Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Through CRACK IT Solutions, Primetech is seeking partners interested in applying their novel microinfusion pump system (iPRECIO® SMP-200) to research and drug discovery programs to improve the accuracy of their drug delivery approaches and the clinical relevance of the results achieved. For more information or to contact Primetech, visit the website.
BOURNEMOUTH, UK- Charities and non-profit organizations can face many challenges when recruiting and retaining volunteers. Often, individuals will claim they have work or family commitments that impede them from donating their time. However, once an individual has been recruited to volunteer, the next challenge for the volunteer manager is get the volunteer to exert the highest level of effort possible and to reduce the volunteer’s turnover rates.
As part of the Organizational Analysis Research Cluster, Dr. Fabian Homberg, Dr. Davide Secchi and I addressed these challenged by exploring the relation between Public Service Motivation (PSM) and volunteering intensity. With the help of Community First New Forest, we conducted a survey in November 2014 examining volunteer habits, attitudes and behaviour of individuals who expressed an interest in volunteering. Findings were initially presented at the Bournemouth University Post-Graduate conference in January. However, we then had two public engagement opportunities to present the findings to members of Community First New Forest, local volunteer managers and CSV Centre volunteer coordinators from Hampshire and surrounding areas.
The study investigated predisposition or underlying attitudes towards public service through key attitudes towards civic duty, social justice, self-sacrifice, and compassion, commitment to public interest and attraction to policy. Volunteering intensity, or perceived mental, emotional and physical effort exerted by volunteers, was compared to attitudes towards public service. We found that when there were high levels of public service, New Forest volunteers reported exerting a greater effort.
In order to help volunteer managers to predict turnover rates, the study examined the match between an individual’s goals, skills and values and those of the organization. Those who volunteered monthly had the highest score when asked if their values and goals were similar to the goals of the organization they volunteered with. Whereas, weekly volunteers had a stronger sense of belonging to the volunteer organization and felt strongly that what the volunteer organization stands for is important to them. One respondent said they were made to feel a value team member and it is important to them that they use their talents appropriately. Overall, those who volunteered more frequently reported they felt there was a better match.
While the study provided valuable insights into public service motivation as a driver for volunteer behaviour, the questions and feedback from the volunteer managers and coordinators raised questions that they experienced with their direct contact with volunteers. Issues such as examining if different volunteer roles influenced the relation between motivation and behaviour was brought up as well what factors encourage a one-off volunteer to engage in future volunteering as a result of the experience. Additionally, volunteer managers challenged the academic stances that as baby boomers begin to retire that they will have more time to volunteer.
This study provides volunteer managers with valuable insight into volunteer motivation and how it influences behaviour. Additionally, the lessons learned showed the importance that public engagement opportunities can provide an indispensable two-way flow of information. By understanding the needs of volunteer managers and coordinators, academics can be in a better position to answer their practical needs.
A new book on the business ecosystem theory has been published by Palgrave Macmillan recently, which was co-authored by Dr.Ke Rong from the business school and Dr.Yongjiang Shi from University of Cambridge. This book systematically deconstructs a business ecosystem and explores the way to nurture a business ecosystem, by learning from rich cases in a global context. This book is also endorsed by Dr.James Moore as below, who originated the business ecosystem concept in 1993 and authored the most cited business ecosystem book ‘The death of competition: leadership and strategy in the age of business ecosystems’ in 1996.
The new book title is:
‘Business Ecosystems: Constructs, Configurations, and the Nurturing Process’
Authored by Ke Rong (Bournemouth University) & Yongjiang Shi (University of Cambridge)
Abstract:
In the past 20 years, the business ecosystem theory has captured the attention and fired the imagination of many involved in industrial innovation and manufacturing transformation. However, the concepts, boundaries and theoretical systems are still not comprehensively explored and structured. In order to tackle how a company can nurture its business ecosystem for future sustainable competitive advantages, Business Ecosystems provides very detailed and convincing case studies demonstrating the dramatic transformations of the mobile computing industry and the significant impact from its business ecosystem. This book systematically examines business ecosystems in an emerging industry context while fundamentally exploring and identifying four essential areas of business ecosystems: the business ecosystems’ key constructive elements, their typical patterns of element configurations, the five-phase process of their life cycle, and the nurturing strategies and processes from a company perspective. The book not only contributes to different disciplines but also provides insights to practitioners who can be inspired to develop their business ecosystems.
