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The concept of the “global production network” (GPN) has emerged as a framework for analyzing the intricate connections between a dominant or pivotal firm and its suppliers across various countries. ¹ The expansion of GPNs signifies that trade encompasses not only the final products but also the parts and components (P&C) involved in their production. The reduction of tariff barriers and advancements in transportation and communication technology have facilitated the fragmentation of production processes across different countries. This has led to a significant transformation in the nature and structure of global trade. This chapter aims to synthesize and present this literature. By identifying the key drivers, determinants, and consequences of fragmentation trade through a literature-based approach, this study aids in assessing the opportunities and challenges those lagging countries, like India, encounter in terms of increased participation in GPNs.

Introduction: Cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance are essential for new-age firms to survive and succeed in the VUCA market environment. This study examines how automobile corporations have improved cost competitiveness, productivity, and product quality.

Purpose: This study examines the importance of cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance for the long-term survival of organisations in VUCA markets, looking at the practical efforts made by automobile corporations to enhance cost competitiveness, productivity, and quality.

Methodology: The study utilises a comprehensive analysis of the strategies and initiatives implemented by the selected automobile companies. It involves a review of relevant literature, case studies, financial data analysis, and interviews with key industry experts, providing a holistic understanding of the actions taken by these organisations to achieve their goals.

Findings: The study reveals that cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance are critical factors for the long-term survival and success of organisations in the automotive industry. The analysed automobile companies have undertaken practical efforts to improve cost competitiveness, enhance productivity, and ensure high-quality products, enabling them to navigate the challenges and maintain a competitive edge.

Significance: The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the importance of cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance in the automotive industry. It highlights the need for organisations to constantly monitor both qualitative and quantitative profit to avoid complacency and ensure long-term efficiency. The study’s insights are relevant to businesses operating in other sectors, as they face similar challenges in the VUCA market environment.

Despite the fact that almost two million learners in state-funded schools in England learn English as an additional language (DfE, 2020), there is no official policy for developing home languages (HLs), even though the use of HL in classrooms for academic purposes is linked to academic attainment (Smyth, 2012). Cummins' (1976) language interdependence hypotheses were employed as the analytical framework for the original study underpinning this chapter, as it showed the benefits of HL in the classroom. The study included 13 Somali-origin pupils in a Key Stage 2 class (8 boys and 5 girls – 10–11 years) and their 7 parents. Parents and pupils were separately taught HL literacy once per week for 24 weeks as extracurricular activities. HL literacy pre- and post-assessments, semi-structured interviews with pupils and parents and a researcher reflective diary were used for data collection (Abikar, 2020). The data from HL assessments when comparing the pre- and post-assessments showed improvement in areas assessed, except for writing. The semi-structured interview data demonstrated that learning HL literacy was beneficial for: social and spiritual identity, cognitive skills needed in the classroom and fostering communication between the family, relatives and the wider community. Additionally, positive attitudes to learning HL were evident within the study findings. The study strongly highlighted that it would be beneficial for pupils if there were strategies which would help them to maintain their HL; thus, this chapter will argue the case for the introduction of a HL policy for primary education in England. Overall, the study made recommendations for policymakers to introduce HL literacy sessions for the benefit of pupils.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are living up to their claims as consumers choose them more frequently. The increasing demand for sustainable vehicles translates into the global need for specific components, materials, and infrastructures and drives the regulatory frameworks in each country. While BEVs offer environmental benefits and global business opportunities, the technology has not yet gained mainstream acceptance. Thus, this work aims to investigate the characteristics of BEV users and their role in the diffusion of products to larger segments, as this may vary from country to country. For this purpose, a survey based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT-2) (Venkatesh et al., 2012) framework and structural equation modeling (SmartPLS) was adopted. The results indicated that, except for the constructs of effort expectancy (EE) and social influence (SI), the predictors in the model performed well in this context. Current users are satisfied with their vehicles and are supportive of BEVs in the future. The analysis also revealed that in addition to the availability of financial resources, early adopters are attracted by new technologies in a way that leads them to make decisions outside of the traditional influence of the other members of society. It is suggested to leverage the perceived benefits of status, differentiation, or uniqueness motives, to appeal to those seeking to appear trendy and tech-savvy in society. Companies and policymakers should acknowledge the peculiarities of early customers in their communication strategies to reach a wider audience around the globe and encourage the adoption of BEV technology.

