This book explores, describes and explains the predictors essential for the acceptance of social media as a digital platform to share professional knowledge in the field of automotive repair in Germany. It reports a rigorous literature review covering key elements of social media, knowledge management and technology acceptance studies. The book assumes a pragmatist approach and applies mixed methods in an exploratory sequential design, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to ensure robust collection and analysis of the collected data. Based on a survey on German automotive repair shops, the author provides a framework, for various stakeholders, to comprehend the motivations for knowledge sharing for automotive repair professionals in Germany. This book not only adds to the existing academic body of knowledge but also provides implications for industry and legislation on a European scale.

This book addresses different aspects of green biocomposite manufacture from natural fibres and bioplastics, including the manufacturing procedures and the physical, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of green biocomposites. Featuring illustrations and tables that maximize reader insights into the current research on biocomposites, it emphasises the role of green technology in the manufacture of biocomposites and analysis of properties of biocomposites for different applications. It is a valuable resource for researchers and scientists in industry wanting to understand the need for biocomposites in the development of green, biodegradable and sustainable products for different applications.

Within less than a decade, during the 1990s, the state of Israel established its global high tech sector. The number of startups rose to almost 3,000. Total venture capital available reached approximately $ 3 billion. Israeli firms trading on NASDAQ climbed to 120 with aggregate market value of approximately $120 billion, twice the Israeli GNP.
This book emphasizes the multilevel nature of this development from a strategic management perspective. The first level focuses at the country global processes emphasizing the entry of foreign multinational corporations and the privatization of state owned enterprises. The second level focuses on the government and its role in establishing the technological incubators and venture capital industries. The third level focuses on the sources of new start ups and the role of veterans of elite technological units of Israel Defense Forces and women entrepreneurs. The fourth level focuses on the emerging organizations and the role of the board of directors and competitive intelligence capabilities and practices. Finally, the fifth level focuses at the industry level, emphasizing the role of the large number of new firms in creating new industrial sectors. The multilevel paradigm describes the sequential effects, starting at the first global level, and the interactive effects, across all five levels.
The book provides insights that can aid academic researchers, company executives and public policy makers in understanding high tech takeoff. It is especially interesting and important given the turbulent environment mixed with the optimism of the peace process of Israel in the Middle East during the 1990s.
*An aid for academic researchers, publicpolicy makers, and company executives for understanding high tech takeoff
*Conceptualizes the success of Israeli high-tech as a multilevel operation consisting of global, governmental, sources of new start ups, organizational, and industrial factors
*Discusses each of these factors individually and the interaction between them

The book demonstrates that food safety is a multidisciplinary scientific discipline that is specifically designed to prevent foodborne illness to consumers. It is generally assumed to be an axiom by both nonprofessionals and professionals alike, that the most developed countries, through their intricate and complex standards, formal trainings and inspections, are always capable of providing much safer food items and beverages to consumers as opposed to the lesser developed countries and regions of the world. Clearly, the available data regarding the morbidity and the mortality in different areas of the world confirms that in developing countries, the prevalence and the incidence of presumptive foodborne illness is much greater. However, other factors need to be taken into consideration in this overall picture: First of all, one of the key issues in developing countries appears to be the availability of safe drinking water, a key element in any food safety strategy. Second, the availability of healthcare facilities, care providers, and medicines in different parts of the world makes the consequences of foodborne illness much more important and life threatening in lesser developed countries than in most developed countries. It would be therefore ethnocentric and rather simplistic to state that the margin of improvement in food safety is only directly proportional to thelevel of development of the society or to the level of complexity of any given national or international standard. Besides standards and regulations, humans as a whole have evolved and adapted different strategies to provide and to ensure food and water safety according to their cultural and historical backgrounds. Our goal is to discuss and to compare these strategies in a cross-cultural and technical approach, according to the realities of different socio-economic, ethnical and social heritages.

In recent years, emerging trends in the design and development of drug products have indicated ever greater need for integrated characterization of excipients and in-depth understanding of their roles in drug delivery applications. This book presents a concise summary of relevant scientific and mechanistic information that can aid the use of excipients in formulation design and drug delivery applications. Each chapter is contributed by chosen experts in their respective fields, which affords truly in-depth perspective into a spectrum of excipient-focused topics. This book captures current subjects of interest - with the most up to date research updates - in the field of pharmaceutical excipients. This includes areas of interest to the biopharmaceutical industry users, students, educators, excipient manufacturers, and regulatory bodies alike.

