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Books > Business & Economics > Business & management > Management of specific areas > Research & development management
Social franchising represents a third generation form of franchising development, after trade-name and business-format franchising. At the intersection of social enterprise and micro finance literatures, this book reviews a variety of social franchising formats across a number of developing countries.
Process innovations - an improved way of doing things - help firms achieve higher-level performance by reducing the time and cost to produce a product or perform a service, and increasing productivity and growth. This book provides a comprehensive examination of process innovations occurring in the global fashion industry, with a focus on fashion brands from USA, Italy, and Japan. It offers practical insights for enhancing efficiency in the supply chain as well as management process such as work routines, information flow, and organization structures. Using case analyses, this book will help readers to grasp how successful fashion companies optimize their operations and advance their competitive position by integrating process innovations into their supply chain and management systems.
Technology is the key driver of business. May it be airport, ICT, smart governance, manufacturing or plantations. Technology management opens up opportunities for the business and help achieve leadership positions. This collection of papers provides a glimpse of issues faced in different sectors. These papers also should inspire more researchers to expand the scope of the subject itself."
This book is a reaction to popular assumptions that innovation is always a force for good. While the popular press and politicians often take the view that "the more innovation, the better", the chapters in this edited volume reflect on the harmful effects of innovation on society and the environment. The book begins with a broad discussion of the dark side of innovation, followed by contributions by various experts in the area. It is a critical reply to the innovation optimists, complementing the list of indicators that show steady human progress with a list of indicators that show sustained deterioration (largely due to innovation). The volume outlines some relevant dimensions of harmful innovation, before distinguishing between the types of harm brought on by innovation. The various contributed chapters focus on the following themes: a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on the harmful consequences of innovation; harmful side-effects from solar photovoltaic waste; harmful consequences of process innovations on working practices in areas such as accountancy; the difficulties of transferring innovations from research to practice in clinical healthcare; and the harmful consequences of social innovations. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Industry and Innovation.
The future will bring only more megatrends and disruptions. With the guidance of this book, which centers around the authors' years-of-research-backed high-performance organizations (HPO) framework and includes the unique self-assessment tool Futurize! Diagnosis, business leaders and organizations will be prepared and truly 'future ready.' The next two decades will present massive challenges for organizations, as they navigate the need for sustainable development against a complex backdrop of factors such as increasing inequality, resource scarcity, continued globalization, and the ever-increasing speed of technological advancement. This book will help business leaders and organizations set priorities and make decisions so that not only do they honor commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but also become more future ready by: identifying the megatrends and disruptors which impact organizations now and will in the future specifically outlining how those megatrends and disruptors will impact organizations showing how organizations can deal with this impact in practical terms. This book is a must for management teams, aspiring leaders, and professionals and students interested in the future of work, human resource management, and innovation.
Using real cases of food fi rms and agriculture supply chains as a context, How is Digitalization Affecting Agri-food? New Business Models, Strategies and Organizational Forms aims to understand the key themes in strategic and organizational research in this area. Despite the importance of food and agriculture in the current political and societal context, analysis of the impact of digitalization and information technologies on the industry is still limited. The objective of this monograph is to understand the direction of this change. With case studies of food firms and agriculture supply chains it sets out to conceptualize food organizing and organizations as a fruitful object of inquiry, both at the intra and interorganizational levels. It aims to understand new business models, strategies, and organizational forms. Contributions in this stream of research have the potential to yield important and relevant insights for both scholars and societies. This book is written primarily for academics engaged in innovation management or strategy, or conducting organizational behavior research. It will also be of relevance to practitioners and managers in the agri-food industry.
The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation in tourism and there has been a surge in new, innovative digital initiatives to help tourism businesses. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the nature of tourism, events and practices in the digital context. The book looks at how technology has transformed tourism in destination branding, marketing, content marketing, sustainable tourism development and tourism events. It examines the impact of digital transformation on emotions, experiences, information technology tools and marketing techniques. The book will be a useful reference to those researching on tourism, culture, hospitality and marketing and as well as destination planners, managers of tourism destination marketing organizations, regulators, standards and certification bodies, local tourism board authorities and policy makers.
