Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen
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- ItemInvestigating the realisation of nature-based solutions(2022-08-29)This thesis examines the challenge of wide-scale realisation of Nature Based Solutions (NBS), focussing on limitations in knowledge-action systems. It explores the implication of linking knowledge and action to identify approaches to support widescale NBS realisation. The researcher uses a series of interviews from NBS projects to determine key lessons learnt surrounding NBS implementation. Learnings are distilled to key learnings based on a thematical analysis and commonality between projects. Using categories from literature which seek to overcome obstacles between knowledge and action, key learnings are analysed to determine the approaches applied across NBS projects. Finally, the SWOT methodology was used, prioritising strengths and opportunities as useful approaches to support the wide-scale realisation of NBS. The categories of 'learning' and 'integration' were highlighted from strengths. Key takeaways communicate that as NBS become widespread, understanding within industry and the community will improve. Further, the flexibility and adaptability of NBS will address varied contextual environments of future applications. Within opportunities, the categories 'participation' and 'negotiation' were favoured. These opportunities lie in relationships between knowledge developers and their user communities as well as the space created for different political interests. Using the results, stakeholders can dedicate resources on particular methods of linking knowledge and action within NBS projects. In their application, it is intended that wide-scale NSB realisation becomes more attainable.
- ItemThe influence of shock events in Flood Risk Management(2022-11-17)The consequences of climate change, such as flood events, are especially visible in urban areas. The floods in the Dutch province of Limburg in July 2021 figure as a shock event which created national awareness regarding the questions where and how to construct new residential areas. The goal of this research is determine how Flood Risk Management could be improved. To study this, the concept of Multi-Layer Safety (meerlaagsveiligheid) has been used. The theoretical foundation used in this research is the CIAD Framework: a slightly adjusted, more critical and politicised framework than the original Institutional Analysis and Development Framework by Elinor Ostrom. The three findings that seemed to be the most outstanding are 1) the translation from more abstract, general policy documents into concrete rules on local scale in a correct way (doorvertaling); 2) responsibility issues and the role of the Water Authority; and 3) the finance system for the regional water system. The three main conclusions focus on these three elements and how to improve them. These findings can be used to improve future Flood Risk Management strategies and policy development, regarding housing developments in flood prone areas (Layer 2 of Multi-Layer Safety).
- ItemOpération Serval and the Sahel discourse in French quality newspapers (2003-2013): exploring indirect forms of news media influence on the decision-making of international intervention missions(2022-12-02)In this thesis, I examine the influence of news media on the decision-making of international interventions. While literature on media-policy interactions is abundant, research on this topic has traditionally revolved around whether news media can ‘pressure’ governments into launching a humanitarian intervention or not – a mechanism often called the ‘trigger effect’. Besides such works having yielded many ambiguous results, this focus on direct, trigger effects has led to a neglect of more ‘indirect’ forms of news media influence, such as how news media discourse impacts decision-makers’ perspectives and assumptions regarding conflicts where intervention is considered. Aiming to provide a more coherent definition of such indirect effects, I find through a discourse analysis of Operation Serval and French news media reporting on the Sahel between 2003 and 2013 that news media influence intervention decision-making in three main ways: 1) the creation of a receptive societal context for intervention justification; 2) a popularization and legitimization of specific conflict representations; and 3) a delegitimization of non-state armed actors, hereby reducing decision-makers’ ability to include such actors in the peace process. As such, I conclude that the primary mechanism underlying news media’s influence over decision-making is news media’s ability to generate broader legitimacy for the representations articulated and perceived by decision-makers. As a result, news media’s influence should be understood as their ability to ‘enable’, rather than directly ‘cause’ or ‘trigger’ decisions.
- ItemCross-Organizational Learning in Humanitarian Con-sortia: A Case Study of the Dutch Relief Alliance(2022-12-21)The questions of collective learning and evidence-based aid are salient for the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance. Addressing the gap in evidence on the added value of humanitarian consortia from a knowledge-sharing perspective, the research unpacks how learning is stimulated in INGO collaborative frameworks and purposefully applied to improve the quality of emergency assistance, specifically in the case of the Dutch Relief Alliance. Through a qualitative case study methodology including 15 semi-structured key informant interviews, a document study, and ethnographic observations, the thesis draws a comprehensive map of structures, processes, and instruments enabling cross-organizational learning. It brings together extensive literature on knowledge-based aid, dichotomies between tacit-explicit and strategic-operational knowledge, as well as network learning in the private sector. Stepping outside of conventional roles between donors and INGOs, the DRA case study shows the potential for transformative partnership in humanitarian consortia through cross-organizational exchange and learning, substantively reducing INGO competition through collaboration. Tellingly, factors such as flexibility, realistic ambitions with proportionate capacity, reachability and interaction of reciprocal positions, ownership of learning, and deliberate and contextresponsive agendas must be in place to create organizational learning cultures.
- Itemhe trend towards impact investing: The shaping of impact within venture capital impact investments in startups(2023-12-23)The focus on sustainability is ever-increasing. Over the last years almost every aspect social, economic, governmental has dealt with the rising trend of sustainability. Consequently, sustainability has also found its ground in venture capitalism. Where venture capitalism was first primarily focused on profit maximization, it now shifts towards impact investing. This study aims to provide an answer on how impact is shaped within impact investing of VCs in startups. The data is gathered through semi-structured interviews with an alongside survey. Additional data is gathered through follow-up interviews. Hereafter, the data was coded, and quotes were found to substantiate the results. The results indicated that the impact investment market suffers from challenges that are also present on the market for regular investments. Moreover, the real challenge on the market surrounds the topic of impact itself. The market lacks a generalizable all-encompassing definition of impact and consequently impact is seen as a vague term and is used for one’s personal benefit. The effort into a generalizable definition is still lacking but to alleviate the vagueness on the impact investment market it is advised to standardize the measurement models used for determining promising investment opportunities.