This book examines in detail key aspects of sustainability in the textile industry, especially environmental, social and economic sustainability in the textiles and clothing sector. It highlights the various faces and facets of sustainability and their implications for textiles and the clothing sector.

A magisterial history of the astounding rise - and unimaginable fall - of America's most iconic corporation Perhaps no company reflects American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial fortunes as well as the iconic General Electric Company. Producing storied leaders and almost every product imaginable, GE built a cult of success that hid cracks in its foundation. In this masterful history, William D. Cohan, one of America's most pre-eminent financial journalists, argues that GE's legacy is both a paragon and a cautionary tale through which to understand twentieth-century America. Power Failure limns the eventful 130-year history of GE, bringing fresh analysis drawn from rare interviews with key figures of the company's golden era, including Jack Welch himself. As Cohan recounts, Welch traded on a sterling legacy to make GE the most valuable and respected company in the world, while cloaking its vulnerabilities. What he handed to his successor Jeffrey Immelt was, Cohan argues, both an impossible standard and a more troubled reality. Tracing the company's leaps and stumbles through the personalities that defined it, Power Failure offers a surprising retelling of the GE story, puncturing the myth we think we know for a fresh look at its legacy - and what it tells us about the state of the financial world.

This handbook is a compilation of comprehensive reference sources that provide state-of-the-art findings on both theoretical and applied research on sustainable fashion supply chain management. It contains three parts, organized under the headings of "Reviews and Discussions," "Analytical Research," and "Empirical Research," featuring peer-reviewed papers contributed by researchers from Asia, Europe, and the US. This book is the first to focus on sustainable supply chain management in the fashion industry and is therefore a pioneering text on this topic. In the fashion industry, disposable fashion under the fast fashion concept has become a trend. In this trend, fashion supply chains must be highly responsive to market changes and able to produce fashion products in very small quantities to satisfy changing consumer needs. As a result, new styles will appear in the market within a very short time and fashion brands such as Zara can reduce the whole process cycle from conceptual design to a final ready-to-sell "well-produced and packaged" product on the retail sales floor within a few weeks. From the supply chain's perspective, the fast fashion concept helps to match supply and demand and lowers inventory. Moreover, since many fast fashion companies, e.g., Zara, H&M, and Topshop, adopt a local sourcing approach and obtain supply from local manufacturers (to cut lead time), the corresponding carbon footprint is much reduced. Thus, this local sourcing scheme under fast fashion would enhance the level of environmental friendliness compared with the more traditional offshore sourcing. Furthermore, since the fashion supply chain is notorious for generating high volumes of pollutants, involving hazardous materials in the production processes, and producing products by companies with low social responsibility, new management principles and theories, especially those that take into account consumer behaviours and preferences, need to be developed to address many of these issues in order to achieve the goal of sustainable fashion supply chain management. The topics covered include Reverse Logistics of US Carpet Recycling; Green Brand Strategies in the Fashion Industry; Impacts of Social Media on Consumers' Disposals of Apparel; Fashion Supply Chain Network Competition with Eco-labelling; Reverse Logistics as a Sustainable Supply Chain Practice for the Fashion Industry; Apparel Manufacturers' Path to World-class Corporate Social Responsibility; Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Slow-Fashion Industry; Mass Market Second-hand Clothing Retail Operations in Hong Kong; Constraints and Drivers of Growth in the Ethical Fashion Sector: The case of France; and Effects of Used Garment Collection Programmes in Fast Fashion Brands.

In Europe a number of production and communication strategies have long tried to establish local products as resources for local development. At the foot of the Alps, this scenario appears in all its contradictions, especially in relation to cheese production. The Heritage Arena focuses on the saga of Strachitunt, a cheese that has been designated an EU Protected Designation of Origin after years of negotiation and competition involving cheese-makers, merchants, and Slow Food activists. The book explores how the reinvention of cheese as a form of heritage is an ongoing and dynamic process rife with conflict and drama.

