Local government innovation has become one of the most important topics on China's policy agenda in recent decades. This book explains why some local governments are more innovative than others. This book uses a novel theoretical framework and points out that in China's multi-level government structure, the administrative hierarchy and the span of control could shape local governments' innovation motivation, innovation capability, and innovation opportunity, thus influencing local government innovativeness. The author systematically analysed the 177 winners and finalists of the biennial Innovations and Excellence in Chinese Local Governance (IECLG) Awards Programme from 2001 to 2015 to provide convincing empirical evidence to support this theory. This book adopts an institutional approach to explaining local government innovativeness in China and may be a useful reference to help us learn more about local government decisions and behaviours.

This book investigates the real process of unleashing the power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) through Open Innovation and strategic choices. It covers the most important aspects of ICT in a nutshell and details the road to the future through business innovation. ICT, of which telecom and IT constitute the core, is currently permeating and transforming every sphere of life, ranging from commerce, manufacturing, education and healthcare, to agriculture, banking, governance, media and entertainment. Today, telecommunication and ICT, in general, are essential to a country's economic development and competitiveness as recognized both by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Due to the powerful, disruptive and rapid forces unleashed by ICT tsunami, organisations not only struggle to harness the potential of ICT but can also be overwhelmed by the changes, complexity, competition and regulatory environment it brings up. This book provides a clue to organisations on how to sustain and succeed by leveraging ICT in absence of extensive in-house expertise across the breadth and depth of these areas. The driving theme of the book is about opening up organizational and business models, by presenting an integrated roadmap to a future with ICT, by co-opting, cooperating and competing with other organisations. Constructing the right strategy and building the necessary social capital for open innovation through collaboration with partners, government, academia and users (Quadruple Helix Model) are essential steps in such a process.

This book offers a detailed theoretical analysis of the fields of learning and management in the digital age. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it opens a dialogue between agile management theory and agile learning theory. The book argues that there is a tension between participative and action-orientated approaches on the one hand and neoliberal enclosure of the actor on the other hand. It takes this as an opportunity for interdisciplinary dialogue between learning theories and management concepts. With contributions from a range of international experts, chapters discuss the need for suitable theoretical, epistemological, and ethical foundations as well as practice-orientated methods for learning and management to implement appropriate strategies and meet educational challenges. This highly topical book will be of great interest to academics, postgraduate students, and researchers in the fields of digital learning, educational theory, management theory, and communication studies.

This book offers a detailed theoretical analysis of the fields of learning and management in the digital age. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it opens a dialogue between agile management theory and agile learning theory. The book argues that there is a tension between participative and action-orientated approaches on the one hand and neoliberal enclosure of the actor on the other hand. It takes this as an opportunity for interdisciplinary dialogue between learning theories and management concepts. With contributions from a range of international experts, chapters discuss the need for suitable theoretical, epistemological, and ethical foundations as well as practice-orientated methods for learning and management to implement appropriate strategies and meet educational challenges. This highly topical book will be of great interest to academics, postgraduate students, and researchers in the fields of digital learning, educational theory, management theory, and communication studies.

Provides the reader with a real-life holistic view of what is actually required to make it happen and deliver successful business growth. Other books on innovation are written by academics and consultants, people who sit on the side lines and observe. This book is unique in that it is written from the perspective of two professionals who have led, founded and grown multiple businesses over the last 30 years, and so know the practical reality of what works and what doesn't. Includes case studies of leading organizations, such as: As the book contains contributions from senior leaders in Google, BCG, Google, Hexcel, Johnson Matthey, Kennametal, Naluri, IE University, Amcor, Quaker Houghton, Novartis, CeramTec, Alvarez & Marsal.

