 2012). Providing assistance to both family business operators and advisors in understanding family firms was indeed one of the many reasons for the creation of Family Business Review (Lansberg, Perrow, & Rogolsky, 1988) and later for the creation of the Journal of Family Business Strategy (Astrachan & Pieper, 2010).
The family firm field is fortunate that many of those who have brought this field forward have focused on ensuring that the field had a good theoretical foundation that facilitated research and allowed the field to progress (Vought, Baker, & Smith, 2008). But it is also true that following the strong tradition of theory-building and testing expected in high-quality business journals (Sharma et al., 2012) has led the practice orientation of the family firm field to change over time (Reay, Pearson, & Dyer, 2013, p.209). The field became mostly research-oriented, relying heavily on quantitative empirical research. We believe that these studies should be complemented by other research approaches that allow for capturing the specific complexity and dynamics unique to family firms (Nordqvist Hall & Melin, 2009). The literature shows diverse examples of how collaboration between professionals and researchers (e.g., Davis et al., 2013) is a successful way to promote more research (Reay et al., 2013, pp. 210).
In a business world that is increasingly cognisant of the critical role of evidence-based management, family firm practitioners need to be connected to research while having the potential to serve as a mechanism for transferring research knowledge to implementable practices (Reay et al., 2013). 'Practitioners can identify the actions and access sources. Researchers must search for the meaning of those actions, their interlinkages, and what the act represents to develop theoretical propositions' (Strike, 2012, pp. 168). Similarly, more practice-oriented research is also necessary to aid practitioners in advancing their knowledge of family firms from a research perspective. In summary, practitioners and researchers need to work together to enhance the research agenda by learning scientifically from practice and applying 'the theoretical and empirical research findings back to practice' (Strike, 2012, pp. 169). This is the gap that EJFB wants to fill in its new era. We consider this issue to be a good example of our vision of the journal.
Thus, for example, the paper by Ernesto Poza-Valle (2021) offers a review of the academic research and practitioner best practices literature highlighting how little we still know about the role that ownership control plays in the continuity of founder-controlled and family-controlled firms. Statutory ownership control, psychological ownership and family unity approaches are all considered in an exploration of a future ownership development perspective and approaches that controlling families can take to preserve ownership control.
In the same vein, based on the author's experience with entrepreneurs who built successful businesses, the paper of Miguel Angel Gallo (2021) identifies four elements that are critical to achieving transgenerational continuity in family firms: coexistence, unity, professionalism and prudence. The paper provides guidance to help both scholars and practitioners in the family business field pursue the continuity of the family firm over time.
Cristina Cruz, Rachida Justo and Jeanne Roch (2021) expand our knowledge of the intersection between the family and the firm. In particular, they develop a theoretical framework explaining why and how business-owning families engage in impact investing. For a business to be sustainable as a family firm across the years, it is necessary to look at the internal processes that occur within the firm itself and understand the relationship between the family and the business.
Where have we come from, where are we now? Gloria Aparicio, Txomin Iturralde, José Carlos Casillas and Encarnación Ramos-Hidalgo (2021) present a bibliometric analysis of family firm research, giving a holistic overview with a bibliometric evaluation of 3,368 articles published from 2010 to 2020 on family firms. The study provides a synthesis and organisation of existing knowledge on family firm research.
A practical perspective is presented in the paper of Paco Valera, Neus Feliu and Ivan Lansberg (2021). They use the metaphor of biological DNA to describe generic and specific family business cultures and suggest that Latin family businesses inherited four key cultural DNA building blocks—trust, loyalty, authority and justice—from historical Roman times. Like biological DNA, family businesses are forced to change in order to be fit for the future. They draw upon their firm's 30 years of work consulting with Latin family businesses and present a wide range of supporting cases and stories.
Juan Corona (2021) approaches the great issue that affects the vast majority of family firms, successful succession. Through his expertise, the author shares his thoughts about the importance of the successor's preparation, the role of family harmony and the necessity of developing a new generation of leaders.
The commentary of Gibb Dyer (2021) describes the trends in the field of family business over the past forty years in terms of theory and practice. Topics such as succession, consulting with family businesses, the effectiveness of family firms, the role of socio-emotional wealth in family firms, heterogeneity in family businesses and the impact of family capital on the business and the family are discussed.
The worldwide explosion of interest in family business research has created a knowledge vacuum requiring educators, scholars and practitioners to share their collective wisdom to further the field. Specifically, we would like to encourage family business practitioners to write about their experiences, partner with researchers and academics to systematically study advising and share their work through contributions to EJFB. This collaboration will allow the family business field to further understand the 'what' of the intricacies and dynamism of family business captured in descriptive works and explore the 'how, when and why' that arise when theory is developed to inform practice. So, long live family business research!
Editors in this Issue
Dr. M. Concepción López-Fernández, University of Cantabria
Dr. Amaia Maseda, University of the Basque Country
[spa] En las democracias modernas, el alcance social de la retórica que vincula la ética, la verdad y la justicia con la política, como base de la convivencia social y de la democracia, pone de relieve la importancia del uso de la comunicación y del poder de las palabras en la construcción del discurso público, para evitar la instrumentalización, y proporcionar conocimientos y criterios a los ciudadanos para la toma de decisiones en la vida pública. Este alcance social de la retórica y la potencia de las palabras en la construcción del discurso público en el ámbito de la colaboración público-privada son el objeto de análisis del presente estudio. Pese a que los organismos internacionales requieren desarrollar conocimientos para abordar la gobernanza de las colaboraciones público-privadas (en adelante, CPP), al objeto de garantizar su éxito y recuperar la confianza de los ciudadanos en las instituciones públicas, hay muy pocos datos empíricos sobre la función de la retórica en las CPP. El presente trabajo analiza cómo la retórica que conforma el debate público interacciona con las creencias previas de los individuos para configurar la forma en que estos valoran la idoneidad de estas colaboraciones y lograr así satisfacer el interés público y desempeñar mejor los servicios públicos. Este estudio combina el desarrollo de un marco teórico con el análisis del servicio de suministro de agua a la población. En concreto, se analiza el caso de la gestión del agua en el Área Metropolitana de Barcelona, para explicar el impacto del uso de la retórica en la percepción de los ciudadanos y en el rendimiento de los servicios. Para ello, se han realizado 38 entrevistas en profundidad a responsables de asociaciones de usuarios, a directivos públicos y privados, a académicos, a políticos y a periodistas, y se ha observado que resulta fundamental desarrollar un relato en torno a la información de la CPP que se hace pública. La contribución principal del estudio es que, en la construcción del discurso a través del cual se facilita la información, intervienen factores específicos que influyen en la percepción de los ciudadanos y en el desempeño de los servicios públicos. Es fundamental desarrollar un relato en torno a la información que se hace pública que oriente al ciudadano en el proceso de interpretación de la información relativa a la forma de provisión de los servicios públicos. Las conclusiones de este estudio proporcionan recomendaciones importantes para la práctica: sugieren que la función de la retórica es clave en la gobernanza de la CPP y que los gestores que ignoran su importancia o hacen un uso inadecuado de ella pueden obstaculizar el éxito de la colaboración. ; [cat] A les democràcies modernes, l'abast social de la retòrica que vincula l'ètica, la veritat i la justícia amb la política, com a base de la convivència social i de la democràcia, posa de manifest la importància de l'ús de la comunicació i del poder de les paraules en la construcció del discurs públic, per tal d'evitar-ne la instrumentalització, i oferir coneixements i criteris als ciutadans perquè puguin prendre decisions en la vida pública. Aquest abast social de la retòrica i la potència de les paraules en la construcció del discurs públic en l'àmbit de la col·laboració publicoprivada és el tema que es tracta en aquest estudi. Malgrat que els organismes internacionals requereixen desenvolupar coneixements per abordar la governança de les col·laboracions publicoprivades (d'ara endavant, CPP) a fi de garantir-ne l'èxit i recuperar la confiança dels ciutadans en les institucions públiques, hi ha molt poques dades empíriques sobre la funció de la retòrica en les CPP. Aquest treball analitza com la retòrica que conforma el debat públic interacciona amb les creences prèvies dels individus per tal de configurar la manera en què aquests valoren la idoneïtat d'aquestes col·laboracions i aconseguir així la satisfacció de l'interès públic i un millor acompliment dels serveis públics. Aquest estudi combina el desenvolupament d'un marc teòric amb l'anàlisi del servei de subministrament d'aigua a la població. Concretament, s'hi analitza el cas de la gestió de l'aigua a l'Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona, per tal d'explicar l'impacte de l'ús de la retòrica en la percepció dels ciutadans i en el rendiment dels serveis. Amb aquesta finalitat, s'han realitzat 38 entrevistes amb profunditat a responsables d'associacions d'usuaris, a directius públics i privats, a acadèmics, a polítics i a periodistes, i s'ha observat que és fonamental desenvolupar un relat amb relació a la informació de la CPP que es fa pública. La conclusió principal de l'estudi és que, en la construcció del discurs a través del qual es facilita la informació, hi intervenen factors específics que influeixen en la percepció dels ciutadans i en l'acompliment dels serveis públics. És fonamental, doncs, desenvolupar un relat a l'entorn de la informació que es fa pública que orienti el ciutadà en el procés d'interpretació de la informació relativa a la forma de proveir els serveis públics. Els resultats d'aquest estudi ofereixen recomanacions importants per a la pràctica: suggereixen que la funció de la retòrica és clau en la governança de la CPP i que els gestors que n'ignoren la importància o en fan un ús inadequat poden obstaculitzar l'èxit de la col·laboració. ; [eng] Rhetoric in modern democracies encompasses politics and links ethics, truth, and justice – and its scope underlies social coexistence and democracy. The power of words in the construction of public discourse avoids instrumentalization, while providing the knowledge and criteria for public decision-making. This study is focussed on the social scope of rhetoric and the power of words in building public discourse for public-private cooperation. There is little empirical evidence published on the role of rhetoric in public-private partnerships (hereafter PPPs), even though international organisations must develop such knowledge to successfully manage PPPs and regain trust in public organisations. This paper analyses how the rhetoric that shapes public debate interacts with the beliefs held by individuals and influences how they assess the appropriateness of such collaborations for advancing the public interest and achieving better public services. This study combines a theoretical framework with an analysis of a public water supply service. Specifically, we analyse water management in the metropolitan area of Barcelona to explain the impact of rhetoric on public perceptions and the performance of services. We conducted 38 in-depth interviews with heads of user associations, public and private managers, academics, politicians, and journalists, and found that narratives need to be developed for publishing PPP information. The main contribution of this study reveals how specific factors in a discourse influence public perception about the performance of public services. Narratives must be developed that guide the public in interpreting information about how public services are provided. The results provide important recommendations for practice – and suggest that rhetoric is crucial in PPP governance and that managers who misuse rhetoric, or ignore its importance, may hinder successful collaboration.
