Organization from Community: A Case Study of Congregational Renewal

1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. S139-S160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Milofsky

This article is a case study of one minister's effort at congregational renewal in a small-town, mainline Protestant church that had persistently lost members as the congregation aged. Although the article describes the minister, his efforts, and his church, the main goal is to show how we may view organizations as subcomponents of the communities in which they exist. The article explicitly conceptualizes this church renewal effort as an example of an organizational type first proposed by Janowitz in describing the community press in urban settings. To move beyond the business model of organizations in analyzing nonprofit organizations, we need to find conceptual models that represent clear alternatives. We also need case examples that clearly illustrate those conceptual alternatives. This case is offered in that spirit.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6944
Author(s):  
Emma Anna Carolina Emanuelsson ◽  
Aurelie Charles ◽  
Parimala Shivaprasad

With stringent environmental regulations and a new drive for sustainable manufacturing, there is an unprecedented opportunity to incorporate novel manufacturing techniques. Recent political and pandemic events have shown the vulnerability to supply chains, highlighting the need for localised manufacturing capabilities to better respond flexibly to national demand. In this paper, we have used the spinning mesh disc reactor (SMDR) as a case study to demonstrate the path forward for manufacturing in the post-Covid world. The SMDR uses centrifugal force to allow the spread of thin film across the spinning disc which has a cloth with immobilised catalyst. The modularity of the design combined with the flexibility to perform a range of chemical reactions in a single equipment is an opportunity towards sustainable manufacturing. A global approach to market research allowed us to identify sectors within the chemical industry interested in novel reactor designs. The drivers for implementing change were identified as low capital cost, flexible operation and consistent product quality. Barriers include cost of change (regulatory and capital costs), limited technical awareness, safety concerns and lack of motivation towards change. Finally, applying the key features of a Sustainable Business Model (SBM) to SMDR, we show the strengths and opportunities for SMDR to align with an SBM allowing for a low-cost, sustainable and regenerative system of chemical manufacturing.


Author(s):  
Beniamino Di Martino ◽  
Dario Branco ◽  
Luigi Colucci Cante ◽  
Salvatore Venticinque ◽  
Reinhard Scholten ◽  
...  

AbstractThis paper proposes a semantic framework for Business Model evaluation and its application to a real case study in the context of smart energy and sustainable mobility. It presents an ontology based representation of an original business model and examples of inferential rules for knowledge extraction and automatic population of the ontology. The real case study belongs to the GreenCharge European Project, that in these last years is proposing some original business models to promote sustainable e-mobility plans. An original OWL Ontology contains all relevant Business Model concepts referring to GreenCharge’s domain, including a semantic description of TestCards, survey results and inferential rules.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingqin Su ◽  
Shuai Zhang ◽  
Huanhuan Ma

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to explore how technological capability and exogenous pressure interactively influence business model (BM) dynamics over time in new technology-based ventures.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a longitudinal case study of the BM innovations of a Chinese financial technology venture. The structural approach and temporal bracket are used to analyze and theorize the data.FindingsThe findings indicate that distinct contextual changes impel a firm to refine or abandon existing BMs over time. In different stages, the antecedents interactively influence BM dynamics with three successive patterns, namely pressure dominance, parallel influence and hybrid influence. While both antecedents trigger changes during the initiation and implementation of new BMs, they also serve as the filter and the enabler, respectively, during the ideation and integration of BMs.Research limitations/implicationsThe study inductively develops three propositions regarding the relationship between BM dynamics and its antecedents, which is based on the data collected from one single firm. Future research should test the propositions in other domains and take more cross-level antecedents into consideration.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the nascent research stream of BM dynamics by offering in-depth insights into the interaction of internal and external antecedents and by linking the differentiated roles of antecedents to the BM innovation process. The research offers some practical implications for new technology-based ventures seeking to develop BMs in a fast-changing environment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Charles Afam Anosike

Environmental degradation and socioeconomic dilemma continue to affect agricultural productivity in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Several works of literature confirm the high level of pollution and contamination of land and water as a result of over 50 years of oil production in the region. The effects of environmental pollution continue to aggravate the hardship of the local people, which generates development friction, threaten oil operation, and mutually contrive relational efforts, by so invoking mistrust between oil companies and the host communities. Sustainability programs of oil companies often provide the channel to engage and promote community relations from which projects are conceived and executed. Despite sustainability efforts of oil companies, the region continues to experience oil spills and environmental degradation.Hence, the current research explores the sustainability efforts of a multinational oil company to establish whether the company’s leadership makes environmental considerations and to identify possible corrections that could be adopted to achieve sustainable value. For this purpose, the paper employed a single case study approach using open-ended interview sessions in collecting data. Research data were gathered from a sample of 20 experienced sustainability practitioners of the oil company, partnering nonprofit organizations, and community leaders through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were segmented and categorized. The data analysis process revealed several themes regarding the challenges and shortfalls of sustainability programs in the region. The evidence found suggests that implementing a transparent and inclusive sustainability management system is essential to enable a systems view in contemplating sustainability programs. In so doing, oil MNCs leaders could enable effective environmental consideration in their sustainability programs to help reinvigorate productive agriculture and ensure continuing oil operation.


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