The book’s link:
http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/business-ecosystems/?k=9781137405906&loc=us
Endorsement from Dr.James Moore
Business Ecosystems by Ke Rong and Yongjiang Shi is a landmark in the field of business strategy. As someone who has lived my life with managers developing business ecosystems, I can attest that the authors “get” the essence and the power of the approach.
Business ecosystems are the dominant design for strategy making in technology-based businesses today. In practice, business ecosystems are everywhere: producer-centered, customer-centered, people, technology and product centered. Business ecosystems nest within others. Business ecosystems are themselves complexly related.
The authors provide a model for studying business ecosystems in their richness. They review two decades of academic research in order to clarify the construct. The authors show that business ecosystems dynamics reflect the principles of general systems theory, agent-based-modeling and the mathematics of networks. Helpfully, the authors demonstrate this by exploring the logical extension of leading systems-based concepts of advanced manufacturing into the domain of business ecosystems.
They demonstrate that the business ecosystem field of application is at a higher logical type than other theories of strategy–that is, business ecosystems ideas guide leaders to intervene to continually reshape industry structure, and to do so simultaneously within multiple related industries. Leaders collaborate to establish ecosystem-wide shared values and visions that in turn support collective conduct and result in shared gains in performance.
Business ecosystems are notoriously difficult for outsiders to study. The guiding visions of business ecosystems are inherently cross-company and cross-industry, are usually held secret by members, and peer far into the future.
Ke Rong was able to gain access to top leaders in three related very-large-scale global business ecosystems, originating on three different continents and in three forms of capitalism, all contributing to one of the most dynamic fields of world business. The result is a narrative of great interest to executives as well as researchers.
By sketching the story in its broadest and most complete form, there is much for the rest of us to chew on, refine and question. The breakthrough is that we can do so as a community, with this work and its methodology as a foundation.
James F. Moore, Concord, Massachusetts, December, 2014
BU’s Dr. Jenny Hall and her New Zealand colleague Susan Crowther published an interesting discussion paper on ‘Spirituality and spiritual care in and around childbirth’ in the journal Women and Birth. This discussion paper brings to the surface what is meant by spiritual care and spiritual experiences, to increase awareness about spirituality in childbirth and midwifery and move beyond the constraints of structured defined protocols.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
The fusion funded GeoNet project holds its first event on Tuesday the 3rd of February. The project aims to bring together staff and students from across the university with mutual interests via a series of events, including some lunchtime panel debates and a series of external speakers. GeoNet is very inclusive and anyone with an interest is welcome to come and take part. The events are designed to encourage conversation and interaction, with plenty of audience participation. Our first event is;
A conversation about climate change
Coyne Lecture Theatre
Tues 3rd February, 1-2pm
Come along to the Coyne on the 3rd Feb to join in the first of eleven planned GeoNet events. Join panellists who research the science of climate change and its impacts (John Stewart, Andrew Ford and Pippa Gillingham from the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences) and those who research how best to communicate it (Einar Thorsen, Nathan Farrell and David Fevyer from the Media School) in conversation to find out more about their work. We want this session to be as interactive as possible and there will be lots of opportunities to ask questions and help us as we try to learn from each other.
Tea, coffee and cookies will be provided and all are welcome!
A conference at Bournemouth University explored some of the issues around finance and lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The two-day Entrepreneurship and Access to Finance for SMEs conference brought together speakers and delegates from industry, academia and government agencies to discuss the most pertinent issues of SME finance and credit risk.
A number of breakout sessions and workshops explored key issues around SME finance, borrowing and policy, while keynote speeches were also given by leading names in the finance and lending world – Thortsen Beck, from City University London, and Josh Ryan-Collins, of the New Economics Foundation.
The event marked the start of a project which will be delivered after a successful bid to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the UK’s leading research and training agency addressing economic and social concerns.
Opening the conference, BU’s Professor Jens Holscher, Principal Investigator for the project, said: “This is the start of a two-year project and the first of seven meetings.
“This is ‘blue sky’ and so we wanted to exchange ideas and even get new things we should be looking at.”
He added: “A key long term and strategic position of BU is to become known for regional economic development and SMEs are key, so we see this project as part of a bigger vision of regional economic development.”