Cette thèse propose une étude du langage des arts martiaux Shaolin (Shàolín 少林) en spectacles vivants dans trois œuvres des arts de la scène. Deux spectacles sont d'origine chinoise, et se situent sous un paradigme ouvert, dit de spectacles populaires ou grand public, à savoir Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu et Shaolin Warriors: The Legend Continues. Le second paradigme est plus fermé, puisque Sutra est un spectacle de danse contemporaine dont la valeur artistique est reconnue. Sutra a été créé par une équipe sinoeuropéenne, dans la chorégraphie de Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui avec des moines du temple Shaolin (Shàolín Sì 少林寺). Nous avons utilisé la théorie de l'anthroposémiotique (Jacques Fontanille et Nicolas Couégnas, 2018) et des méthodes hybrides d'investigation relevant de l'Observation-Analyse du mouvement (OAM de Nicole Harbonnier, 2014), de la sémiotique de la martialité (Mahamadou Lamine Ouédraogo, 2018), des sciences de la culture (Joseph Melançon, 2002) et du Soft Power (Joseph Nye, 1990). Les deux grilles d'analyse que nous avons construites en fonction des différents apports théoriques et méthodologiques, nous ont permis de mettre au jour la structure d'un récit canonique et les moyens de la mise en scène des arts martiaux Shaolin, les usages politiques de ces spectacles et, finalement, les fonctions de la puissance culturelle douce chinoise (PCDC) telle que manifestée dans les trois spectacles du corpus. Les codes culturels de la Chine et de l'Occident se retrouvent en situation de dialogisme interculturel, soit dans la structure même des spectacles ou dans les usages qui en sont faits. Cette fonction dialogique du Kung Fu Shaolin (Shàolín gōngfu 少林功夫 ) dans les arts de la scène s'est manifestée à plusieurs niveaux de lecture et d'analyse des spectacles. Entre autres, nous avons établi que la puissance culturelle douce chinoise participe d'une stratégie de mise en valeur de la culture traditionnelle chinoise via la représentation des valeurs de la culture socialiste avancée, par la culture d'harmonie, par le « rêve chinois », par le « consensus de Pékin » et, finalement, par le socialisme avec des caractéristiques chinoises. La Chine ne valorise pas uniquement les outils traditionnels de la culture Shaolin (Shàolín 少林), elle favorise aussi les innovations culturelles par les coopérations internationales, notamment avec l'Europe. Le spectacle Sutra du corpus en fait foi. Les codes culturels Shaolin (Shàolín 少林) y sont modifiés, restructurés, éclatés dans une explosion (Juri Lotman) de nouveauté et d'ouverture vers l'Autre. Cette conscience dialogique de l'ipséité et de l'altérité dans un produit culturel transgénique fait preuve d'une ouverture commune vers l'Autre et d'une collaboration constructive dans un échange égalitaire. La valeur de prestige mise en place dans les produits culturels chinois rend compte de phénomènes reliés au continu de la tradition ou bien au discontinu de l'explosion d'une nouveauté. Notre regard de spectateur et d'analyste nous a permis de saisir l'ampleur du phénomène de la puissance culturelle douce chinoise dans un discours politique officiel émanant du président Xi, Jinping ou de la politique culturelle chinoise mise en place par Xi, Chinese Culture Going Global, visant à combler le déficit de la soft power chinoise. Ces discours prônent la culture socialiste aux caractéristiques chinoises tant à l'intérieur de la sémiosphère de la Chine qu'à l'extérieur du pays sur la scène internationale, soulignant ainsi son désir d'affirmation de son statut de superpuissance à l'échelle planétaire. L'initiative de la Ceinture et de la Route de la soie et des projets associés contribuent à l'affirmation nationale et au discours de propagande dissimulé dans la structure et les usages des divers produits culturels chinois ou en co-productions avec des artisans de l'Occident. ; This thesis proposes a study of the language of Shaolin (Shàolín 少林) martial arts in live performances in three works of the performing arts. Two shows are of Chinese origin and fall under an open paradigm known as popular or mainstream shows, namely Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu and Shaolin Warriors: The Legend Continues. The second paradigm is more closed, since Sutra is a contemporary dance show whose artistic value is recognized. Sutra was created by a Sino-European team, in the choreography of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui with monks from the Shaolin temple (Shàolín Sì 少林寺). We used the anthroposemiotic theory (Jacques Fontanille and Nicolas Couégnas, 2018) and hybrid methods of investigation relating to the Observation-Analysis of movement (OAM by Nicole Harbonnier, 2014), the semiotics of martiality (Mahamadou Lamine Ouédraogo, 2018), cultural sciences (Joseph Melançon, 2002) and Soft Power (Joseph Nye, 1990). The two analysis grids that we have built according to the different theoretical and methodological contributions, have enabled us to bring to light the structure of a canonical narrative and the means of staging Shaolin (Shàolín 少林) martial arts, aesthetic uses, performance policies and, ultimately, the functions of Chinese Soft Cultural Power (CSCP) as manifested in the three shows in the corpus. The cultural codes of China and the West are therefore found in intercultural dialogism, either in the very structure of performances or in the uses made of them. This dialogical function of Shaolin Kung Fu (Shàolín gōngfu 少林功夫) in the performing arts has been shown to be at several levels of performance reading and analysis. Among other things, we have established that the Chinese soft cultural power participates in a strategy of enhancing traditional Chinese culture through the representation of the values of advanced socialist culture, through the culture of harmony, through the "Chinese dream", by the "Beijing consensus" and, finally, by socialism with Chinese characteristics. China not only values the traditional tools of Shaolin (Shàolín 少林) culture, it also promotes cultural innovations through international cooperation, especially with Europe. The show Sutra of the corpus proves this. Shaolin (Shàolín 少林) cultural codes are modified, restructured, shattered in an explosion (Juri Lotman) of novelty and openness to the Other. This dialogical awareness of ipseity and otherness in a transgenic cultural product demonstrates a common openness to the Other and a constructive collaboration in an egalitarian exchange. The prestige value put in place in Chinese cultural products accounts for phenomena linked to the continuation of tradition or to the discontinuity of the explosion of a novelty. Our gaze as spectator and analyst has allowed us to grasp the extent of the phenomenon of Chinese soft cultural power in an official political discourse emanating from the president Xi, Jinping or from Chinese cultural policy implemented under Xi, as Chinese Culture Going Global, aiming to fill the deficit of Chinese soft power. Those discourses advocate socialist culture with Chinese characteristics both inside the Chinese semiosphere and outside the country on the international stage, thus affirming its desire to assert its status as a superpower. The Belt and Road Initiative and associated projects contribute to national affirmation and the propaganda discourse hidden in the structure and uses of various Chinese cultural products or in co-productions with artisans from the West.
