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This study evaluates “the potential role of cultural heritage resources in tourism and community development at Musina Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa.”

Data on the local communities were collected by questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions and field observations.

The study revealed a variety of cultural and heritage resources; however, with current fewer implications of tourism welfare on the livelihoods statuses of the communities. Thus, there was a need for a potentially sound tourism strategy in cultural heritage resources to empower the local communities in the study area.

Musina Municipality has some of the most challenging impoverishment attributes within the province, defined by evident poor livelihoods. However, it remarkably possesses rich natural biodiversity and tourism destination areas. In line with the probe on the role of cultural heritage resources in tourism and community development, the study uncovers the values of attributing factors associated with the current nature of social heritage resources and their impacts on tourism and community developments. Issues of heritage and cultural resources on tourism and community development have become of main interest within the tourism industry.

Despite the growing economic importance of Africa, the region has received scant attention in the international human resource management literature. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in examining human resource management (HRM) practices in Western multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) subsidiary operations in Ghana, which is a significant foreign direct investment market in Africa. Focusing on recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, and rewards management viewed through the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) framework, the research emphasizes that effectiveness of the MNEs’ cross-cultural operations has necessitated embracing localization across a range of practices in accordance with the Ghanaian cultural landscape and specificities.

The paper draws on 37 in-depth interviews with managers and employees in eight subsidiaries of British, European and US MNEs in Ghana. Interviews were conducted in 2015 in three locations – the capital city Accra, Tema (in the south) and Tamale (in the north).

The research reinforces earlier literature emphasizing the importance of paternalism and family and to a lesser extent patronage, but presents new findings in highlighting the erstwhile unexplored role of local chiefs in influencing HRM practices in Western MNEs in Ghana. Utilizing the AMO framework, this paper highlights practices within each HR area that influences performance through impact on employee AMO.

The research informs MNE managers about the strategic importance of observing local cultural practices and designing appropriate strategies for ensuring both operational effectiveness and successful cross-cultural collaboration with local managers and employees in Ghana. It is suggested that if managers implement practices that foster and enhance employee AMO, subsidiaries may benefit from employee potential and discretionary judgment.

This paper contributes to a dearth of literature on HRM practices of Western MNEs’ subsidiaries in Africa by examining the extent to which MNEs strategically localize their practices to accommodate specificities of the host country cultural context and operate successfully.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated management structure for the identification and evaluation of Palestine’s heritage, although the unending Israeli occupation poses a huge, multi-faceted constraint. Necessarily, the approach chosen considers aptly the local culture, values, dynamics and context, assimilating the significance of a broader range of different, diverse historical and cultural resources with a variety of meanings, tangible and otherwise, across various sections of the population.

A multi-technique strategy emphasized the combination of between-technique triangulation in the implementation to enhance and improve substantially the related internal legitimacy of the investigation. A thorough exploration was executed via field investigation survey, meetings with the local communities and conservation questionnaires. Equally useful was the second method employed to gain valuable information on the transformation of conservation activities in highly diverse geological and cultural cases in the USA, France and Egypt.

This research consequently produced a much needed, important approach for the recognition, assessment and administration of Palestine’s ancient cultural assets with respect to native culture, standards, non-static aspects and boundaries.

The study assists the authorities and decision makers in developing mechanisms for the management of the cultural heritage that would stop the expansion of Israeli settlements as a form of non-violent resistance.

There are many threats to cultural heritage including armed conflict and natural disasters such as earthquakes, fire and flooding. It is understandable that these dramatic events frequently capture the world’s attention. However, a far more considerable danger is inadequate management a lack of financial resources to conduct continuous conservation and maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the current state of financial sustainability at a limited selection set of tangible immovable cultural heritage sites and investigate why this critical aspect is deficient. Case studies have been identified where management improved, and a level of financial sustainability is achieved.

