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Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > General
Sustainable Industrialization in Africa explores the issues that confront development policy in the context of the MDGs and the post-2015 development agenda from an African perspective. The book argues that development is an ultimate outcome of sustainable, equitable industrialization, and that any development agenda for the future has to ensure that industrialization is fostered in a way that makes economies independent and responsive to the needs of all citizens. Future challenges for sustainable industrialization in Africa, based upon the differences in its current industrialization trajectories, are discussed to ensure that industrial growth results in positive economic and social outcomes in the context of the post-2015 development agenda.
What are the links among industrial structure, segmentation, the internal structure of firms, job characteristics, technology, productivity, labor markets, and product markets? The answers, posited by a distinguished group of sociologists and economists, have gained resonance as the field of economic sociology has grown. In this expanded edition, the editors and their economist colleague, Kevin Lang, explore the theoretical interstices and update the references. Sociologists and economists have responded differently to work within the other discipline. For some sociologists, the typical economic assumption of basic actors engaged in rational action is both unrealistic and objectionable. Other sociologists have not always agreed with everything economists do, they have seen "rational choice" as a partially true description of human behavior and as a starting point for sociological theorizing. Among economists, the situation is quite different: most have maintained their basic rational choice model while pushing aggressively into substantive areas previously addressed only by sociologists and political scientists. Industries, Firms, and Jobs is a welcome reassertion of an old tradition of interdisciplinary research. That tradition has recently weakened, largely because of an enormous expansion of the domain of neoclassical economics. The expansion has fed on two scientific developments: human capital theory and contract theory. This book is an invaluable resource for all economists, sociologists, labor specialists, and business professionals.
As improving energy efficiency and increasing energy R&D investment may be the main means for China's industrial sector to achieve sustainable growth, this book attempts to unify energy use efficiency and energy R&D inputs into a standardized economic analysis framework. By distinguishing between energy R&D inputs and non-energy R&D inputs, this book draws on the research paradigm of neoclassical economics to clarify the basic concepts and endogenous mechanisms of energy-saving technological progress as a logical starting point. Under the framework of the existing endogenous growth theory analysis, the heterogeneous R&D inputs are divided into two different mechanisms that affect energy use efficiency, namely factor substitution effect and energy-efficient input increase effect, and a heterogeneous R&D input is constructed. This book constructed an analytical framework for endogenous energy-saving technological progress in the industrial sector based on heterogeneous R&D inputs; it established a mathematical model for the endogenous energy-saving technological advancement of the industrial sector based on heterogeneous R&D inputs; it estimated the energy-saving technological progress rate of 37 Chinese industrial sub-sectors from 1980 to 2010; fourth, it has empirically examined the relationship between the heterogeneous R&D investment in China's industrial sector and its energy-saving technological advancement rate.
The idea for this book was formed during the early 1980s when the author was studying the impact of plant closings on displaced workers and communities. In one community, workers who were displaced by a plant closing expected to receive retraining funds through the Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA), only to find that the state had committed all the JTPA funds to train new workers for a Japanese transplant. Soon it became apparent that deindustrialization, job loss, and economically depressed communities were linked with the escalating interstate competition to provide multi-million dollar incentive packages for businesses to settle in their state. When Japanese automobile companies considered coming to the United States, they fueled the interstate competition for these large projects, which promised thousands of jobs and economic growth.
This is the fourth edition of Avrom Bendavid-Val's classic book that has become a standard for practitioners and students of public administration, urban and regional planning, and regional economics. Last revised in 1983, the work now provides a comprehensive practitioner-oriented study of the state of the art of regional and local economic development planning, with emphasis on specific project activity arrived at through an analysis of the regional economic context. The book is written in a straightforward style, free of technical terms and jargon, and is suitable for readers without an extensive background in economics, mathematics, or statistics. In addition, all analytical work is presented in a form that can be carried out without the use of vast databases or computers. Bendavid-Val divides his work into five basic parts, each covering a different feature or method of analysis and planning. Part one introduces important aspects of the overall economic and development context within which the methods of regional analysis are used. Parts two, three, and four offer an introduction to common descriptive methods of analysis for use in regional planning, covering aggregate regional analysis, intraregional analysis, and project identification and evaluation. Finally, part five deals with approaches to regional development planning, providing help in selecting the methods that will be most useful in a given situation. A selected bibliography concludes the book. This work contains everything the practitioner or student needs in order to understand what regional and local economic development is all about, as well as to acquire the basic analytical skills for regional development planning, and to design and carry out a regional development planning process. Public and academic libraries will find this updated and expanded edition to be a significant addition to their collections, and for students and practitioners in regional planning and development, it will be an essential reference source.
