Using strategic philanthropy to improve heritage tourist sites on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey : community perceptions of changing quality of life and of the sponsoring organization

This paper examines the “Respect for History” project on Turkey's Gallipoli Peninsula sponsored by a Turkish oil company, OPET. The project sought to enhance and protect the cultural and historical experiences of tourists visiting Gallipoli, and to bring direct and indirect benefits to local communities through enhancing tourism-related business opportunities and improving community infrastructure. This research investigates the project's impact on residents’ perceived social and economic wellbeing, using a quality of life framework, and also ascertains residents’ views of the sponsoring firm. The context illustrates key differences between pure philanthropy and strategic philanthropy; the latter defined as doing good by purposefully achieving corporate and civic benefits. The role of strategic philanthropy as a sustainable tourism development tool, and its impact on tourism governance, are considered. Data were collected from 674 residents on the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula in areas impacted by OPET's investment program. The results, using structural equation modelling (SEM), identify that respondents generally believe that both their economic and social quality of life have improved. This, in turn, has positively influenced respondents’ views of the sponsoring organization. The concept of strategic philanthropy appears valuable as a private sector, non-tourism, sustainable tourism development tool in some circumstances.

Toward a holistic theory of strategic problem solving

To date, many of the models and theories that seek to explain problem solving and decision making, have tended to adopt an overly reductionist view of the processes involved. As a consequence, most theories and models have proved unsuitable in providing managers with a practical explanation of the dynamics that underpin problem solving. A substantial part of a manager’s time is taken up with problem solving and decision making issues. The question of whether managers possess the necessary problem solving skills, or have access to “tools”, which can be used to manage different types of problems, has become an issue of some importance for managers and organisations alike. This paper seeks to contribute to the current literature on problem solving and decision making, by presenting a conceptual model of problem solving, which is intended to assist managers in developing a more holistic framework for managing problem solving issues.

Trust in strategic alliances: what does it mean and how is it built?

Informed by social exchange theory (SET) this study examines the role of trust in strategic alliances. Interviews were conducted with 17 participants who were strategic alliance managers in their organization. The study finds that trust is important to strategic alliance managers, and without it alliance managers would find it difficult to keep their alliance going. Trust is built over time, and based on the past experiences that the alliance manager has with their partner. The study found that prior networks, timely and appropriate communication and information exchange, fairness preservation and inter-firm adaptation were important in developing trust in the strategic alliance.

Embracing rigour : developing a community engagement framework for strategic urban planning

Local governments are increasingly seeking new ways to engage with communities through a variety of productive avenues. Yet strategic planning lags behind with an accepted method to consult and engage with communities about proposed policy changes. When engagement methods are used which go beyond those which are legislated for, the process often involves members of communities who are familiar with planning processes, or have time to participate, thereby excluding large sections of the community. In addition, consultation methods often lack rigour in data collection upon which major strategic decisions are based, thereby undermining government's capacity to make quality and informed planning decisions. The aim of this paper is to assist local government urban planners with their community engagement practice in order to form policies which are acceptable to the affected communities. The paper proposes a community engagement framework which introduces rigour within the community engagement process by drawing on research methods from psychology and political science.

Supporting athlete selection and strategic planning in track cycling omnium: A statistical and machine learning approach

This article describes the implementation of machine learning techniques that assist cycling experts in the crucial decision-making processes for athlete selection and strategic planning in the track cycling omnium. The omnium is a multi-event competition that was included in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2012. Presently, selectors and cycling coaches make decisions based on experience and opinion. They rarely have access to knowledge that helps predict athletic performances. The omnium presents a unique and complex decision-making challenge as it is not clear what type of athlete is best suited to the omnium (e.g., sprint or endurance specialist) and tactical decisions made by the coach and athlete during the event will have significant effects on the overall performance of the athlete. In the present work, a variety of machine learning techniques were used to analyze omnium competition data from the World Championships since 2007. The analysis indicates that sprint events have slightly more influence in determining the medalists, than endurance-based events. Using a probabilistic analysis, we created a model of performance prediction that provides an unprecedented level of supporting information that assists coaches with strategic and tactical decisions during the omnium.

Evaluation of building performance for strategic facilities management in healthcare : a case study of a public hospital in Australia

Purpose - This paper evaluates the main elements of building performance namely building function, building impact and building quality in order to promote strategic facilities management in healthcare organisation to improve core (health) business activities. Design/methodology/approach - Based on current available toolkits, a questionnaire is issued to healthcare users (staff) in a public hospital about their level of agreement in relation to these elements. Statistical analysis is conducted to regroup the elements. These regrouped elements and their inter relationships are used to develop a framework for measuring building performance in healthcare buildings. Findings - The analysis helped to clarify the understanding and agreement of users in Australian healthcare organisation with regards to building performance. Based on the survey results, 11 new elements were regrouped into three groups. These new regrouped elements will be used to develop a reliable framework for measuring performance of Australian healthcare buildings. Originality/value - Currently there is no building performance toolkit available for Australian healthcare organisation. The framework developed in this paper will help healthcare organisations with a reliable performance tool for their buildings and this will promote strategic facilities management.

Strategic leadership and its contribution to improvements in teaching and learning in Higher Education

This paper aims to provide a strong conceptual underpinning for our project, ‘Strategic Leadership for Institutional Teaching and Learning Centres: Developing a Model for the 21st century’. The project intends to:

Juvenile social experience affects pairing success at adulthood: Congruence with the loser effect?

Social interactions with adults are often critical for the development of mating behaviours. However, the potential role of other primary social partners such as juvenile counterparts is rarely considered. Most interestingly, it is not known whether interactions with juvenile females improve males’ courtship and whether, similar to the winner and loser effects in a fighting context—outcome of these interactions shapes males’ behaviour in future encounters. We investigated the combined effects of male quality and juvenile social experience on pairing success at adulthood in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). We manipulated brood size to alter male quality and then placed males in either same- or mixed-sex juvenile dyads until adulthood. We found that males from reduced broods obtained more copulations and males from mixed-sex dyads had more complete courtships. Furthermore, independent of their quality, males that failed to pair with juvenile females, but not juvenile males, had a lower pairing success at adulthood. Our study shows that negative social experience with peers during adolescence may be a potent determinant of pairing success that can override the effects of early environmental conditions on male attractiveness and thereby supports the occurrence of an analogous process to the loser effect in a mating context.