This book evaluates the evolution of social innovation in post-Soviet Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Caucasus. Following the dissolution of the USSR, organisations such as the UNDP have encouraged local communities and governments to innovate in order to find solutions to existing social problems. This book demonstrates that progress with social innovations has varied, with countries with low government support such as Uzbekistan struggling, whereas countries with better government support and a more active civil society, such as Armenia and Ukraine, have seen more positive results. Covering the period 2012-2020 and a broad range of countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, this book provides an impressively broad-ranging critical analysis of post-Soviet social innovation. Including social innovations emerging as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, this will be an important comparative study for researchers and practitioners working on social innovation, and to those with an interest in post-Soviet development.
The implementation of new technologies is expected to boost the development of Islamic Finance by increasing accessibility to banking and other financial services in Islamic communities and democratizing access to investment opportunities. At the same time, new technologies will increase financing opportunities and facilitate asset management for Sharia-compliant businesses. This collection of essays from selected experts in the field comprise some of the most topical issues on Islamic Fintech, combining a business focus with legal insights. The book takes as a point of departure the role that Islamic Fintech can play in promoting sustainability. The social vision of welfare improvement and justice is already embedded in Sharia's economic rules, which makes Islamic Finance particularly well suited to bridge the gap between sustainability and funding. Although it is not without challenges for the industry, technology will help unleash its potential. With a holistic approach to Islamic Fintech, the contributing authors address the application of new technologies to Islamic Finance, including robo-advisory, crowdfunding and digital ledger technology (both in the issuance of bitcoin and the registration of securities in tokenized form) and in certain sectors such as takaful (takaful-tech) and health (e-health). Finally, they explore the challenges posed by anti-money laundering ('AML') in the specific realm of Islamic Fintech. The book combines theoretical analysis with a practical focus, both through case studies and directly through the experiences of leading entrepreneurs. In addition, it provides insights on legal and regulatory aspects, which are key in a field that is still in its infancy and needs support from lawmakers and regulators. It is, thus, a reference for academics, legal practitioners, policymakers, entrepreneurs and the Islamic Finance community.
This book examines the different ways companies can develop and design social innovation. Combining technological and social perspectives, the contributors present emerging research on social innovation from different sectors such as entrepreneurship, education and energy. Collectively, the authors demonstrate the ways in which social innovation can drive sustainability and development in regions around the world. All societies are characterized by their political, economic and social institutions, as well as by how they utilize technology. The social innovations with the highest importance are those which modify existing institutions or create new ones, and based on their magnitude, they can be considered as radical or incremental. For example, when Joseph Chamberlain encouraged workers to organize in order to achieve universal male suffrage in Great Britain in 1885, this was a considered a radical innovation for British society, which in turn changed its political framework. Social innovations may be based on intelligence and commitment, on technology or on social entrepreneurship in its most open forms. In addition, social innovations can be classified into those which correspond to an entire country or region, a field (e.g., education) or a sector (e.g., entrepreneurship, technology, social reform). Featuring contributions on topics such as agro-food, smart cities, higher education, gender equality and sports, this book is ideal for academics, students, scholars, professionals and policy makers in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability and regional development.
Written by an award-winning R&D leader and CEO. Clear guidance on how to lead teams when you aren't an expert in the technical field. Insights from CEOs of high-tech organisations are provided throughout.
Drawing on a range of European cases, this edited volume analyses the offshoring and outsourcing of foreign companies, with a focus on territorial embeddedness. The book opens by developing a theoretical framework and then presents a range of international case studies exploring the experiences of the service hub cities of Brno, Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow, and Prague. Attention is also given to internal and external determinants of embeddedness, with chapters on the employee perspective, the Fintech industry, corporate social responsibility, and the role of universities. This volume will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in regional economics, economic geography, innovation studies, industrial economics, European economics, and international business.
Managers in organisations must make rational decisions. Rational decision making is the opposite of intuitive decision making. It is a strict procedure utilising objective knowledge and logic. It involves identifying the problem to solve, gathering facts, identifying options and outcomes, analysing them, considering all the relationships and selecting the decision. Rational decision making requires support: methods and software tools. The identification of the problem to solve needs methods that would measure and evaluate the current situation. Identification and evaluation of options and analysis of the available possibilities involves analysis and optimisation methods. Incorporating intuition into rational decision making needs adequate methods that would translate ideas or observed behaviours into hard data. Communication, observation and opinions recording is hardly possible today without adequate software. Information and data that form the input, intermediate variables and the output must be stored, managed and made accessible in a user-friendly manner. Rational Decisions in Organisations: Theoretical and Practical Aspects presents selected recent developments in the support of the widely understood rational decision making in organisations, illustrated through case studies. The book shows not only the variety of perspectives involved in decision making, but also the variety of domains where rational decision support systems are needed. The case studies present decision making by medical doctors, students and managers of various universities, IT project teams, construction companies, banks and small and large manufacturing companies. Covering the richness of relationships in which the decisions should and must be taken, the book illustrates how modern organisations operate in chains and networks; they have multiple responsibilities, including social, legal, business and ethical duties. Nowadays, managers in organisations can make transparent decisions and consider a multitude of stakeholders and their diverse features, incorporating diverse criteria, using multiple types and drivers of information and decision-making patterns, and referring to numerous lessons learned. As the book makes clear, the marriage of theoretical ideas with the possibilities offered by technology can make the decisions in organisations more rational and, at the same time, more human.