The outsourcing of clinical trials to Latin America by the transnational innovative pharmaceutical industry began about twenty years ago. Using archival information and field work in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru, the authors discuss the regulatory contexts and the ethical dimensions of human experimentation in the region. More than 80% of all clinical trials in the region take place in these countries, and the European Medicines Agency has defined them as priority countries in Latin America. The authors raise questions about the quality of data obtained from the trials and the violation of human rights during their implementation. Their findings are presented in this volume, the first in-depth analysis of clinical trials in the region. ​        

This is the first book to deal with the innovative technologies in the field of textiles and clothing sustainability. It details a number of sustainable and innovative technologies and highlights their implications in the clothing sector. There are currently various measures to achieve sustainability in the textiles and the clothing industry, including innovations in the manufacturing stage, which is the crux of this book.

This edited collection examines the various influences, relationships, and developments beer has had from distinctly spatial perspectives. The chapters explore the functions of beer and brewing from unique and sometimes overlapping historical, economic, cultural, environmental and physical viewpoints. Topics from authors – both geographers and non-geographers alike – have examined the influence of beer throughout history, the migration of beer on local to global scales, the dichotomous nature of global production and craft brewing, the neolocalism of craft beers, and the influence local geography has had on beer’s most essential ingredients: water, starch (malt), hops, and yeast. At the core of each chapter remains the integration of spatial perspectives to effectively map the identity, changes, challenges, patterns and locales of the geographies of beer.

This book review series presents current trends in modern biotechnology. The aim is to cover all aspects of this interdisciplinary technology where knowledge, methods and expertise are required from chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, chemical engineering and computer science. Volumes are organized topically and provide a comprehensive discussion of developments in the respective field over the past 3-5 years. The series also discusses new discoveries and applications. Special volumes are dedicated to selected topics which focus on new biotechnological products and new processes for their synthesis and purification. In general, special volumes are edited by well-known guest editors. The series editor and publisher will however always be pleased to receive suggestions and supplementary information. Manuscripts are accepted in English.

As business processes are crucial success factors for companies, software-based Business Process Management (BPM) is becoming more and more important. In this area SAP, the market leader for enterprise application software, has already gathered substantial experience. For the characterization, modeling and especially the optimization of business processes, SAP’s consultants use their own BPM approach. In addition to their considerable methodological know-how, the consultants’ profound knowledge of the industries facilitates the focus on core and business-critical processes. This book examines the current market situation, as well as the specific challenges and trends for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It also explains business process management basics and the specific SAP Consulting methodology, before illustrating the use of such methods and procedures with sample industry-specific core business processes. With the help of these examples from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, SAP Consulting provides methodological guidelines on how Business Process Management can be used in practice to optimize business processes and make adjustments in response to constantly changing economic and environmental factors.

Taking as a starting point that hunger results from social exclusion and distributional inequities and that lasting, sustainable and just solutions are to be found in changing the structures that underlie our food systems, this book examines how law shapes global food systems and their ongoing transformations. Using detailed case studies, historical mapping and legal analysis, the contributors show how various actors (farmers, civil society groups, government officials, international bodies) use or could use different legal tools (legislative, jurisprudential, norm-setting) on various scales (local, national, regional, global) to achieve structural changes in food systems. Section 1, Institutionalizing New Approaches, explores the possibility of institutionalizing social change through two alternative visions for change - the right to food and food sovereignty. Individual chapters discuss Via Campesina's struggle to implement food sovereignty principles into international trade law, and present case studies on adopting food sovereignty legislation in Nicaragua and right to food legislation in Uganda. The chapters in Section 2, Regulating for Change, explore the extent to which the regulation of actors can or cannot change incentives and produce transformative results in food systems. They look at the role of the state in regulating its own actions as well as the actions of third parties and analyze various means of regulating land grabs. The final section, Governing for Better Food Systems, discusses the fragmentation of international law and the impacts of this fragmentation on the realization of human rights. These chapters trace the underpinnings of the current global food system, explore the challenges of competing regimes of intellectual property, farmers rights and human rights, and suggest new modes of governance for global and local food systems. The stakes for building better food systems are high. Our current path leaves many behind, destroying the environment and entrenching inequality and systemic poverty. While it is commonly understood that legal structures are at the heart of food systems, the legal academy has yet to make a significant contribution to recent discussions on improving food systems - this book aims to fill that gap.

This book is designed to integrate the basic concepts of food safety with current developments and challenges in food safety and authentication. The first part describes basics of food safety, classification of food toxins, regulation and risk assessment. The second part focuses on particular toxins like mycotoxins, aromatic amines, heavy metals, pesticides, and polycyclic hydrocarbons. Recent developments and improvements in the detection of these contaminants are described. The third part deals with the authenticity and adulteration of food and food products, a topic which affects food trade on a national and international level.