To improve the conservation of tangible immovable cultural heritage sites, a specific definition of financial sustainability is required, which significantly differs from the management of for-profit activities and even other non-profit cultural institutions such as museums, and takes into account the special requirements for conservation and education, additional values, site access and the wide variety of places that range from archaeological sites to single structures. The methodology began with researching the definition of financial sustainability from non-profit institutions then refining through the application it to a defined and limited selection set of World Heritage properties. World Heritage properties were selected, given the wealth of data readily available. Following this larger selection, several evaluation case studies were selected for further investigation including an analysis of the management circumstances and how greater financial sustainability was achieved. The investigation initially relied on secondary sources including academic articles, thesis, management plans, nomination dossiers, reactive monitoring mission reports, newspaper articles, periodic reporting and required State of Conservation Reports. The case study investigation relied on primary sources including observational site visits and interviews using an informal questionnaire. Findings were later verified by follow up interviews.

The research led to a definition of financial sustainability specifically for tangible cultural heritage sites that included five components, namely, management planning, revenue identification, expenditure analysis, administration and strategic planning, and, most importantly, alignment and support of cultural, educational and conservation mission. A majority of World Heritage properties in this study fall short of this definition of financial sustainability and do not sufficiently address this issue. Research revealed that there is a need for more dialogue with informed data on the financial aspects of managing tangible cultural heritage sites as most locations studied are not able to efficiently manage funds or take full advantage of possible opportunities. However, a few sites have achieved greater financial sustainability. The research describes the identified five critical circumstances in further defining financial sustainability: a conducive and open planning environment, knowledge and education, positive perceptions concerning the importance of finance, managerial autonomy and public interest. These circumstances permitted better management of existing funding and an environment for innovation.

Research limitations during the initial study included a hesitation or unwillingness to discuss financial details, a general lack of statistics, a lack of knowledge related to finance, a prejudice against the topic and a concern over the commodification of cultural heritage. However, as the case studies identified achieved greater financial sustainability, this was less of a limitation. Additional limitations included the necessity to conduct interviews via telephone and in European languages, English, Spanish and Italian. The final limitation was that this study only focused on single tangible cultural heritage sites and excluded larger sites such as entire cities and intangible or movable cultural heritage.

The circumstances, which comprise the definition, identified during the research lead to a number of possibilities for improving the financial sustainability. The first is not to place emphasis on a management plan but in fostering an environment that encourages financial planning. The second circumstance is to improve the knowledge and education of finance for site managers. Third, a positive perception of finance, standard business practice and surplus generating activities must occur. Fourth, financial management must be devolved to individual sites. Finally, the public must be involved to ensure financial sustainability. There must be initiatives to frequently include the local community and encourage participation.

Most cultural heritage sites are financially dependent upon the state, and this will likely continue, but it is improbable to expect full financial support ad infinitum. Overdependence on highly variable top-down funding leaves cultural heritage vulnerable and open to uncertainty. While it is unrealistic to expect most sites to become financially self-sufficient or that managers will suddenly become entrepreneurs, it is reasonable to expect some improvement. The goal should not be to create a business from cultural heritage but to improve financial management for greater sustainability. Financially sustainability ensures that sites are conserved and maintained for future generations.

The need to preserve cultural heritage is widely recognized by many different segments of society. However, the availability of financial resources to sustain conservation is often deficient or overlooked. Without taking measures for continued financial support, tangible cultural heritage is at risk as preventive maintenance is ignored and essential personnel and their skills are lost. Commodification of cultural heritage is of great concern and, when used as a means of generating income, it can compromise other values. Thus, a critical balancing act must be achieved by those who care about the historic, aesthetic and scientific values.

Natural disasters exert a continual toll not only on property and public infrastructure, but also on places and items of cultural heritage value. Whereas infrastructure and modern buildings can be rebuilt, archaeological and heritage sites cannot be restored without loss of integrity and authenticity. Often, the impact of management decisions during and following a disaster is greater than the physical impact of the disaster itself. Aims to assess attitudinal barriers that may exist among disaster management professionals, a study of local controllers of the state emergency service of New South Wales (Australia).

All local controllers of the state emergency service of New South Wales were surveyed by a mail‐out questionnaire as to their knowledge of cultural heritage and their attitudes to the protection of cultural heritage assets during bushfires.

Key areas identified are a general lack of awareness of the special needs of heritage places, a lack of communication between emergency and heritage managers; an acknowledged need for but decided absence of disaster planning for cultural heritage assets; and a need for training and education.

