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The purpose of this paper is to explore the disconnect between policy intent and policy implementation in relation to regional/local (sub-national) TV deliverables in South Africa between 1990 and 2011, and evaluate the impact of this disconnect in pursuit of public interest objectives.

The article is based on a research case study in which data extracted from policy documents and interviews were qualitatively analysed via the Kingdon “policy streams” framework and the Feintuck and Varney public interest media regulation framework.

It was found that ruptures in deliberative policymaking, and policy implementation missteps, undermined sub-national TV delivery and, in turn, undermined pursuit of the public interest.

By combining a political science conceptual framework with a media policy conceptual framework, the article provides unique insights into South African TV policymaking in the early democratic era.

Industry 4.0 or digitization, from a regional innovation system (RIS) and policy perspective to improve regional innovation, is over-looked. Specifically, this paper aims to focus on analyzing the nascent European Commission (EC) digital innovation hub (DIH) program, designed for fostering transition into Industry 4.0 in regions and facilitating new path development.

Empirically, 10 Spanish DIH is explored through interviews and secondary data analysis.

The results suggest that DIHs despite their emerging and trial-and-error stage are designed for promoting multi-actor collaborative platforms including non-local actors to stimulate transition into Industry 4.0 by promoting place-based collaboration alliances that respond to local/regional contextual specificities and demands. These regional-based platforms facilitate public-private partnerships that co-design policy initiatives resulting from co-participation and negotiation of spatially-bounded oriented initiatives for digitizing.

The authors answer: what are the key characteristics of emerging European-level regional innovation policies aimed at facilitating Industry 4.0 in regions? This is the first study on the topic.

Farmers’ decision to adopt organic cultivation and create niche markets is their response to the changing notions of quality and the gradual abandonment of the productivist logic in agriculture. This decision is analyzed within a multi‐level social ecological context designed to account simultaneously for all facets/parts of the farmer's decision‐making process. Social ecology provides a contextual platform conceptualizing global‐regional‐local relationships within which niche markets for food products are created. Emphasis is placed on farmers’ perception of the “environment” within which they have to decide on their participation in a policy scheme. Elements of the macro (global), meso (national/regional) and micro (farm household) “environmental” levels, affect the farmer's decision to adopt organic cultivation. Accordingly, a decision‐making tree reflecting how farmers perceive that environment and form their decisions is constructed, and statistical models test the impact of factors in the global‐regional‐local levels on this decision‐making process.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of organizational climate (OC) (with its different dimensions) and type of category (international–national or regional–local) on innovation, also taking into account the level of competition in which the club participates. This paper also aims to analyze the effect of the type of category on the relationship between OC and innovation. This could provide new information in the sports sector and in the organizational area.

A quantitative research was chosen with a sample of 485 Spanish sports clubs. The statistical analyses carried out were descriptive, mean difference, correlations between studied variables and hierarchical regression models, with the statistical package SPSS 23.0 and the macro PROCESS.

The results showed that there are significant differences in innovation depending on the level of competition. There is a positive correlation between the dimensions of OC (training, formation, supervision, resources, safety and overall) and innovation. The OC dimensions that have the highest prediction of innovation in sports clubs are training and motivation, in sports clubs with regional–local and international–national level of competition.

This paper provides information on the aspects that most influence innovation so that one can focus and pay more attention to some aspects over others.

This study contributes to the debate by offering a relationship of CB with innovation in the non-profit or associative sports sector. This provides organizational and entrepreneurial information to the sports environment.

China’s open‐market reform and rapid economic growth have generated a tremendous surge in activity and market investment by multinational corporations (MNCs). By 2000, 400 of the 500 most famous MNCs had invested in China. One distinctive feature of China’ s business environment, its authoritarian political system, requires MNCs to practise strategic public affairs to interact constantly with the different levels of Chinese government, respond to the policies and further influence business policy formation. This paper proposes a conceptual model of MNC‐government bargaining that is composed of international political economy, dependency theory and agency theory. It then examines (1) the international and domestic influences on MNC‐government bargaining in China and (2) the strategies MNCs employed to influence Chinese laws for foreign business in their interests. A case study of the Chinese ban on direct selling operations in 1998 and Amway’s strategies to remove the ban is presented. Results suggest that effective public affairs should engage in the following activities: (1) issues management, (2) constantly and systematically analysing the MNC’s bargaining power with the host government, (3) selecting public affairs strategies based on the analysis of MNC‐government bargaining, (4) exercising relationship management, and (5) being ethical in its practice.

The purpose of this paper is to present problems related to the assessment of losses and expenditures caused by weather and climate-related events in Poland.

The data were collected by the direct questionnaire method from selected national and regional/local administration units.

The direct losses in 2001-2011 were estimated at more than PLN56 billion. The greatest losses were estimated in agriculture and infrastructure. The total amount of losses were estimated at PLN90 billion. In 2001-2011, more than PLN45 billion was spent in Poland on recovery and prevention of the impacts of extreme events, with a large part of it consisting of damages and benefits paid out by insurance companies.

