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The purpose of this paper is to suggest that informal practices and institutions of post-Soviet countries differ from informality in other post-socialist regions and, therefore, proposes categorizing it as “post-Soviet informality” – a composite definition that extends beyond the concept of “informal economy” and encompasses, along with economic activities, social and political spheres.

The arguments of the paper are based on a comprehensive analysis of secondary sources.

This paper shows that, owing to the effects of antecedent regime’s legacies and the problems of post-communist transition, for the proper analysis of informality in post-Soviet countries it needs to be based on an own concept.

This study, in contrast to the existing literature on informality in post-communist spaces, specifically focuses on the informal sphere of post-Soviet countries, suggesting that the informal institutions and practices thriving across the vast post-Soviet space not only differ from the informal spheres elsewhere in the world, but also from informality in other post-communist regions.

Traditionally, urban informality has been discussed in terms of housing and markets, usually along the periphery of urban areas where there is disinvestment and decline. This article looks at urban informality through the lens of informal fresh food retail throughout the city of Mumbai, India. In India, fresh produce has traditionally been sold in informal street markets comprising vendors that operate through carts and make-shift stalls set-up on the streets. This article aims to assess the conditions surrounding fresh produce retail that fuel its informality.

This study uses a mixed methods approach by spatially analyzing the location of informal fresh food vendors in ArcGIS, developing a qualitative analysis of the level of proliferation of this network through interviews conducted with vendors and conducting surveys of residents' access patterns and purchasing habits for fresh produce in the city.

Results from this study indicate that the role of density, transportation systems, domestic/household structure, cultural traditions and a bureaucratic system rife with its own challenges have resulted in a distinct infrastructure of food retail networks that has harvested forms of inequalities and injustices that inherently fuel this informal economy.

There is no published study to date that has been done to spatially assess the informal food network in any dense city in India, let alone Mumbai to date. Urban informality, by its nature, is hard to capture, and yet this study takes a holistic view of the food systems in Mumbai, by addressing the location, supply (through vendor interviews) and demand factors (through resident surveys).

The purpose of this paper is to examine three explanatory perspectives in the academic literature on informal economies that seek to account for agents’ engagement in informal economic practices.

The paper draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology to interrogate the existing perspectives and to provide a conceptual rethinking of informal economies and informal economic practices.

The paper reveals an inherent scholastic epistemocentrism in the established perspectives. By privileging either an objectivist or a subjectivist viewpoint, these accounts do not examine the practical knowledge and logic that constitute agents’ knowledgeable engagement in informal economic practices. By making use of Bourdieu’s thinking tools of “field”, “capital” and “the habitus”, the paper offers a conceptual rethinking of informal economic practices as the product of a dialectic relationship between socially objectivated structures and subjective representations and experiences.

The paper introduces a reflexive rethinking of informality that draws on but also develops an emergent literature on informal economic practices as relational and context bound.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are limited due to their operation around a fixed design production process and a fixed lead time to production plan and purchasing plan. The purpose of this paper is to define the concept of informality and to describe the notion of a system combining informality and ERP systems, based on empirical research from four manufacturing case studies.

The case studies present a range of applications of ERP and are analysed in terms of the three characteristics of informality, namely, organisation structure, communication method and leadership approach.

The findings suggest that systems consisting of informality in combination with ERP systems can elicit knowledge from frontline workers leading to timely improvements in the system. This is achieved by allowing users to modify work procedures or production orders, and to support collaborative working among all employees. However it was found that informality is not required for manufacturers with a relatively stable environment who can deal with uncertainty with a proactive strategy.

This study was carried out in China, with four companies as unit of analysis. Future work can help to extend this study across countries.

The use of Four dimensions of informality that relate to manufacturers implementing ERP are defined as “technology in practice”, “user flexibility”, “trusted human networks” and “positive reaction to uncertainty”. This is a new construct not applied before to ERP implementations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) domestic network structural attributes on their ex post internationalisation strategic innovation and adaptiveness in the host country.

The model fit of SME domestic network structural attributes and their ex post international performance was examined using structural equation modelling on data gathered from a sample of 263 SMEs from Croatia, a transition and emerging economy. Hierarchical regression analysis was further performed to test both the direct and moderating effects.

The study revealed that domestic network informality (DNF) moderates the link between SME domestic network centrality and their international innovation. Similarly, the findings show that DNF strengthens the negative association between domestic network density and SME international innovation and strategic adaptiveness. Moreover, the study did not find any direct impact of these domestic networks’ structural attributes (density and centrality) on SME international innovation and strategic adaptiveness.

Scholars have emphasised the importance and urgency for further research attention on the role of networks on SMEs’ internationalisation activities from emerging economies. This study responds to this call, and to the knowledge of the authors, is the first to examine the role of domestic network attributes on SME international performance in emerging economies. The findings provide new insightful contributions to the social network perspective and the international entrepreneurship literatures.