Collaborative spaces are more than physical locations of work and production. They present strong identities centered on collaboration, exchange, sense of community, and co-creation, which are expected to create a physical and social atmosphere that facilitates positive social interaction, knowledge sharing, and information exchange. This book explores the complex experiences and social dynamics that emerge within and between collaborative spaces and how they impact, sometimes unexpectedly, on creativity and innovation. Collaborative Spaces at Work is timely and relevant: it will address the gap in critical understandings of the role and outcomes of collaborative spaces. Advancing the debate beyond regional development rhetoric, the book will investigate, through various empirical studies, if and how collaborative spaces do actually support innovation and the generation of new ideas, products, and processes. The book is intended as a primary reference in creativity and innovation, workspaces, knowledge and creative workers, and urban studies. Given its short chapters and strong empirical orientation, it will also appeal to policy makers interested in urban regeneration, sustaining innovation, and social and economic development, and to managers of both collaborative spaces and companies who want to foster creativity within larger organizations. It can also serve as a textbook in master's degrees and PhD courses on innovation and creativity, public management, urban studies, management of work, and labor relations.
Cryptocurrencies have had a profound effect on financial markets worldwide. This edited book aims to explore the economic implications of the use of cryptocurrencies. Drawing from chapter contributors from around the world, the book will be a valuable resource on the economics of cryptocurrencies. The intended audience is composed of academics, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, government leaders, consultants and policy makers worldwide. Over the past few years, the topic of cryptocurrencies has gained global attention and has been the subject of discussion in various news media, in policy-making bodies and government entities, and in financial institutions, classrooms and boardrooms. Despite widespread interest, much remains unknown on what the economic implications of cryptocurrencies are. This book enhances the reader's understanding of cryptocurrencies, its impact on industry and its implications on the political and economic environment. Drawing from chapter contributions from leading academics and thought leaders from around the world, this book is the definitive guide on the economics of cryptocurrencies. There is scarcity of well conceived, academically grounded literature on the impact of cryptocurrencies on industry, politics and economics. This pioneering book provides up-to-date and in-depth analysis on the subject. The book will be appealing to academic communities, business professionals and entrepreneurs in their quest for better understanding the challenges and opportunities brought about by cryptocurrencies. Consultants, government officials and policy makers will find the information helpful in defining strategic pathways into the future.
The goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive, multi-dimensional approach to research and practice in e-government 2.0 implementation. Contributions from an international panel of experts apply a variety of methodological approaches and illustrative case studies to present state-of-the-art analysis and perspectives. Around the world, governments are employing technological advancements to revolutionize their ways of working, resulting in changing relationships among public organizations and their constituents. Important enablers are new uses of information and knowledge-sharing technologies that emerged with the advent of the Web 2.0 paradigm; initially used in the private arena, such user-friendly, participatory, intuitive and flexible Web 2.0 technologies (e.g., blogs, Wikis, RSS, social networking platforms, folksonomy, podcasting, mashups, virtual worlds, open linked data, etc.) are increasingly disseminated within the professional sphere, regardless of organization type or field of activities. Current e-government environments have undergone considerable transformations in an attempt to satisfy the incessant demand for more advanced e-service delivery, better access to information and more efficient government management. Looking to the future, the emergence of Web 2.0, the rise of social networks and the wider dissemination of data and information are expected to generate many benefits, such as a better match between public services and citizens' expectations, greater adoption of online services by citizens and better control of costs and prevention of delays in the implementation of new services. Governments around the world are building frameworks and proposals for e-government 2.0, in the hopes of improving participation, transparency and integration, while speeding up the pace of innovation through collaboration and consultation.This volume addresses a gap in the research literature, offering timely insights on the e-government 2.0 phenomenon and directions for future practice and policy.