Given the limitations related to the method for collecting information, the results may be underestimated. It is well-advised to consider information on such a type of uncertainty in the course of the future research.

The results are of large importance for the building of public awareness and the making of political and investment-related decisions.

The estimates given in the paper are the first presentation of losses and expenditures caused by all the extreme events in the Polish territory which has been prepared on the basis of so many official information sources. The determination of “bottlenecks” related to the existing method for collecting information is a first step toward its improvement.

To investigate the special services for immigrants which are offered by Swedish libraries on their different levels (regional, local and school) and how these services conduct themselves to the development of the harmonic multicultural society.

The methods used in this research were interviews with librarians, the study of documents, followed by a comparative analysis. The guiding theory was a three‐phase model mentioned by Gillis Herlitz, according to which a newcomer goes through stages in an adaptation period. Phase 1 is described as a positive “honeymoon” phase, while phase 2 is a critical period of negative emotions, dominated by disappointment, which then ideally should be resolved in phase 3, where the individual reaches a balancing stage of cultural integration and successful adaptation.

The performances of public libraries on different levels seem to operate in a way that corresponds to the different phases in this model. The approach of the local libraries is more individual and psychological. Their services correspond to those immigrants, who find themselves in the “disappointment” phase, whereas the activities of the regional libraries are more informative and suitable for the “balancing” phase. The school libraries have the educational features and do not depend on the phase of immigrants’ adaptation.

The Public Library of Borås, The Library of Komvux (The Municipal Adult Education Library) and The Hässlehus Library (the library in the district occupied mainly by immigrants) were chosen for this study.

To help immigrants overcome their difficulties of adaptation period in the new country.

This paper demonstrates how the libraries can act as a lifeline for immigrants.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to increased knowledge of destructive leadership in crisis management. The specific research questions are: (1) What types of destructive leadership behaviours can be identified in leaders in crisis management? and (2) Why are these behaviours considered destructive in this context?

About 21 informants involved in crisis management at regional, local and operational levels in Sweden were interviewed. They were selected since they had recently been involved in severe accidents and/or crises (e.g. terror attacks, forest fires). A grounded theory analysis of interview data yielded two core variables: destructive leadership behaviours, and appraisal: interpretation of leader behaviour.

The study identified seven different destructive leadership behaviours: four task-related and three relationship-related. Task-related behaviours primarily led to negative consequences for the task/crisis. Relationship-related behaviours have negative consequences for subordinates' job satisfaction, well-being and/or sense of meaningfulness. The paper relates the identified behaviours to existing leadership ideals within crisis management and discusses behaviours that appear to be unique for the crisis management context.

The paper highlights the fact that great crisis managers are not always good at managing relationships, which may have negative implications for crisis management in the long term.

Destructive leadership is a research field that is rapidly expanding. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the nature of destructive leadership behaviours and what makes an individual appraise a leader as destructive in crisis management.

This chapter, written from the perspective of an adult educator employed in universities in diverse international locations, focusses on the efficacy of developing leaders in the usually highly institutionalised context of higher education (HE) and further education (FE). The contexts of HE vary considerably at national, regional, local and individual organisational levels. This chapter traverses concepts aligned to adult learning on the assumption that the ways in which leaders develop is a function of how individuals learn in the HE context within the constraints and opportunities open to them. These principles of educational leadership emanate from more democratic ideas, derived from adult learning concepts, surrounding effective leadership.

Discussion on developing leadership in HE institutions is based primarily on practices observed in everyday academic life. Areas of functionality common to universities include teaching, research, supervision and community engagement. Each of these areas is explored as the author has juggled personal/professional development against the expectations and demands of institutional life. The author provides three examples of middle management practices which link to developing leadership in fairly heavily politicised environments. While formal structures prevail in HE contexts, the value of informal learning with colleagues is not to be under-estimated. Where leadership principles and lifelong learning ideas are aligned in actual practice – as in mentoring programmes – the scope for greater autonomy and cooperation is highlighted. Effective leadership often works best when sound pedagogical principles are to the fore.

In this paper we discuss three Norwegian cases of public programmes aimed at enhancing entrepreneurship at the regional/local level. The cases provide insight into a wide range of public initiatives implemented by the authorities such as education, consultancy, and financial stimuli. The programmes have been subjected to relatively comprehensive evaluations. In these evaluations, and also in most other evaluations of public means aimed at stimulating entrepreneurs, some important questions related to the effects on business creation and on the long term social impact of the interventions still remain to be answered. In order to overcome the problems, future research should apply longitudinal and comparative studies and use unobtrusive measures. We also discuss a theoretical framework in which entrepreneurship programmes can be interpreted and applied as a tool to improve such initiatives. Central elements in this framework are the concepts of human, social and financial capital.