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31 – 40 of 142
Book part
Publication date: 8 August 2017

Lorenzo Fusaro

This paper attempts to critically question present IPE approaches and analyses that aim at assessing China’s role within the international political economy. Thus, unlike common…

Abstract

This paper attempts to critically question present IPE approaches and analyses that aim at assessing China’s role within the international political economy. Thus, unlike common theorizations that see the country as being integrated within US hegemony (Panitch and Gindin) or those accounts that claim that we are already witnessing the “terminal crisis” of US hegemony accompanied by a hegemonic transition toward China (Arrighi), the paper will argue that China was able to gain “relative geopolitical autonomy” as a result of the revolutionary processes it went through and eventually assert itself as a contender state, now just in the process of challenging US hegemony. Dissatisfied with existent theorizations of hegemony, I will be drawing on the critical edition of Gramsci’s Quaderni and attempt to offer a new perspective regarding the conceptualization thereof. Thus applying the elaborated framework of analysis to the current situation, I argue that unlike the US’s ability to counter the challenge of its traditional imperial rivals Germany and Japan as they developed under the grip of US hegemony, the country is facing difficulties in countering China’s ascent. However, while maintaining that China does indeed represent a challenge to US hegemony, particularly in East Asia, I will argue that the idea of a “crisis of US hegemony” is premature as China remains distant from fully realizing hegemonic relations, even at the regional level.

Details

Return of Marxian Macro-Dynamics in East Asia
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-477-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 April 2019

Monica Thiel

Abstract

Details

SDG17: Partnerships for the Goals: Strengthening Implementation Through Global Cooperation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-315-9

Book part
Publication date: 10 August 2018

Chris Ogbechie

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…

Abstract

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.

Details

Indigenous Management Practices in Africa
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-849-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2024

Katrien Verleye and Sofie Holvoet

The aim of this research is to provide insight into how organizations can co-create value with family members engaged in service journeys of customers experiencing…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this research is to provide insight into how organizations can co-create value with family members engaged in service journeys of customers experiencing vulnerabilities, thereby paying attention to their organizational practices (i.e. recursive or routinized patterns of organizational actions and behaviors).

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate, this research relies upon a multiple case study in a group of nursing homes in Flanders that had the ambition to engage family members in service journeys of their loved ones while measuring their value perceptions as a performance indicator (here, satisfaction with nursing home services).

Findings

The case evidence shows that nursing homes co-create value with family members through caring practices that focus on their role as secondary customers (i.e. welcoming, connecting and embedding) and empowering practices that focus on their role as partial employees (i.e. teaming up, informing and listening practices). However, the way in which the different caring and empowering practices are enacted by the nursing home and its staff affects their value co-creation potential.

Originality/value

By focusing on the practices with which organizations can co-create value with family members engaged in service journeys of their loved ones, this research bridges the service literature with its attention for value co-creation practices and the literature on customers experiencing vulnerabilities with its focus on extended customer entities.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2002

Ian T. Christie

Tourism in developing countries has grown rapidly in the past 20 years to the point where a fresh look at its underpinnings appears overdue. The industry itself realizes that the…

1821

Abstract

Tourism in developing countries has grown rapidly in the past 20 years to the point where a fresh look at its underpinnings appears overdue. The industry itself realizes that the quality of growth is as important as quantity. Inevitably, growth and globalization have brought about a change in tourism's structure, driven by competition, consolidation among the main economic players and the revolution in information and technology. The recent Sommets du Tourisme, now in its third year, promoted by the Geneva/ Chamonix/ Mont Blanc tourism industry, took up these issues in December 5–7, 2001. This paper is a result of a presentation made at that Sommets du Tourisme on tourism, poverty and the World Bank Croup's role. The Bank Croup addresses tourism through its regular channels, including poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSP) and country assistance strategy process (CAS). Its interventions focus on public good issues, market failures, and gaps not filled by others. In this framework, this article reviews tourism as a sector that can contribute to sustainable development, including its economic, financial, social and environmental aspects. It argues that developing countries can compete favorably in world markets — they often have the framework conditions which give them a good opportunity to create the new products and services that consumers seek, often in as yet unspoiled areas. Growth and poverty are addressed, as are the policy conditions for making markets work, and assuring the sustainability of tourism's often all too fragile assets. Local communities are often left out of the decision‐making process that determines their future, leading to disenchantment with tourism; similarly, local communities may have difficulty dealing effectively with the burgeoning international travel industry. The paper underscores the importance of institutions, particularly the respective roles of government and industry, and partnership as a source of mutual inspiration. Some examples are offered here as illustrations of types of investment in sustainable tourism.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 57 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Article
Publication date: 22 December 2023

Ali Ahmed Albinali, Russell Lock and Iain Phillips

This study aims to look at challenges that hinder small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from using open data (OD). The research gaps identified are then used to propose a…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to look at challenges that hinder small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from using open data (OD). The research gaps identified are then used to propose a next generation of OD platform (ODP+).

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a more effective platform for SMEs called ODP+. A proof of concept was implemented by using modern techniques and technologies, with a pilot conducted among selected SMEs and government employees to test the approach’s viability.

Findings

The findings identify current OD platforms generally, and in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, they encounter several difficulties, including that the data sets are complex to understand and determine their potential for reuse. The application of big data analytics in mitigating the identified challenges is demonstrated through the artefacts that have been developed.

Research limitations/implications

This paper discusses several challenges that must be addressed to ensure that OD is accessible, helpful and of high quality in the future when planning and implementing OD initiatives.

Practical implications

The proposed ODP+ integrates social network data, SME data sets and government databases. It will give SMEs a platform for combining data from government agencies, third parties and social networks to carry out complex analytical scenarios or build the needed application using artificial intelligence.