This book provides an understanding of innovation models and why they are important in the business context, and considers sources of innovation and how to apply business frameworks using real-world examples of innovation-led businesses. After providing a solid background to the key concepts related to innovation models, the book looks at why innovation takes place and where the sources of innovation lie, from corporate research to crowd-sourced and government-funded initiatives. Innovation models across manufacturing, services and government are explored, as well as measuring innovation, and the impact of design thinking and lean enterprise principles on innovation and sustainability-driven imperatives. Offering a truly comprehensive and global approach, Business Innovation should be core or recommended reading for advanced undergraduate, postgraduate, MBA and Executive Education students studying Innovation Management, Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship.
Practical Management for the Digital Age is an innovative introductory management textbook that shows the sweeping impact of information technology on the business world. At the same time, it addresses the pressing issue of how environmental aspects are interwoven with management decisions. This book forms an academically rigorous, accurate, and accessible first exposure to a topic that often challenges novices with competing definitions, inconsistent use of terminology, methodological variety, and conceptual fuzziness. It has been written for readers with little or no prior knowledge of management and is compact enough to be read cover-to-cover over the course of a semester. Features of this book: Provides a broad, self-contained treatment of management for those without prior knowledge of management or commerce, emphasizing core ideas that every manager should know. Establishes the context of modern management by characterizing the nature of the private enterprise, the economic theory of the firm, the economics of digitalization and automation, processes of innovation, and life cycle thinking. Introduces readers to various activities of managing, including business modeling, new business formation, operations management, managing people, marketing, and the management of quality and risk. Provides practical introductions to broadly applied management techniques, including financial planning, financial analysis, evaluating flows of money, and planning and monitoring projects. This book is aimed at a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate students in a variety of disciplines, as well as practitioners. It will be especially useful to those in the fields of engineering, science, computer science, medicine, pharmacy, social sciences, and more. It will help student readers engage confidently with project work in the final parts of their degree courses and, most importantly, with managerial situations later in their careers. For instructors, who may not have a management background, this book offers content for a self-contained year-long course in management at the intermediate undergraduate level. In addition, it has been developed for undergraduate and postgraduate courses with accreditation requirements that include a taught element in management, such as the UK Engineering Council's Accreditation of Higher Education (AHEP) framework.
The book not only gives leaders the tools to ask the right questions, but it also enables companies to innovate at pace by virtue of the types of questions they ask. The third book in the trilogy that looks at how to make sense and communicate around data and to surface the key issues that can impact performance. Unlike most other books that focus in questioning techniques, this book looks at the complex issues that can arise in business and particularly making sense of and the communication of detailed information.
Employing a three-dimensional approach, this book discusses inclusive innovation for socio-economic growth and development, and the implications for human security within the context of developing and emerging economies. Focusing on a new and innovative area of research, Inclusive Innovation for Sustainable Development explores new social and technological processes that are created within, and for the benefit of, marginalised populations. Considering policy and issues surrounding technology, business strategies and best practices, theoretical underpinnings and a broader contextualisation, the authors interrogate the concept of the inclusivity of innovations. Written from the perspective of the new UN paradigm which states that "no one will be left behind", the book considers the potential contribution of modern technology to human security and develops frameworks that counter the potential increases in inequality that this may bring. With contributions from leading international scholars in a range of disciplines, as well as practitioners in international development organizations and private sector actors Inclusive Innovation for Sustainable Development provides a way forward for excluded majority populations to take control of innovative technologies and business processes.
Digitalization is on everyone's lips as new technology changes business landscapes and conventional companies are outperformed by younger digital and agile contestants. In this volatile environment it seems more relevant than ever before to understand the aspects and business logic behind the elusive phenomenon called "digitalization". Never before have there been such great opportunities to unleash the full potential of technology within organizations to create long-standing competitive advantage. This book explains the strategy and practice of how to lead and control the people side of digital change in a dynamic world of uncertainty and social complexity, and as such the book snares the elusive phenomena of digitalization Digitalization drives behavioral change and calls for a new way of thinking among senior executives. In practice, reaping the benefits of digital technology is not as easy as it first appears to be. This book provides a map to navigate in the volatile business landscape where change occurs continuously because of digital technology. It provides an historical frame of the evolution of digital technology, decodes digitalization's negative influence on the external aspects of customer satisfaction, discusses and explains the strategic and leadership consequences of different forms of digital change, and finally demonstrates how leading digital change can be put into practice. Illustrative case studies and examples are provided throughout as well as models and frameworks. This is a valuable resource for researchers, academics, and students in the fields of organizational studies, organizational change, technology and innovation management, and digitalization.
