Responding to and preventing violent conflict continue to be a major concern on the international agenda. However, the results of peacebuilding projects are often mixed and some interventions have even proven harmful in the past. In the debates on aid effectiveness, evaluations have been advocated as being an effective instrument to better understand the results of development and peacebuilding projects and thereby ultimately to improve the practice. However, despite a long tradition of evaluation utilisation research dating back to the 1970s, the effects of peacebuilding evaluations are far from being understood. The concept of evaluation use is too narrow and does not take the diversity of potential positive and negative evaluation effects into account. There is little evidence concerning the organisational factors that influence the use and effects of evaluations. Using a comparative case study analysis in three organisations implementing peacebuilding activities (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Saferworld and the World Bank), this study examines the roles and effects of peacebuilding evaluations within international organisations. The results show a wide range of positive and negative evaluation effects that are promoted or hindered by different attitudes and the process of the evaluation, in addition to organisational and other contextual factors. To improve our understanding of the interlinkages in this context, evaluation pathways causally linking different effects and factors are proposed.

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Yes / Social, institutional and business interest in Sustainability has increasingly grow in the last decades. New regulations, technological progress, social awareness related to environmental impact of the industrial activities and irregular working conditions, are some of the key elements affecting the way organisations plan and measure their corporate, business unit, and operational strategies. Sustainability strategies can play a key role in driving innovation through learning, motivation, attraction and retention of skilful employees. The aim of this paper is to analyse the interrelations between the deployment of effective sustainability strategies, employee motivation and the financial perspective of business performance. The analysis applies a Systems Thinking approach through the development of a series of Causal Loop Diagrams to identify key factors and the nature of their interrelationships. The analysis also considers the Ability, Motivation and Opportunity (AMO) framework to explain the complexity of employee behaviour, motivation and impact on strategic performance. This research confirmed that a supportive relation can be established between the implementation of effective sustainability strategies, represented by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Human Resources (HR) initiatives, and the financial performance of a business organisations. The study focused on publications related to private business organisations in the UK and USA, which encourages future broad studies. This research provides relevant insights to understand better the complexity of the relationships between sustainability strategies, employee motivation and business performance.

Yes / This article explores the use made of humour in three different private sector organisations. It draws on observations of managers working towards a management qualification and, from the jokes they exchange, it argues that studying humour may offer insights into sentiments not easily articulated in `serious¿ conversation. Humour¿s ambiguity enables contentious statements to be made without fear of recrimination. Equally, constructing jokes by juxtaposing two different frames of reference provides a glimpse of alternative (and shared) perceptions of `reality¿. This sensitivity to complexity makes humour a particularly appropriate vehicle for conveying ambitions, subversions, triumphs and failures and this article considers some of the `serious¿ messages underlying the jokes.

No / Interest in third sector organisations (TSOs) is growing as their role in addressing social regeneration, especially in urban environments, is regarded as crucial by governmental and supra-governmental organisations. The challenge is increased in multicultural environments, where those from ethnic minorities may struggle to participate in the mainstream economy and society more broadly. There is an assumption that TSOs make a positive contribution to the social good of the diverse communities and client groups that they serve. However, although there have been many studies of ethicality in commercial and public sector organisations, few focus on TSOs. Furthermore, black and minority ethnic (BME) TSOs, in particular face specific pressures, caught between the high expectations of their capacity to engage with diverse communities where the public sector has failed and, in common with all TSOs, the struggle to secure the resources necessary to manage their organisations and deliver front-line services. In this article, we investigate how implicitly ethicality is constructed in TSOs, including those with a primary mission to provide support for and services to BME communities. Building on information obtained for 305 TSOs in a post-industrial city we develop a structural equation model (SEM) in order to evaluate the relationships between elements that we argue comprise ethicality. We then assess the manner in which TSOs generally, and BME TSOs specifically, vary in the manner in which they communicate their ethical purpose and the outcomes of their actions.

