Over the past 50 years the global labour market is transforming from reliable employment to low-wage and unstable informal and precarious jobs. This ineluctable shift is a consequence of the concentrated application of neoliberalism since the 1980s, as capitalism is converting standardised labour markets in the developed Global North into contingent and informal labour. Platform Labour and Global Logistics: A Research Companion examines the most important developments and features of global logistics and the emergence of the platform economy through historical comparative chapters and case studies. Part I surveys the logistics revolution and its impact on labour in key sectors of the global economy and probes the viability of the platform as a generator of economic and financial growth and innovation. The chapters of Part 1 offer a fulsome analysis and critique of the economic and technical reconfiguration brought on by neoliberal capitalism and the diffusion of the platform and logistics as a feasible model into the future. Part II examines labour restructuring from standardized to informal work through the platform and information technology, and the political and environmental challenges to labour. Part III provides global case studies on the informal economy through case studies of crucial economies where the platform has become dominant, and Part IV examines how the platform has contributed to geographic mobility and labour migration, and the consequences on workers. Platform Labour and Global Logistics: A Research Companion presents a unique contribution to the political economy literature through highlighting the significance of the impact of the platform and logistics on the working class and potential challenges from labour across the world. This book is intended for academics, researchers and students studying technological innovation, global supply chains, labour restructuring, and worker resistance.

Originally published in 1982, The Railwaymen examines the impact of the transformation which took place in the British Railways in the second half of the 20th Century on the people who maintained British railway services and reveals the change which took place in the union to which most of them belonged: the National Union of Railwaymen (now part of the National Union of Rail and Maritime Transport Workers: RMT). The union's reaction to the Beeching closures of the 1960s and the Industrial Relations Act of 1971, its policies on the closed shop, inter-union rivalries, representation in Parliament and the constitution of the Labour Party are treated authoritatively by the author who had access to all the union's records.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought about significant changes in the world order. It not only reshaped the global geopolitical architecture but also created newer challenges and opportunities for international trade and businesses. This book deliberates on these new global realities through a multidisciplinary perspective. It delves into various key issues pertaining to finance, infrastructure, policy, geostrategy, and entrepreneurship in the Indian context. The volume discusses themes such as geostrategic shifts and their impact on the Indo-Pacific region, the effects of Covid-19 on international and economic security, India-China bilateral ties, FDI spill over on domestic firms, entrepreneurship education in India, and the Thai Canal project. Rich in insights on various geo-economic perspectives that continue to shape the global business environment, the book will be useful for students and scholars of sociology, business management, business economics, international trade, geopolitics, international relations, political sociology, and political studies. It will serve as a useful reference for academics, researchers, think tanks, industry professionals, and policymakers.

Originally published in 1963, The Railwaymen recounts the struggle of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants from its foundation in 1872 until the first national railway strike in 1911 to gain recognition from the companies and a reduction in the excessive hours of labour and the scandalously high accident rate among railwaymen. Two chapters recall the decisive role of the union, through the Taff Vale and Osborne cases in shaping the modern labour movement. Founded through the merging of three unions in 1913, the NUR crossed swords with Lloyd George in the railway strike of 1919 and with Baldwin and Churchill in the general strike. It led the railwaymen through two world wars, helped shape the transport act of 1947 and, after 1951, thought for the re-establishment of an adequate system of public transport.

This book investigates the relationship between the firm and the territory, emphasizing the micro-organizational dimension and the interactions between actors at territorial levels. First, the book examines the particular features of the firm considering three key factors - structural design, power configuration and organizational culture - and the characteristics of the surrounding territory as a specific spatial ecosystem with its own institutions, agents, history and objectives. Second, it analyses organizational tenets at the micro- and meso levels with a view to explaining various relational models and their implications at the level of the firm and the territory. Although previous studies have focused on the territory as a geographical space in which firms procure resources and promote development, this book presents an innovative approach and makes a key contribution to the literature by dealing with the firm and the territory from an organizational perspective. The relationship is analysed as bidirectional: a key question concerns how the territory can impact the organizational dimension of the firm, and how the firm can characterize the territory. This will be considered in connection with various effects. The positive effects of the relationship with the territory are investigated in terms of territorial identity, territorial resilience and territorial sustainability. The negative effects include the role of criminal networks rooted in the territory, with firms acting as key agents.