Background: Studio DöBra was a community-based arts initiative about dying, death, and loss, involving children (9 years old) and older adults (most 80+) as participants. The goals were to support community engagement with end-of-life (EoL) issues and create opportunities for interaction between children and older adults. Studio DöBra was developed and studied in a collaboration between academic and community partners as part of the Swedish DöBra research program. It was informed and motivated by the Swedish context with an aging population, an age-segregated society, and a lack of community-engagement in EoL-issues. In Studio DöBra a community-based health promotion approach to EoL-issues was applied, based on the idea that these issues can be of concern to everyone, regardless of age. A variety of different arts activities were used as EoL-issues may be difficult to put into words. Aim: The overall research aim is to investigate the processes and impacts of developing, facilitating, and participating in Studio DöBra. A secondary aim is to investigate the experiences of professionals developing and facilitating initiatives that share characteristics of Studio DöBra. Methods: Studio DöBra was developed and investigated in a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) process, with qualitative data generated throughout. Two iterations were developed (2016 and 2017-18) in different cities in Sweden. As the academic partner, I worked in collaboration with different community-organizations, e.g., organizations for children, older adults, and artistic organizations. Each iteration involved eight children and eight older adults in a series of five arts workshops addressing EoL-issues. Parallel to the first Studio DöBra iteration, I conducted exploratory interviews with professionals with experience from seven different initiatives that share characteristics of Studio DöBra. In 2018-19, together with community-partners from both iterations, we developed the Studio DöBra Toolbox, to document and disseminate findings to the general public; anchor lessons learned with management and local politicians; and inspire others to develop similar initiatives. This thesis is based on four articles. In Article I, the collaborative process of developing community-based intergenerational arts initiatives to engage communities in EoL-issues was investigated based on exploratory interviews from other projects and data from the first Studio DöBra iteration including follow-up interviews with community-partners. In Article II, follow-up interviews with older adults, children, and children's parents were used to investigate how children and older adults motivate their participation, their experiences of participating, ways in which they were affected by participation, as well as how parents reflect on their child's participation. Data analyses in articles I and II were guided by interpretive description. The aim of Article III was to explore mechanisms in arts activities that support community engagement with EoL-issues. An abductive analysis was carried out, using participant observation data from the arts workshops, follow-up interviews with participants and partners, and partners' reflective meetings held in conjunction with each workshop, along with play theory. In Article IV, the aim was to investigate the impact of the Studio DöBra CBPAR process for partners, focusing on impact as both process and product. This was done though framework analysis expanding on Banks et al.'s (2017) theory of co-impact, based on longitudinal data from Studio DöBra, spanning 4.5 years. Findings: In developing Studio DöBra and similar initiatives, partners navigated power dynamics among partners and between people of different ages (I, IV). Partners were conceptualized as the "adults-in-between" the children and older adults in age, with power over and a sense of responsibility for these two age-groups, which could lead partners to deliberately or unwittingly, facilitate or hinder participants' engagement with EoL-issues (I). Furthermore, partners were all supported by their jobs to develop Studio DöBra and the other investigated initiatives, however, they had different mandates and degrees of self-determination, which informed roles and affected their sense of ownership (I, IV). Children's and older adults' personal EoL-experiences and perceived lack of intergenerational interactions appeared to inform their motivation and participation in Studio DöBra. Some older adults were motivated by a desire for social connections and activities to counteract an increasing feeling of loneliness. Parents were generally positive about their child's participation. Children and older adults seemed to act as individuals with agency in bonding across generations and in creating spaces for engaging with EoL-issues, both in Studio DöBra and in their social networks. They also seemed to appreciate learning about the ways others reflected about EoL-issues in Studio DöBra. Some parents and older adults spoke of having learned that they can talk with children about these issues. Although participants expressed a desire to maintain new intergenerational connections, challenges which seemed to relate to a lack of agency hindered this. (III) Modified play theory was used to explain four mechanisms in arts activities that support intergenerational engagement with EoL-issues: 1) The creation of a "Studio DöBra magic circle", i.e., the spatial and temporal boundary separating the Studio DöBra workshops from "ordinary life", created a space for intergenerational engagement with EoL-issues. 2) When facilitating, the partners tried to balance restrictions and freedoms in the topics, processes, and products of the arts activities. Determining restrictions and freedoms seemed to provide partners with a sense of control. When restrictions and freedoms appeared to be well-balanced, participants were independent in both the arts activity and engaging with EoL-issues. 3) Partners and participants approached EoL-issues through imagination and real-life experiences to deal with the potentially sensitive, abstract, and personal nature of these issues. 4) After each Studio DöBra workshop series ended, there were indications of a continuing sense of community, as shared experiences and products from arts activities seemed to bond participants. (III) Through the Studio DöBra CBPAR process, a conceptual model was developed that distinguishes three types of impact, i.e., impact on individual and group development, actionoriented impact, and strategy-oriented impact. The model describes impact as process as these types of impact are reciprocally interrelated and evolve from each other. Impact for Studio DöBra partners included developing interest, confidence, and skills in relation to intergenerational interactions and engagement with EoL-issues through arts activities, which partners applied in various ways in their professional practices and social networks. Furthermore, the Studio DöBra Toolbox was used in efforts to anchor lessons learned at higher levels of power, and initiate spinoff projects. (IV) Conclusion: This thesis contributes to an understanding of ways in which community-based intergenerational arts initiatives can be developed and facilitated to engage communityorganizations, older adults, children, and their parents in EoL-issues and stimulate intergenerational interaction. It also adds insight into ways in which impact can be understood as both product and process in CBPAR, and particularly in Studio DöBra.
Full author list: R. Morgan, M. Soares-Santos, J. Annis, K. Herner, A. Garcia, A. Palmese, A. Drlica-Wagner, R. Kessler, J. García-Bellido, T. G. Bachmann, N. Sherman, S. Allam, K. Bechtol, C. R. Bom, D. Brout, R. E. Butler, M. Butner, R. Cartier, H. Chen, C. Conselice, E. Cook, T. M. Davis, Z. Doctor, B. Farr, A. L. Figueiredo, D. A. Finley, R. J. Foley, J. Y. Galarza, M. S. S. Gill, R. A. Gruendl, D. E. Holz, N. Kuropatkin, C. Lidman, H. Lin, U. Malik, A. W. Mann, J. Marriner, J. L. Marshall, C. E. Martínez-Vázquez N. Meza, E. Neilsen, C. Nicolaou, F. Olivares E., F. Paz-Chinchón, S. Points, J. Quirola-Vásquez, O. Rodriguez, M. Sako, D. Scolnic, M. Smith, F. Sobreira, D. L. Tucker, A. K. Vivas, M. Wiesner, M. L. Wood, B. Yanny, A. Zenteno, T. M. C. Abbott, M. Aguena, S. Avila, E. Bertin, S. Bhargava, D. Brooks, D. L. Burke, A. Carnero Rosell, M. Carrasco Kind, J. Carretero, L. N. da Costa, M. Costanzi, J. De Vicente, S. Desai, H. T. Diehl, P. Doel, T. F. Eifler, S. Everett, B. Flaugher, J. Frieman, E. Gaztanaga, D. W. Gerdes, D. Gruen, J. Gschwend, G. Gutierrez, W. G. Hartley, S. R. Hinton, D. L. Hollowood, K. Honscheid, D. J. James, K. Kuehn, O. Lahav, M. Lima, M. A. G. Maia, M. March, R. Miquel, R. L. C. Ogando, A. A. Plazas, A. Roodman, E. Sanchez, V. Scarpine, M. Schubnell, S. Serrano, I. Sevilla-Noarbe, E. Suchyta, and G. Tarle ; On 2019 August 14, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations detected gravitational waves from a black hole and a 2.6 solar mass compact object, possibly the first neutron star-black hole merger. In search of an optical counterpart, the Dark Energy Survey (DES) obtained deep imaging of the entire 90% confidence level localization area with Blanco/DECam 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, and 16 nights after the merger. Objects with varying brightness were detected by the DES Pipeline, and we systematically reduced the candidate counterparts through catalog matching, light-curve properties, host-galaxy photometric redshifts, Southern Astrophysical Research spectroscopic follow-up observations, and machine-learning-based photometric classification. All candidates were rejected as counterparts to the merger. To quantify the sensitivity of our search, we applied our selection criteria to full light-curve simulations of supernovae and kilonovae as they would appear in the DECam observations. Because the source class of the merger was uncertain, we utilized an agnostic, three-component kilonova model based on tidally disrupted neutron star (NS) ejecta properties to quantify our detection efficiency of a counterpart if the merger included an NS. We find that, if a kilonova occurred during this merger, configurations where the ejected matter is greater than 0.07 solar masses, has lanthanide abundance less than 10-8.56, and has a velocity between 0.18c and 0.21c are disfavored at the 2σ level. Furthermore, we estimate that our background reduction methods are capable of associating gravitational wave signals with a detected electromagnetic counterpart at the 4σ level in 95% of future follow-up observations. ; R. Morgan thanks the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program, which is funded by LSSTC, NSF Cybertraining Grant #1829740, the Brinson Foundation, and the Moore Foundation; his participation in the program has benefited this work. F. O.E. acknowledges support from the FONDECYT grant No. 1201223. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant No. 1744555. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics at The Ohio State University, the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico and the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey. The Collaborating Institutions are Argonne National Laboratory, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Cambridge, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas-Madrid, the University of Chicago, University College London, the DES-Brazil Consortium, the University of Edinburgh, the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, the Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (IEEC/CSIC), the Institut de Física d'Altes Energies, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München and the associated Excellence Cluster Universe, the University of Michigan, NFS's NOIRLab, the University of Nottingham, The Ohio State University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Portsmouth, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, the University of Sussex, Texas A&M University, and the OzDES Membership Consortium. The UCSC team is supported in part by NASA grant NNG17PX03C, NSF grant AST-1815935, the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and by fellowships from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to R.J.F. Based in part on observations at Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory at NSF's NOIRLab (NOIRLab Prop. ID 2012B-0001; PI: J. Frieman), which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Based on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovação e Comunicações (MCTIC) da República Federativa do Brasil, the U.S. NSF's NOIRLab, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU). The DES data management system is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant Nos. AST-1138766 and AST-1536171. The DES participants from Spanish institutions are partially supported by MICINN under grants ESP2017-89838, PGC2018-094773, PGC2018-102021, SEV2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, and MDM-2015-0509, some of which include ERDF funds from the European Union. IFAE is partially funded by the CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007- 2013), including ERC grant agreements 240672, 291329, and 306478. We acknowledge support from the Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia (INCT) e-Universe (CNPq grant 465376/2014-2). This paper has gone through internal review by the DES collaboration. This manuscript has been authored by the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC02- 07CH11359 with the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics.