The project team consists of Professor Jens Hölscher and Co-Investigators Professor Andrew Mullineux and Professor Dean Patton, with colleagues from the University of Brighton, Aston University and the University of Nottingham.
The project team will also collaborate with Professor Andreas Horsch and his colleagues from the Technical University of Freiberg in Germany, who will contribute on access to finance from Germany.
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a one-day seminar hosted by Age Exchange (http://www.age-exchange.org.uk/), at The Kings’ Fund, London, to find out more about RADIQL (Reminiscence Arts and Dementia: Impact on Quality of Life) – a method that uses Reminiscence Arts to improve wellbeing and quality of life in people with dementia.
The day started with an overview of RADIQL, described by the Artistic Director of Age Exchange as “reminiscence empowering people in the present”. RADIQL encompasses two main elements: a structured Reminiscence Arts intervention, and a workforce training programme for care staff working in relationship-centred environments. We were then given an overview of the national context – the recent CQC report ‘Cracks in the Pathway’: the quality of dementia care in health and social services, and a presentation by KCL’s Jo Moriarty on care workers’ views of compassionate care.
The Keynote was provided by Dame Eileen Sills who continued the theme of ‘compassion’ by providing the back-story of ‘Barbara’s Story’, which I’m sure many within health and social care fields will have heard of already. Barbara’s Story is a dramatization created by Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust to raise awareness about dementia among their staff, and show the meaning of ‘kindness’ in the workplace, emphasising the impact that every member of staff has on patient experience. Following the success of ‘Barbara’s Story’, the Trust have since developed as series for use as training materials. You can watch ‘Barbara’s Whole Story’ here (with tissues at the ready!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtA2sMAjU_Y&feature=share&list=UUbJBh2MFKrX6Lf8bJ7_ZGWQ
The afternoon sessions saw attendees partaking in interactive workshops, demonstrating the activities one might engage with during a RADIQL session. Before the day, attendees were asked to choose whether to be a ‘participant’ or a member of an ‘audience’, i.e. whether to take part in the session, or observe a session from an objective perspective. These workshops were the most insightful part of the day, giving some first-hand experience into how the sessions may be conducted. For anyone planning seminars or ‘how-to’ workshops in the future – I would highly recommend using a similar form of dissemination, if appropriate to your cause, as this seemed to resonate with most of us as an effective and engaging way to demonstrate methods and disseminate research to peers.
The RADIQL method is currently being evaluated by Royal Holloway University London in a three year pilot project funded by Guys & St Thomas’ Charity. More information about the day, and the presentations provided, can be found here: http://www.age-exchange.org.uk/radiql-the-kings-fund/
A paper copy of the interim report and a guide to RADIQL are available in the BUDI office (PG63) if anyone is interested.
BUDI are still looking to recruit people with dementia and their carers to join the BUDI Orchestra, starting Wednesday 4th February 2015 for 8 weeks.
If you know of anyone living with dementia, or caring for someone with dementia, that you think would be interested in joining a music group led by professional musicians from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, then please do get in touch! We are also seeking volunteers with an interest in music (staff or students) to help facilitate the sessions.
Interested?
For more information, please contact: Laura Reynolds on (01202 9) 62546 or email: lreynolds@bournemouth.ac.uk.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Staff and students are invited to join us for today’s cyber security seminar on:
‘Persuasive Technology for Information Security’
Tuesday, 27th January at 4pm.
Room: P335 LT
In the seminar, participants will hear about design principles for persuasive technology for promoting information security and also about methods to evaluate persuasive technology. Concrete examples and “best practices” will be given from a recent research project, in which it is used in organizations to make employees comply with information security policies.
Our speaker will be Marc Busch. Marc is a scientist at the AIT – Austrian Institute of Technology and is active at the intersection of persuasive technology and usable privacy and security. Furthermore, he is specialized in advanced quantitative and qualitative usability and user experience methodology, research methods and statistics in Human-computer interaction. Marc is involved in several international and national research and industrial projects, such as MUSES – Multiplatform Usable Endpoint Security Before joining AIT, Marc was at CURE – Center for Usability Research & Engineering, where he focused on user experience and usability.
Our next Interdisciplinary Cyber Security Seminar will take place TODAY (Tuesday, 27th January) at 4pm. The seminar will take place at Poole House in P335 LT, and will be free and open to all.
