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1 – 10 of over 3000Siphokazi Koyana and Roger B. Mason
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lessons that could be learnt from the first year of implementing the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lessons that could be learnt from the first year of implementing the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority’s Rural Development Programme.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory, qualitative study involved unemployed people from a rural location in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. A focus group and in-depth interviews were held with the current learners, the programme manager, the skills training providers, and the royal custodian of the locality.
Findings
While highlighting the factors that enhance success as well as those that impede development, the study found that the learnership contributed significantly to social transformation through rural entrepreneurship. It empowers disadvantaged women and youths to gain access and skills which, if the recommended measures to sustain the programme are implemented, could enable them to grow bigger businesses.
Research limitations/implications
Since this was an exploratory, qualitative study, the limitations of a small, convenience sample need to be overcome by a larger, quantitative study, and a more complete collection of accurate secondary data.
Originality/value
Despite the obvious limitations, this study has contributed to the literature on both rural entrepreneurship and transformation in South Africa. Both are under-researched topics, despite transformation being a socio-political imperative and entrepreneurship, especially in rural areas, being a key to overcoming South Africa’s high unemployment rate.
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Resmiye Alpar Atun and Hifsiye Pulhan
This study attempts to assess housing developments on the island of Cyprus by referring to the various actions taken and policies implemented during different periods as a result…
Abstract
This study attempts to assess housing developments on the island of Cyprus by referring to the various actions taken and policies implemented during different periods as a result of changing socio-economic and political dynamics. From this perspective, the methodology of the study is based on an assessment of housing developments throughout periods which coincide with certain socio-political thresholds in the history of the island, such as the year 1974, which resulted in the division of the island into two as Northern and Southern parts, and the year 2004, in which the overall setting is changed as Southern part of the island became member of EU. The overall developments and transformations in housing developments are considered as a mirror image of the actors, actions and associations in building activity throughout the periods referred to in this paper. Nicosia as the capital city of the island, has experienced different spatial transformations, and is comprised of a diversity of housing schemes ranging from the low cost housing units of urban workers, located next to the centers of traditional employment, to the large refugee housing estates and to the institutionalized social housing settlements. In this regard, the study aims to understand, interpret and learn from past experiences in the field of housing developments in order to provide lessons which will serve to support future sustainable living environments, since the current situation is at a critical point, and is currently requiring the interest and attention of the responsible authorities.
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The integration of the digital economy and the real economy has been a key focus in promoting digital economic development. It denotes a comprehensive digital transformation of…
Abstract
Purpose
The integration of the digital economy and the real economy has been a key focus in promoting digital economic development. It denotes a comprehensive digital transformation of national economic activities regarding technological infrastructure and production modes, which is crucial for establishing a modern economic system, advancing industrial infrastructure and modernizing industrial chains.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, the study delves into the internal logic behind the emergence of the new development dynamic resulting from digital technology's evolution. Secondly, it explores the mechanism of mutual promotion and support between the new development dynamic and the digital economy based on China's shift in focus from international engagement to the domestic economy during different stages of industrialization. Subsequently, it analyzes the characteristics and critical factors of digital economy development and examines the macro-, meso- and micro-level constraints on these factors. Finally, the paper explores approaches to promoting digital economy development while constructing the new development dynamic and provides relevant policy suggestions.
Findings
The construction of the new development dynamic and the development of the digital economy are inextricably linked, and only by mutually reinforcing each other can they provide an inexhaustible impetus for China's high-quality economic development.
Originality/value
The new development dynamic and the digital economy development form an indivisible whole. The new development dynamic creates the necessary conditions for digital economy development and promotes the formation of digital production modes. In turn, the development of the digital economy should strive to improve the mainstay position of the domestic economy, enhance the synergy between the domestic economy and international engagement, upgrade value chains while improving the supply and the industrial chains in China and ensure a parallel increase in labor income alongside improved productivity.
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Masudul Alam Choudhury and Hanapi Mohammad Noor
Carries out a statistical and economic analysis of socio‐economic survey results on the Mi’kmaq People of Cape Breton in the light of the criterion of the social wellbeing…
Abstract
Carries out a statistical and economic analysis of socio‐economic survey results on the Mi’kmaq People of Cape Breton in the light of the criterion of the social wellbeing function. Focuses on studying the social wellbeing criterion with the socio‐economic variables involved in the surveys in a relational perspective among alternatives. Points out that this approach is distinct from the neoclassical resource substitution method. Instead, the relational perspective is shown to be premissed on a system of universal complementarities.
