Business Commons^™

Using An Internal Marketing Perspective To Understand The Role Of Associate Delight In Company Performance, Miran Kim Ph.D., Bonnie J. Knutson Ph.D.

Great Lakes Hospitality & Tourism Educators Conference

No abstract provided.

Shaping Education Policy: The Importance Of Clarity, Commitment, And Consensus Building, Ronald B. Richard, Helen Williams, Robert E. Eckardt

The Foundation Review

· In 2005, the Ohio Grantmakers Forum (OGF), a consortium of philanthropic organizations that includes the Cleveland Foundation, trained its focus on the seemingly intractable problem of improving public education.

· This review, co-chaired by the Cleveland Foundation, culminated in a report, “Education for Ohio’s Future,” which offered recommendations in five areas: systems and structures, standards and accountability, teaching and leadership quality, innovation and choice, and funding.

· In 2008, OGF reached out beyond philanthropists to a diverse array of education stakeholders who developed consensus recommendations on teacher quality and student success.

· For the next three years, OGF and …

Astronomical Tourism: An Often Overlooked Sustainable Tourism Segment, Fredrick M. Collison Ph.D.

Great Lakes Hospitality & Tourism Educators Conference

Astronomical tourism is a potential attraction for visitors to destination areas where dark skies free from artificial light pollution can be enjoyed. This situation presents an opportunity for locations with specific product offerings such as astronomical observatories, (Robson, 2005; Weaver, 2011), auroral displays (Weaver, 2011), national/state/local parks, amateur astronomy organizations that offer public programs, and miscellaneous other providers. The focus here is on parks that have both dark skies and an organized astronomy program. The purpose of this research is two-fold: 1) to provide background research on necessary elements for astronomical tourism and 2) to examine the potential for this …

Diabetes, Grand Rapids Restaurants And Hospitality And Tourism Research?, Michael M. G. Scantlebury

Great Lakes Hospitality & Tourism Educators Conference

This work-in-progress paper outlines the instructional approach that is being used with a new Hospitality and Tourism Research course introduced into the Grand Valley State University hospitality and tourism management curriculum (Winter 2012). The course, which is at the Junior-Senior level, is intended to provide students with; an understanding of the relationship between general theory and applied research; the purposes and applications, procedures, constraints and management of applied research; and to help students compare and contrast quantitative and qualitative research. Twenty-two students have registered for the course. In the sections of this paper that follow a conceptual framework for instruction; …

The Evolution Of Sustainable Development In The Hotel Industry Drivers Shaping The Sustainability Agenda, A. J. Singh Ph.D., Herve Houdre

Great Lakes Hospitality & Tourism Educators Conference

No abstract provided.

M&A Today: Great Challenges, But Great Opportunities, Stephen R. Goldberg, Carol M. Sanchez

Peer Reviewed Articles

The volatility in today’s financial markets creates challenges but also great opportunities for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In uncertain times, there is a need to play it safe, but for some it is also the ideal time to seize opportunities to make great deals. As companies find distinctive ways to strategically navigate in these turbulent times, many continue to use a two-fold strategy: cut costs and stimulate growth through diversification, which includes M&A. Global M&A activity increased in 2010 and continues to increase in 2011. In this article, we report on Global M&A activity in the first half of 2011, …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Helping Government Agencies Become More Effective And Efficient: Discovering ‘Catalytic Combinations’ In Public Child Welfare Reform, Dara Menashi, Christopher Behan, Kathleen Noonan

The Foundation Review

· This article describes work of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Casey Strategic Consulting Group (CSCG), a 10-year, multistate initiative that embeds outside experts – both public-system and traditional management consulting – in child and family services systems to improve system performance and outcomes.

· The article describes five types of levers that were influenced in different combinations to promote change in different state systems. We call these “catalytic combinations.”

· In numerous states, including Maine, Louisiana, Virginia, and Indiana, the CSCG initiative produced measurable improvements in key performance areas, including shortening stays in foster care, improving rates of permanent …

Building The Capacity Of California’S Safety Net: Lessons From The Strengthening Community Dental Practices Demonstration, Fontane Lo, Clare Nolan, Len Finocchio

The Foundation Review

· Community dental practices provide “safety net” services to populations who would otherwise have limited access to care. The financial crisis of recent years has made it increasingly difficult for safetynet dental practices to serve people most in need while still balancing their books.

· The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) and the California Pipeline Program (CPP) funded a demonstration project to test the effectiveness of practice-management consulting as a strategy for helping California’s community clinics survive and thrive. This model emphasizes customized technical assistance to enhance the business infrastructure behind the delivery of care.

· The evaluation of this demonstration …

Defining, Building, And Measuring Capacity: Findings From An Advocacy Evaluation, Debra A. Strong, Jung Y. Kim

The Foundation Review

· Funders often focus their grants to build capacity, recognizing the important roles that leadership, skills, and infrastructure have on an organization’s effectiveness in carrying out its mission.