This book assesses the state of international manufacturing strategy and clarifies how recent developments, for example regarding configuration, technology, and the environment, are impacting on its content and direction and on its relationship to manufacturing performance. In providing up-to-date coverage of the consequences of such forces and factors for international manufacturing, this book aims to expand the debate concerning international manufacturing strategy and cast light on its current evolution. International manufacturing is operating within a time of great flux. While offshoring of activities has dominated over recent decades, nearshoring and reshoring are increasingly being considered and observed in practice. At the same time, technologies such as 3D-printing are gaining traction and the role of ICT and data analytics is increasingly important in the international manufacturing landscape while digitization becomes more prevalent and the embrace of the Internet of Things (IOT) accelerates. Furthermore, issues related to the environment are figuring more prominently in international manufacturing considerations, and assumptions regarding the long-term cost of energy are being called into question. International manufacturing is also experiencing greater servitization.

This book comprehensively covers the topic of sustainability in the clothing and fashion sector. Sustainability is applied under different industrial sectors and there has to be a distinction in every industrial sector when it comes to sustainability in its application. Though the definition is common for sustainability, sustainability in the clothing sector has its unique objectives, principles, and limitations, which this book highlights.

This authoritative book covers everything an engineer needs to know about manufacturing systems and processes. It presents over 400 manufacturing processes and uses a systems orientation to manufacturing.

The objective of a synchronized production system is to harmonize all the elements of the manufacturing process based on the Just-in-Time strategy. This strategy is designed to improve return on investment in business by reducing in-process inventory and its associated costs. The process is driven by a series of signals, or Kanban, that tell production processes to make the next part. The Synchronized Production System sets out the fundamentals of the process clearly and concisely and shows the remarkable results that can be achieved: Money previously tied up in stock is released Quicker response times to customer orders, leading to increased customer satisfaction Custom manufacture to order - improving equity return by reducing risk Dramatically improved product quality This ground-breaking book also explains how to improve performance through changes to management processes making it an invaluable reference for managers in all types and size of business.

European shipyards face a rising competition in the global market. Christopher Sauerhoff investigates such aspects as a shipyard’s market expertise, its practical experiences and its cooperative activities. He analyzes whether there is a relationship between each of these aspects and those resources and capabilities constituting the basis for a shipyard’s competence in the field of services. The author conducts focused interviews with 26 experts from the shipbuilding industry. Based on the findings of the interviews, he subsequently carries out an international survey addressed to shipyards’ management representatives. The results indicate that there is the chance for European shipyards to improve their position in the global shipbuilding industry by offering not only customized high-tech ships of best quality, but also technical service packages and therewith adding further value for their customers.

This book provides a Management Science approach to quality management in food production. Aspects of food quality, product conformance and reliability/food safety are examined, starting with wheat and ending with its value chain transformation into bread. Protein qualities that influence glycemic index levels in bread are used to compare the value chains of France and the US. With Kaizen models the book shows how changes in these characteristics are the result of management decisions made by the wheat growers in response to government policy and industry strategy. Lately, it provides step-by-step instructions on how to apply kaizen methodology and Deming's work on quality improvement to make the HACCPs (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) in food safety systems more robust.

This book focuses on the small car segment of India's automotive industry to explain the emergence of lead markets. The authors contend that the current understanding of lead markets does not sufficiently explain the business practices that are born out of the intensified globalization of innovation. Lead markets are considered crucial for the global diffusion of new products and this book investigates whether sustainable lead markets can also emerge in developing economies, and if so, under which conditions. The authors question the conventional wisdom and propose updates and extensions to the lead market theory to better reflect the changing ground realities on ground.

This book discusses in detail the concepts of recycling and upcycling and their implications for the textiles and fashion sector. In addition to the theoretical concepts, the book also presents various options for recycling and upcycling in textiles and fashion. Although recycling is a much-developed and widely used concept, upcycling is also gaining popularity in the sector.

This book highlights the sustainability aspects of textiles and clothing sector in light of nanomaterials and technologies. The invasion of nano in every industrial sector has been important and has made remarkable changes as well as posed new challenges, including the textiles and clothing sector. There is quite a great deal of research happening in terms of nano materials for textiles across the globe, some of which are covered in this book.