The purpose of this project is to create new knowledge on how cooperating public service providers implement their rights and duties regarding confidentiality and disclosure. Agencies include the health and welfare services, the police, correctional services, the Child Welfare Services, kindergartens and schools. We have examined whether the practices comply with the rules and regulations, as the authorities have interpreted them in guidelines and informational publications and identified the causes of noncompliance. The main research questions have been: - To what extent do the informants have knowledge of confidentiality and disclosure obligations? - To what extent have guidelines and informational publications contributed to an awareness of the rules? - To what extent is the duty of confidentiality an obstacle for cooperation? - What other potential obstacles to cooperation exist? - If cooperation with other agencies is limited, what are the causes? - Are participants aware of the legal exceptions in exercising the duty of confidentiality? - To which extent do participants obtain consent from involved parties? What challenges in obtaining consent arise in cases involving children and parents? - To what extent is anonymisation used to facilitate collaboration, in which ways and how does it work? - How well known are The Child Welfare Service's and Social Welfare's duties to inform, and to what extent is it fulfilled? - To what extent does the Child Welfare Service comply with its duty to give feedback? Design /methodological approach We conducted a literature review, to determine what evidence exists in this field. An analysis of documents was done to study the legal aspects, and specify the normative framework for assessing practice. Four municipalities and a borough of Oslo were selected for this study. Semi structured interviews and a structured survey were carried out with employees in the following sectors: primary health services, somatic and psychiatric specialist health services, public administration, the Child Welfare Services, kindergartens, schools, The Educational and Psychological Counselling Service, the police, correctional services, and the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service. Three principle findings The rules regarding the duty of confidentiality are generally perceived to be valuable and necessary. All our participants had knowledge of the confidentiality obligation and its implications. Furthermore all participants were aware of the consent and anonymisation exceptions. Therefore these means are used extensively as grounds to share sensitive information. A key response from practitioners in the field is that they do not perceive the rules regarding the duty of confidentiality to be obstacles to cooperation. On the contrary, the informants state that the existing rules, especially the exception rule, are sufficient to communicate essential information between services and agencies. A new approach to cooperation and interaction has been a result of the increased focus on these issues in the latter years. The participants experience that clients or users of their services take part in a different way than before. They express that practice is changing, and that their work is now more client focused. Nonetheless, the participants report that not all necessary information is exchanged, and they want better collaboration between agencies. It remains unclear whether the regulations themselves or other factors determine if information actually gets shared. This is as much a matter of trust between agencies, personal relationships and experiences with previous partners, as it is a lack of acknowledgement of, or capacity to, understand other agencies' informational needs. A second issue is that the participants rarely read laws, informational publications or guidelines, even if they are insecure about the current rules. The participants report that that they barely know the different guidelines, that they aren't available at their place of work, or that they are available, but still don't read them. The different services and agencies vary with regard to training on the duty of confidentiality and cooperation, and which aspects they focus on. There is consistency between the manager's knowledge of and preoccupation with the regulations, and each employee's confidence in their knowledge of the regulations. The third major finding is that the rules about exceptions are not well-known. Some of the participants are aware of the exceptions in the laws governing their field of work, but the vast majority have never read the relevant sections of the law. The participants' knowledge of The Health Personnel Act section 23 no. 4 is especially inadequate. The Public Administration Act section 13b no. 5 and no. 6. are also not well-known to the informants, but they have somewhat better knowledge of the limitations to the duty of confidentiality in the special legislation. The duty to disclose information to the Child Welfare Service is well-known amongst the participants. A large majority state that this duty is fulfilled according to the intentions of the law. The duty to disclose information to other agencies, like the police or welfare services, is less familiar. The Child Welfare Services duty to give feedback to someone who makes a report is well-known by most informants. Although, dissatisfaction is expressed over the lack of feedback from the Child Welfare Service when one self has sent a concern to them. The need for additional knowledge in this field. This project has generated new knowledge in a field where little evidence exists. Our findings have contributed to advancing our understanding of the normative framework experienced impacts actual knowledge, and practice. The field of health and welfare research is dominated by relatively specialized research. There are few cross disciplinary projects involving practitioners and academics. There are many students and employees in these fields of study, and a vast and complicated set of laws and regulations. Many of the students, practically all, are trained in one of the fields that are represented in our study. Many of those practice only one profession. The research is similarly limited to one field. In our opinion the challenges ahead, in the area of health and welfare, are between the various professions, laws and their guidelines. The users of public services need additional evidence across fields and that practitioners can manage both practice and a wider scope of legal understanding. There have been few extensive research programs that have included interdisciplinary and interagency research. One example is a program The Research Council of Norway had for a national action plan on mental health from 2001–2009. Our research project may be seen as a follow up of this research, but with a more limited framework. We do not have knowledge of other studies that have included as many laws and professional fields in the same study. The July 22. 2011 tragedy, has shown the need to improve communication, and practice across services and agencies. While revisions of laws are possible and better coordination of laws, regulations and guidelines continue, we look forward to participating in new inter- and multi disciplinary research projects. ; Formålet med dette prosjektet har vært å framskaffe mer kunnskap om praktiseringen av taushetsplikten, opplysningsretten og opplysningsplikten mellom samarbeidende tjenester/etater, blant andre helse- og omsorgstjenestene, politiet, kriminalomsorgen, barnevernet, barnehage og skole. Prosjektet har gjennom litteraturstudier, dokumentanalyse, intervjuer og en spørreskjemaundersøkelse generert ny og viktig tverrfaglig kunnskap på et felt med lite forskning fra før.
Este artículo contiene 18 páginas, 4 figuras. ; Good datasets of geo-referenced records of alien species are a prerequisite for assessing the spatio-temporal dynamics of biological invasions, their invasive potential, and the magnitude of their impacts. However, with the exception of first records on a country level or wider regions, observations of species presence tend to remain unpublished, buried in scattered repositories or in the personal databases of experts. Through an initiative to collect, harmonize and make such unpublished data for marine alien and cryptogenic species in the Mediterranean Sea available, a large dataset comprising 5376 records was created. It includes records of 239 alien or cryptogenic taxa (192 Animalia, 24 Plantae, 23 Chromista) from 19 countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. In terms of records, the most reported Phyla in descending order were Chordata, Mollusca, Chlorophyta, Arthropoda, and Rhodophyta. The most recorded species was Caulerpa cylindracea, followed by Siganus luridus, Magallana sp. (cf. gigas or angulata) and Pterois miles. The dataset includes records from 1972 to 2020, with the highest number of records observed in 2018. Among the records of the dataset, Dictyota acutiloba is a first record for the Mediterranean Sea. Nine first country records are also included: the alga Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla, the cube boxfish Ostracion cubicus, and the cleaner shrimp Urocaridella pulchella from Israel; the sponge Paraleucilla magna from Libya and Slovenia; the lumpfish Cyclopterus lumpus from Cyprus; the bryozoan Celleporaria vermiformis and the polychaetes Prionospio depauperata and Notomastus aberans from Malta. ; The publication of this article is supported by the Open Access Publishing Fund of the International Association for Open Knowledge on Invasive Alien Species (INVASIVESNET; www.invasivesnet.org). Stelios Katsanevakis, Maria Sini and Konstantinos Tsirintanis were supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the "First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant" (Project Number: HFRI-FM17-1597). Enalia Physis acknowledges Pantelis Patsalou for his support with field-logistics and links with fishers. Fiona Tomas would like to acknowledge funding from FECYT FCT- 14-9319 (¡OJO A LAS INVASORAS! BIODIVERSIDAD Y ESPECIES INVASORAS DEL MEDITERRÁNEO BALEAR). Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Thanos Dailianis and Maria Sini acknowledge the support by the MARISCA project (www.marisca.eu), co-funded (85%) by EEA GRANTS, 2009–2014, and the Public Investments Program (PIP) of the Hellenic Republic (15%). Razy Hoffman acknowledges funding by Yad-Hanadiv foundation, through the Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences and Israel Nature and Parks Authority (An integrated program for establishing biological baselines and monitoring protocols for marine reserves in the Israeli Mediterranean Sea). Argyro Zenetos and Paraskevi K. Karachle would like to thank the citizenscientists collaborating with the Ellenic Network on Aquatic Invasive Species (ELNAIS – elnais.hcmr.gr). Nikolaos Doumpas, Ioannis Giovos, Periklis Kleirou and Francesco Tiralongo would like to thank all the citizen-scientists that contributed with their shared records and data in the citizen-science project "Is it alien to you? Share it!!!" (https://www.facebook.com/ groups/104915386661854/). Data from Gyaros Island marine reserve were collected under the "GyarosMPA" project, funded by "MAVA Fondation pour la Nature". Data from Corsica coastline were mainly collected in the framework of the "Corsica Alien Network" initiated by "Office de l'Environnement de la Corse". Carla Morri and Carlo Nike Bianchi received financial support from FFARB (funds for basic research activities) by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. Ergün Taşkın has been supported by TÜBİTAK, Ankara, Turkey (Project Number: 114Y238). The Slovenian authors would like to acknowledge their financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding No. P1-0237) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia. Mehmet Fatih Huseyinoglu thanks University of Kyrenia's Scientific Research Project numbered GRN-20191-004. Fabio Crocetta was funded by the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action TD1209 Alien Challenge project. The FRI (HAO DEMETER) team is very grateful to the Marine Strategy Project for financial support. Records of NIS in Jbel Moussa, the National Park of Al Hoceima and Cap des Trois Fourches sites from Morocco were obtained during surveys conducted within the framework of the MedKeyHabitats and the MedMPAnet Projects implemented by UNEP/MAP-RAC/SPA in close collaboration with the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la Lutte Contre la Désertification (HCEFLCD) and financially supported by RAC/SPA, Tunisia and the MAVA Foundation, Switzerland (MedKeyHabitats Project) and the European Commission (EC), the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation to Development (AECID), and the French Global Environment Facility (MedMPAnet Project). Jamila Ben Souissi was partially funded by BiodivMex /Chantier MISTRALS. Konstantinos Tsiamis sampling records were retrieved during his post in the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, which he would like to thank for. Periklis Kleitou and Demetris Kletou were supported by the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union – RELIONMED project [Grant Agreement LIFE16 NAT/ CY/000832]. Some of the data included in the dataset were obtained through the marine citizen science platform Observadores del Mar www.observadoresdelmar.es with the support of FECYT FCT-17-12469, LIFE IP Intemares and Fundació Marilles, and through the citizen science site of the Italian Marine Protected Area of "Regno di Nettuno" (islands of Ischia, Procida and Vivara): www.citizensciencerdn.org. Most data from Lebanon were retrieved from social media dedicated to citizen science (Facebook group: Sea Lebanon https://www.facebook.com/ groups/109615625861815/) or fishers and scuba divers WhatsApp groups). Jamila Rizgalla wishes to thank the administration of Regatta for granting a free pass to conduct field surveys and the security personnel for providing a safe environment. Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi was supported by European Community's Seventh Framework Program VECTORS (Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life, Impact on Economic Sectors). The long lasting collaboration with the ICES Working Group on Introductions and Transfer of Marine Organisms (WGITMO) has been a good forum where many information and ideas could be exchanged within some of the authors (Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi, Argyro Zenetos, Agnese Marchini, and a wider community of scientists working on biological invasions). A. Rosso and R. Sanfilippo received grants from the Catania University Research Plan 2016/2018. Data from Kuriat island were collected under the "Kuriat project", funded by "MAVA Fondation pour la Nature" executed by SPA/RAC in partnership with the Coastal Protection and Management Agency (APAL) and Notre Grand Bleu (NGB) NGO. The AIS/ERA (Environment and Resources Authority) Maltese data were obtained from the EU funded project EMFF 8.3.1 under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014–2020 with a total cost of €1.6 million in public eligible EMFF funds (75% EU 25% MT), managed by AIS/ERA (Environment and Resources Authority). The ultimate goals of this European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF 2014–2020) project are to devise a holistic approach towards marine monitoring and develop a comprehensive database of data collected about the Maltese waters. ; Peer reviewed
In a context where new firms, innovation and the development of innovative region are a main concern of both national and regional public policies, the question of their articulation remains in debate. In the literature, many papers study either the contribution of venture capital to the emergence of clusters and their development or the contribution of the entrepreneur to the economic development of a territory. The relationship between these actors associated with innovation and the territory is rarely studied. The main objective of this thesis is to show that the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur are two essential elements of the functioning of innovative territories; and that there is a two-way relationship between these actors and the territory. Namely, innovative territories are favorable to the presence of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists and to the well-functioning of their relationship. In return, entrepreneurs associated with venture capitalists in a duo generate positive externalities for the territory and enrich the knowledge base of the territory. In this thesis, we study the venture capitalist-entrepreneur relationship from the point of view of a duo that produces resources for the territory, called the "venture capitalist-entrepreneur duo" that we define as the set of interactions, networking and mutual learning between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. To go beyond the duo's contribution to economic development in term of firms' creation. We analyse the duo's contribution to territorial knowledge capital, which is defined as the knowledge base produced, possessed and used by the set of local enterprises and institutions. The approaches mobilized to build the theoretical framework of the thesis are integrated in the economic and managerial theories of the entrepreneur, the innovation and the territory. The empirical analysis is based on the competitiveness clusters of Lyon Grenoble Chambéry (LGC). The choice of the competitiveness clusters has been justified by a statistical analysis. A quantitative database has been built for this purpose. It brings together consolidated information on 172 new firms in the seven clusters concerned, on the innovation processes and on the venture capital financing of these firms. The analysis is also based on the completion of two qualitative surveys within 15 entrepreneurs and 12 venture capitalists. The quantitative analysis shows that the process of transforming knowledge into firms by entrepreneurs works within LGC's competitiveness clusters. Venture capitalists are very active among entrepreneurs in the clusters and enable the transformation of knowledge into new firms. The clusters promote the linking of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. The relastionship between entrepreneur and venture capitalist is based on the financial interest, the trust, and the search for the success of the firms. It bases its functioning on networking, learning and interactions. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists share knowledge. Entrepreneurs and VCs produce codified scientific and technical knowledge as measured by patents and tacit knowledge that provides a local knowledge base on venture capital and creates tools to improve the relationship functioning. The thesis shows the advantage that venture capitalists may have in syndicating formally and informally, and the importance of creating local synergies between entrepreneurs. With regard to public policies, the thesis shows the interest for public actors to promote all the actions allowing the connections and the collaborations between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in the clusters of competitiveness with a view to fulfill the objective of not only producing knowledges but also products. ; Dans un contexte où la création d'entreprises, l'innovation et le développement de territoires innovants sont une préoccupation des politiques publiques aussi bien territoriales que nationales, la question de leur articulation reste en débat. Dans la littérature, de nombreux travaux étudient soit la contribution de l'investissement en capital à l'émergence des clusters et à leur développement soit la contribution de l'entrepreneur au développement économique d'un territoire. La relation entre ces acteurs associés à l'innovation et au territoire est rarement étudiée. Cette thèse a pour objectif de montrer qu'investisseur en capital et entrepreneur sont deux éléments essentiels du fonctionnement des territoires innovants et qu'il existe un lien à double sens entre ces acteurs et le territoire. Les territoires innovants favorisent la présence de l'entrepreneur et de l'investisseur et le bon fonctionnement de leur relation ; en retour les entrepreneurs associés aux investisseurs, génèrent des externalités positives pour le territoire et enrichissent la base de connaissances de celui-ci. Nous étudions la relation entrepreneur investisseur sous l'angle d'un duo qui produit des ressources pour le territoire, appelé le « duo entrepreneur investisseur en capital » définit comme l'ensemble des interactions, la mise en relation et l'apprentissage mutuel entre investisseurs et entrepreneurs. Pour aller au-delà de la contribution du duo au développement économique sous l'angle de la création d'entreprises, la thèse analyse la contribution du duo au capital savoir territorial défini comme l'ensemble des informations et connaissances scientifiques et techniques produites, acquises, combinées et systématisées par les entreprises et les institutions locales pour être utilisées dans un processus de création de valeur et selon un projet territorial défini. Les approches mobilisées pour construire le cadre théorique s'intègrent dans les théories économiques et managériales de l'entrepreneur, de l'innovation et du territoire. L'analyse empirique se base sur les pôles de compétitivité de Lyon Grenoble Chambéry (PCLGC) ; le choix des pôles est justifié par une analyse statistique. Elle a donné lieu à la construction d'une base de données quantitatives qui regroupe des informations consolidées sur les 172 nouvelles entreprises des sept pôles, sur les processus d'innovation et sur le financement en capital de ces entreprises. L'analyse se fonde également sur la réalisation de 2 enquêtes qualitatives auprès de 15 entrepreneurs et de 12 investisseurs en capital. L'analyse quantitative montre que le processus de transformation de la connaissance en entreprises par les entrepreneurs fonctionne au sein des PCLGC. Les investisseurs en capital sont présents auprès des nouvelles entreprises des pôles et permettent la transformation de la connaissance en entreprises. Les pôles favorisent la mise en relation des entrepreneurs et des investisseurs. La relation entre entrepreneur et investisseur est fondée sur l'intérêt financier, la confiance, et la recherche du succès de l'entreprise. Elle base son fonctionnement sur des processus de mise en réseau, d'apprentissages et d'interactions. Les entrepreneurs et les investisseurs mettent en commun des connaissances et produisent des connaissances scientifiques et techniques codifiées mesurées par les brevets et des connaissances tacites. Notre travail montre l'avantage que peuvent avoir les investisseurs à se regrouper de manière formelle et informelle, et l'importance de créer des synergies locales entre les entrepreneurs. Concernant les politiques publiques, la thèse montre l'intérêt pour les acteurs publics de favoriser l'ensemble des actions permettant la mise en relation et les collaborations entre les investisseurs en capital et les entrepreneurs dans les territoires des pôles de compétitivité en vue de remplir l'objectif de faire des pôles « des usines à produits ».