Social implications

The findings promote the potential future utilisation of OD and suggest ways to give users access to knowledge and features.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study provides extensive research about OD in Qatar or GCC. Further, the proposed ODP+ is a new platform that allows SMEs to run natural language data analytics queries.

Details

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6166

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 July 2020

Gianluca Brunori, Tessa Avermaete, Fabio Bartolini, Natalia Brzezina, Terry Marsden, Erik Mathijs, Ana Moragues-Faus and Roberta Sonnino

To analyze more deeply and in a systemic perspective food system outcomes, and the contribution that small farming can give to the achievement of those outcomes, a detailed…

Abstract

To analyze more deeply and in a systemic perspective food system outcomes, and the contribution that small farming can give to the achievement of those outcomes, a detailed analysis of food systems is required, which highlights its components, activities and dynamics. Thus, this chapter deepens the analysis of the food system. We first reflect on the complexity of the concept of food system, discussing the abundance of different conceptualizations proposed in the scientific and political debate on the base of different disciplines and perspectives. Then, a comprehensive representation is shown, which is then unpacked. The food system actors, assets and functions are explored, with an eye on power relations among actors and on the main drivers of change. Governance (that also includes actors external to the food systems) is called ‘reflexive’, as long as it characterizes a system that is able to reflect upon the conditions and the forms of its own functioning, to detect and analyze threats and to change accordingly, with the involvement of actors external to the food systems. This analysis, which represents the focus of this section, provides the base for the description of the food system vulnerability developed in Chapter 4. Drivers of change and governance emerge as key categories to consider.

Book part
Publication date: 18 August 2006

Marietta L. Baba

Jelinek has developed a multi-level model for conceptualizing the contextual influences through which intellectual property (IP) is “understood, interpreted and made sense of” by…

Abstract

Jelinek has developed a multi-level model for conceptualizing the contextual influences through which intellectual property (IP) is “understood, interpreted and made sense of” by key parties to IP “deals.” This commentary reflects upon that model through a historical examination of industry–university relationships in one case – specifically, IBM. Since the late 1920s, IBM has encouraged multifaceted relationships with universities. From the start, IBM sought relationships with academia not only because of the market potential represented by university campuses, but also because Thomas Watson Sr. viewed academic customers as potential research collaborators, a novel idea at the time that later proved instrumental in the development of the corporation's successful research enterprise. IBM's university relationships have continued to evolve over time, reflecting shifts in the corporation's business strategy, and changes in larger macroeconomic structures. The case of IBM reveals complex interactions among governmental, corporate, and academic actors and their policies at different points in time, providing support for Jelinek's multi-level approach to framing IP dynamics, and suggesting possible refinements of the model for the future.

Details

Multi-Level Issues in Social Systems
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-432-4

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2020

Diego Leiva

China's experience of investing in Latin America in one of the main sectors included in the BRI architecture, railways, has faced significant challenges: only one of four Chinese…

Abstract

Purpose

China's experience of investing in Latin America in one of the main sectors included in the BRI architecture, railways, has faced significant challenges: only one of four Chinese potential railway projects in Latin America has materialised. The purpose of this paper is to explore these challenges and to provide an explanation focusing on the importance of the “domestic politics” factor.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proposes a comparative study of four cases, developing a qualitative analysis based on an in-depth review of the literature and primary and secondary sources of information.

Findings

The findings suggest that domestic politics played a significant role in the outcomes of the Brazil–Peru Bi-Oceanic railway (changes in government), in Argentina's Belgrano Cargas modernisation project (multiple “domestic politics” factors, such as a presidential campaign), in Venezuela's failed Tinaco-Anaco high-speed train project (authoritarian turn/country's stability) and in Mexico's Querétaro-Ciudad de México high-speed train project (corruption and popular contestation). The paper suggests that one should not expect an easy or fast projection of the BRI in the region, at least in the short- and mid-term, because becoming familiar with the domestic politics of Latin American is a complex and gradual task.

Originality/value

The particular impact of the political risks related to domestic politics in the Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Latin America has not been extensively explored, especially in the railway sector. This paper intends to contribute to this literature gap by analysing four cases of Chinese investment in railways in Latin America, an area that has received little attention in the studies of the Chinese FDI in the region, and proposing an explanation of their outcomes focusing on the “domestic politics” factor.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 April 2015

Uchenna R. Efobi

This study aims at establishing a linkage between IFRS adoption and environmental pollution in Africa. More so, the role of institution was emphasized as a possible ameliorator of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims at establishing a linkage between IFRS adoption and environmental pollution in Africa. More so, the role of institution was emphasized as a possible ameliorator of environmental pollution in the face of IFRS adoption.

Methodology/approach

The empirical model builds on the traditional EKC hypothesis, by including IFRS adoption variable and an interaction term (which captures the multiplicative between IFRS adoption and institutions). Data was gathered for 47 African countries for the period 2001–2013. The SGMM technique was used in the estimation process.

Findings

The robust estimation reveals that a positive and significant linkage exist between IFRS adoption and environmental pollution. The interactive variable also shows that the effect of IFRS on the environment will reduce when institutions quality (in the form of bureaucratic corruption) is addressed.

Originality

The linkage between IFRS and the environment has not received empirical attention. This is partly due to the fact that accounting phenomenon is rarely linked to macroeconomic outcomes. However, there is a rising interest in the role of accounting institutions on economic outcomes and this study contributes sufficiently to this budding body of knowledge.

Details

Beyond the UN Global Compact: Institutions and Regulations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-558-1

Keywords

31 – 40 of 142