Our speaker will be Marc Busch. Marc is scientist at the AIT – Austrian Institute of Technology and is active at the intersection of persuasive technology and usable privacy and security. Furthermore, he is specialized in advanced quantitative and qualitative usability and user experience methodology, research methods and statistics in Human-computer interaction. Marc is involved in several international and national research and industrial projects, such as MUSES – Multiplatform Usable Endpoint Security. Before joining AIT, Marc was at CURE – Center for Usability Research & Engineering, where he focused on user experience and usability.
Abstract: Persuasive Technology is a vibrant field of research and practice, aiming to change the attitude or behavior of people. Persuasive technology has various different application areas, e.g. games motivating physical activity. An emerging application area is persuasive technology to increase information security and to engage people to protect their privacy. In the seminar, participants will hear about design principles for persuasive technology for promoting information security and also about methods to evaluate persuasive technology. Concrete examples and “best practices” will be given from a recent research project, in which persuasive technology is used in organizations to make employees comply with information security policies.
My contribution to the BU Research Blog this year started on 3-1-2015 under the heading First BU publicatio
n of 2015. I soon discovered that with loads of journals publishing their first issue of the new year in early January and books being published early in the new year (rather than late in the previous one) the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences had quite a few new publications lined up. It seems a nice idea to write another BU Research Blog under the title ’20/20′ referring in our case to twenty publications by January 20th with wordplay on the 20-20 perfection vision. But before January 20th the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences had already more than 20 publications.
The plan changed to r
eport 25 publications by January 25th. This time the title in my head was ‘In the month 25-25 …’ a poor wordplay of the song ‘In the year 2525’. In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) was a hit in my youth (in the late Sixties by the US duo Denny Zager and Rick Evans). Unfortunately, this plan was short-lived too as I was made aware of several publications by Faculty of Health & Social Sciences colleagues in the space of three days.
Hence the final attempt ’31 publications by January 31st!’ (published today 26th January) before I find out about further publications!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
The list of 31 Faculty of Health & Social Sciences publication for early 2015, comprising 21 papers and ten book chapter:
Book chapters:
Congratulations to three BU researchers Ann Bevan, Heather Hartwell and Ann Hemingway for their 2015 paper ‘An exploration of the fruit and vegetable “foodscape” in a university setting for staff: A preliminary study’ in the British Food Journal [1]. Interesting, this timely paper is published in FOOD & NUTRITION WEEK, see more details at: http://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/news/thismonth/foodandnutritionweek.php
Reference:
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
The next generation of mobile communications technology, 5G, will be a flexible infrastructure capable of handling our ever increasing demand for mobile data and providing connectivity for a wide range of future technologies, from the Internet of Things to digital healthcare, and from advanced gaming to driverless cars. 5G’s short and fast network response times will unleash a new wave of exciting and disruptive applications and with experts predicting deployment from as early as 2020, this evening’s speakers will consider the opportunities for smart start-ups and innovators and share their thoughts on how entrepreneurs can seize this opportunity to create new, world-class businesses.
Confirmed Speakers:
Dr. Lukman Aroean, a Senior Lecturer in International Marketing in the Bournemouth University Business School, has recently paid a research visit to the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. The research visit was funded by British Council Researcher Link and last from end of August to early October 2014. The research topic was about playfulness and academic performance of university students. A two-stage field research involving forty nine undergraduate students of the host university has been undertaken. At the moment the research team has identified interesting findings including the conceptualization of playfulness as an experience, how playfulness interacts with students’ academic performance and how personal preferences are related to the gap between playfulness and academic activity. Dr. Aroean has given two research seminars in the host university about the research findings. Further collaboration is under consideration including engaging business schools from the ASEAN (South East Asian Nations) region. 
The scientific paper ‘Risk, Theory, Social & Medical Models: a critical analysis of the concept of risk in maternity care’ written by Dr. Helen MacKenzie Bryers (NHS Highland) and BU Professor of Reproductive Health Research is now listed on the website of the international journal Midwifery as its top most cited paper since 2010 (1). Midwifery, published by Elsevier, is one of the leading global journals in the field of midwifery and maternity care.
The paper provides a critical analysis of the risk concept, its development in modern society in general and UK maternity services in particular. Through the associated theory, the authors explore the origins of the current preoccupation with risk. Using Pickstone’s historical phases of modern health care, the paper explores the way maternity services changed from a social to a medical model over the twentieth century and suggests that the risk agenda was part of this process.