· This article reports on results from Mathematica Policy Research’s evaluation of Consumer Voices for Coverage, a program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support the role of consumer health advocacy coalitions in 12 states.

· The foundation based the program on a study that identified six core advocacy capacities, and designed it to strengthen these capacities.

· The evaluation found that the level of funding, substantial and targeted technical …

Editorial, Teresa R. Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Changemaking: Building Strategic Competence, Prudence Brown

The Foundation Review

· Foundations have begun to recognize that how they go about their work is as important as what they support. To be better armed to address the urgent challenges facing Detroit’s children, the Skillman Foundation has adopted a changemaking role that draws upon and leverages its knowledge, networks, and civic reputation to supplement its grantmaking investments.

· Effective changemaking depends on the accrual of trust and respect that is built over time in relationships with community residents and stakeholders, public and private partners, and others with influence and resources.

· Changemaking required the foundation to build new strategic competencies such …

Evaluating The Kaiser Permanente Community Fund’S Social Determinants Of Health Portfolio, Sarah B. Paige, Emily Bourcier, Carol Cahill, Clarissa Hsu, Chris Kabel

The Foundation Review

· Research over the past two decades repeatedly demonstrates the relationship between poor health outcomes and socioeconomic factors such as poor housing, poverty, racism, and structural inequity.

· In 2005, the Northwest Health Foundation, supported by the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund, began an initiative to address these social determinants of health (SDOH).

· A variety of projects – short- and long-term, large and small – were supported over the five-year period for a total of $12.4 million. The mean project-implementation grant was $175,350 and 2½ years in length; capacity-building grants averaged $50,000 for 1½ years.

· In all, 323 social-determinant …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Building The Capacity Of Networks To Achieve Systems Change, Douglas Easterling

The Foundation Review

· Networks have historically played an essential role in promoting progress in areas such as social justice, political reform, environmental protection, and public health.

· Foundations are increasingly recognizing the power of networks and looking for strategies to help networks achieve their potential.

· The most common strategies are: a) convene a new network around a mission in line with the foundation’s interests, or b) make grants to an existing network whose interests align with the foundation’s. Each strategy has practical limitations.

· This paper analyzes an alternative strategy developed by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation (MRBF). In addition to …

Corporate Giving Gets Smarter: Conagra Foods Foundation Fights Childhood Hunger, Lisa Wyatt Knowlton, Cynthia Phillips

The Foundation Review

· This article discusses how a better “map” can develop strategic focus and alignment, increasing the potential for results.

· Program development and evaluation are best done hand in hand.

· In complex systems, co-construction has huge yield. It promotes accuracy, comprehensiveness, and utility.

· Grantmakers can provide more than funding; they can identify and use new tools, processes, and resources with multiple stakeholders for effectiveness.

· Alignment and integration are powerful principles inside and outside organizations as well as across sectors in pursuit of social change.

Evaluation For Models And Adaptive Initiatives, Heather Britt, Julia Coffman

The Foundation Review

· Although there has been a growing emphasis on use of experimental designs in evaluation, there is also increasing agreement that evaluation designs should be situation specific.

· The nature of the program is one of the key factors to consider in evaluation design.

· Two types of programs – models, which provide replicable or semi-standardized solutions, adaptive initiatives, which are flexible programming strategies used to address problems that require unique, context-based solutions – require different evaluation designs.

· Evaluation of models requires understanding the stage of development of the model program, with summative evaluation done only when the model …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Philanthropy In The Faith Community: Mobilizing Faith-Based Organizations For Substance Use Prevention, Ashley Townes, E. Kelly Firesheets, Mary Francis

The Foundation Review

· The Assistance for Substance Abuse Prevention Center, established by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, has worked with community partners in the faith community to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse.

· Reviving the Human Spirit (RTHS) was a collaborative project that provided resources to help congregations provide substance use prevention and recovery support in their communities, including the adoption of evidence-based practices.

· Slightly more than two thirds of the congregations that participated in follow up interviews reported that their programs were still operating.

· Faith-based programs have many things in common with programs operated by other …

Investigating The Roles Of Community Foundations In The Establishment And Sustainability Of Local College Access Networks In Michigan, Nathan Daun-Barnett, Haley Lamm

The Foundation Review

· Community foundations have a long history of supporting college access, particularly through the management of scholarship programs. This article examines the role of community foundations in the creation and establishment of local college access networks (LCAN) across the state of Michigan.

· We use the collective impact model as a framework to examine the roles of community foundations in the creation and development of LCANs.

· Our findings illustrate that community foundations have played a variety of roles, from fundraising to convening to cheerleading.

· The success of the community-foundation approach to LCAN development is evident both in the …

Tactics In Philanthropy: The Case Of The Moving Spotlight, Dan M. Martin

The Foundation Review

· In recent years, strategy has been a muchdiscussed topic in philanthropy, while tactics have received little attention.