This book serves three basic purposes: (1) a tutorial-type reference for complex systems engineering (CSE) concepts and associated terminology, (2) a recommendation of a proposed methodology showing how the evolving practice of CSE can lead to a more unified theory, and (3) a complex systems (CSs) initiative for organizations to invest some of their resources toward helping to make the world a better place. A wide variety of technical practitioners-e.g., developers of new or improved systems (particularly systems engineers), program and project managers, associated staff/workers, funders and overseers, government executives, military officers, systems acquisition personnel, contract specialists, owners of large and small businesses, professional society members, and CS researchers-may be interested in further exploring these topics. Readers will learn more about CS characteristics and behaviors and CSE principles and will therefore be able to focus on techniques that will better serve them in their everyday work environments in dealing with complexity. The fundamental observation is that many systems inherently involve a deeper complexity because stakeholders are engaged in the enterprise. This means that such CSs are more difficult to invent, create, or improve upon because no one can be in total control since people cannot be completely controlled. Therefore, one needs to concentrate on trying to influence progress, then wait a suitable amount of time to see what happens, iterating as necessary. With just three chapters in this book, it seems to make sense to provide a tutorial introduction that readers can peruse only as necessary, considering their background and understanding, then a chapter laying out the suggested artifacts and methodology, followed by a chapter emphasizing worthwhile areas of application.

Drawing on a range of global case studies, Market Distortions in Privatisation Processes illustrates the ways in which market distortions damaged the ability of privatisation processes to yield concrete benefits to consumers. The book compares and contrasts privatisations of state-owned enterprises around the world where competition informed the regulatory design and thus liberated consumer welfare. In particular, the cases are drawn from the electricity and gas sector, the telecoms industry, and postal services - each of which has been frequently privatised in different context. For each industry, the book explores the UK and US experiences as well as looking at international cases from both developed and developing countries including, where appropriate, Japan, Colombia, Romania and Mexico. The emphasis is on analysing the impact that market distortions have had on the outcomes of those privatisations. The book also looks at how public service objectives were achieved and how they too can be designed in pro-competitive or anti-competitive ways. This book will be of significant interest to readers in international business, economics, and law.

The information age is reshaping current socio-economic structures and processes and this book touches upon the nature of clusters in the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0; I4.0). It focuses on the spatial perspective of digital business transformation and explores in natural context the interrelations between cluster and I4.0. It investigates the role of knowledge, business relations and policy in making cluster relevant for Industry 4.0 and uses the case study method and literature review to develop a conceptual framework outlining the functioning of Industry 4.0 cluster. This book argues that locally embedded knowledge accompanied by strong presence of industry and assisted by proper governance management facilitate the implementation of I4.0. The idiosyncrasies of Industry 4.0 impact also the functioning of cluster as they require more interdisciplinary integrative approach with the provision of industrial commons and development of related varieties. Natural processes of stretching of the cluster cannot be prevented, but should be harnessed for upgrading the core competences of cluster. This book can enrich existing literature on economic geography and regional studies by discussing the spatial aspects of digital transformation. It shows the cluster transformation as induced by the digital transformation, and will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students who explore the regional and local development, competitiveness, or managerial aspects of fourth industrial revolution.

Interfirm networks include franchising, retail and service chains, cooperatives, financial networks, joint ventures, strategic alliances, licensing, public-private partnerships and new network forms in the digital economy. This book gathers the latest research studies that approach these networks - and the creation of innovation under the conditions of a complex, dynamic, knowledge-intensive and digital economy - from an interdisciplinary perspective. The studies, all of which were written by respected experts, explore how firms can improve their competitiveness by securing access to innovation, knowledge, complementary resources and capabilities otherwise not available to them. In addition, they highlight how, driven by an unpredictable environment, firms embedded in inter-organizational networks are increasingly transforming from co-operators to collaborators and valuable co-creators of innovation.

