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This paper aims to present findings of a study that was carried out to identify strategies of enabling learners in developing countries to fully exploit the potential of learning management systems (LMSs). The study set out to: identify the services of learning management systems that are most needed and desired by university learners in developing countries; and identify appropriate access strategies that would guide design decisions on how to effectively and satisfactorily deliver such services to the university students in developing countries.

A total of 144 students from two African universities participated in the study by responding to an online survey questionnaire. The questionnaire asked students: how often they accessed LMSs to obtain, create and exchange information and knowledge; their preference for the different devices used for accessing the LMS; the LMS services they are most often required to access; and the services they most desire to use.

The findings of the survey indicate that the most desired and most accessed LMS services by the students include: assignments, announcements, resources, course outlines and the chat room. At the same time, mobile phones are rated the least used devices for accessing the LMS services, mainly due to inadequate design of LMSs for mobile interaction.

The paper also presents mobile LMS interface designs and ideas achieved through a participatory design process for enhancing the accessibility of the most needed and desired LMS services on mobile phones.

The purpose of this paper is to report on podcasting experience by faculty and students in a South African higher education institution (HEI), identify issues, limitations and discuss implications for the design of future tools.

This work consisted of two parts: semi‐structured interviews with lecturers, content/curriculum developers and a student survey.

Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory provided the framework for this research including determining how new innovations are disseminated, their rate of adoption, the five‐stage decision‐making process for adoption and the characteristics an innovation must possess to be attractive to adopters. The methodology used relied heavily on descriptive and qualitative data analyses in order to determine the current podcasting practices and experiences. Results reveal that by assuming some of the respondents are “innovators” or “early adopters”, they are still in the early stages of the decision‐making process.

Some instructors who are identified as “early adopters” are experimenting with podcasting as an add‐on to existing lecture resources. However, innovations and their subsequent adoption require an understanding of lecturers' and students' perceptions, opportunities and challenges.

Podcasting in developing HEIs and the tools therein to support the process has not been given much attention. The context of this study is the first kind of empirical research in this area. The findings from this exploratory research will be valuable for podcasting users.

This study aims to examine the role of support actors in promoting or hindering access to public services/spaces for migrant agricultural workers (MAWs) and to determine the factors that influence adequate support for this population.

Using a situational analysis methodology, the authors carried out focus groups and interviews with 40 support actors complimented by a community scan (n = 28) with public-facing support persons and a community consultation with migrant farmworkers (MFWs) (n = 235).

Two major themes were revealed: (In)access and (In)action and Blurred Lines in Service Provision. The first illustrated how support actors could both reinforce or challenge barriers for this population through tensions of “Coping or Pushing Back on Constraints” and “Need to find them first!” Justification or Preparation? Blurred lines in Service Provision encompassed organizational/staff’s behaviors and contradictions that could hinder meaningful support for MFWs revealing two key tensions: “Protection or performance?” and “Contradicting or reconciling priorities? Our findings revealed a support system for MAWs still in its infancy, contending with difficult political and economic conditions.

Service providers can use research findings to improve supports for MAWs. For example, addressing conflicts of interests in clinical encounters and identification of farms to inform adequate outreach strategies can contribute to more effective support for MAWs.

This research is novel in its examination of multiple sectors as well as its inclusion of both formal and informal actors involved in supporting MAWs. Our findings have the potential to inform more comprehensive readings of the health and social care resources available to MAWs.

In this chapter, the authors take a close look at the current discourse of food system relocalization. From the perspective of theories of justice and theories of neoliberalism, food relocalization is wrapped up in a problematic, and largely unexamined, communitarian discourse on social justice. The example for California's localized governance of pesticide drift demonstrates that localization can effectively make social justice problems invisible. The authors also look at the EU context, where a different form of localization discourse emphasizes the local capture of rents in the value chain as a neoliberal strategy of territorial valorization. Examining Marsden et al.'s case study of one of these localization projects in the UK, the authors argue that this strategy does not necessarily lead to more equitable forms of rural development. In fact, US and EU discourses are basically two sides of the same coin. Specifically, in neoliberal biopolitical form, they both obscure politics, behind either the discourse of “value” in the EU or “values” in the US. Rather than rejecting localism, however, the authors conclude by arguing for a more “reflexive” localism that harnesses the power of this strategy while consciously struggling against inequality in local arenas.

