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Retailing thought and practice is premised on the assumption that consumers visit retailers to search for and acquire objects produced by manufacturers. In essence, we assume that the acts of consuming and producing are conducted by separate entities. This unspoken yet familiar premise shapes the questions retail scholars ask and the way retail practitioners think about their industry. Although this assumption accurately depicted retailing since the Industrial Revolution, its relevance is being challenged by a growing set of individuals who are equipped with new digital tools to engage in self-manufacturing. In this chapter, we examine self-manufacturing with a particular focus on the recent rise of desktop 3D printing. After discussing this new technology and reviewing the literature, we offer a conceptual classification of four distinct types of 3D printed objects and use this classification to inform a content analysis of over 400 of these objects. Based on this review and analysis, we discuss the implications of self-manufacturing for retailing thought and practice.

The success of a firm is usually characterized by a constant re-thinking of its strategic model. Considerable entrepreneurial tension is involved in achieving competitive excellence, and the achievement of a right balance between the different elements that form a corporate strategy (e.g. economic perspective and social acceptability) (Coda, 1988).

Area 49 is a group of specialized technology spaces in J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Since the launch of these spaces in 2018, librarians have worked with instructors in all disciplines to design unique experiences that support students’ academic success and lifelong learning. However, much of the success of these spaces is due to the extensive research and work that occurred during the planning, construction, and purchasing stages. While the spaces will continue to evolve based on research, emerging technologies, and use, it was this foundation that posed the spaces for success from the start.

Past research on collectivist-democratic organizations has attributed their distinctiveness to their socio-political goals and democratic decision-making and largely ignored their work processes. This ethnographic study examines how such organizations resist alienating forms of work even in the face of direct competition with for-profit companies. It focuses on Scopix, a French cooperative sheet-metal factory where the first author spent one year as a shop-floor worker. Cooperators there developed various practices to retain an emancipatory dimension to their work, regularly putting forward “craft ethics” as a counterweight to the sheet-metal industry’s drive to rationalize work processes. Drawing on the sociology of worth, the authors analyze how these practices emerged from the arrangements that workers made between the industrial world on the one side and the domestic and inspired worlds on the other. This study contributes to the literature into two main ways. First, the authors refine the sociology-of-worth framework by conceptualizing the emancipatory dimension of work as the result of ad hoc arrangements between different worlds. Second, the authors highlight the need for the literature on collectivist-democratic organizations to increase its focus on work, introducing the concept of work degeneration as a step in that direction.

A new form of learning space has emerged across the world, marking a shift from Do-It-Yourself to Do-It-Together. This space, generically known as a makerspace, is located in accessible and affordable venues, both within communities and serving communities. It offers a resource that allows people to discover their latent capabilities through exploration, experimentation and iteration, alongside the knowledge openly shared by those around them. The underlying rationale is found in the work of John Dewey, notably Democracy and Education (D&E, 1916). This chapter examines this newer form of space to gain insight into what it implies for learning and education. It commences with a reflection of salient aspects of Dewey’s D&E (1916) and how this informs understanding on what is desirable in a learning space. This is followed by a reflection upon research on makerspaces to establish how they can be conceptualized. A case study provides rich insights into characteristics, ethos and practices, while acknowledging that each space is unique and not representative of them all. Nevertheless, it foregrounds the essence of what defines a makerspace. The chapter closes with discussion of the implications and what may be concluded.

Whatever has transpired between the publication of Dewey’s D&E (1916) and the present, his vision of the empowered individual clearly manifests in the makerspace. It allows individuals to break free from the limitations of the formal educational system and, as part of a social learning community, discover their potential in new, natural, non-linear and often unexpected ways. Further, and perhaps only just beginning to be understood, is its wider potential to ignite alternative approaches on how to contribute to society and catalysing new directions for the future of work. With increasing research insights alongside broadened awareness of the possibilities, individuals can gain the capability to design and build for their future – that is only limited by their capacity to imagine it.

This chapter describes how a strategic change in the mission of the library led to the collaborative development of library services to meet the needs for innovation and creative spaces in a large urban public university. Several years ago, the Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge, adopted a new vision that included supporting and encouraging creativity and innovation on campus. In this chapter, the authors will describe three ways in which this new strategic perspective has changed the nature of our library (and libraries in general). First, the authors will share the results of a survey of business librarians, which reveals the changing attitudes of librarians toward entrepreneurship and innovation in libraries. Second, the authors will describe the Creative Media Studio, housed in the Oviatt Library’s Learning Commons, which was created in 2014 as a space to create music, use high-end video editing tools, and fabricate three-dimensional objects with 3D printers. Third, the authors will discuss a recent campus-wide task force, chaired by the Library Dean, which recommends the construction of a large makerspace in the heart of the Oviatt Library, collaborating not only with the College of Business but also with the College of Engineering, the College of Arts, Media and Communication, and the new University Incubator. This chapter will outline how library personnel have partnered with faculty, staff, and administration to bridge gaps in curriculum and provide instruction in multimedia creation, including licensing and copyright, for students involved in innovative activities and entrepreneurial ventures. The chapter will also describe the library’s role in the evolution of the Creative Media Studio, the development of the new campus makerspace, and the ways in which librarians are evolving from traditional roles to more entrepreneurial responsibilities. Finally, the authors will discuss best practices in developing partnerships for new innovative and creative spaces and services by illustrating the challenges and successes in sustaining partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.

Scholars have been conducting serious research mainstream on the human, organizational and cultural aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for more than three decades. The current globalization is faced by the challenge to meet the continuously growing worldwide demand for capital and consumer goods by simultaneously ensuring a sustainable evolvement of human existence in its social, environmental and economic dimensions. Currently, a new era of M&A is emerging through a wave of strategic investment decision-making toward Industry 4.0 (I4.0) strategy. The new waves of M&A can be viewed as comprehensive integration of manufacturing systems, production processes, digital communications technologies and automated machines. I4.0 strategy will make supply chains and production processes more interconnected, efficient and flexible, allowing mass-customization and virtual production. This chapter offers state of the art review of I4.0 based on recent developments in research and practice. This chapter offers an overview of opportunities and challenges associated with M&A activities toward I4.0, and suggestions for future research.

Given the speed at which technologies are reshaping economies and societies, libraries are called to embrace these changes while maintaining their role in the achievement sustainable development goals. This chapter aims to highlight how libraries can embrace the sustaining and disruptive technologies brought by the fourth industrial revolution on the library role in advancing sustainable development. The chapter highlights the role of libraries in sustainable development, and the unveils how the fourth industrial revolution technologies, that is, maker spaces, block chain technology, augmented reality, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence are used to enhance the library role in advancing sustainable development. Major challenges affecting libraries in embracing Library 4.0, that is, chronic financial constraints, inadequate infrastructure, resistance to change, and technical skills deficiency and possible recommendations to overcome these challenges are highlighted. This chapter is based on desktop review of relevant literature and the authors' views.