· The experience of the MacArthur Foundation’s environmental program and its Moving Spotlight approach provide examples of the importance of tactical decisions.

· Tactical decisions such as the timing of grants, foundation staffing levels, and the timing of evaluations all contribute to grantees’ ability to achieve outcomes.

· Structure and flexibility can be complementary approaches to grantmaking if the tactics are well thought out.

The Logic Model Guidebook: Better Strategies For Great Results (Second Ed.): Book Review, Beverly Parsons, Patricia Jessup

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Assessing And Advancing Foundation Transparency: Corporate Foundations As A Case Study, Marta Rey-Garcia, Javier Martin-Cavanna, Luis Ignacio Alvarez-Gonzalez

The Foundation Review

· This article explores the mix of forces explaining variability in good-governance standards and practices by charitable foundations.

· A six-drivers framework for explaining improved foundation accountability and transparency is proposed and discussed in the context of a country study. Those drivers are: regulatory pressures, self-regulation, demands for information from donors and other relevant stakeholders, societal pressure derived from scandals, emulation, and third-party assessment.

· A simple tool for assessing foundation transparency internationally is proposed and then applied to corporate, endowed, and fundraising foundations in the U.S. and Spain.

· Foundations’ financial structure compounds with institutional factors to influence the …

Toward A High-Performance Culture: From Strategy To Strategic Human Capital At The Rhode Island Foundation, Melanie Coon

The Foundation Review

· The Rhode Island Foundation successfully applied to be part of the first cohort of the Talent Initiative, enabling the foundation to engage in human resources planning in support of its strategic plan.

· The strategic plan called for a shift from responsive to proactive grantmaking, fundraising, and leadership, which required different staff roles and skills.

· The Talent Initiative focused on three areas: talent, systems, and culture.

· The changes that were implemented included adoption of a new performance review system, a road map for professional development, and a streamlined approach to operations and technology support.

· Initial results …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

How Inclusion And Equity Are Transforming A Foundation And A Community, Rebecca Arno, Lauren Casteel, Maria Guajardo, Adrienne Mansanares

The Foundation Review

· Racial inequities in health care, education, incarceration rates and economic stability have persisted, in spite of federal policies to promote equity.

· The Denver Foundation launched what is now known as the Inclusiveness Project in 2002 to help nonprofits, including funders, become more inclusive of people of color.

· The Project defines diversity as one component of inclusiveness; inclusive organizations are defined as learning-centered organizations that value the perspectives and contributions of all people.

· The Project operates on three levels: individual, organizational and sector.

· An extensive evaluation has shown that there are impacts at all levels, including …

Managing Expectations When Measuring Philanthropic Impact: A Framework Based On Experience, Frank Ridzi

The Foundation Review

· In order to achieve more targeted community change than possible in conventional grantmaking, foundations have developed a portfolio of activities ranging from capacity building to venture and catalytic philanthropy.

· Key to each of these approaches is a desire for meaningful impact. Yet, funders across the nation express dissatisfaction with their ability to prove or demonstrate impact.

· Conversations with colleagues and personal experience suggest that part of this dissatisfaction is due to a disconnect between the expectations of board members, donors, staff, and participants on one hand and what is actually feasible to measure on the other.

· …

Lessons In Building A Better Community, One Voice At A Time, Erica Wood

The Foundation Review

· By 2035 there will be an estimated 1.2 million new jobs and 900,000 new households in the San Francisco Bay Area (Association of Bay Area Governments, n.d.); without planning and management, this population increase will result in rising air pollution levels, climate change, escalating cost of living, increasing traffic, and less green space.

· Silicon Valley Community Foundation partnered with area nonprofits and government agencies on a two-year initiative, Envision Bay Area, to engage residents and community leaders in conversations about growth.

· At a series of 10 public forums more than 800 participants came together, including those who …

Practice, Practice, Practice: Preliminary Findings From An Evidence-Based Practice Funding Initiative At The Peter And Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation, Nicholas G. Randell

The Foundation Review

· The Tower Foundation supported a five-year initiative to support the implementation of evidencebased practices (EBP). The average award was a three-year award of $84,050.

· The underlying grantmaking theory of change was that behavioral health providers could bring empirically tested protocols to their communities and sustain them over time if supported by long-term funding to support the real costs of implementation (e.g., training, technical assistance, adherence to program protocols, and cultural change).

· Grantees cited the high cost of training, certification, and recertification – especially in the face of high staff turnover – as a primary challenge to implementing …

Bridging Silos, Improving Systems, Deidre Johnson, Phillip Chung, Jennifer Schroeder, Judith Meyers

The Foundation Review

· Systems that provide services to children tend to operate in silos; foundations can play a role in helping bridge these silos by supporting “systems building” efforts.

· Using examples from two foundations and two communities, this article explores the challenges and lessons learned in systems building work.

· Educating grantees and other community members about systems and systems building is a critical first step in the process.

· Supporting systems building requires an iterative process and foundations should continuously reinforce the importance of systems building activities.