This book looks at the transfer and further development of value management procedures, as practised in North America, in a United Kingdom and Commonwealth construction industry context.

This book analyses the historical context and progression of "significant innovations" beginning with the industrial revolution, starting around 1750 to the present. It explores the interrelationship, causes, and evolutionary process of contemporary "disruptive" inventions and the role played by global finance and international commerce to support these. First, the authors examine the environment and circumstances surrounding the inventors and explore their backgrounds to determine, why at a specific time, they identified a need that became the seed for invention and, what was their method of successfully commercializing their innovation. Secondly, they focus on the financing of the inventor, the innovation, and the commercialization of the invention(s). They analyze the changes in finance during the shift from a labor-based production process to a more capital-intensive production process, and what new financial products or financial markets were created to facilitate this transition. Third, they explore the impact of global commerce on the inventor country's innovation environment and international competition impacting the innovation's production, distribution, and sales, as well as, investigating any financial impact from the demand side and whether that impact was domestic or global in character. Furthermore, they consider if and how global finance and international commerce including the migration of people, together play a role in helping the disruptive invention satisfy a need in society, whether from a production or consumption perspective. Finally, they search for common elements that repeatedly inspired inventors and their disruptive innovations over time. This book will appeal to global government officials, business leadership, early career professionals, and students across a number of disciplines including finance, economics, business, engineering, and technology.

Originally published in 1968, and using official records, this book charts the history of the Railway Clearing House and shows the vital role it played in the development of British railways and the growth of the economy. The Clearing House established a common classification of goods; standardized signalling systems and telegraphic codes among the 120 railway companies which operated in Britain before the First World War. It was the nerve centre of the railway for nearly a century and at one time more than 2,500 clerks were employed in its huge offices near Euston Station in London.

1. This book assesses different sectors in the world economy with particular emphasis on the Indian economy and highlights the achievement and prevailing problems in the sectors. 2. It focuses specially on industries, investment and trade; finance and credit; and employment, gender and development. 3. It will be of interest to departments of Economics, Business, and Gender Studies across the UK and USA.

This book offers an in-depth insight into the Indian concept of swaraj--self-rule--both in theory and practice and posits it within the larger context of development. It opens by discussing the limitations of prevailing sustainable development paradigm as well as other heterodox development paradigms in achieving a sustainable and equitable future. Further, it constructs development theory around the idea of swaraj, based on the writings of M K Gandhi and J C Kumarappa. The swaraj development vision weaves in the morality of the greatest good of all, political decentralisation, and economic self-sufficiency as important elements to achieve an exploitation-free social order that ensures more control for individuals over their lives. It reveals sustainability and equality as inherent features of such a non-violent social order. The book then provides an introduction to the khadi--handspun and handwoven textile--sector, which is taken as a case study to demonstrate the swaraj development approach. The use of this sector helps readers to get a snapshot of the efforts that have been made since the time of Gandhi and Kumarappa towards the attainment of swaraj. Importantly, the khadi section highlights the method of translating theory into practice based on the unique three-pronged approach of the swaraj development paradigm. By showcasing how to establish swaraj within the khadi sector, the author offers insights into how it can be replicated for attaining a sustainable and equitable world. The book will appeal to scholars and researchers in the fields of Gandhian studies and development studies.

