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Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2020

Silk Ugwu Ogbu

As Africa strives to catch up with the rest of the world at the economic, political and sociocultural fronts, there is an increasing coalescence around the need for backward…

Abstract

As Africa strives to catch up with the rest of the world at the economic, political and sociocultural fronts, there is an increasing coalescence around the need for backward integration and the revival of traditional business management practices as enablers in the global war for economic dominance. Unfortunately, a significant consequence of colonial rule was the systematic denigration and portrayal of traditional African institutions and knowledge systems as inferior to those of the West. Although the negative depiction of the African worldview has been extensively challenged in the academy, changes in their perception and adoption have remained slow. The ‘Igbo Apprenticeship System’ (IAS), widely recognised as the largest business incubator platform in the world today, is a great testament to the sophistication and resilience of indigenous African business models and the need to scale up their impact as a strategic step towards the economic emancipation of the continent. However, one fundamental aspect of IAS's success story that is hardly ever mentioned in the extant literature is its approach to conflict management. Understandably, business by its nature is competitive and conflict-prone. Nonetheless, the Igbos appear to have successfully managed different types of conflicts associated with their traditional business model without recourse to western methods or processes. Using a conceptual approach, this chapter attempts to examine the efficacy of the conflict transformation mechanisms in the ‘Igbo Traditional Business School’ (I-TBS) against the background of emerging challenges in the twenty-first-century business environments in Africa and around the world. From the prism of the Conflict Transformation Theory, the chapter argues that I-TBS can serve as a vehicle for the economic growth of the continent, but it must be prepared to deal with ‘new’ conflicts and demands arising from within and outside of its ecosystem.

Book part
Publication date: 17 September 2014

Uwafiokun Idemudia

The purpose of this chapter is to critically examine the extent to which oil multinational corporations (MNCs) can be both money makers and peace makers in the Niger Delta area of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is to critically examine the extent to which oil multinational corporations (MNCs) can be both money makers and peace makers in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, and to consider its implication for the role of business in conflict mitigation in resource-rich African countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The chapter presents a theoretical analysis based on secondary data and empirical research.

Findings

There is now an emerging consensus that business can be peace makers and money makers in developing countries as part of their social responsibility. However, the tendency to explore business-conflict linkage largely from a business perspective and to see conflict as an “incidence” that business has to respond to, as opposed to a “dynamic process” that is a function of the breakdown of stakeholder relationship, limits our understanding of the relationship between business and conflict. Focusing on the Niger Delta in Nigeria, it is argued that the contradictory tension inherent in the peace making efforts of oil MNCs and the nature of their core business activities (i.e., oil extraction) limits the incentives and undermines the capacity of oil MNCs to be peace makers.

Originality/value

The chapter contributes a critical perspective to the literature on business and conflict informed by nearly two decades of empirical research undertaken by the author in Africa. It analyzes how contextual factors in resource-rich African countries, previously neglected in the literature, influence both the willingness and ability of business to contribute to peace. It concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications for the role of business in conflict zones.

Details

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Emerging Trends in Developing Economies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-152-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 December 2015

Donna Mitchell, Darren Hudson, Riley Post, Patrick Bell and Ryan B. Williams

The objective of this chapter is to discuss the pathways between climate, water, food, and conflict. Areas that are exhibiting food insecurity or have the potential to be food…

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this chapter is to discuss the pathways between climate, water, food, and conflict. Areas that are exhibiting food insecurity or have the potential to be food insecure are typically located in areas that experience poverty and government corruption. Higher rates of conflict occur in areas with lower caloric intake and poor nutrition.

Methodology/approach

We identify key pathways between these variables and discuss intervening factors and compound effects.

Findings

The pathways between water, food security, and conflict are complicated and are influenced by many intervening factors. A critical examination of the literature and an in-depth analysis of the reasons for conflict suggest that food insecurity is a multiplier, or facilitator, of the opportunities for and benefits from conflict.

Practical implications

To most effectively reduce the risks of conflict, policies must adequately and simultaneously address each of the four dimensions of food security – availability, stability, utilization, and access. Careful attention to alleviating food insecurity will help alleviate some of the underlying rationale for conflict.

Details

Food Security in an Uncertain World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-213-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 July 2009

Iwan J. Azis

The proportion of long-distance migrant birds at the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland decreased between 1980 and 1992 because winter temperature increased…

Abstract

The proportion of long-distance migrant birds at the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland decreased between 1980 and 1992 because winter temperature increased. Deterioration in the Amazon, observed in the Xingu National Park, has become more serious during the past few years. The melting of Glazier in many places, especially in the European Alps and in the United States, is another classic example of changing ecosystem caused by the climate change. One prediction indicates that the glaciers in Mount Kilimanjaro will be gone by 2020. Natural disasters, also associated with climate change, are predicted to increase not only in terms of the frequency but also in the size of damages they can cause. From Bangladesh to Vietnam, from Pacific Islands to Latin America, scientists predict that hectares and hectares of mangroves will be flooded due to the rise of the sea level. People in some countries suffered from undrinkable water because of the saltwater intrusion caused by climate change–related hurricanes. In the other extreme, some places experienced drought that caused serious water shortages and loss of biodiversity and agricultural products (e.g., Australia, in 2002, and India, in 2003). Disappearance of habitats and ecosystems caused by climate change are serious, but a short-term challenge in terms of declining productivity in many farm areas are equally serious, if not more so.

Details

Crisis, Complexity and Conflict
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-205-0

Book part
Publication date: 11 November 2019

Katarzyna Wodniak and Anne Holohan

The goal of this chapter was to provide an insight into rules and norms behind generation Y social media presence and inform future research through an exploration of the norms…

Abstract

The goal of this chapter was to provide an insight into rules and norms behind generation Y social media presence and inform future research through an exploration of the norms underpinning digitally mediated interaction and behavior among college-age students in Ireland.