Presents a unique view of informality within the government of Tatarstan which challenges the notion that these forms can be dismissed as simply corruption. Focuses on interviews with investors and businessmen, showing how informality can be an important factor in the reproduction of elite classes. Limits the article to the unique dynamics of the transition from command economy to free market economy but provides resonance with the experiences of those who have worked in many third‐world societies.

The purpose of this paper is to assess ways in which informality can be understood and reviews an emerging area of management scholarship. The origins and nature of informality are discussed with the aid of two different theoretical tools: “workplace sociology” (WS) and “mixed embeddedness” (ME).

The analysis is grounded in empirical material reflecting different aspects of informality mainly within the ethnic economy, such as a study on the implementation of the National Minimum Wage regulations (Ram et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2004, 2006).

The authors argue that the combination of WS and ME provides a valuable means of content and character of informality. It can also help to explaining variations and patterns within the informal economy, as well as understanding new forms of informality in the ethnic economy and beyond in “superdiverse” contexts.

This paper bridges two different theoretical approaches to explain the interactions between the firm and state regulations, as well as the workplace relations between employer and employees.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the impact of globalisation and productive restructuring in contemporary migration flows in Latin America. It analyses two different movements to/from Latin America: Bolivians in São Paulo and Brazilians in London, seeking to highlight the precarious work conditions of migrants from the region.

The paper uses two interrelated research projects. One focuses on Bolivian workers in São Paulo. It used reference documents, and files from the local press and academic articles to map work dynamics of Bolivian migrants working in sweatshops. The other was conducted in London, where in‐depth interviews and participant observations were conducted with Brazilians working in low‐skilled jobs, to explore motives behind migration and settlement.

There is increasing mobility between different countries that receive immigrants with flexible proposals about constructing “new life projects”. These migrants seek to escape unfavourable living and working conditions, yet an overall perspective of flexible capitalism in its forms of production, distribution and consumption is observable. Both contexts feature precarious employment relationships, with informality, illegality and ethnic social networks being the main elements of attraction and support in host countries. Differences are located in the perspectives of return and settlement, given the different economic situations in England, Brazil and Bolivia.

Sample size does not allow making representative statements or generalisations about Brazilians in London. In addition, it was not possible to get primary data from Bolivians in São Paulo because the clandestine nature of the sweatshops makes it difficult to gain access, and to obtain reliable data.

The paper offers an important departure point to advance discussions about productive restructuring, informality, and Latin American mobilities by addressing the intersections between employment relations, migration and geographical mobility within/from Latin America.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual foundation for understanding business-to-business (B2B) interactions at trade fairs.

The paper reports a qualitative study that was undertaken to gain in-depth insights into the relevance of the trade fair context for business relationships. Key informants were trade fair organizers, trade fair exhibitors, trade fair visitors and experts in the field.

Based on a qualitative approach, we propose a conceptual model that allows understanding the importance of relational interactions at B2B trade fairs. The model shows that interactions and networking served through information exchange, and social interaction among participants at B2B trade fairs are vital for relationship building and development. The model also highlights the fact that trade fairs are relevant to develop a relationship marketing strategy that involves interactions and networking with a multitude of players that goes beyond the interactions between exhibitors and visitors. The model also depicts the importance of trade fairs for product innovation and for generating innovative solutions to problems. Overall, findings suggest that a customized approach will become dominant in trade fairs.

This paper’s contribution is twofold: first, to the relationship marketing literature for developing an understanding of the influence of a specific context in promoting particular interaction dynamics capable of affecting relationship development; second, to the literature on trade fairs by focusing on such context from a relationship marketing perspective.

Higher education (HE) institutions can play a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, universities often face various obstacles to sustainability management, leading to a lack of strategies for implementing governance for sustainability (GFS). The purpose of this paper is to propose a model, based on work and organizational psychology (WOP), for the analysis, promotion and implementation of GFS in HE. The model includes five dimensions: culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management.

Using a mixed methods approach, GFS was investigated in four Piedmontese (Northern Italy) universities and in their sustainability network, applying the model proposed in this paper.

The five dimensions of the model have proven to be fundamental to the development of GFS in HE. Each dimension was filled with experiences from specific contexts through data collection, highlighting specificities and barriers. Furthermore, the mixed methods approach and the WOP perspective proved to be effective in addressing sustainable transitions in HE.

A practical proposal for analyzing and improving HE sustainable transitions in a WOP perspective is still missing, as well as a model that identifies organizational dimensions that should be monitored. This study not only provides an example of this transition but also confirms the importance that the literature attributes to the specificities and barriers of dimensions such as culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management in this context.