Social relationships play an important role in organizational entrepreneurship. They are crucial to entrepreneurs’ decisions because, despite the bleeding-edge technological advancements observed nowadays, entrepreneurs as human beings will always strive to be social. During the COVID-19 pandemic many companies moved activities into the virtual world and as a result offline Social relationships became rarer, but as it turns out, even more valuable, likewise, the inter-organizational cooperation enabling many companies to survive.

This chapter aims to develop knowledge about entrepreneurs’ SR and their links with inter-organizational cooperation. The results of an integrative systematic literature review show that the concept of Social relationships, although often investigated, lacks a clear definition, conceptualization, and operationalization. This chapter revealed a great diversity of definitions for Social relationships, including different scopes of meaning and levels of analysis. The authors identify 10 building blocks and nine sources of entrepreneurs’ Social relationships. The authors offer an original typology of Social relationships using 12 criteria. Interestingly, with regard to building blocks, besides those frequently considered such as trust, reciprocity and commitment, the authors also point to others more rarely and narrowly discussed, such as gratitude, satisfaction and affection. Similarly, the authors discuss the varied scope of sources, including workplace, family/friendship, past relationships, and ethnic or religious bonds. The findings of this study point to a variety of links between Social relationships and inter-organizational cooperation, including their positive and negative influences on one another. These links appear to be extremely dynamic, bi-directional and highly complex.

The essence of formulating an effective strategy should be dependent on a company’s understanding of its operating environment. The implementation of a unique and effective strategy in an indigenous and competitive business environment will result in a competitive advantage. Drawing on the models that reduce uncertainty in business organisations, this chapter examines the dynamics of indigenous strategic management practices in Africa using Dangote Cement in Nigeria and Equity Bank in Kenya as case studies. The conceptual framework of this chapter presents the synthesis of strategic management practices in Africa; a global perspective and emphasis on Africa and as a result of which emerging organisations adopt these management practices and findings from both organisations. We discuss the tenacity of Dangote Cement entrepreneurial understanding of the Nigerian political, social and economic environment and its effective government relationship. This chapter examines the challenges and trends of strategic management practices in Africa and the key success factors in doing business in Africa, despite the depth of challenges in a business environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. We discuss Equity Bank’s stakeholder management practices, strategic leadership and its inclusive business model, developed to enhance financial inclusion and access to available and attractive financial services for those at the bottom of the pyramid. Significantly, we argue that to succeed in Africa, businesses must understand the dynamics of strategic leadership, the cultural context of the operating environment, stakeholder management and include the social dimension of business in their business strategy.

A quantitative contractor selection technique which embraces the pre‐qualification, evaluation and final selection processes is being developed. The emphasis is on evaluating contractors' performance potential in terms of their ability to achieve time, cost and quality standards. This approach is in contrast to the majority of current selection techniques which tend to prequalify, then discriminate predominantly on the cost component of tenders. The conceptual model is applied to a hypothetical but realistic scenario of a contractor competing for a small industrial contract. This illustrates the mechanics of the new technique, emphasizing that contractor selection should include identifying the contractor with the best performance potential and not merely the lowest bidder.

Wine tourism is an area of growing interest because of its potential to contribute to regional development and employment at times of rural restructuring, particularly through the development of inter and intra industry networks. This paper provides a review of wine tourism, briefly discusses networks and their value, then analyses the development of wine tourism networks in Australia and New Zealand. The research indicates that although wine tourism network development is being actively encouraged, substantial difficulties exist because of the perception by many in the wine industry that they are not part of tourism. The paper concludes that while the development of new organisational structures to encourage wine tourism development are useful, they must be complimented by research on linkages, education of potential network members in order to close information gaps; and the development of network structures which maximise the overlap and linkages mat exists between the wine and tourism industries.

Custodial settings are high‐risk environments for HIV. This paper examines publicly available data about the drug use and risk behaviours of Thai and Indonesian prisoners and outlines a process used to collect new data. In 2005, the Departments of Corrections in Thailand and Indonesia requested researchers examine HIV and drug use issues but the findings are too sensitive to publish. The Departments of Corrections in Thailand and Indonesia are using the results to develop public health responses.