The authors administered a questionnaire containing both closed- and open-ended questions among 131 first-year college students in Ireland, asking them to identify online behaviors and actions with a purpose of recognizing rules and norms that guided how they handled sharing, interaction, and mediated aspects of relationships in their use of mobile devices and social media platforms.

This study reveals that the driving force is the desire for and implementation of what can be called the norm of “Do No Harm Lest Others Do Harm to You.” This norm, rather than being driven by the Hippocratic Code of principled awareness is an expression of an acute consciousness of audience segregation and the need for self-protection in online interaction. The respondents were asked about the rules and norms that guided how they handled sharing, interaction, and mediated aspects of relationships in their use of mobile devices and social media platforms. Their responses demonstrated that millennials, in their everyday and intensive use of digitally mediated technologies, have begun to observe a new social contract of “Do No Harm Lest Others Do Harm to You” where internet becomes a space of entertainment and private messaging devoid of conflict and exchanges of opinion with others. Millennials seem to be closing down the scope of online interaction which in the long run can limit the function of internet as a social sphere where various issues, including political views, are exchanged and discussed.

The research is exploratory in nature and relied up on a relatively small sample size. For this reason, while the study produces new analytic frameworks, the findings could not be generalized. Additionally, there are certain features that appear to be specifically Irish such as a blurred line between perception of bullying and harmless having the “craic.”

This research makes explicit the harm mitigation and conflict avoidance strategies underpinning the use of social and digital media as it has been deployed and shaped by Irish millennials and discusses the consequences of their reluctance to engage in the public realm of the internet.

Details

Mediated Millennials
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-078-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 August 2023

Steve Killelea

This chapter presents research and analysis on the Institute for Economics and Peace’s (IEP’s) index in the Ecological Threat Report (ETR). In the analysis, 178 countries are…

Abstract

This chapter presents research and analysis on the Institute for Economics and Peace’s (IEP’s) index in the Ecological Threat Report (ETR). In the analysis, 178 countries are examined at the sub-national level, accounting for 99.9% of the global population. The estimate consists of five indicators that aggregate to yield an index of ecological threats. These five indicators are water risk, the prevalence of stunting, the impact of natural disasters, projected population growth and projected temperature rise. The ETR is a tool that can be used to identify the countries that are at the highest risk of ecological threats. The index identifies that 30 countries facing the highest level of ecological threats as well as low levels of resilience are home to 1.26 billion people. At the end of 2020, in these 30 countries, 68% of the total people were forcibly displaced beyond their borders. As these 30 countries suffer collectively from the highest ecological threats and without the reversal of ecological degradation, displacement is very likely to continue. Without urgent development, ecological threats will continue to create humanitarian emergencies and will likely increase without a sustained effort to reverse the current trend.

Details

International Migration, COVID-19, and Environmental Sustainability
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-536-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 February 2021

Uma A. Segal

Approximately 3.5% of the world’s population currently lives outside the borders of its birthplace, and the impetus for its emigration are myriad, but underlying all migration is…

Abstract

Approximately 3.5% of the world’s population currently lives outside the borders of its birthplace, and the impetus for its emigration are myriad, but underlying all migration is the anticipation of improved opportunities. Among the specific reasons that people migrate is the aim to escape conflict in the homeland; included in the range of experiences that immigrants may have in the host country is conflict. This chapter provides an overview of global migration with particular focus on (1) when its impetus is conflict in the homeland, and (2) migration-related conflict in the host country. It addresses both voluntary and forced migration and presents a model of the migration – conflict nexus and some thoughts, methods, and tools that can be utilised to mitigate difficulties in both nation of origin and of destination.

Details

New Frontiers in Conflict Management and Peace Economics: With a Focus on Human Security
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-426-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 October 2023

Titta Pitman and John E. Reilly

This chapter explores conflict in digital transformation as a leadership challenge. The authors maintain that conflicts cannot be left to HR managers; rather, they must be…

Abstract

This chapter explores conflict in digital transformation as a leadership challenge. The authors maintain that conflicts cannot be left to HR managers; rather, they must be anticipated, handled adeptly and made a leadership priority. Although conflict resolution is a well-researched area, this is not the case for authentic leadership in digital transformation. Thus, the field is ripe for empirical research. Pitman and Reilly call for research on conflict in digital transformation, the role of leadership in averting and resolving conflicts and whether these roles change understanding of authentic leadership. The impact of AI warranting a revision of orthodox authentic leadership theory represents a further domain of potential research.

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 15 February 2021

Abstract

Details

New Frontiers in Conflict Management and Peace Economics: With a Focus on Human Security
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-426-5

Book part
Publication date: 31 December 2010

Christian Schott, Andy Reisinger and Taciano L. Milfont

This chapter contextualizes the interrelationships between tourism and climate change and thus provides an introduction to this volume. It commences with a brief but comprehensive…

Abstract

This chapter contextualizes the interrelationships between tourism and climate change and thus provides an introduction to this volume. It commences with a brief but comprehensive overview of the key issues identified by climate change research, including an update since the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as a brief discussion of the latest rounds of climate change negotiations. The pursuing discussion is informed by these points and explores climate change's indirect and induced impacts on tourism and possible ramifications. Both of these parts highlight behavioral change as a critical factor to both adaptation and mitigation thus motivating the psychological contribution in an effort to shed light on the obstacles to behavioral change. In the concluding section, the chapter synthesizes the discussion grounded in multiple disciplines into a set of research themes that the volume subsequently begins to address.

Details

Tourism and the Implications of Climate Change: Issues and Actions
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-620-2

Keywords

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