Worldwide over 130 million women are missing due to gender-biased sex selection. Most of these "missing females" were selectively aborted, fatally neglected or killed after birth because they were female. Sex selection–predominantly practiced in Asia, Caucasus and Eastern Europe–has caused wide concern among government, non-government and international stakeholders because of the human rights, health, and demographic implications associated with the practice. Since the late 1980s, several Asian countries have introduced laws, policies and programs to counter this fundamental form of gender discrimination. Although public policies are often promoted as a solution to sex selection, little is known about these policies and their influence on skewed sex ratio at birth. Moreover, only a few studies provide a comparative analysis of sex ratio trends and policy interventions. Given the heterogeneity of countries affected by sex selection, this research seeks to understand how public policies unfold in diverse socio-cultural contexts. What are the intentions, instruments and impacts of public policies against sex selection in selected Asian countries? India, Vietnam and South Korea were chosen in a Most Different Systems Design to represent largely diverse countries that have tried to address the growing demographic masculinization of their population. Comparing similar policies in different countries offers a natural experiment for assessing their influence on prenatal sex selection. We present new empirical research, carried out in South Korea, India and Vietnam between 2014 and 2015, based on qualitative expert interviews with governmental, non-governmental, international and medical personnel, as well as statistical analysis comparing pre- and post-intervention areas.This thesis finds that the three countries share similar policy instruments including legal bans on sex selection and determination, awareness-raising campaigns, advocacy, incentives and gender equity laws to strengthen the role of women in society. However, policy intentions varied across countries from strengthening women's rights in India, to promoting a balanced population structure in Vietnam, to protecting fetal rights in South Korea. Regarding the policy impact, anti-sex selection policies have had limited efficacy in curbing sex imbalances. In South Korea, social and family changes rather than policy interventions explain the decline of sex selection. In India, policy efforts showed a positive impact of reducing sex imbalances at the local level due to strong leadership and bottom-up action, which yet came with unintended side effects of infringing reproductive and privacy rights. In Vietnam, the legal ban on sex selection is likely to have triggered the onset of birth masculinization. Vietnamese authorities have opted for a top-down, long-term strategy of changing mindsets. Regional interventions are scaled up despite inconclusive evidence of policy efficacy. International collaboration to tackle sex selection has facilitated transnational policy and knowledge transfer, where lessons learned are shared between the countries. This atmosphere has contributed to a growing trend of policy convergence. Nevertheless, governments interpret these policies to fit their own policy intentions and implementation strategies. Our findings thus not only contribute to an under-researched field of public policies against sex selection, but also allow for a better understanding of the complex interplay between local and global dynamics in anti-sex selection efforts. The theoretical framework developed to conceptualize the diverse levels of influence can also serve to assess other global public health and gender issues of the 21st century. ; Plus de 130 millions de femmes sont portées disparues dans le monde pour cause de sélection en fonction du genre. La plupart d'entre elles ont été avortées de manière sélective, ont été l'objet de négligence fatale durant l'enfance ou ont été tuées après la naissance parce qu'elles étaient des femmes. La sélection sexuelle–pratiquée avant tout en Asie, dans le Caucase et en Europe de l'Est–a suscité de vives inquiétudes globalement en raison de ses implications en matière de droits humains, de santé et de conséquences démographiques. Depuis les années 1980, plusieurs pays asiatiques ont adopté des politiques pour contrer cette forme de discrimination. Bien que les politiques publiques soient souvent promues comme une solution, on sait peu de choses sur ces politiques et leur influence sur les déséquilibres de sexe à la naissance. De plus, seules quelques études relient ces politiques aux tendances des rapports de masculinité.Compte tenu de l'hétérogénéité des pays affectés par la sélection sexuelle, cette recherche vise à comprendre le déroulement des politiques publiques en divers contextes socioculturels. Quels sont les intentions, les instruments et les impacts des politiques publiques contre la sélection sexuelle dans différents pays asiatiques ? L'Inde, le Vietnam et la Corée du Sud ont été choisis dans le cadre du Most Different Systems Design pour représenter la diversité des pays dans leur réponse à la masculinisation démographique. La comparaison de politiques similaires en différents pays fournit une expérience naturelle pour évaluer leur influence sur la sélection prénatale du sexe. Nous présentons de nouvelles recherches empiriques, menées en Corée du Sud, en Inde et au Vietnam entre 2014 et 2015 et basées sur des entretiens d'experts, ainsi que des analyses statistiques pour comparer les zones avant et après l'intervention politique.Cette thèse montre que les trois pays partagent des instruments politiques similaires, notamment des interdictions légales, des campagnes de sensibilisation, des plaidoyers, des incitations et des lois sur l'égalité des sexes pour renforcer le rôle des femmes dans la société. Cependant, les intentions politiques variaient d'un pays à l'autre : renforcer les droits des femmes en Inde, promouvoir une structure de population équilibrée au Vietnam, protéger les droits du fœtus en Corée du Sud. En termes d'impact, les politiques eurent une efficacité limitée. En Corée du Sud, les changements sociaux et familiaux plutôt que les politiques expliquent le déclin de la sélection du sexe. En Inde, les interventions politiques ont montré un impact positif de la réduction des déséquilibres sexuels à l'échelle locale en raison d'un leadership fort et d'un effet bottom-up, mais avec des effets indésirables. Au Vietnam, l'interdiction légale de la sélection du sexe a probablement déclenché le début de la masculinisation à la naissance. Les autorités vietnamiennes ont opté pour une stratégie top-down et à long terme. Les interventions régionales ont été intensifiées malgré l'absence de preuves de l'efficacité des politiques.La collaboration internationale pour lutter contre la sélection du sexe a facilité le transfert de politiques et de connaissances transnationales, où les enseignements tirés des expériences sont partagés entre les pays. Cette atmosphère a contribué à une convergence croissante des politiques. Néanmoins, les gouvernements interprètent ces politiques en fonction de leurs propres intentions et stratégies de mise en œuvre. Nos résultats apportent ainsi une contribution à un domaine peu étudié. Bien plus, ils permettent une meilleure compréhension de l'interaction complexe entre dynamiques locale et mondiale dans la lutte contre la sélection sexuelle. Le cadre théorique élaboré pour conceptualiser les différents niveaux d'influence peut également servir à évaluer d'autres questions de santé publique et de genre au 21e siècle.
Research problem: the paper deals with the following problem questions: In which EU documents and how is the policy of promoting social innovation emphasised? How is the policy of promoting social innovation implemented in the EU? Research subject: EU social innovation promotion policy and its implementation.Research aim: to analyse EU social innovation promoting policy and its implementation.Research methods: Content analysis and generalisation of EU strategic documents, legislation and information materials, case studies of implementation of social innovation.In the European Union, innovation promoting policy is developed through strategic and legal regulation documents adopted in EU institutions. Investments into fundamental research dominate, the importance of application of innovations for the growth of the economy of the country is emphasised, and a broad concept of innovations is applied, encompassing the implementation of innovations in business and public sector. However, innovation promoting policy and its implementation seldom put an emphasis on social innovations as an important part of the general system of innovations; the place and the importance of social innovations for the social environment of the society are given insufficient attention.According to the newest understanding of the European Commission, social innovation is new ideas that meet social needs, create new social relationships and develop new forms of collaboration. These innovations can be products, services or models, which meet unsatisfied social needs in a more efficient way. Social innovation is a means integrating various interested parties for the realisation of social needs. Such understanding of social innovations is closely linked with other concepts, oriented towards meeting social needs, such as social company, social entrepreneurship, social economics, and social policy experimentation.Social innovations are based on the ingenuity of the population, civic society organisations, local communities, institutions and companies. They also offer an opportunity for the public sector and all participants of the market to ensure that products and services correspond not only to the individual but also to collective aspirations. Stimulating innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge society are the main EU policy directions in "Europe 2020" strategy. Social innovations differ from other innovations in that their main aim is to create social change. In comparison with the general concept of innovation, social innovations have an additional motive, which is social mission and social values.The authors of social innovations can come from all layers of society, from public or private sector or from non-governmental organisations. Most often the most valuable sources of new ideas come from collaboration of different sectors. Various groups can make valuable contributions to social innovations: these are businessmen, experts, politicians, representatives of communities and civic society. They can act on different levels: from new ideas and pilot projects to implement them to the formation of the new policy.Social innovations play a major role in EU cohesion policy. The topics of these innovations are oriented towards thematic targets in the five spheres of investment policy: 1) research and development, 2) employment, 3) education, 4) social policy, 5) strengthening administrative abilities.For the implementation of the model initiative "Innovation Union" of "Europe 2020" strategy, the European Commission has adopted a programme consisting of 10 measures. Group 9 of the mentioned measures emphasises the importance of social innovations. It is pointed out that the public sector has to improve the implementation of innovations in order to meet the expectations of the users of public services in a better way.In Europe, there are various examples of different social innovations: heart diseases prevention programmes meant for the whole society; social services to help lonely old-age people provided through the networks of neighbours; ecologic maps of cities that provide information for the local communities about the progress in decreasing pollution; ethical banks, which provide financial products in order to increase social benefits of innovations, etc. There are a lot of good ideas; however, the impact of social innovations is still insufficient. It is necessary to encourage experimenting. It is necessary to develop and disseminate new innovation creation and implementation methods that are superior to the existing practices. For that we need competent intermediaries, efficient incentives and networks, which would speed up and facilitate learning. There are such infrastructures all over Europe in the sphere of business innovations; however, their correspondent structures in the sphere of social innovations are insufficient. More exact methods of innovation evaluation are necessary, too.A bulletin of the outcomes of EU innovation implementation published by the European Commission in 2017 shows that the outcomes have improved for 15 countries, although there are major differences among these member states. In global terms, the EU is catching up with Canada and the USA, however, South Korea and Japan are ahead of it. Among foreign competitors, the most rapid progress is made by China. Within the EU, the leader of innovations is Sweden, followed by Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany. Lithuania is ascribed to the average innovators group; nevertheless, Lithuania is the most rapidly developing innovator. Lithuania moved from the 24th place in 2010 up to the 16th place in 2016 among the 28 EU member states. The growth of innovative developments in Lithuania during this period was the most rapid one and made up 21 percent.Since 2012, the European Commission has been announcing an annual contest of European social innovations, the number of applications ranging from 600 to 1,400. 30 applications with the best prospects are selected for the semi-finals, and then to the finals of 10 ideas, the teams of which are invited to develop these ideas in the social innovations centre in one of the member states. The members of the semi-finals get support for teaching and further development of their ideas, while three best ideas get prizes between 20,000 and 50,000 EUR. Besides, other social innovations contests are organised, too, e.g., "RegioStars" nominations and Social Innovations Tournament.The European Commission also performs direct financing of social innovations through EU investment programmes. It creates networks helping organizations all over Europe to join, learn from each other and share their experiences via the Social Innovations Community site. The conditions for social innovations and social companies in Europe are being improved; efforts are made to attract private investors. Information about the use of social innovations and methodologies of evaluating their outcomes is collected and disseminated. Incubatory structures meant for social innovations in Europe are supported and networks of EU incubators are created. Research is carried out, new ideas, programmes or spheres for social innovations are pursued, papers and articles on social innovations are published and stored.This scientific article is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania according to the project "Social innovation in the context of regional development: socioeconomic development of suburban (low urbanization level) territories and improving the quality of life" (2017–2018), registration No. TAP LB-17-012. ; Straipsnyje nagrinėjama socialinių inovacijų sampratos traktuotė Europos Komisijos dokumentuose ir šių inovacijų vaidmuo Europos Sąjungos sanglaudos politikoje. Analizuojama, kaip Europos Komisija ir kitos ES institucijos atlieka socialinių inovacijų įgyvendinimo finansavimą per ES investicines programas, kokia tvarka organizuoja socialinių inovacijų konkursus, kaip kuria virtualius tinklus ir siekia pritraukti privačius investuotojus. Pagrindžiama faktais, kad Lietuva yra tarp sparčiausiai augančių novatorių Europos Sąjungoje. Pateikta Europos Komisijos konkursuose premijuotų socialinių inovacijų projektų pavyzdžių.
