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Social manufacturing has emerged. It aims to integrate the manufacturing resources of micro- and small-scale manufacturing enterprises (MSMEs) and help MSMEs cope with the dynamic, service-oriented and personalized market demands. In social manufacturing, MSMEs cooperate with each other through manufacturing resource sharing. However, because MSMEs are distributed and decentralized, the efficiency of establishing reliable cooperation between MSMEs is relatively low. Therefore, this paper presents a blockchain-driven cyber-credit evaluation system (BCCES) to implement distributed cyber-credit evaluation. BCCES can provide reliable cyber-credit for distributed MSMEs without the trusted third party. This can improve the efficiency of establishing reliable cooperation among unauthentic MSMEs.

The paper proposes a BCCES to evaluate MSMEs' cyber-credit in decentralized environment. In BCCES, a cyber-credit evaluation model is proposed by improving set pair analysis (SPA) method, and cyber-credit smart contract and distributed consensus mechanism are designed according to the runtime logic of distributed cyber-credit evaluation.

The results confirmed that BCCES is feasible and effective to implement cyber-credit evaluation without the trusted third party. With the advantages of blockchain, BCCES can automatically realize cyber-credit evaluation through smart contract and distributed consensus. At the same time, BCCES can evaluate the real-time cyber-credit of MSMEs based on their latest service evaluation. In addition, we can design corresponding smart contracts according to actual requirements, which makes blockchain applicable to different distributed scenarios.

The paper combines blockchain and SPA to implement cyber-credit evaluation in social manufacturing and provides a new feasible idea for cyber-credit evaluation without the trusted third party. This can also provide MSMEs a reference of applying blockchain to other distributed scenarios through combining smart contract and different algorithms.

This article reviews the history of international coordination in the supervision of financial institutions noting why cooperation developed first and has been most extensive in oversight of banks relative to securities firms and insurance companies. It also poses the question of whether the extent of international coordination can be sustained or may even diminish.

The history of international coordination is used to illustrate the hypotheses that cooperation is more likely: the broader the international consensus on policy objectives and the potential gains from cooperation, the wider the international consensus on policy objectives and the potential gains from cooperation, the deeper the international agreement on the probable consequences of policy alternatives, the stronger the international institutional infrastructure for decision-making and the greater the domestic influence of experts who share a common understanding of a problem and its solutions.

All five of these factors that have enabled deepening and broadening of international cooperation have diminished in strength so that international cooperation is not likely to expand and may even be in retreat.

This article clarifies the factors that facilitate international cooperation and highlights the key obstacles to sustaining international cooperation.

The management of major inter-firm projects requires a coherent, holistic governance framework to be effective. However, most existing models of project governance are limited to a narrow selection of contractual, structural or procedural aspects, and further neglect contextual factors, such as key characteristics of a project and its partners. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This conceptual paper proposes an integrative analytical model of inter-firm project governance, building upon contingency theory and drawing from established constructs rooted in organization theory.

The paper aims to integrate two largely distinct streams of research and synthesize the respective constitutive dimensions of project governance into a coherent conceptual model. Further, interrelationships with contextual factors, such as project-related and partner-related characteristics, and project performance are discussed.

The proposed model purposefully merges two complementary streams of project governance research. As the model further provides clear contextual factors, it strengthens an emerging stream of project research by systematically examining external influences of project organizing. Future research may utilize this model and the suggested operationalization for each of the constructs as a basis to empirically investigate the design and effectiveness of governance regimes of major projects.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the effects of cooperation history on contractual governance and the moderating effects of dependence asymmetry on those relationships from the perspective of a weaker firm in emergent economies. Drawing from resource dependence theory and contingency theory, this paper develops a conceptual model to investigate the impact of cooperation history on contractual governance.

The authors use data from 188 buyer–supplier relationships in China

The authors find that cooperation history is positively associated with contractual governance when dependence asymmetry is high but negatively associated with contractual governance when dependence asymmetry is low. Furthermore, the negative moderating effect of dependence asymmetry on the relationship between cooperation history and contractual complexity is stronger than the relationship between cooperation history and contract enforcement.

This study contributes to a better understanding of how cooperation history affects contractual governance with respect to the various levels of dependence on partners by incorporating a contingency view. This study also advances the literature on interfirm governance by distinguishing contractual governance into contractual complexity and contract enforcement.

As the sole Asian country in the DAC donor community until South Korea joined in 2010, Japan has been struggling with the pressure to align with the norms and modalities of the community, while having a different history of aid from Western donors and desiring to be unique. This chapter untangles the domestic and international factors that have affected policy making and implementation of the Japanese Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), particularly in education, at different times in its history. The philosophical foundations of Japanese aid policies are examined in the changing political, economic, and social contexts from the 1950s up to the present.