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This paper aims to explore the relationship between ethical self-fashioning and citizenship practices in the ongoing revival of “Chinese Traditional Culture” pursued in tandem by…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the relationship between ethical self-fashioning and citizenship practices in the ongoing revival of “Chinese Traditional Culture” pursued in tandem by the party-state and by private actors in present-day China.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting an anthropological approach, the author draws from three sets of resources: (1) research literature on China’s political history and key texts of early Chinese thought, (2) contemporary state discourses on citizen formation, and (3) participant observation notes and interviews with organizers and followers of the Wu-Wei School (a pseudonym). The author conducts a textual analysis of primary and secondary literature and a critical discourse analysis of the ethnographic data and examines emerging themes.
Findings
Firstly, the author identifies a crucial dimension in the historical and cultural roots of Chinese citizenship practices: an enduring conception that binds individual ethical self-improvement with socio-political flourishing. Secondly, examining contemporary state discourses on “citizen quality” and “reviving China’s outstanding traditional culture”, the author showcases how party-state authorities call on individuals to self-reform for national rejuvenation. Thirdly, the author investigates how members of the Wu-Wei School construe their individual pursuits of ethical self-improvement as significant for societal progress.
Originality/value
Based on these findings, the author demonstrates the ways in which autochthonous conceptions of Chinese citizenship give a central place to private acts of self-fashioning. The author argues that the entanglement between individual ethics and citizenship practices constitutes a crucial but largely understudied dimension of Chinese citizenship.
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Eleni Hatzidimitriadou and Sakine Çakir
Post‐migration hardship often affects the integration processes of migrants from non‐English speaking countries and in particular of migrant women who often come as ‘dependents’…
Abstract
Post‐migration hardship often affects the integration processes of migrants from non‐English speaking countries and in particular of migrant women who often come as ‘dependents’ of male migrants. Institutional, social and cultural barriers make integration for migrant women slow and difficult to achieve. Involvement in community self‐help and mutual aid is an important strategy for disadvantaged groups in overcoming hardship and building social networks and capital. Community organisations are a bridge for migrants to access welfare rights and benefits, and to communicate with host local communities. This paper discusses the findings of a small‐scale study on the community activism of Turkish‐speaking women in London. Focus group meetings were conducted with self‐help/mutual aid groups run by Turkish‐speaking migrant women, using a typology of group political ideology and focus of change. Analysis showed that group participation was an empowering experience and a crucial strategy for integration in the host society. Depending on the type of the group, women acknowledged personal or social benefits from group participation. Implications for promoting service user empowerment and involvement of migrant communities through mutual aid activities are considered.
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Irma Rybnikova and Rainhart Lang
The study examines prevailing understandings and meanings of management represented in Lithuanian higher management education as a selected East European post-socialist country…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examines prevailing understandings and meanings of management represented in Lithuanian higher management education as a selected East European post-socialist country. While concentrating on the notion of management as an institution, the study draws upon the concept of “travel of ideas” by Czarniawska (2008). The study aims at analysing what reasons led to the development of specific management meanings in Lithuanian higher education by considering local historical and socio-political processes of transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis of 23 relevant textbooks on general management in Lithuania, written by local authors.
Findings
The results show that the reception and translation of management concepts in Lithuania is mainly focused on rationalistic Anglo-Saxon concepts. Dominating meanings are informed by Taylorism, with alternative or critical management approaches remaining absent. The study additionally reveals the effect of “imprinting”, referring to the fact that local management pioneers have a considerable and sustainable impact on how and which management models and theories are adopted in management education.
Research limitations/implications
Since the analysis is limited to local textbooks in higher education of only one post-socialist country, there is a need for further research, especially for the inclusion of the remaining Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Additionally, other factors that may influence management meanings in higher education in post-socialist countries need to be considered by analysing translated books, management programmes or guest lecturers from other countries.
Practical implications
One of the central implications of the research into management in higher education is the call for a stronger inclusion of management ideas that go beyond Taylorist approaches. These could be team-based management or participative management, as these potentially better align with work-oriented expectations by prospective, especially young, employees.