The world of business has always been considered quick and unforgiving, but it is certainly getting even quicker and less forgiving as we enter the new "millennium." New problems have given rise to new approaches while some, but not all, old problems yield new solutions. The theme of this volume "Strategies and organizations in Transition" reflects a world in which variety, change, and unique perspectives are interwoven into the fabric of 21st-century business. The volume articles presented here represent a combination of empirical business research and practical business insight covering a wide range of current and future business issues, with specific emphasis upon the changing dynamics. Articles of particular interest such as Neil Kay's examination of cooperative strategies from a transaction cost theoretical basis, Srinivasan and Brush's examination of modern vertical relationships, and Ryman and Fryxell's analysis of the impact of technology on the health care system are all likely to have implications well beyond the pages of this volume. Equally, "Strategies and Organizations in Transition" also contains Bennett and Stamper's groundbreaking exploration of the complex area of discretionary workplace behaviour and Curt Stiles' exploration of product diversity and specialization in industry. With a more academic focus, Dean and Bamford provide a conceptual examination and interpretation of various economic disequilibrium theories of classical economists as a foundation for extending entrepreneurial research, while Ling, Lubatkin and Schulze explore the relationship between altruism and the governance of family firms. The volume also attempts to further extend the realm of traditional business concerns by its inclusion of two papers that underscore how traditional business and Government constraints impact those wishing to engage in space related entrepreneurial activity.
First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an Informa company.
The West has long been ignorant of cultural and political processes
in China. Today, a growing number of Westerners are becoming aware
of China's real and giant potential as a player in the
international business arena. As business becomes increasingly
international, it is vital to understand the concrete nature of
business and underlying attitudes in the world's most populated
country.
In this carefully chosen selection of essays, Linsu Kim - one of Korea's foremost social scientists, who is advising the Korean government on reform strategy in light of the recent crisis - identifies the evolutionary processes and patterns of learning, capability building, and innovation in catch-up countries. He suggests that catch-up economies display different patterns of learning and innovation to more advanced countries. Using the example of Korea, he examines industries such as consumer electronics, machinery, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and semiconductors, all of which have been important contributors to Korea's economic growth and development. Linsu Kim analyses both the formal and informal mechanisms Korea has used in acquiring technologies from, mainly, advanced countries. He considers how these technologies are assimilated rapidly into the local economy, and in some cases improved to increase Korea's international competitiveness. This examination and extension of the theory of learning and innovation has many useful implications for both catch-up economies and also advanced countries. It offers analytical frameworks which policymakers and managers can use in formulating and evaluating public policies and corporate strategies. Learning and Innovation in Economic Development will be of interest to a wide audience including those working in the fields of technology management, innovation studies and development economics.
Small Sub Saharan African countries are facing difficult times trying to accelerate their economic growth while at the same time attempting to liberalize their economies. For many, independence has brought political freedom without concomitant economic and social improvement for their indigenous populations. Zimbabwe fits this description and while it has made significant strides in educating its populations and distributing some agricultural land, it still lags in modernizing its manufacturing industries which survived for many years with little or no capital investment and restricted access to imports. This study, based on a detailed analysis of the results of a survey of manufacturing firms in selected industries, shows the origin of the technologies they have mastered, the use made of external and domestic sources of technology, the skills being applied, their training and other needs, as well as the policies that could favourably affect future industrial development in Zimbabwe.
Knowledge has in recent years become a key driver for growth of regions and nations. This volume empirically investigates the emergence of the knowledge economy in the late 20th century from a regional point of view. It first deals with the theoretical background for understanding the knowledge economy, with knowledge spillovers and development externalities. It then examines aspects of the relationship between knowledge inputs and innovative outputs in the information, computer and telecommunications sector (ICT) of the economy at the regional level. Case studies focusing on a wide variety of sectors, countries and regions finally illustrate important regional innovation issues.
This eleventh volume derived from the Annual International High
Technology Small Firms (HTSFs) Conference, and the edited book
series of which it forms part, is a detailed testimony to the
progress of academic research on this specialist, but highly
important, area of industrial activity. In particular, research
from this series is intended to provide a basis for new
"evidence-based" government policy, although governments in many
developed economies have often been seduced by "fads," in
circumstances where policy solutions are crudely adopted without
convincing evidence of their efficacy. None the less, it is most
important for academics, although they may be occasionally ignored,
to continue to pursue independent research of the type contained
within this series in order to provide research-based policy
options, and commentary on the quality of the current policy
environment for HTSFs in different national contexts. As in the case of previous volumes in this series, the current
collection of papers inform many issues important to policy as
governments seek to promote HTSF formation and growth. In this
volume individual papers are grouped into three main sections;
these are "Theory," "Strategy" and "Clustering and Spin Off Firms."
