Zoekresultaten

Advisering van het midden- en kleinbedrijf. Wie wil voelen zal niet luisteren.

This relationship between external knowledge providers, e.g. consultants and academic institutions, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a difficult one. SME entrepreneurs think external advice is expensive, not required and/or not useful. In this paper these arguments are explored against the specific characteristics of SMEs. The argument of price probably tells more about the consultants inability to quantify the returns on their advice than about the cost of their services. Support policies enable free consults for SMEs on numerous topics, but the use of these facilities is relatively low. The suggestion that SME entrepreneurs do not need external knowledge is contradicted by their own assessment of their qualities. Typically the entrepreneurs lack expertise in supporting business functions like HR, IT, Finance and Legal. In SMEs these blank spots are not compensated by specialist staff members because the of the scale of the organization. The argument that the advice of an external consultant is generally not useful raises the question whether the insights gained in several business sciences only apply to large companies. This seems unlikely. Given the characteristics of SMEs the difference is probably more the context in which the insights are applied than the content of the insights itself. From the analysis of the characteristics of SMEs the dominant influence of the person of the owner/director, together with the absence of specialist staff, appeared as two of the most significant differences between SMEs and large companies. Given the personal profiles of these owners/directors as studied by Blom (Blom, 2001), the external knowledge providers should realize the three ways in consulting. The first way is the way of thinking. For this way it was stated already that the content of business sciences is not likely to differ for SMEs. The second way, the way of working, represents for the way information is gathered and the entrepreneur and his staff is involved in the process of developing the advice. In this way the consultant should allow for interaction and should make it fun for the participants. In this aspect, the process approach of consulting shows promising. The third way, the way of communicating, represents the way the knowledge is transferred from the advisor to the entrepreneur. In this way it is crucial to acknowledge the different personal profiles of SME entrepreneurs and consultants and to adjust the communication accordingly. Taking the three ways into account, the conclusion could be that the transfer of knowledge should be more the sharing of experiences. The Chair of Management Consulting will adjust her activities to explore this insight further.

Het klimaat past ook in uw straatje - de waarde van klimaatbestendig inrichten

Uitgebreide online versie. Met dit voorbeeldenboek laten we zien hoe een straat klimaatbestendig ingericht kan worden, wat een klimaatbestendige inrichting kost, maar vooral ook wat de voordelen zijn. Voor karakteristieke - en voor veel gemeenten herkenbare - straten hebben we telkens vier inrichtingsmogelijkheden uitgewerkt met de bijbehorende kosten en baten. Naast de algemene overeenkomsten die straten van eenzelfde wijktypologie hebben, kunnen er ook lokale verschillen zijn waardoor klimaatadaptatie niet op eenzelfde manier kan worden ingevuld. Het gaat hier om het maaiveldverloop, de bodemopbouw en de grondwaterstanden. Naast de investeringskosten zijn de onderhoudskosten en kosten als gevolg van eventuele waterschade meegenomen.

Geographical dimensions of risk management

Land use or land-use changes can trigger or generate hazards and affect the potential consequences of these hazards. Deforestation can trigger land slides, for example, and land reclamation or levee construction can increase flood hazards downstream. New dwellings in or near forests can trigger wildfires, especially if home owners fail to prioritise fire safety measures. In addition, if land is used for industrial activities, new technological hazards, such as the risks resulting from the storage or production of hazardous materials, can be introduced into the environment. Moreover, land-use changes can increase damage potential. Residential developments in hazard-prone areas, such as areas prone to flooding or earthquakes, can negatively affect the number of properties and people exposed to hazards. Consequently, spatial planning activities that are concerned with influencing land use by locating physical structures and activities such as agriculture, recreation or industry within a territory (Couclelis, 2005; Tewdwr-Jones, 2001) can result in new or increased safety risks in a particular area.

Periscope sketch workshop

The first two fases of the BUBO methode (Bottom Up Business Opportunities)

Heb je hem weer met zijn bedrijventerreinen

Als je het maatschappelijke debat over bedrijventerreinen volgt, vraag je je soms af of deze gebieden überhaupt een bredere waarde hebben. Bedrijventerreinen worden verbonden met typeringen als verdozing en hebben het uiterlijk van blokkendozen. Ze komen over als anonieme en verweesde landschappen. Het zijn ruimtelijk vaak grijze geïsoleerde (hitte-) eilanden en verrommeling, lelijkheid en schaamgroen is een veelvoorkomend verschijnsel. Burgers en ook de lokale overheid lijken deze gebieden het liefst te mijden of negeren. Het beeld van een noodzakelijk kwaad lijkt het meest van toepassing.

Factsheet toekomst verduurzaming luchtvaart (actualisatie 2024).