‘Risk, Theory, Social & Medical Models’ has been cited 40 times in SCOPUS, measured today Jan. 25th 2015. In Google Scholar the citation rate is even higher and stands at 69.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Reference
The ‘Consumer Research Group’ will be holding its next meeting 2-4pm on Wednesday 28th January in PG19. Professor John Fletcher – Pro Vice Chancellor – Research and Innovation – will open the meeting. Discussions within this meeting will revolve around an outline of the vision/strategic plan for the CRG, as well as opportunities to initiate and progress collaborative research projects around the seven CRG themes. These all aim to develop an even stronger research profile for the CRG.
Anyone who is doing consumer research of any description is welcome to join and contribute to the discussions – and as before there will be coffee and cake to help our consumer thinking along.
If you would like to come along please email any of the other contacts below so that we can get a feel for numbers. If you are unable to make this meeting but are interested in being involved please email us to let us know and we will keep you informed about future events.
Jeff Bray (Tourism; jbray@bournemouth.ac.uk)
Juliet Memery (Business School; jmemery@bournemouth.ac.uk)
Janice Denegri-Knott (Media School; JDKnott@bournemouth.ac.uk)
Siné McDougall (SciTech; smcdougall@bournemouth.ac.uk)
The Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management’s Co-Director, Dr. Dinusha Mendis and CIPPM Member, Dr. Fabian Homberg presented their research on ‘Valuing the Public Domain’ – a collaboration with CREATe, University of Glasgow – on 5th December 2014, at Digital Catapult, London.
‘Valuing the Public Domain’ is a major research and knowledge exchange project carried out in collaboration with CREATe, University of Glasgow and is co-funded by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The purpose of the project is 1) to map the size of the public domain and frequency of its use; 2) analyse the role of public domain works in value creation for UK firms; and 3) assist UK media companies to identify business models that benefit from the public domain.
The half-day event brought together project researchers and transmedia businesses to explore and discuss the results of the study. During the discussions, a number of significant questions were addressed including (a) what does the availability and use of the rich tradition of public domain materials in this country mean for UK creative industries?; (b) how can SMEs and other businesses leverage the public domain effectively to generate value?; and (c) what are the emerging market trends and practices that will hinder or enable access to public domain materials in the future?
Following the event in December, the final report authored by Dr. Kris Erickson, Professor Paul Heald, Dr. Fabian Homberg, Professor Martin Kretschmer and Dr. Dinusha Mendis was published in March 2015 and can be accessed here..
Lunchtime Seminar on Thursday 12th February 2015 , 1-1.50pm in EB708, Lansdowne Campus
Dr Sara Houston, Principal Lecturer in Dance at the University of Roehampton
Against the backdrop of a five-year study into dance for people with Parkinson’s, Dr Houston will examine what it means to ‘live well’ with Parkinson’s through those who participate in a dance class. She will examine how participants’ aims to ‘stand tall and step boldly’ are embodied and shaped by their dancing experience. The seminar will highlight one woman’s claim that dancing makes her feel beautiful, and, as such, is fundamental to her wellbeing. She will debate the challenge that this claim poses to those who argue that beauty in dance is at best unimportant, at worst disenfranchising. In debating this challenge she will create a link between aesthetics and health through a reformulation of the value of beauty in the context of chronic illness and wellbeing. This link will then allow her to discuss how feeling lovely could become relevant and meaningful within the context of participating in dance.
Dr Sara Houston is Principal Lecturer in Dance at the University of Roehampton. Currently, she leads a longitudinal mixed-methods research study examining the experience of dancing with Parkinson’s commissioned by English National Ballet. Her work won her the BUPA Foundation Vitality for Life Prize in 2011 and she was a Finalist for the National Public Engagement Awards in 2014. For the last five years, Sara’s project with people with Parkinson’s has developed her work on the intersection between dance as art, health and wellbeing and on the tensions and collaboration between quantitative and qualitative methodologies and between art and therapy models of engagement. In 2014, Sara won a National Teaching Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy for excellence in teaching. She is Chair of the Board of People Dancing: the Foundation for Community Dance. Her book Dancing With Parkinson’s: Art, Community and Wellbeing is in preparation and will be published by Intellect Books.
The seminar will be followed by the BU Humanisation Special Interest Group meeting from 2 -4.30pm in EB708, Lansdowne Campus. All are welcome.
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