The electric vehicle (EV) market in China is booming, but Western manufacturers are struggling to deploy their models in the world's largest automotive market. However, carbon credits generated by EV sales are necessary for the survival of their gasoline car business in this market. Thus, what are the high potential strategic opportunities for foreign manufacturers?In collaboration with Renault and based on five missions in China between 2012 and 2016, this CIFRE research first draws a state of the art of the opaque EV market in China, a market generated top-down by government initiatives and bottom-up by a low-cost and illegal EV market (Micro EV). We make a typology of models, usages, prices and deployment territories. While the subsidized market – except for premium cars – fails to appeal to consumers, it is instead at the bottom of the official market and within the illegal Micro EV market that a natural market is developing, with more than a million Micro EV sold, without purchase incentives, to private owners since 2009.In this specific institutional context and taking into account this double product and market uncertainty, we build on innovative design theories to develop a theoretical framework for strategic exploration based on the systematic combination of strategic variables and their evaluation. We identify two innovative routes not yet engaged by foreign manufacturers: "electric carsharing" and "low-cost VE".On the "electric car sharing" side, we compare Autolib' (Paris) and United Journey (Shenzhen), two self-service stations-based systems that seem to pave the road to the mobility of the future and definitely attract the attention of Chinese authorities because of the technologies involved. However, in addition to the fragility of the business models, this opportunity seems difficult for foreign firms to pursue due to local protectionism and the complexity of public-private partnerships in China, often based on networks of informal institutions.On the "low cost EV" side, we are deepening our knowledge of the illegal micro EV market. A field survey in Shandong Province characterizes the market as well as the regulatory scenarios of its legalization. This market responds to real mobility needs in Chinese lower-tier cities. These territories' socio-technical environments demonstrate strong compatibility with EV. There are fewer gas stations and public transportation systems than in big cities, and parking is easier. Micro EV are charged thanks to conventional 220 V outlets – which essentially solves the problem of charging infrastructures – and allow a true proximity mobility that is more efficient than electric two-wheelers. But the forces in favor of legalizing the Micro EV market have the potential to destroy it, injecting technology and standards, and thus raising prices. An opportunity, it seems, for Western players mastering design-to-cost methodologies.Finally, we characterize the globalization of Renault's EV program in China, within the triple alliance with Nissan and the Chinese partner Dongfeng, as well as the organizational ambidexterity that accompanies it. After attempts to "exploit" the existing EV range in China, the President of the Renault-Nissan Alliance initiates the launch of an "exploratory" project, Kwid EV, a low-cost EV for China. This is the opportunity for this research to contribute to the initial hypotheses about the lower-end of the Chinese EV market and to characterize the lineage hybridization that takes place at Renault, between the EV lineage (European EV) and the low-cost lineage (Kwid in India), between two disjoined parts of the organization. The world becomes a testing ground for networked innovation, with test markets like China. Then, the goal is to make this first shot succeed before reversing the innovation. ; Le marché du véhicule électrique (VE) en Chine est en pleine effervescence, mais les constructeurs occidentaux peinent à y déployer leurs produits. Pourtant, les crédits d'émissions carbone générés par les ventes de VE sont nécessaires à la survie de leur business de véhicules thermiques dans ce marché. Dès lors, quelles sont les pistes stratégiques à fort potentiel pour les constructeurs étrangers ?En collaboration avec Renault et basée sur cinq missions en Chine entre 2012 et 2016, cette thèse CIFRE dresse d'abord un état de l'art de l'opaque marché du VE en Chine, à la fois généré top-down par des initiatives gouvernementales et bottom-up par des VE low-cost et illégaux, les Micro VE. Nous réalisons une typologie des modèles, des usages, des prix et des territoires de déploiement. Alors que le marché subventionné – hors haut de gamme – ne parvient pas à séduire les consommateurs, c'est en bas du marché officiel et chez les Micro VE illégaux qu'un marché naturel se développe, avec plus d'un million de Micro VE vendus sans aides à l'achat à des particuliers depuis 2009.Dans ce contexte institutionnel spécifique et face à cette double incertitude produit et marché, en appui sur les théories de conception innovante, nous développons un cadre théorique d'exploration stratégique basé sur la combinaison systématique de variables stratégiques et leur évaluation. Nous identifions ainsi deux pistes innovantes et non encore engagées par les constructeurs étrangers : « l'autopartage électrique » et le « VE low-cost ».Sur le volet « autopartage électrique », nous comparons Autolib' (Paris) et United Journey (Shenzhen), deux systèmes en libre-service basés sur des stations qui semblent pointer vers la mobilité du futur et attirent l'attention des autorités chinoises. Toutefois, en plus de la fragilité des modèles d'affaires, cette piste semble difficile à poursuivre pour les acteurs étrangers dû aux protectionnismes locaux et à la complexité des partenariats publics-privés en Chine, souvent basés sur des réseaux d'institutions informelles.Sur le volet « VE low cost », nous approfondissons les connaissances sur le marché illégal des Micro VE. Une enquête de terrain approfondie dans la province du Shandong permet de caractériser le marché ainsi que les scenarios réglementaires de sa légalisation. Ce marché répond à des besoins véritables de mobilité dans les villes chinoises de rang inférieurs. Ces territoires montrent des environnements sociotechniques à forte compatibilité avec le VE. Il y a peu de stations essence, de transports publics et le stationnement y est facile. Les Micro VE sont chargés sur prises 220 V classiques – ce qui résout le problème d'infrastructures de charge – et permettent une véritable mobilité de proximité plus performante que les deux roues électriques. Mais les forces en faveur d'une légalisation du marché des Micro VE ont le potentiel de le détruire, injectant de la technologie et des normes, et donc augmentant les prix. Une opportunité, semble-t-il, pour les acteurs occidentaux maîtrisant le design-to-cost.Enfin, nous caractérisons la globalisation du programme VE de Renault en Chine, au sein de la triple alliance avec Nissan et le partenaire chinois Dongfeng, ainsi que l'ambidextrie organisationnelle qui l'accompagne. Après des tentatives « d'exploitation » de la gamme VE existante en Chine, le président de l'Alliance Renault-Nissan initie un projet « d'exploration », Kwid EV, un VE low cost pour la Chine. C'est l'occasion pour cette thèse de contribuer aux hypothèses initiales sur le bas du marché VE Chine et de caractériser l'hybridation de lignée qui s'opère chez Renault, entre lignée VE (Europe) et lignée low-cost (Kwid en Inde), entre deux parties de l'organisation auparavant disjointes. Le monde devient ainsi un terrain d'expérimentation pour l'innovation en réseau, avec des marchés tests comme la Chine. Il s'agit alors de réussir le premier coup avant d'innover à l'envers.