As the Education for All paradigm took the stage, Japanese education ODA has shifted from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s to primary education from technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education. However, in the post-2015 process, the policies have swung back to give equal emphasis to TVET and higher education as to basic education, reflecting the global trend to make the agenda more comprehensive. While the convergence with the global trend is clear in Japanese ODA, the hesitant desire to be unique always forces Japanese ODA officials and scholars to discuss and try to demonstrate the “Japanese model” of development and aid.

The chapter also points out that the increased presence of other Asian donors in recent years has made Japanese ODA policies driven more by national interests than by global humanitarianism, which is clearly seen in the Development Cooperation Charter adopted in 2014.

This study aims to provide the history and overview of the major categories of physical education (PE) assistance that Japan has provided to other countries by extracting the major categories from the various materials.

This study is divided into two phases, Phases 1 and 2. Surveys and analyses were further conducted. In Phase 1, a web browser-based survey was conducted to ascertain the major categories of PE assistance that Japan has provided to other countries. The practices and projects investigated were classified inductively, and the major categories were extracted. In Phase 2, a literature review was conducted to organise the history and overview of each category extracted in Phase 1.

Six major categories were extracted: (1) dispatch of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers engaged in PE assistance, (2) assistance through training for those involved in PE, (3) revision or formulation of a PE curriculum, (4) preparation of textbooks or instructional materials for PE, (5) organising sports event and (6) maintenance of PE equipment and facilities.

Japan has a long history of providing PE assistance to other countries. However, historical materials on the practices and projects of PE are becoming scattered. Little literature addresses this gap, which this study seeks to address. This study can help policy makers in other countries, who can use Japan’s PE assistance practices and policies for reference, to assist them in formulating their own policies.

Purpose – We delineate how the concept of reputation has been used in different literatures. We develop some formal definitions of observers and reputation that bring together the different literatures. We then ask how noncooperative or “bad” reputations might be repaired. Based on the developed definitions and past research, we suggest some possibilities for reconciliation. We also work on developing an experimental paradigm to investigate reputation.

Methodological/Approach – We review research from different disciplines, develop definitions, and design an experiment.

Findings – We suggest that, under certain conditions, group reconciliation can occur. However, these conditions are quite specific.

Practical Implications – When the goal is to solve a social dilemma, reconciliation is an important part of the process. Without reconciliation, group integration is problematic.

Social Implications – Reconciliation can be a powerful process that encourages cooperation. We suggest some ways that reconciliation might be possible.

Originality/Value of the Chapter – This chapter suggests a new formalization to connect different conceptualizations of reputations.

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a theoretical model of international strategic alliance (ISA) relationship development underpinned by the foreign investment decision process.

The conceptual model demonstrates an ISA investment decision process consisting of three ex ante formation aspects – parent firm top management's general attitude towards alliances, scope of parent's cooperation analysis for the focal alliance, and interfirm collaborative history – and two key ex post relational outcomes – parent's willingness to invest in the alliance business and satisfaction with the relationship. The theoretical propositions were tested among a sample of 94 ISAs using structural equation modelling.

The results show that top management attitude towards alliances is negatively associated with scope of cooperation analysis, but only where collaborative history exists. Scope of cooperation analysis, in turn, positively influences willingness to invest. And together these factors exert a positive influence on relationship satisfaction.

The ISA literature has devoted significant attention to partner characteristics important in venture formation, as well as to post‐formation partnership management issues. However, there is a dearth of empirical research explaining the role of venture formation aspects in influencing ISA relationship development and success. The study adds to the limited empirical research work on the role of venture formation aspects in influencing ISA relationship development and success. It provides new and detailed insights for business practitioners and academic researchers concerning the behavioural, decision process underlying ISA partnership progression.

The history of Bulgarian librarianship comprises a history of survival under change imposed by foreign rule. This chapter traces the historical development of Bulgarian libraries and LIS education through the lens of Bulgarian history. Part I presents an overview of Bulgarian history, focusing on four dramatic epochs. During Ottoman rule (1393–1878), Bulgarian libraries survived by hiding. The second epoch, European intervention, Russian, occurred under the Austro-Hungarian, and German rule (1878–1944). Bulgarian LIS survived by adopting European practices and the German academic model of library education. The third epoch, Soviet rule (1944–1989), saw a massive suppression of information, Bulgarian libraries survived by maintaining an undercurrent of dissent. The fourth epoch began in 1989 with the onset of democratic reforms. Bulgarian librarianship survived the financial crisis and anarchy of that epoch by adopting foreign practices and establishing partnerships with foreign library institutions. Part II describes agents of change acting within the Bulgarian LIS field during the radical change from Soviet to democratic rule. The change agents included the formation of a union, cooperation among Bulgarian libraries, and international cooperation with Western institutions.

Research for this chapter incorporated literature reviews, surveys of accredited Bulgarian LIS programs, interviews with Bulgarian and American LIS professionals, and bibliometric analysis of Bulgarian publications.