The study considered the local controllers of the state emergency service of New South Wales. Given the observed attitudinal barriers, there is a need for future research looking at the attitudes held by the various levels in the vertical decision making and authority tree.

The awareness of SES controllers regarding cultural heritage in disaster situations needs to be improved as are the communication channels both in the disaster preparedness and the disaster response phase.

This is the first time research has been carried out into assessing the attitudes and awareness of local controllers of the state emergency service of New South Wales with respect to cultural heritage asset management.

Forest industries affect cultural sustainability profoundly, but little information exists on integration of cultural sustainability aspects into their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines comprising assessments of economic, ecological and social aspects are one of the most comprehensive CSR frameworks applied widely also in forest industries. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate, how the GRI guidelines encompass cultural sustainability when assessing forestry and forest industry operations in a global context and to recognize the cultural sustainability themes that need additional information in forest industry companies’ CSR reporting.

In the qualitative analysis, expert interview material on indicators identified for assessing the cultural sustainability of forest bioenergy production in North Karelia was compared with the contents of the GRI guidelines. The focus on classifying the cultural indicators according to GRI contents was to recognize in the context of forest bioenergy production, the links between cultural sustainability and other sustainability dimensions and to illustrate the new themes that cultural sustainability integration would bring to CSR management of the business. In addition, information was acquired from the general themes of cultural sustainability which are currently lacking from the GRI guidelines.

The results of the show that most of the cultural indicators in the expert interview material were associated with aspects of economic, environmental or social sustainability when classified according to the GRI guidelines. Despite this, it seems that a more profound integration of cultural sustainability evaluations in CSR management is required. The analysis of this study showed that the themes “Impacts on landscape,” “Timeline of impacts,” “Spiritual values,” “Persistence of traditions” and “Adaptability to cultural change” are not approached in the GRI guidelines at all. All of the identified themes approach issues, which have been found to be crucial in forest industries’ operations not only in a local, but also in a global context.

The analysis of this study was limited to cultural characteristics of forestry and forest industries especially in the case of forest bioenergy production in North Karelia, Eastern Finland. Due to this, the results cannot be generalized directly into other CSR management contexts of forest industries in different geographical areas. Despite this, the results of this study indicate that when aiming to enhance the acceptability of forest industries in energy production as well as in other branches of forest industries, new insights are needed on the integration of cultural aspects in CSR management.

The pressures toward using local forest resources are increasing internationally. As a result of this, the managers and politicians responsible for making decisions on forest sector are less seldom familiar with local traditions and the ways of balancing different needs related to forests in various geographical contexts. In enhancing the environmental, social and economic sustainability of forest resource usage it is crucial to ensure that the decisions made do not conflict with cultural values of localities traditionally dependent on forests. Despite this, general information on cultural sustainability issues related to forests and especially CSR management in forest sector is scarce.

The aim of this research is to discuss the effect of corruption on conventional management of cultural heritage (CH) resources in Nigeria. It identifies the means by which the effect can be curtailed to bring about proper management system in the CH sector and pave the way for economic/sustainable development through cultural tourism in the country.

The research draws from both exploratory and comparative approaches. It took a study of selected locations and museums in the six geopolitical zones of the country, with a review of literatures on cultural heritage management (CHM). It also gives summarized information on the present overall effect of corruption in the CH sector of Nigeria.

The research reveals that there are some levels of mismanagement and destruction of CH resources in the country. This is manifested in acts of museum theft, illicit trafficking, unlawful possession and general mishandling of CH, as well as the deterioration of facilities in the sector. The research gathered that the problem came as a result of wrongful appointment of none heritage experts as heads of heritage-related institutions and agencies. It also results from lack of required attention by the government and other relevant stakeholders (such as community leaders/members, academics and law enforcement agencies, inter alia) toward CH preservation, protection, management and promotion for sustainable development. The research recommends that the government and other CH stakeholders (mentioned above) should make efforts to address the issues discussed, so as to improve the management of CH in the country for sustainable development.