The most up-to-date and in-depth book on the business of professional team sports Pro team sports are the biggest and most important sector of international sport business Strong focus on applied analysis and performance measurement, invaluable real-world skills Covers sports, teams and leagues all over the world from the EPL to the NFL Addresses key themes from ownership and competitive balance to media revenue and the role of agents

In reaction to the continually changing business climate companies develop many business strategies to increase their competitiveness and improve profitability. Companies regularly reshape themselves continually exploring new markets and developing new products. When they can't expand into new markets or develop new products on their own, they seek alternatives. These alternatives include merging with or acquiring other companies to create a single more capable company. Companies acquire other companies for a wide variety of reasons. In some cases company survival may actually be the reason. What does this condition mean to the security professional? In the course of mergers and acquisitions, security plays a vital role in helping to make the endeavor successful. There are numerous titles on the business aspects of M&A such as the ones listed below. However, this unique book focuses on the role security plays in helping to make a merger, acquisition or divestiture successful. It addresses the fundamental security elements that are required to support the effort. In addition, it provides an integrated "how to" approach to implementing M&A security complete with methods and processes that have been quickly and cost-effectively implemented.
- First book available that focuses on the role of the Security Manager in M&A
- Case studies that highlight the role of the security manager; cases include both best practices as well as illustrations of nightmare examples of what NOT to do
- Lead author is an expert that has participated in/managed security for more than 20 high-profile and large-scale acquisitions
- Model processes, procedures, checklists, charts and sample forms all serve to ease immediate analysis and implementation in a merger or acquisition

Originally published in 1985. This volume on household energy conditions considers the energy crisis in the United States and offers an important appraisal of the future of energy consumption by families and the family's adaptations to decreasing energy availability. The chapters in the first section investigate the cultural dimensions of energy use at the household level, looking at attitudes and trends. The second section considers energy policy, especially conservation, with a special chapter on elderly households, while the third presents case studies and projections of the future patterns and changes in energy consumption. This is a fascinating snapshot of thinking on families and the effects of energy use.

This book demonstrates how rethinking and adapting basic employment services into labor intermediation services can help address the many labor market disconnections of developing country economies. It addresses how scarce resources required to escape poverty - good jobs, schools, and training - more often go to the privileged and well-connected than to those who need them most. With jobs now at the top of development debates, this is a rare book on how to practically adapt one key labor market policy to very different developing and emerging country markets. It shows through examples how developing countries can build in stages from basic employment services to diverse labor intermediation services - opening up job listings, stimulating public-private partnerships, and making job connections for those who don't have a "cousin Vinny who knows a guy". This book is for policy practitioners, development organizations, and academics who are ready to think differently about one of the policies that needs to change so that developing economies can better meet the employment and higher skill challenges of the global age.

This book explores green innovation and future technology skill development within regional small to medium sized enterprises. Notwithstanding the goals of a greener Europe, there has been little debate as to how the skills required to fulfil the goals of sustainable development can be imparted within regions and within rural business communities.

The economic system of competitive capitalism has proven to be both resilient and flexible over time and has contributed to the economic welfare of citizens in liberal and coordinated market economies in diverse regions and countries. At the same time, over the entire post-World War II period, there has been a notable endemic shortage of affordable housing in many advanced economies. This book points at both the causes and the consequences of this circumstance and provides an integrated economic and legal view of how housing production is dependent on housing finance, which, in turn, means that legal conditions and the sovereign state play an active role. Further, the book contributes to the literature from two otherwise partially separated disciplines-housing and urban development studies on the one hand and the institutional centrality of the finance industry in the contemporary economic system on the other. The author asserts that although somewhat assimilated due to the ambitions of policy makers to optimize social and economic welfare for their constituencies, the combining of these two realms of expertise generates many favorable outcomes, but also some costs derived from finance industry instabilities. The book connects theoretical perspectives and provides an empirical explanation for how affordable housing is generated in an actual real world economy context. The book will be relevant to the work of a number of academic disciplines including economics, government studies, housing policy and urban planning, social geography and law and society.

John Tomer was a leading intellectual figure in behavioural economics, making distinct contributions to the theory of the firm, social economy, choice theory, and government policy. His underlying methodology as an economist was to incorporate different disciplinary approaches to the subject at hand, whilst maintaining an underlying respect and understanding of how and why humans behave the way they do. This book brings together a collection of scholars celebrating John Tomer's contributions to the field of economics. Covering key areas of his research, contributing authors discuss the latest research in behavioral economics, the human firm, climate change policy, sustainability, well-being, human capital, and human development. This volume, extending John Tomer's more scientific perspective rooted in behavioural and institutional economics, should find an audience among both scholars and policy advocates. It can also enrich course delivery, providing students with alternative perspectives and approach to economic and socio-economic analysis.