Regarding Theory, all five papers grouped under this heading are
concerned, either with high technology entrepreneurship in general,
or academic high technology small firm entrepreneurship in
particular, with four of the five papers strongly focussed on
academic entrepreneurial examples. The Strategy section is again
comprised of five papers, which broadly explore how diverse
business ideas are operationalised in terms of strategy. A longstanding interest in academic spin-offs in this book series has been more recently re-invigorated by a sudden interest in clustering which, through the related topics of incubation, science park formation and sub-regional high technology clustering has prompted linked research on the formation and growth of HTSFs in specialist locations, mainly through spin off. In the final Clustering and Spin Off section, the four individual papers are either concerned with how "spin offs" can contribute to HTSF cluster growth in industrial districts, or in the environs of major core regional universities.
This book provides a holistic and practical approach to managing supply chains risks and presents a new framework model for sustainable optimization of risk management. This framework includes supportive tools for risk mapping and strategic decision-making. Managers can apply tailored versions of this framework for the management process of their respective sector. The authors provide case studies in industries such as automotive, aviation, airport, and healthcare.
Replacement Models with Minimal Repair is a collection of works by several well-known specialists on the subject of minimal repair in replacement policies. It gives an exhaustive list of minimal repair models for the effective planning of minimal repair and maintenance actions. Written in an engaging style, Replacement Models with Minimal Repair balances complex mathematical models with practical applications. It is divided into six parts that cover: mathematical modeling of minimal repair; preventive maintenance models and optimal scheduling of imperfect preventive maintenance activities; a new warranty servicing strategy with imperfect repair; mathematical models combining burn-in procedure and general maintenance policies; methods for parameters' estimation of minimal repair models; and product support. Replacement Models with Minimal Repair is for anyone with an interest in minimal repair and its impact on maintenance policies and strategies. It is a particularly useful resource for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students.
This book provides and sheds light on insights, challenges, and opportunities to support the development and economic growth of the fashion industries within emerging markets. The fashion industry is growing rapidly in emerging markets; fashion marketers and retailers are increasingly becoming aware of the benefits of this market and are forced to seek their future growth potentials in this part of the world; in addition, marketing strategies, tools and technologies have also evolved. With a growing demand for additional research, information, recommendations and insight from practitioners, entrepreneurs, students, and academics, contributing authors use multiple methods and theories to uncover, analyse, demonstrate, and present the facts in their chapters and provide integrated guideposts for future research. This book is intended to satisfy the needs of stakeholders in the quest for practical insights into fashion marketing in emerging economies, especially in South America, Asia and Africa. It offers timely information on growing areas such as sustainability, digital platforms, supply chain and logistics and provides a good insight for anyone seeking to explore opportunities in emerging market economies. The book offers a much needed resource for students, scholars and practitioners.
Herbert Blumer wrote continuously and voluminously, and consequently left a vast array of unpublished work at the time of his death in 1987. This posthumously published volume testifies further to his perceptive analysis of large-scale social organizations and elegant application of symbolic interactionist principles. Blumer's focus on the processual nature of social life and on the significance of the communicative interpretation of social contexts is manifest in his theory of industrialization and social change. His theory entails three major points: industrialization must be seen in processual terms, and the industrialization process is different for different historical periods; the consequences of industrialization are a function of the interpretive nature of human action and resembles a neutral framework within which groups interpret the meaning of industrial relations, and the industrial sector must be viewed in terms of power relations; industrial societies contain inherently conflicting interests. The editors' introductory essay outlines Blumer's metatheoretical stance (symbolic interactionism) and its emphasis on the adjustive character of social life. It places Blumer's theory in the context of contemporary macro theory, including world systems theory, resource dependence theory, and modernization theory. "Herbert Blumer" (1900-1987), formerly Chairperson, Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, was the theoretical and methodological leader of "symbolic interactionism" and was identified as its foremost proponent for a half-century. His publications include works on industrial relations, research methods, mass society, collective behavior, race relations, and social movements. "David R. Maines" is chairman of the department of anthropology and sociology at Oakland University. He has worked to articulate an interactionist approach to the study of social organization as well as the fundamental relevance of temporality and communication for sociological analysis. "Thomas J. Morrione" is Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology at Colby College and he is currently Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the college. He was a Research Associate (1977, 1985) and Visiting Professor (1984) at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Move to the Market? brings together recent contributions that critically review and examine the role that trade and industry policy reforms have played in the transitional economies. It relates trade and industry policy to the wider set of reforms being implemented as part of the process of moving from a predominantly centrally planned to a more market-oriented economy. The book highlights the different and complex patterns of development that are emerging between the transitional economies of Europe, Africa and Asia.