Prior to this research, there has been no publication addressing the effect of corruption on CHM in this context and location. The article makes recommendations that call for action and also set grounds for future discourse.

The paper is to propose a tool for holistic impact assessment of commercially reused immovable cultural heritage resources on local, sustainable development along with the possibility to ensure the cultural sustainability of these assets themselves. The paper contains a case study using the proposed tool. The case study concerns a historic object in the form of a Polish manor house located in rural areas in Poland adapted for commercial purposes – restaurant, painting gallery and renovation of antique furniture.

The author proposes a holistic approach based on aspects, to impact assessment of given heritage resources on the economic, social, cultural and environmental pillars of sustainable development and the sustainable use of heritage assets themselves. Above that, the approach proposes to use the assumptions of EMAS or ISO 14001 systems for assessment of environmental aspects in case of reused cultural heritage assets.

The test study showed that the proposed tool allows determining whether, how and to what extent the contemporary commercial function of a given element of immovable cultural heritage contributes to local sustainable development and whether and to what extent the cultural sustainability of a given cultural heritage is ensured.

In the proposed approach, very detailed quantitative data cannot be included because of the need to simplify the research.

The proposed tool can be used by owners of reused historic buildings, local authorities, services responsible for the protection of cultural heritage and financing institutions to determine whether a given contemporary commercial function of cultural heritage resources contributes to local sustainable development in holistic approach and whether this function ensures the preservation of its cultural sustainability.

The use of the proposed tool will give the opportunity to take appropriate actions to increase the impact of historic objects on local sustainable development including social aspects. Moreover, it will be possible to increase the cultural sustainability of these objects.

There are not many studies and tools that provide a possibility to assess a holistic impact of reused cultural heritage on local sustainable development. Research usually concerns one or two pillars: social and economic. Above that, the study of the cultural appreciation in two different groups: direct users and the local community is a novelty in the perception of contribution to cultural development. It may contribute to the different way of measurement of appreciation of cultural heritage and its contribution to social and cultural development. In addition, to study the environmental pillar, the author proposes an approach used in environmental management (ISO 1400 and EMAS), i.e. the application of activities related to eliminating the potentially harmful impact of a new function of the historic resource on the natural environment.

This investigation is designed to quantify and appraise the efficiency of resource distribution in the provision of public digital cultural services in China. By acknowledging and incorporating the realities of China's social development, the authors offer recommendations for enhancement derived from the study’s data analysis results. The research zeroes in on the dissection and analysis of the integral elements that structure the provision of public digital cultural services, and it concentrates on the associated data computation. The conclusions drawn herein are expected to serve as a significant point of reference for ongoing academic investigations and practical explorations in affiliated domains.

In this research, the authors utilize a hybrid methodology to meticulously evaluate the efficiency of the components that underpin the provision of public digital cultural services (PDCS) in China. The authors embark on deconstructing the various constituents within the PDCS supply framework, conducting in-depth analyses and providing cogent interpretations of each integral element. Subsequently, the authors deploy the well-regarded SBM super-efficiency model to ascertain the operational efficiency of these components. Ultimately, through a comprehensive interpretation of the measured data and the integration of extant societal development conditions, the authors put forth relevant recommendations.

The provision of PDCS in China as of 2021 had been characterized by overall good efficiency, significant regional disparity and a disconnect between inputs and outputs with weak correlations to economic and demographic data.

In this study, the authors provide an exhaustive deconstruction and interpretation of the public digital cultural services supply system, thereby proposing a framework for evaluating the efficiency of supply element allocation. Additionally, the authors have determined a set of distinct measurable indicators that are readily accessible for open collection. Notably, this analytical and evaluative framework designed for element analysis and measurement may also find application in efficiency evaluation research of the supply systems of other related cultural endeavors.

The success of mergers and acquisitions are contingent upon organizational operations, legal structures, and fiscal responsibilities. Each of these areas requires a proper mix of human capital – people – assigned to carry out the objectives and goals of the emerging entity. Within the general knowledge of Mergers and acquisitions (M&As), research focusing upon these aspects of human capital have been lacking. This chapter adds to the current knowledge of M&A human resources by establishing a framework that can direct future research.