Although largely unseen, the industrial revolution taking place before us is picking up steam dramatically. Dissolution of traditional global trading partnerships, the effect of COVID-19 on supply chains and the formation of new trading blocks, such as China's Belt and Road initiatives, are creating turmoil and rapid change in the international business domain. Continual advances in technology, health treatments, political and societal change are underpinning these transformations. It is unclear just how this revolution will unfold or what the role of the corporation will be in the long run. This book helps us navigate through these challenging times by identifying areas where opportunities will develop. Written by highly qualified experts from a diverse range of backgrounds, the book takes a novel backcast view to present more critical arguments. The book has been set in the not-so-distant future, reflecting back on the changes that have led to a new type of corporation and the conditions that have led to it. Each chapter presents a complimentary view about the nature of and context for the 2040 Future Corporation. The back casting perspective will provide a very effective discipline for readers to analyse contemporary trends while presenting an integrated and balanced future perspective.

This book looks back at the starting point of engineering to show the importance of motivation in dealing with the passive-to-active consumer change, and explains how engineering can be holistic. It presents a variety of research on emotion, discussing topics such as neuroscience, philosophy and physiology. In addition to providing similar research being carried out from different perspectives in other fields, it demonstrates to readers how they can work with researchers in other fields to explore the new frontiers and their applications together. With engineering quickly moving from product development to experience development, and the role of emotion in engineering becoming increasingly important, Emotional Engineering, Vol. 6 is a valuable resource for engineers and researchers.

This book is the first collection of scholarly writings on science and technology parks (STPs) that has an international perspective. It explores concrete ways to systematically collect information on public and private organizations related to their support of and activities in STPs, including incubation to start-up and scale-up, and collaborations with centers of knowledge creation. Rather than perpetuate the qualitative assessment of successful practices, the focus of this book is to present quantitative and qualitative evidence of the impact of STPs on regional development and to raise awareness on the importance of systematic data collection and analysis. Only through a systematic collection of data on fiscal identification numbers of companies, universities, and university spin-offs will it be possible to conduct current and especially future analyses on the impact of STPs on entrepreneurship, effectiveness of technology transfer, and regional economic development. To this extent, the synergistic views of academics, representatives from STPs, and policy experts are crucial.

This book explores the various considerations for achieving an effective regulatory strategy to improve financial access and usage in Nigeria and beyond. Gaps in the legal and institutional framework for digital financial services (DFS) as well as the barriers that contribute to financial exclusion are identified as are the policy changes needed to provide more extensive, accessible and sustainable financial inclusion value. In addition, the book covers divergent themes around the use of and insights for regulating industry financial services providers and challenger entities that herald industry disruption. The book adopts three research methods. The doctrinal research method is used to buttress the law and development analysis and the themes around regulation, adoption and usage of financial services. To elucidate the application of financial innovations, comparative case studies are drawn from selected jurisdictions including Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, The Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, Uganda, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Lastly, using the empirical research method, the author reports the burden experienced by the residents of a community without banks in accessing finance. Included in this discussion are the barriers to finance as well as the coping strategies adopted by the community residents to access formal and informal finance.

Trust and Digital Business: Theory and Practice brings together the theory and practice of trust and digital business. The book offers a look at the current state, including a comprehensive overview of both research and practical applications of trust in business. Readers will gain from this book in the following areas: knowledge across disciplines on trust in business, theoretical underpinnings of trust and how it sustains itself through digital dissemination, and empirically validated practice regarding trust and its related concepts. The international team of authors from seven countries (Finland, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Turkey, and the U.S.) ensures the diversity and quality of the content. The intended audiences of this book are professionals, scholars, and students.

* Designed for students of public administration at every level who need to know and understand how technology can be applied in today's public management workplace * Explores the latest trends in public management, policy, and technology and focuses on best practices on governance issues. * Provides real-life examples about the need for policies and procedures to safeguard our technology infrastructure while providing greater openness, participation, and transparency * Contains all new material on blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, the latest developments in cybersecurity (including ransomware), big and visualized data, and the spread of misinformation * Includes a website maintained by the authors that contains YouTube Videos, PowerPoint presentations, sample quizzes, and group assignments for instructors to consider.

