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Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This study explores the nature and role of CEO discourse in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and especially during the highly complex post-merger integration process. Abstraction from two extensive empirical data sources suggests that executive discourse in M&A can be seen as fitting a taxonomy involving four categories: dubbed the cartel, aesthetic, videogame and holistic communicator. It is furthermore purported that executive sense-making through discourse may need to be monitored around an ideal and permanently oscillating distance between the executive promise and the many different realities that stakeholders experience in the post-merger process: too little distance prevents change from happening, too much distance erodes the belief in the promised possibilities. This distance, named the promise–realities gap, is different for each (type of) stakeholder, as stakeholders perceive both the discoursed promise as also their everyday corporate realities in different manners. This individual perception of discourse and of the multitude of perceived realities and the volatility of their influencing variables exacerbate the successful management of the promise–realities gap.

The purpose of this study was to investigate military officers’ perception of the implicit expectations the organisation has for the officer’s private life and what implications it may have for gender norms at the organisation, family and individual levels.

A qualitative approach, using an inductive thematic analysis, was performed. The data was based on 20 interviews with military officers, including 18 men and 2 women.

Two main themes, with three subsequent subthemes, were identified. These themes were interpreted as being necessary for the military officer to be able to manage organisational demands. The first included the implicit expectations the organisation had for the family. The three subthemes included the officer’s acceptance of frequent travel demands, adapting private life in accordance to organisational demands and picking a partner that matches the goals of the organisation. The second identified main theme included the military officer’s descriptions of implicit expectations the organisation held for the officer’s partner. Three subthemes were identified, including the partner’s need to be independent and psychologically strong, to take the main responsibility for managing family life and to engage in emotion work with the extended family.

The findings identify important perceptions that military officers have regarding the military’s expectations for their private life and the adaptive behaviors regularly performed. These adaptive behaviors allow the military officer to be able to engage in work that sustains the organisation.

This chapter examines the theoretical contributions of Marx and Engels as a framework for analysing the historical evolution of the idea of inequality within the domestic and international legal frameworks in capitalist societies. It discusses what can be referred to as a triple inequality in the legal frameworks that emerged at the end of the eighteenth century in a historical context dominated by bourgeois revolutions. The new ruling class relied on a legal-philosophical discourse to promote a drastic legal transformation: the equal treatment for all citizens under the law. This marked the beginning of a period of ‘idyllic justice’ grounded in consensual social values that gave the appearance, at least formally, of non-selectivity. Despite these promises, the emergent formal treatment under the law contrasted with the inequality of the law in practice. The continuity of the vulnerable sectors' dispossession – an inherent element of the development of capitalism – was then masked behind three modes of inequality: the denial of unequal material conditions through the imposition of an ahistorical and abstract characterisation of the law; inequality of the formal law; and inequality in the application of the law. Today, in an age of global governance, this chapter proposes that a similar process of global triple inequality is taking place through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Reflections on possible paths to overcome this trend can be found at the end of the chapter.

Providers of healthcare services face increasing performance demands in terms of cost-efficiency as well as client centeredness. Dementia care is an illustrative example in this respect. Due to the aging society, the number of dementia clients is expected to grow significantly, which implies increasing costs. At the same time, demands in terms of coherent and high-quality care for dementia clients are increasing, putting a stronger emphasis on demand driven, responsive care and service processes. Literature shows that case management in dementia care is beneficial for persons with dementia and caregivers, but costly. Using insights from operations management (OM), the purpose of this paper is to develop a new model for case management in dementia care.

To address both cost containment and customer orientation, insights from OM, in particular front/back office (FO/BO) configuration and modularity theory, are used to develop an innovative conceptual model for case management in dementia care.

This framework offers a new way of conceptualizing care provision throughout the different phases of a chronic disease process. Linking FO/BO configurations and modular organizing with case management makes it possible to create a cost-effective and client-centered system of healthcare management.

A new model is developed to address both cost containment and customer orientation based on insights from OM, in particular FO/BO configuration and modularity theory.

In this study, interviewees in the training group were instructed to use mental imagery techniques in a simulated employment interview. Results indicated that the subjects who used mental imagery had higher performance in the interview and lower perceived stress than the subjects who did not use mental imagery. Mental imagery did not have a significant effect upon perceptions of self‐efficacy. Mental imagery ability had a positive effect on perceived usefulness of mental imagery while controllability and vividness did not. Subjects did indicate positive perceptions of the mental imagery intervention and a willingness to use mental imagery again in the future. The personality variable, “conscientiousness”, had a significant effect in the mental imagery performance relationship.

Significant transitions in firms (e.g. outsourcing) may impact the relative importance of production and inventory assets, affecting the hierarchical separation of planning decisions. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to planning literature by investigating how the production system and the planning environment influence the performance difference between hierarchical and monolithic planning. Further, it seeks to reduce the prevailing theory-practice gap in tactical planning.

Through an action research study, a monolithic model integrating tactical production planning decisions, subject to upstream supply chain constraints, with strategic investments decisions was developed, tested and implemented in a global OEM. Using the developed model and a measure of the capital cost of production assets relative to the cost of holding inventory, it is numerically examined how the production system and planning environment influence the performance of hierarchical and monolithic planning.

The research demonstrates the potential of integrating decisions and reveals significant performance differences between hierarchical and monolithic planning for firms with low capital cost relative to inventory holding cost.

The findings suggest a fit between planning processes, the production system and planning environment. Future research should empirically validate the findings and propositions.

The paper combine capital investments and production planning decisions, which usually transpire at different hierarchical levels and on different time-horizons, and investigates the consequences of hierarchical separation through a real-life validated case and numerical analysis.

The article aims to critically analyze the project management developed by research laboratories of a Brazilian university in order to enhance their performance. For this, a critical analysis was performed to identify existing opportunities about the management of schedules and resources. Additionally, a software was developed to enable performance improvement.

The methodological procedures used were literature review, for a theoretical foundation, and case study conducted with semi-structured interviews, documentary research and on-site visits. Through a detailed critical analysis of the laboratories' management, it was possible to understand the activities developed and map the main difficulties observed.

A total of five plausible points of improvement were identified, namely reduced teams and accumulation of activities; team seasonality; centralized management; deviations from projects and schedule control. Based on the theoretical foundation, it has been proposed adjustments to minimize the mentioned difficulties that can greatly contribute for better management efficiency of multiple research projects. In addition, a software was structured based on the proposed improvements. The laboratories' performance was monitored for a month and significant improvements were observed.

The information presented here may be of great value to other researchers interested in enhancing research laboratory performance.

The academic literature presents several examples of project management guidelines application in different organizations; however, there are few studies about the application of them in research laboratories and how to improve their performance.

This paper evaluates why activation programmes are still an important and core component of most European countries’ social‐ and labour market policies when it has become increasingly clear that the employment effects are most often either unknown or very small.

To answer this issue, an in‐depth investigation of the evolution of activation programmes in the specific national context of Denmark is investigated.

Charting in detail the evolution of labour market activation (or workfare) programmes in Denmark, this paper displays the ongoing intensification of activation policies and ways in which this has reduced the living standards of marginalised groups and explains this to be the result of a power block that has a wider intent of disciplining the whole workforce, not least by encouraging more people to work harder and for longer hours, and rarely with overtime compensation.

This paper explains the reasons for the continuing use of labour market insertion programmes when there is a lack of evidence that they are effective in achieving their goal of inserting people into employment.

This paper uses the notion of a power block to understand the reasons for advanced economies persisting with labour market activation programmes.