No / The issue of communicated accountability is particularly important in Faith-Based Charity Organisations as the donated funds and use of those funds are often meant to fulfil religious obligations for the well-being of society. Integrating Stewart¿s (1984) ladder of accountability with the Statement of Recommended Practice guidance for charities, this paper examines communicated accountability practices of Muslim and Christian Charity Organisations in England and Wales. Our content analysis results indicate communicated accountability to be generally limited, focusing on providing basic descriptive information rather than judgement-based information. Our interviews with trustees and preparers of Trustee Annual Reports in Muslim Charity Organisations identified the reasons being due to high donor trust and consequently weak demand by stakeholders for the latter type of information, as well as internal organisational issues related to the organisational structure and culture, lack of internal professional expertise and high accountability cost.

Yes / While few recent studies have paid attention to the relationship between organizational culture (OC) and individual readiness for change (IRFC), there is still a lack of systematic and empirical studies regarding the influence of all OC types on the IRFC components within the change management literature. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by empirically examining the influence of all four organizational culture types of the competing values framework (CVF) on the components of IRFC regarding TQM implementation, within the context of manufacturing organizations operating in Syria. A total of four hypotheses were proposed for testing. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 350 Syrian manufacturing organizations (SMOs) in order to measure the level of IRFC and to identify the cultural profiles and characteristics of these organizations. The analysis of the data collected shows that certain types of organizational culture are conducive to fostering IRFC. In particular, the findings of an empirical investigation revealed that group culture and adhocracy culture are the most supportive culture types for IRFC. This paper contributes to the existing literature of change management by providing empirical evidence leading to advancement of knowledge and the understanding of the relationship between OC types and IRFC components. Furthermore, the paper adds value via its contextual originality; being the first study that empirically examined the Syrian cultural context, and hence contributing to the scarce body of literature of both OC and IRFC, and in particular the developing countries.

No / This case study is based on a research study that examined the relationship between big data analytics capability and market performance. The study investigated the intervening role of disruptive business models and the contingency role of competitive intensity on the relationship between big data analytics capability and market performance using both qualitative and quantitative methods. This case-study will focus on the qualitative and quantitative methods utilised including NVivo and IBM SPSS to conduct qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. You will learn the factors to consider when conducting a mixed-methods study and develop the ability to apply similar analytical techniques to your research context.

Yes / All successful programmes share goal-setting as a standard practice, and many write their goal statements to satisfy the S.M.A.R.T. criteria. To be SMART, objective statements should be constructed to specify four components: Outcome, Indicator, Target-level and Timeframe (O.I.T.T.). This study reviewed the goal framework of published objective statements to determine the extent to which they are SMART. The statements of 17 published examples of SMART objectives found in literature of mainly four major health organisations: CDC, WHO, NHS and Save the Children, were structurally analysed to measure the completeness of their goal framework according to the OITT components. Only four examples are outcome objectives. 13 (76%) are process or task oriented. The structure of two thirds of the statements shows the similar objective-writing templates used within CDC. All objective statements have an incomplete set of OITT components. The commonest framework has 3 components of indicator, target and timeframe (75% completeness) in 12 statements. Almost all statements specify a timeframe; three-quarter of them mention a target and three-fifth an indicator, but less than 1 in 5 state an outcome. Thus, none of the objective statement is really SMART, and goal-setters are significantly less likely to specify an outcome, than indicator, target or timeframe in their objectives. A high prevalence of non-SMART objectives with low potential for goal attainment in healthcare projects is proposed.

This master’s thesis studies four Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations (FBO) in the international humanitarian sector: World Vision International (WVI), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) and Tzu Chi Foundation (TCF). Using a theoretical framework based on organizational identity, the research examines from the FBOs own views the causes behind their origins, the impact of external factors on their identities and strategies, their current self-perception, and provides insights for future faith-based humanitarian work. Through the qualitative methods, digital archival design and online semi-structured interviews with senior staff, the study’s findings shows that each FBO was started as a response to a specific humanitarian tragedy and was driven by religious motivation. Since the origin, the FBOs have adapted their organizational identities and operational strategies to external factors. WVI and CRS have gone from church-based to community-based approaches, IRW has worked to demystify Islam in humanitarian work, and TCF maintained a consistent Buddhist-based approach through for example a TV channel and academic symposiums. The research identifies the crucial need for FBOs to balance their religious identities with secular humanitarian principles, focusing on localization, community engagement, interfaith cooperation, and strategic presentation of religious identities. To build on this thesis, future research can focus on investigating and comparing more FBOs, their roles in disaster preparedness and communication strategies.