Clusters and Sustainable Regional Development conceptualises the role of organised clusters in the transition towards sustainability. It introduces a novel perspective on these clusters, viewing them as deliberate collective actors within their environments that can become the driving force for transformation in their regions or nations. The book draws upon the meta-organisational perspective in cluster studies, in contrast to traditional approaches. This view suggests that clusters are not merely territories or geographical areas, but organised entities. As such, they are defined as territorially anchored groups of independent organisations engaging in joint decision-making, pursuing system-level goals and capable of purposive collective action. This text introduces a new set of ideas and questions at the intersection of economic geography, regional and cluster studies, organisation and management, policy and governance research. It will appeal to researchers from these diverse fields seeking to further develop the meta-organisational view of clusters as well as conceptualise their role in sustainability transitions. This book will also be a useful guide for policymakers who have an interest in the dynamics of economic development and the transition towards sustainability.

This book investigates the functioning and ecosystems of biorefineries and assesses the potential of the industrial bioeconomy. The authors present a case study of the biorefinery at Bazancourt Pomacle, near Reims, France, as an outstanding illustration of the creation, work processes, financing, provision of environmental services, competitive benefits and future prospects of a bioeconomy. Analysing the case of Bazancourt Pomacle, the authors show the wide range of products produced by integrated biorefineries such as food, bioenergy, molecules for cosmetics and nutrients for agricultural use. They also analyse Bazancourt Pomacle as an open innovation platform, which encompasses several layers of R&D, including three department chairs from leading engineering and business schools in France. Illustrating a number of global success stories that started in Bazancourt Pomacle, the authors also investigate the provision of pilot- and demonstration plants as inescapable steps in the scaling-up process from the lab to industrial scale. The book provides a systematic overview of the lessons learned, as well as data on an industrial bioeconomy. Investors, decision- makers, public-policy shapers, analysts and scholars will learn about the history, actors, economics, industrial symbiosis, role of cooperatives, R&D and future prospects of a world-class biorefinery and bio-based cluster in Europe.

Written by the leading and most respected experts, academics, and scholars working in the field of global political economy, the book provides detailed studies of the gig economy's roots, goals, methods, and impact around the world. Addresses and analyses the fundamental debates around precarious labour and the gig economy that are emerging within the social sciences. A significant feature of the book is an examination of the gig economy and labour in major world territories, which will provide a comparative investigation of the transformation of labour and the gig economy in key global regions, continents and countries. This volume will become a classic and state-of-the-art text on the subject of the gig economy and neoliberalism for many years to come.

In 1956, Solow proposed a neoclassical growth model in opposition or as an alternative to Keynesian growth models. The Solow model of economic growth provided foundations for models embedded in the new theory of economic growth, known as the theory of endogenous growth, such as the renowned growth models developed by Paul M. Romer and Robert E. Lucas in the 1980s and 90s. The augmentations of the Solow model described in this book, excepting the Phelps golden rules of capital accumulation and the Mankiw-Romer-Weil and Nonneman-Vanhoudt models, were developed by the authors over the last two decades. The book identifies six spheres of interest in modern macroeconomic theory: the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on growth; the effect of different returns to scale on production; the influence of mobility of factors of production among different countries on their development; the effect of population dynamics on growth; the periodicity of investment rates and their influence on growth; and the effect of exogenous shocks in the form of an epidemic. For each of these issues, the authors construct and analyze an appropriate growth model that focuses on the description of the specific macroeconomic problem. This book not only continues the neoclassical tradition of thought in economics focused on quantitative economic change but also, and to a significant extent, discusses alternative approaches to certain questions of economic growth, utilizing conclusions that can be drawn from the Solow model. It is a useful tool in analyzing contemporary issues related to growth.