Industrial innovation is essential for national and corporate competitiveness. Understanding the nature, determinants and consequences of innovation is a key task of managers, public policymakers and all students of industry and business. This major new reference book brings together specially commissioned contributions by many leading world experts on a wide range of issues concerning innovation. The first section provides an introduction to the significance and process of industrial innovation, and to the contexts or 'systems' within which it occurs. A series of sectoral and industrial studies is followed by assessments of the key issues affecting innovation. Another section examines one of the main constraints on successful innovation: the strategic management of technology in both products and processes. As well as the benefits of innovation, the problems and challenges of the processes, management and outcomes of innovation are raised throughout the book. Select bibliographies chosen by international experts are included to ensure that this comprehensive reference tool is an indispensable guide for students, scholars, innovators and policymakers.
Acclaim for previous editions: 'The International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2011 provides comprehensive statistical data on world manufacturing. . . The Yearbook represents a massive effort in data collection, data harmonization, and tabular presentation - well beyond the constraints of time and resources available to the average researcher or investigator. Therefore, the Yearbook presents a vast amount of information in a convenient form.' - William C. Struning, American Reference Books Annual 2012 'The UNIDO International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics is now a classic reference. . . The different editions of the Yearbook provide a unique statistical tool for analyzing the world industry.' - Revue d'Economie Industrielle / Industrial Economics Review 'This annual publication seems to be the only international publication providing worldwide statistics on current performance and trends in the manufacturing sector. In terms of comprehensiveness, accuracy, and cross-country comparisons this volume is unparalleled . . . If you are looking for an authoritative source for comparative international statistics on industrial information, this is it.' - Andrea Meyer, Business Information Alert 'This is a unique and massive effort by UNIDO providing comparative statistics on current performance and trends in the manufacturing sector worldwide . . . There is no doubt that the volume is a most important source book for economists, planners and policymakers.' - Pradosh Nath, Journal of Science and Industrial Research 'UNIDO has done well to bridge gaps in information noticed so far in industrial statistics worldwide and its companionship and usefulness will be realised by all users of this documentation in governmental, industrial and academic circles, as a must on every working desk. Its reliability is fully backed up by authoritative analysis.' - Rajinder Kunmar, Marketing and Management News A unique and comprehensive source of information, this book is the only international publication providing economists, planners, policymakers and business people with worldwide statistics on current performance and trends in the manufacturing sector. The Yearbook is designed to facilitate international comparisons relating to manufacturing activity and industrial development and performance. It provides data which can be used to analyze patterns of growth and related long term trends, structural change and industrial performance in individual industries. Statistics on employment patterns, wages, consumption and gross output and other key indicators are also presented.
From the New York Times bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold comes a practical playbook for technological convergence in our modern era. In their book Abundance, bestselling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler tackled grand global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, and energy. Then, in Bold, they chronicled the use of exponential technologies that allowed the emergence of powerful new entrepreneurs. Now the bestselling authors are back with The Future Is Faster Than You Think, a blueprint for how our world will change in response to the next ten years of rapid technological disruption. Technology is accelerating far more quickly than anyone could have imagined. During the next decade, we will experience more upheaval and create more wealth than we have in the past hundred years. In this gripping and insightful roadmap to our near future, Diamandis and Kotler investigate how wave after wave of exponentially accelerating technologies will impact both our daily lives and society as a whole. What happens as AI, robotics, virtual reality, digital biology, and sensors crash into 3D printing, blockchain, and global gigabit networks? How will these convergences transform today's legacy industries? What will happen to the way we raise our kids, govern our nations, and care for our planet? Diamandis, a space-entrepreneur-turned-innovation-pioneer, and Kotler, bestselling author and peak performance expert, probe the science of technological convergence and how it will reinvent every part of our lives-transportation, retail, advertising, education, health, entertainment, food, and finance-taking humanity into uncharted territories and reimagining the world as we know it. As indispensable as it is gripping, The Future Is Faster Than You Think provides a prescient look at our impending future.
A growing number of organizations are meta-organizations; rather than individuals they have other organizations as their members. This comprehensive book explains, in-depth, the unique way in which meta-organizations function, how they differ from organizations with individual membership, and how they are crucial agents in the process of globalization. The book opens a whole new area for organizational research. It will be essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students interested in organization theory, globalization, politics and organizations, or international organizations. |
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