Originality/value
The study shows the relevance of historic roots regarding managerial thought. The study identifies an “imprinting” by local pioneers in the field of management that establishes initial and enduring meanings of management in a considered country. The mechanism of “imprinting” serves as a selective filter and indicates a local general receptivity towards certain ideas and could, thus, enable or impede travelling of ideas. In the case of Lithuanian higher management education, the study shows that “imprinting” has led to a narrow meaning of management with a higher receptivity towards concepts and approaches that align with Taylor's scientific management theory.
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Ronnie Lessem and Sudhanshu Palsule
Organizations have never addressed what it means to be global in its depth and entirety. It has been equated with being international, or having offices in different countries. It…
Abstract
Organizations have never addressed what it means to be global in its depth and entirety. It has been equated with being international, or having offices in different countries. It has been approached and appropriated through historical lenses of modernization, and of what sociologist Martin Albrow calls the “rational project”. It is felt that we have come to a situation that is nothing short of a crisis. Explores the depths of “global integrity” with a view to providing individuals, organizations and societies with the tools to engage in becoming global. In the process introduces our concept of the “four worlds,” and argues that each needs to be progressively transformed, from a local identity towards global integrity, if our current crisis is to be in any sense resolved. Such a resolution, moreover, requires, in each cultural case, tapping the core and bedrock as well as the subsoil and topsoil of each, as it were, with a view to evolving from a formative (local), as opposed to de‐formative, towards a normative, re‐formative and ultimately transformative (global) perspective.
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This paper aims to explore how the implementation of community-driven approaches to improve the living conditions of the urban poor can also have positive co-benefits for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how the implementation of community-driven approaches to improve the living conditions of the urban poor can also have positive co-benefits for resilience to climate change, by addressing the underlying drivers of physical, social and economic vulnerability.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies a case study approach, drawing from the documented experiences of organised urban poor groups in Asian countries already actively participating in collective settlement upgrading, building networks and financial resources for further action.
Findings
The findings show that while certain actions might not be taken with climate change adaptation specifically in mind, these development activities also contribute to broader resilience to climate change, by reducing exposure to risk and addressing other drivers of vulnerability. The findings also show that partnerships between low income communities and other urban stakeholders, including local government, and innovative financial mechanisms managed by communities, can lead to scaled-up action to address development and adaptation deficits. This can lead the way for transformation in socio-political systems.
Practical implications
The approaches applied by organised urban poor groups in Asia show that community-level actions can make a positive contribution to building their resilience to climate change, and with local government support and partnership, it could lead to scaled-up actions, through a bottom-up approach to multi-level governance.
Originality/value
This paper considers how community-driven actions can build resilience to climate change, and it argues that adaptation and development should be considered together.
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Alaa Alsherfawi Aljazaerly, Seth Asare Okyere, Md. Nawrose Fatemi, Louis Kusi Frimpong and Michihiro Kita
This paper analyses changes in the activity pattern of Damascus city from late modern era (late Ottoman rule) to the contemporary era. The research objective is to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses changes in the activity pattern of Damascus city from late modern era (late Ottoman rule) to the contemporary era. The research objective is to explore the impact of the socio-historical process on the evolving morphological structure of the urban core and to draw implications for post-war reconstruction.
Design/methodology/approach
Space Syntax methodology was employed to trace the historical and morphological changes in the urban core of Damascus. The timeframe was divided into five periods covering the city's socio-political transformation and five maps depicting these periods. Local and global integration measures were used to analyse the changes in the urban core across each period. Normalised angular choice (NACH) measure was used to identify the changes in the city planning system.
Findings
The results revealed that the urban core corresponded to the main streets, which had socio-economic importance across history. However, introducing a new planning system influenced by Western planning ideals led to the creation of multi-morphological patterns. At the city level, the study found that the urban core was more accessible in the preplanned areas, while the organic expansion of the informal settlements was exclusive of the core area. At the local level, some informal settlements showed an intense core. Intelligibility analysis revealed that earlier periods showed considerably higher values, implying declines in the ease of navigation of the city over time.
Research limitations
This study did not account for the political, economic and cultural factors that could shape morphological changes in Damascus. In addition, the study adopted historical reference points to understand the morphological changes, as high-quality geospatial data was not available to monitor the recent post-war situation.
Practical implications
The research findings give a foundation for a more contextualised historical understanding of spatial structure and changes, which can contribute to the post-war reconstruction and redevelopment of Damascus city.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to trace historical spatial changes in Damascus from a space syntax approach, weaving together socio-historical and configurational studies. In doing so, it shows how historically informed and spatially aware urban planning and design policies can support policymakers and built environment professionals in planning and redevelopment.
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