The electric vehicle (EV) market in China is booming, but Western manufacturers are struggling to deploy their models in the world's largest automotive market. However, carbon credits generated by EV sales are necessary for the survival of their gasoline car business in this market. Thus, what are the high potential strategic opportunities for foreign manufacturers?In collaboration with Renault and based on five missions in China between 2012 and 2016, this CIFRE research first draws a state of the art of the opaque EV market in China, a market generated top-down by government initiatives and bottom-up by a low-cost and illegal EV market (Micro EV). We make a typology of models, usages, prices and deployment territories. While the subsidized market – except for premium cars – fails to appeal to consumers, it is instead at the bottom of the official market and within the illegal Micro EV market that a natural market is developing, with more than a million Micro EV sold, without purchase incentives, to private owners since 2009.In this specific institutional context and taking into account this double product and market uncertainty, we build on innovative design theories to develop a theoretical framework for strategic exploration based on the systematic combination of strategic variables and their evaluation. We identify two innovative routes not yet engaged by foreign manufacturers: "electric carsharing" and "low-cost VE".On the "electric car sharing" side, we compare Autolib' (Paris) and United Journey (Shenzhen), two self-service stations-based systems that seem to pave the road to the mobility of the future and definitely attract the attention of Chinese authorities because of the technologies involved. However, in addition to the fragility of the business models, this opportunity seems difficult for foreign firms to pursue due to local protectionism and the complexity of public-private partnerships in China, often based on networks of informal institutions.On the "low cost EV" side, we are deepening our knowledge of the illegal micro EV market. A field survey in Shandong Province characterizes the market as well as the regulatory scenarios of its legalization. This market responds to real mobility needs in Chinese lower-tier cities. These territories' socio-technical environments demonstrate strong compatibility with EV. There are fewer gas stations and public transportation systems than in big cities, and parking is easier. Micro EV are charged thanks to conventional 220 V outlets – which essentially solves the problem of charging infrastructures – and allow a true proximity mobility that is more efficient than electric two-wheelers. But the forces in favor of legalizing the Micro EV market have the potential to destroy it, injecting technology and standards, and thus raising prices. An opportunity, it seems, for Western players mastering design-to-cost methodologies.Finally, we characterize the globalization of Renault's EV program in China, within the triple alliance with Nissan and the Chinese partner Dongfeng, as well as the organizational ambidexterity that accompanies it. After attempts to "exploit" the existing EV range in China, the President of the Renault-Nissan Alliance initiates the launch of an "exploratory" project, Kwid EV, a low-cost EV for China. This is the opportunity for this research to contribute to the initial hypotheses about the lower-end of the Chinese EV market and to characterize the lineage hybridization that takes place at Renault, between the EV lineage (European EV) and the low-cost lineage (Kwid in India), between two disjoined parts of the organization. The world becomes a testing ground for networked innovation, with test markets like China. Then, the goal is to make this first shot succeed before reversing the innovation. ; Le marché du véhicule électrique (VE) en Chine est en pleine effervescence, mais les constructeurs occidentaux peinent à y déployer leurs produits. Pourtant, les crédits d'émissions carbone générés par les ventes de VE sont nécessaires à la survie de leur business de véhicules thermiques dans ce marché. Dès lors, quelles sont les pistes stratégiques à fort potentiel pour les constructeurs étrangers ?En collaboration avec Renault et basée sur cinq missions en Chine entre 2012 et 2016, cette thèse CIFRE dresse d'abord un état de l'art de l'opaque marché du VE en Chine, à la fois généré top-down par des initiatives gouvernementales et bottom-up par des VE low-cost et illégaux, les Micro VE. Nous réalisons une typologie des modèles, des usages, des prix et des territoires de déploiement. Alors que le marché subventionné – hors haut de gamme – ne parvient pas à séduire les consommateurs, c'est en bas du marché officiel et chez les Micro VE illégaux qu'un marché naturel se développe, avec plus d'un million de Micro VE vendus sans aides à l'achat à des particuliers depuis 2009.Dans ce contexte institutionnel spécifique et face à cette double incertitude produit et marché, en appui sur les théories de conception innovante, nous développons un cadre théorique d'exploration stratégique basé sur la combinaison systématique de variables stratégiques et leur évaluation. Nous identifions ainsi deux pistes innovantes et non encore engagées par les constructeurs étrangers : « l'autopartage électrique » et le « VE low-cost ».Sur le volet « autopartage électrique », nous comparons Autolib' (Paris) et United Journey (Shenzhen), deux systèmes en libre-service basés sur des stations qui semblent pointer vers la mobilité du futur et attirent l'attention des autorités chinoises. Toutefois, en plus de la fragilité des modèles d'affaires, cette piste semble difficile à poursuivre pour les acteurs étrangers dû aux protectionnismes locaux et à la complexité des partenariats publics-privés en Chine, souvent basés sur des réseaux d'institutions informelles.Sur le volet « VE low cost », nous approfondissons les connaissances sur le marché illégal des Micro VE. Une enquête de terrain approfondie dans la province du Shandong permet de caractériser le marché ainsi que les scenarios réglementaires de sa légalisation. Ce marché répond à des besoins véritables de mobilité dans les villes chinoises de rang inférieurs. Ces territoires montrent des environnements sociotechniques à forte compatibilité avec le VE. Il y a peu de stations essence, de transports publics et le stationnement y est facile. Les Micro VE sont chargés sur prises 220 V classiques – ce qui résout le problème d'infrastructures de charge – et permettent une véritable mobilité de proximité plus performante que les deux roues électriques. Mais les forces en faveur d'une légalisation du marché des Micro VE ont le potentiel de le détruire, injectant de la technologie et des normes, et donc augmentant les prix. Une opportunité, semble-t-il, pour les acteurs occidentaux maîtrisant le design-to-cost.Enfin, nous caractérisons la globalisation du programme VE de Renault en Chine, au sein de la triple alliance avec Nissan et le partenaire chinois Dongfeng, ainsi que l'ambidextrie organisationnelle qui l'accompagne. Après des tentatives « d'exploitation » de la gamme VE existante en Chine, le président de l'Alliance Renault-Nissan initie un projet « d'exploration », Kwid EV, un VE low cost pour la Chine. C'est l'occasion pour cette thèse de contribuer aux hypothèses initiales sur le bas du marché VE Chine et de caractériser l'hybridation de lignée qui s'opère chez Renault, entre lignée VE (Europe) et lignée low-cost (Kwid en Inde), entre deux parties de l'organisation auparavant disjointes. Le monde devient ainsi un terrain d'expérimentation pour l'innovation en réseau, avec des marchés tests comme la Chine. Il s'agit alors de réussir le premier coup avant d'innover à l'envers.
Teoría En un proceso de gestión de comunicación de crisis en el sector público, son las variables políticas y comunicacionales las que favorecen su eficacia. Objetivos Objetivo general. Descubrir las variables presentes en la gestión de comunicación de una situación de crisis que facilitan su eficacia. Objetivo específico 1. Describir las dimensiones de la gestión de crisis para cada uno de los casos seleccionados como unidades de estudio. Objetivo específico 2. Analizar las dimensiones de la política de comunicación de crisis en cada uno de los casos seleccionados como unidades de estudio. Metodología La estrategia o método de investigación para demostrar nuestra teoría es el estudio de caso. Se seleccionan cuatro episodios de comunicación de situación de crisis que gestiona el sector público entre los años 2010 y 2014: el cierre del espacio aéreo (2010); el terremoto de Lorca (2011); el conflicto en el barrio burgalés de Gamonal (2014) y el contagio por el virus del Ébola (2014). Las técnicas de investigación utilizadas son: investigación documental, entrevista en profundidad y análisis de contenido. Conclusiones Nuestra conclusión final es que la eficacia en un proceso de comunicación de crisis precisa de variables políticas y comunicacionales, y para ello nos pronunciamos sobre tres hallazgos. El primero es el comportamiento de nuestra variable dependiente (eficacia en un proceso de comunicación en situaciones de crisis) en cada estudio de caso. La evidencia de medir sus indicadores, nos permite identificar las crisis que presentan un resultado de eficacia en su gestión. El segundo es la relación o listado de variables que intervienen en un proceso de comunicación de crisis en la Administración Pública. Y la última de las aportaciones, es la relación entre las variables presentes en la gestión de una crisis con los resultados de eficacia de los casos que hemos analizado. De este modo alcanzamos el objetivo de esta investigación: demostrar que son las variables políticas y comunicacionales, las que hacen variar la eficacia en los procesos de comunicación de crisis en la Administración Pública. El análisis de los datos confirma que los casos cuya gestión entendemos de eficacia son el cierre del espacio aéreo español (diciembre del 2010), y los terremotos de Lorca (mayo de 2011). Y los episodios que se distancian de un resultado de eficacia, en su toma de decisiones, son la gestión pública de Gamonal (enero de 2014) y el primer contagio por el virus del Ébola (octubre de 2014). En los casos de eficacia, la terminación de la crisis se alcanza con las medidas que adoptan, de forma directa, los responsables de la gestión pública. Los mensajes de la Administración se corresponden con los mensajes de los medios de comunicación, además de la cobertura de los medios a la actuación del sector público. La valoración política es positiva, alejada de situaciones difíciles o adversas. Las dimensiones que se necesitan observar en un proceso de gestión de comunicación de crisis son: dimensión crisis, dimensión gestión de crisis, dimensión comunicación, dimensión política, dimensión relación con los medios de información, dimensión evaluación. De todas ellas, son las variables políticas y de comunicación las que están presentes y experimentan un comportamiento similar en los casos de eficacia (cierre del espacio aéreo y terremoto de Lorca), y diferente respecto de los episodios de Gamonal y Ébola. Las variables políticas son: contexto de la crisis; coordinación y colaboración entre administraciones; colaboración con agentes y formaciones políticas; iniciativa política, parlamentaria y mediática; empatía y habilidades para el liderazgo. Las variables de comunicación son: plan de comunicación; objetivos; comparecencia ante los medios; transparencia informativa; herramientas de comunicación; portavoz; mensajes; público; estrategia de comunicación; departamento de información y presupuesto. Theory In a process of crisis communication management in the Public Sector, political and communicative variables encourage its effectiveness. Objectives General Objective: To discover the variables which are involved and facilitate effectiveness in the communication management of a crisis situation. Specific Objective 1: To describe the crisis management dimensions for each of the selected cases as units of study. Specific Objective 2: To analyze the dimensions of crisis communication policy in each of the selected cases as units of study. Methodology The strategy or research method to demonstrarte our theory is the case study. Four episodes of crisis communication situations managed by the public sector between 2010 and 2014 are selected: the closure of airspace (2010); Lorca earthquake (2011); The conflict in the neighborhood of Gamonal, Burgos (2014) and the spread of the Ebola virus (2014). The research techniques used are: documentary research, in-depth interview and content analysis. Conclusions Our final conclusion is that effectiveness in a crisis communication process requires political and communicational variables, and to this effect we express our views on three findings: The first is the behavior of our dependent variable (effectiveness in a comunication process of crisis situations) in each case study. The evidence of measuring its indicators allows us to identify the crises that present a management efficacy outcome. The second one is the list of variables involved in a crisis communication process in the Public Administration. And the last of the contributions, is the relationship between the variables present in a crisis management and the results of effectiveness of the cases that we have analyzed. In this way we reach the objective of this research: to demonstrate that it is the political and communicational variables, which make the effectiveness vary in crisis communication processes in the Public Administration. The analysis of the data confirms the cases which we consider to be effective management are the closure of Spanish airspace (December 2010), and Lorca earthquakes (May 2011). And the episodes that distance themselves from an effective result in their decision-making process are the public management of Gamonal (January 2014) and the first spread of the Ebola virus (October 2014). In cases of efficiency, the end of the crisis is reached with the measures that are taken directly by those responsibles of public management. The messages of the Administration correspond to the messages of the media, in addition to the media coverage of the public sector performance. The political assessment is positive, far removed from difficult or adverse situations. The dimensions which must be observed in a crisis communication management process are: crisis dimension, crisis management dimension, communication dimension, political dimension, media relationship dimension, assessment dimension. Of these, the political and communication variables are present and experience very similar behaviour patterns in cases of efficiency (closure of air space and Lorca earthquake). In the episodes of Gamonal and Ebola, the behaviour is different. The political variables are: crisis context; coordination and collaboration between administrations; collaboration with political actors and political groupings; parliamentary, political and media initiative; empathy and leadership skills. The communication variables are: communication plan; objectives; appearance before the media; information transparency; communication tools; spokesman; messages; public; communication strategy; information department and budget.
