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In this chapter I argue that the distance research in international business studies is at a turning point, not in terms of its popularity, nor the quantity of articles published, but rather, in terms of the types of issues that are explored. Past distance research has largely been conducted at the level of the firm and/or the market – that is, linking national-level measures of distance with specific firm behaviors and outcomes. However, the seminal paper by Shenkar (2001) represents a shift in focus that is only just beginning to gain traction. This shift involves stepping back and beginning to unpack the black box we call ‘distance’ by exploring the micro-level mechanisms involved. In essence, it is about digging deeper in multiple aspects, to understand when, why and how distance matters in the international business (IB) context. These are issues that until now have typically been neglected. A metaphor borrowed from the social psychology literature, known as Coleman’s Boat, is used as a vehicle to explain the key issues involved in this shift and the opportunities for future research.

This chapter argues that intra-firm geographic mobility is an understudied mechanism that can help mitigate coordination failures in a geographically distributed organization. The chapter presents an organizing framework on how intra-firm geographic mobility creates value for firms and discusses how intra-firm geographic mobility can create value for individual workers. The chapter concludes by presenting a future research agenda for intra-firm geographic mobility in light of emerging phenomena such as global collaborative patenting by multinationals, temporary colocation of knowledge workers, and nonstandard work.

This ethnographic study explores how local and global forces influence a unique set of self-employed people in Havana’s tourism industry – dance instructors – and how these circumstances drive the strategies and rationalities they use to navigate socioeconomic transformations. Cuba’s recent history of economic crises, the decline in welfare assistance, and an array of market-driven economic reforms have driven many Cubans to search for incomes in Havana’s lucrative tourism industry. Global circulations of people, wealth, and ideas shape the opportunities Cubans find in this type of work. Furthermore, strict state policies and regulations, in conjunction with underlying systems of oppression, hinder and constrain Cubans who work in tourism-based ventures. Building on theories of neoliberalism and tourism, we discuss how Cuban dance instructors develop professional skills, standardize their activities, and address global consumer desires/demands while simultaneously drawing from collectivized social norms cultivated under Cuban socialism. These hybridized formal/informal business tactics reveal how self-employed Cubans are positioned between socialist configurations and the capital-driven tourism industry. These innovative socioeconomic logics are also critical in understanding how people living in centrally planned economies, some of which are socially marginalized because of patterns of inequality, gain access to and participate with contemporary modalities of the global economy.

Family life can be seriously disrupted when a mother is imprisoned. The separation changes and often reduces the type, frequency and quality of contact that can be achieved between family members, and especially for children when their mothers were their primary carers and living with them before her imprisonment. In England and Wales, prisoners are permitted contact with children and families through prison visits, telephone contact and letter-writing through the post, and in some prisons via email. Despite the recent policy interest in supporting prisoners' family ties, research has highlighted the challenges that families and prisoners face using these communicative mechanisms. Building on this, the chapter contributes new knowledge by shifting the lens to explore how family members construct and adjust their practices to promote mother–child contact during maternal imprisonment.

The empirical study draws on semistructured interviews with mothers in prison and family members (caregivers) to children of female prisoners. Guided by a ‘family practices’ theoretical framework (Morgan, 2011), the findings show innovative adjustments, a willingness to make sacrifices and alternative routes to improve contact utilised by mothers and caregivers to prioritise mother–child contact. We see the strength, resilience and autonomy shown by family members to promote their relationships in spite of communicative barriers. There are important lessons to be learned from the families' lived experience for policy and practice, which, without due and genuine consideration, might further hinder opportunities for mother–child contact during maternal imprisonment.

Recent socio-economic trends have made Artificial intelligence (AI) a vital institutional force driving development among countries with optimal opportunities and costs. Among researchers in this domain, the benefit of AI is highly espoused, having been underexplored in Africa. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to strengthen the education sector, given that many schools have migrated their teaching and learning online. While face-to-face teaching was the norm, the transition to online teaching has brought about the need to rethink the use of Information Technology to strengthen teaching and learning. To proffer solutions for the implementation of AI in Africa, there is the need to understand the challenges. Therefore, in this chapter, we explore the possible challenges that hinder the implementation of AI in Africa. Further, we propose solutions for the implementation of AI in the education sector, especially in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The solutions stem from rethinking the role of AI in the education sector. Finally, a conceptual framework that synthesises the problems and the proposed solution is developed. We envision that the proffered solutions can mitigate the deepening misconceptions and challenges bedevilling AI implementation in Africa.

The aim of this chapter is to provide a literature review on daily recovery during non-work time. Specifically, next to discussing theories that help us understand the process of recovery, we will clarify how recovery and its potential outcomes have been conceptualized so far. Consequently, we present empirical findings of diary studies addressing the activities that may facilitate or hinder daily recovery. We will pay special attention to potential mechanisms that may underlie the facilitating or hindering processes. Owing to the limited research on daily recovery, we will review empirical findings on predictors and outcomes of a related construct, namely need for recovery. We conclude with an overall framework from which daily recovery during non-work time can be understood. In this framework, we claim that daily recovery is an important moderator in the process through which job characteristics and their related strain may lead to unfavorable states on a daily basis.

Tourism and servicescape are usually figuring in the literature as mobile and seeing as a template for all guests. However, mass-customized servicescapes tend to restrict moves and acts of some groups of customers. The purpose of this research is to understand why manmade servicescapes may create barriers and how restricted customers behave. The research gap is addressed through the specific case of how visually impaired persons (VIPs) act and move in hospitality servicescapes. The study emphasizes the importance of spatial approach in service research.

By utilizing a qualitative approach the research employed go-along observation, individual and focus group interviews to elaborate more on how this thesis relates to mainstream tourism. The empirical data were collected during three years in Sweden and Kazakhstan. Fifty-six visually impaired and blind travelers were interviewed and/or observed. Research results demonstrate that hospitality servicescapes restrict acts and moves of visually impaired guests. But VIPs resist constraints by developing different tactics to get expected services.

The model and existing practice of the construction supply chain (CSC) in the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia was presented in this chapter. The policies and reports that support the practice of the CSC were examined in both countries. It was discovered from the review of literature that the UK has a more detailed report targeted at improving the CSC than Australia. However, both countries have a common factor affecting their CSC which originates from fragmentation experienced within their supply chain. Construction stakeholders in the UK and Australia believe that collaboration and integration are vital components for improving performance. The majority of the contractors in both countries embrace collaborative working for the sole purpose of risk sharing, access to innovation and response to market efficiency. However, most of the models developed for managing the CSC in the UK are built around building information modelling (BIM). Also, the reviewed studies show that supply chain management practice will be effective following the following principle: shared objectives, trust, reduction in a blame culture, joint working, enhanced communication and information-sharing. Finally, the UK has a more established framework and more CSC models compared to Australia.

In the quest for better construction workforce management, this chapter explored the background of workforce management and related theories, models, and practices. Through a review, the chapter provided meaning to the concept of construction and workforce management. The chapter concluded that while the construction industry worldwide is important to the economic growth of the countries where it operates, the industry’s management of its workforce is challenged by several problems. These problems include the nature of the industry, skill shortage, unhealthy working environment, and poor image of the industry, among others. Also, while the construction industry is rich in diversity, this has been a major source of problems for workforce management. The chapter further revealed that to improve workforce management and attain better-performing construction organisations, careful recruitment, effective training, providing a safe working environment, putting policies to promote diversity, and ensuring innovativeness, among others, are essential.