Issues related to economic development and growth are oft discussed to illustrate the health of a nation. However, such development is constrained by the inequality parameter of the representative society. Again, economic fluctuations arising from several crises may hinder the representative nation from getting on a smooth path to development. Now, augmentation of crises along with the presence of inequality may trigger economic vulnerabilities, leading to unsustainable economic development. Against this backdrop, we initially frame a theoretical model to capture the above-mentioned issues and try to derive plausible economic interpretations for the same. To verify the same in a more robust manner, we consider a panel of 30 developing countries from Africa, spanning the time period 1980–2020. Both the health status and the education status of our panel of countries are used to explore the sustainability issue in the presence of income inequality. All data have been collected from the World Development Indicators (WDI) and Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID) (Table 21.1

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The massive investment in, and development of, automated and connected transport (ACT) technology development has triggered much debate about this breakthrough technology’s potential positive and negative impacts. Multiple studies have explored the potential direct implications for users in terms of road safety, ‘productive’ travel time, mobility of the elderly and physically less mobile persons, as well as indirect impacts such as reduced emissions and freed road space. Through a critical review of the literature on ACT deployment types and discussions with an expert working group on the wider impacts of ACT implementation, this chapter examines four distinct deployment types of ACT technology and their opportunities and threats in transitioning toward inclusive transport systems. Of the four types, we posit that ACT-based public transport has the greatest potential to contribute to a more inclusive mobility future. Examining the case of Singapore using policy documents, academic literature and interviews with representatives of public and private sectors and academia, the chapter draws policy recommendations for governance toward more inclusive ACT innovation and deployment.

This chapter studies communication during a longitudinal crisis by exploring the Irish airline Ryanair’s use of Twitter (now X) in early 2022 when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had already been affecting the airline industry for almost 2 years. It studies the airline’s approach to interacting with its passengers online and their reaction to its posts, at times, rather provocative posts. A corpus linguistic methodology is used to study tweets posted by and addressed to Ryanair between January and March 2022, a period that saw unprecedented peaks in COVID-19 infection numbers and the simultaneous lifting of travel restrictions. The analysis is based on the Ryanair 2022 Corpus which includes 27,089 tweets and more than half a million words. The findings of this case study show that Ryanair reappropriates instructing and adapting information on crisis-related topics as promotion and takes a political stance in its tweets to encourage consumer engagement. While the corporate tweets are successful in generating reactions online, the airline’s followers do not always perceive them in a positive manner. This case study makes an important contribution to crisis communication research as it shows how established communicative strategies, such as instructing and adapting information, may be reappropriated during a longitudinal crisis. At the same time, it demonstrates how these communicative strategies may – as a consequence – no longer be aligned with the core values of a legitimate organisation that is expected to act responsibly and ethically.

The role of caregivers and issues of parenting are controversial in research on disability. While appreciating the historical and political reasons to critique power relations in care systems and care relations, we argue that it is important to consider parents' and other caregivers' positions. A reconsideration provides insights into pervasive effects of ableism defining not only the individual child but parents and other relatives as well. We draw from extensive research on couples parenting a child with disability in Germany (Tröndle, 2022a). This study seeks to understand how parents of a child with disability cannot avoid understanding themselves as “special parents.” Through analyzing shared life stories of couples and individual biographies, the study reconstructs how identities evolve differently depending on their work-sharing arrangements. Based on our findings, the couples experience difficulties in maintaining dual employment arrangements. They become “unable” to step outside of the logic of welfare and health provision and structures of the labor market. Couples begin to explain their situation and the discrimination they experience by reflecting themselves as “special parents.” Heteronormative and ableist expectations hinder them in articulating resistance and gaining agency as allies of their children, facilitating positions of complicity. We argue that the approach suggested by this study – namely including the ambiguous situation of caregivers in Disability Studies – can encourage other researchers to consider othering and ableism of and by caregivers.