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The basic thesis espoused in this chapter is that a discourse analytic approach, that explores managers’ stories, is equally valid as a more typical case study approach that seeks confirmatory data. Depth interviews with industrial network participants are conducted and described; interviews where managers are encouraged to talk of their lived experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and intentions. Specifically, this case study presents a qualitative exploration of identity processes in industrial networks, in particular social constructions of Indian modernity. The analysis suggests what these constructions mean for the management of buyer–seller relationships (cf. Bagozzi, 1995). The study also reflects calls for more empirical research to be undertaken to improve understanding of contemporary marketing practices, especially in large emerging market economies such as India and Brazil (Dadzie, Johnston, & Pels, 2008). Discursive data were collected in the form of transcripts from semi-structured interviews with a variety of managerial participants involved in trade between New Zealand (NZ) and India. All the participants are Indian, with interviews taking place in 2006 in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai. Interviews were conducted in English; with 23 individuals representing organizations operating in the lumber, wool, horticulture, dairy, engineering, IT, tourism, and education industries, they lasted between 45 and 90 minutes, and were recorded on audio and video media. The study goes some way toward addressing the dominant Western perspective prevalent in most studies of business relationships, and shows how discourse analysis can provide a rich analytical perspective on business-to-business relationships.

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 prevalent practice of construction supply chain (CSC) in developing countries with a focus on Africa was presented in this chapter. Two African countries (South Africa and Ghana) were selected due to the extensive literature on the CSC emanating from the countries. The impediment to the effective management of the CSC in the two African countries was also examined in this chapter. It was discovered that the vital inhibition to the performance of CSC in developing countries is the adoption of culture from developed countries without a proper model for ensuring its implementation in developing countries. Also, no model has incorporated the principles and technologies of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) to manage the CSC. The failure to adopt the 4IR technologies like block chain, big data and the internet of things has prevented the proper application of CSC practices in developing countries. CSC practices like collaboration, integration, lean supply chain, information sharing, financial management and communication are the primary practice in developing countries. Finally, this chapter called for the development of a model for managing the CSC in developing countries in alignment with the principles of the 4IR.

The use of structured literature review methods like bibliometric analysis is growing in the management fields, but there is limited knowledge on how they can be facilitated by technology. Hence, we conducted a broad overview of software tools, their roles, and limitations in structured (bibliometric) literature reviewing activities. Subsequently, we show that several software tools are freely available to aid in searching the literature, identifying/ extracting relevant publications, screening/assessing quality of the extracted data, and performing analyses to generate insights from the literature. However, their applications may be confronted with several challenges such as limited analytical and functional capabilities, inadequate technological skills of researchers, and the fact that the researcher's insights are still needed to generate compelling conclusions from the results produced by software tools. Consequently, we contribute toward advancing the methodologies for performing structured reviews by providing a comprehensive and updated overview of the knowledge base of key technological software tools and the conduct of structured or bibliometric literature reviews.

Agriculture and related businesses in Ghana for the past decades have been the preserve for the smallholder, aged and illiterate farmers. Meanwhile, hundreds of students graduate in Agricultural Sciences from the universities over the years. This study seeks to investigate potential determinants of the entrepreneurial spirit of agricultural students to do self-employed businesses in the agricultural sector. A survey of 165 undergraduate students of agriculture in the University of Cape Coast, Ghana was undertaken to examine factors that influence their decision to enter into agribusiness as a self-employment venture after graduation. The results show that the majority of the students were males (87%) and approximately, 67% were willing to enter into agribusiness after school. The factors that students perceived to be hindrance to entering into agribusiness was the market competition of agro-products with imported products, unstable prices of agro-products, absence of insurance policy for agribusiness and unfavourable land tenure arrangement in Ghana. Correlation analysis showed negative and significant relationship between students’ willingness to enter agribusiness as a self-employment venture and the following personal characteristics: (1) level of education of mother, (2) level of education of guardian other than parents, (3) students who live in farming communities and (4) students who undertake farming activities at home. There were also positive and significant relationships between students’ willingness to enter agribusiness and the following: (1) availability of market for agro-products, (2) accessibility of market for agro-products and (3) accessibility of transportation facilities for agribusiness. Regression analysis showed that (1) level of education of mother, (2) students living in farming communities, (3) accessibility of transportation facilities for agribusiness and (4) accessibility of market for agro-product were the factors that best predict undergraduate agricultural students’ willingness to enter into agribusiness as a self-employment venture after graduation. To motivate students to take agribusiness as self-employment after graduation, the study suggests the development of comprehensive and sustainable long-term policy to inspire and attract the youth into agribusiness; creation of conducive environment to minimise risk and constraints associated with agribusiness in Ghana.

Prior COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that less than 50% of the world's population was able to obtain essential health services. These numbers have decreased with the onset of the pandemic. Concurrently, the pandemic has amplified the gaps in access and extended inequality in African contexts. This requires a concerted effort to reimagine and rebuild Africa's healthcare system to inclusively attend to the needs of society's most vulnerable populations. Women in leadership provide an opportunity to do this. Through the advancement of strategic leadership development focused on women and girls, developing African healthcare contexts have the potential to aid in the eradication of endemics like gender-based violence, extend community sustainability, and elevate the collective consciousness for women, girls, and other marginalized populations. Through this chapter, the authors present a compelling and holistic conceptual model and the accompanying practice grounded in transformational and adaptive leadership, systems thinking, and strategic social influence that creates the foundation for the development of women in leadership to advance developing African healthcare contexts. The implications for this emergent strategy advance the field of leadership calling for applied leadership within African healthcare contexts, advance society through a coordinated and integrated approach to healthcare service and patient care, and create direct linkages to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 – Good Health and Well-being, SDG 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 10 – Reduce Inequalities, and SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, while advancing our collective global community.

Purpose – The chapter explores the use of freedom of information (ATI/FOI) requests in social science research, with specific focus on using ATI/FOI requests in socio-legal studies, criminal justice studies, and criminology.

Methodology/approach – ATI/FOI requests constitute a novel method of data collection that has methodological and also epistemological implications for researchers.

Findings – The chapter explains how to use ATI/FOI requests in social science as well as how to navigate challenges and barriers ATI/FOI users regularly face.

Originality/value – There is a paucity of writings on use of ATI/FOI requests in socio-legal studies, criminal justice studies, and criminology. The chapter reveals the value of using ATI/FOI in social science and the originality of the data that ATI/FOI requests can result in.

In 2015, the UN General Assembly introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2014, in anticipation of the SDGs, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) released the Lyon Declaration, asserting that the right to access information, and the skills to use it, is essential for development. Simply put, there can be no sustainable development without access to information. So, as the world looks toward sustainable development in the information age, what role should libraries play in meeting communities’ needs? Sustainable development, whether on a local or global scale, requires that people have access to information in order to improve their abilities to make informed choices about their lives, livelihoods, and communities. Sustainable development is important for all communities, everywhere, and access to information is just one way libraries can contribute to development initiatives. Libraries, especially public libraries, provide not only traditional access to information but also engaged services and programs that are community centered. This chapter will explore the ways in which the profession at large is plugging into the SDGs, with a particular focus on the work that IFLA is doing to connect libraries to development. It will highlight a specific form of community development – Asset-Based Community Development, which focuses on using the strengths and capacities that already exist in communities of all sizes and economic statuses – as a theoretical and practical model to help librarians understand and leverage their own assets as they collaborate with their communities on building individual and community capacity. It will argue that an asset-based approach to integrating our services into the larger trend of sustainable community development can provide us with both direction for day-to-day engagement with our communities and an important way to reimagine our value.