This book is a series of vignettes about changes to Australian institutions, organisations and systems that have significantly improved economic and social well-being for Australians. Economic system innovations have had a profound impact on our lives, from the invention of banking in the middle ages to the organisations established by the United Nations post-WWII. However, their intangible nature means that few people identify these changes alongside physical inventions. Although invention is normally an incremental process, with copying and adaption being the norm, the authors focus on reforms that were principally new to the world at the time of implementation. The book is not about the reforms and how well they worked, per se, rather about the people and the political struggle to get them adopted. The authors have chosen to focus on the stories where Australia has either taken a global leadership role or made a considerable advance in a particular new institution. What these stories show is that leadership in institutional innovation can come from many quarters: academia, the community, politics and the bureaucracy. Often the most successful teams combine people from all quarters albeit with support from the fourth estate. The work shows how many reforms began with modest beginnings, often an ordinary person with a vision, and how it takes several attempts to get change accepted. This key volume can be used to teach students of economics, political economy and politics. It illustrates the type of networks, actions and advocacy that is needed to get reform started and implemented and is written in a style to engage policy and think-tank audiences.
It has been estimated that over 75% of the innovative projects that begin through the Innovation Management System (IMS) are either failures or they failed to produce the desired results. The biggest wastes most medium- to large-size organizations face are the waste of money, time, reputation, opportunity, and income that these failures are costing them. Following this book's recommendations could reduce this failure cost by as much as 70%. The purpose of this book is to provide a step-by-step procedure on how to process a medium- or large-size project, program, or product using an already-established IMS that considers the guidance given in ISO 56002:2019 - Innovation Management Systems Standard. Often the most complicated, complex, difficult, and challenging system used in an organization is the IMS. At the same time, it usually is the most important system because it is the one that generates most of the value-adding products for the organization, and it involves most of the key functions within the organization. The opportunity for failure in time and the impact on the organization is critical and often means the difference between success and bankruptcy. Throughout this book, the authors detail the high-impact inputs and activities that are required to process individual projects/programs/products through the innovation cycle. Although this book was prepared to address how medium to large projects, programs, and products proceed through the cycle, it also provides the framework that can be used for small organizations and simple innovation activities. Basically, the major difference between large- and small-impact innovation projects is that the small projects can accept more risks, require less formal documentation, use simpler communication systems, and require fewer resources. It's important to remember that the authors are addressing an existing IMS rather than trying to create an entirely new one. Currently, this is the only book geared for professionals responsible for managing innovative projects and programs using ISO 56002:2019 - Innovation Management - Innovation Management System - Guidance to provide a comprehensive management strategy and step-by-step plan and ISO 56004 Innovation Management Assessment -Guidance. It provides a comprehensive analysis of what is required from the time an opportunity is recognized to the time the customer is using the innovative product. The book also introduces a new Process modeling cloud service that allows you to drill down 5 levels from the system level to the job description level and includes free access to many of the book's best practice Process models.
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.
This book presents an overview of the main research findings and case studies concerning education and skills for inclusive growth, green jobs and the greening of economies. Focusing on India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam, it discusses government and business sector responses to these issues and how Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems and institutions are addressing both the renewal of curricula in the context of green growth dynamics, and patterns of training and skills development to meet demands. In addition, the book examines cross-country issues, concerns and prospects regarding education and skills for inclusive growth and green jobs for the four countries. These include critical themes and issues in the selected industry sectors triggering a demand for green jobs in the region; how industry is responding to those demands; areas impeding the transition from traditional to green practices; the importance of skills development; the role of TVET in addressing industry needs; and reasons for the slow response of TVET to green skills.While other studies conducted in Asia - and internationally - on the same topic have largely relied on secondary sources, this study conducted by the Asian Development Bank and the Education University of Hong Kong (ADB-EdUHK) is unique in that the findings, conclusions and recommendations reported on are based on primary data. As part of the study, TVET providers, business enterprises, policy makers and practitioners were surveyed using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. In addition, workshops were held in each of the four countries to ascertain the views of key stakeholders in government, nongovernment organisations, members of the international development community, TVET providers and members of the business sector.The book also provides summaries of the case studies undertaken for India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. |
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