This book closely examines the concept and theory of 'future' from a multidisciplinary perspective, focusing on the practice of forecasting, especially in its interaction with complexity. It highlights the relations between forecasting, decision-making and strategy, mixing technical arguments (but minimal mathematics) with ideas from psychology and philosophy. Rich with examples, the book highlights the role of values and attitudes in deciding how to look at the future. Written in a casual but precise style that makes the ideas easily digestible, it helps corporate strategists, practicing futurists, and researchers in the field of strategy or public planning gain a fundamental perspective on the future - before starting to predict things.

Digital entrepreneurship refers to business activities in the digital media and information and information and communication technologies. It encompasses entrepreneurial pursuits in areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things, and augmented reality among many more. The digital economy is expected to bring about $60 Trillion in revenue by 2025. With the rise and proliferation of emerging technologies globally, entrepreneurs have pursued opportunities to leverage skills, abilities, and resources to find innovative revenue streams. Companies such as Facebook, Uber, and Twitter are examples of highly successful digital firms that have become giants in the industry. Entrepreneurs and executives from all over the world are looking to follow in their footsteps. The book will outline and discuss ideas and approaches for companies of all sizes to benefit from the digital economy. This edited book brings together chapter contributions from leading practice experts and academics from all over the world. It advances contemporary thinking on digital entrepreneurship and aims to become the ultimate reference guide on the subject, making it especially valuable to researchers, academics, students, and professionals in the fields of entrepreneurship, international business, and the management of technology and innovation.

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.

Presenting a novel biomimetic design method for transferring design solutions from nature to technology, this book focuses on structure-function patterns in nature and advanced modeling tools derived from TRIZ, the theory of inventive problem-solving. The book includes an extensive literature review on biomimicry as an engine of both innovation and sustainability, and discusses in detail the biomimetic design process, current biomimetic design methods and tools. The structural biomimetic design method for innovation and sustainability put forward in this text encompasses (1) the research method and rationale used to develop and validate this new design method; (2) the suggested design algorithm and tools including the Find structure database, structure-function patterns and ideality patterns; and (3) analyses of four case studies describing how to use the proposed method. This book offers an essential resource for designers who wish to use nature as a source of inspiration and knowledge, innovators and sustainability experts, and scientists and researchers, amongst others.

This book focuses on the global quality of the design of systems that people interact with during their work activities and daily lives; a quality that involves the globality of people's experience - physical, sensory, cognitive and emotional. It presents a concise and structured overview of the ergonomic approach to planning, and of methodological and operational tools from ergonomic research that can more directly and concretely contribute to the design process. The book also explores physical ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics, which are essential components of design culture. The final section addresses the main design problems and intervention criteria regarding the design of environments, products and equipment, as well as the design of communication, training and learning interface systems based on digital technologies. The book is chiefly intended for designers and anyone interested in the methods, tools and opportunities for in-depth analysis and development that ergonomics can offer regarding the conception, production and testing of products, environments and services, whether physical or virtual. It also offers a learning resource for professionals and students in Industrial Design and Planning.

This book provides a broad overview of a number of game-changing paradigms that are anticipated to reshape 21st century product development. Topics including cloud computing-based design, cloud manufacturing, crowd-sourcing and mass collaboration, open source and social product development will be discussed in the context of advanced distributed and collaborative product creation. The purpose of the book is threefold: (1) to provide decision makers in industry with a solid base for strategic design and manufacturing-related process re-organization; (2) to provide researchers and scientist with the state-of-the-art from an academic perspective as well as a research agenda aimed at advancing the theoretical foundations of the field and (3) to serve as supplementary reading in design and manufacturing-related courses at universities and technical colleges.

This edited book explores the digital challenge for cultural-creative organizations and industries, and its impact on production, meaning-making, consumption and valuation of cultural-creative products and experiences. Discussing digital changes such as user-generated content, social media, business model innovation and product development, the chapters challenge deep-seated definitions of creative individuals, organizations and industries, offering insights into how this creative aspect is argued and legitimized. Placing an emphasis on research that deals with the digital challenge, this collection theorizes its significance for the nature and dynamics of creative industries as well as its impact on the mediation of experiences and the creation and consumption of cultural-creative products.

* Presents practical recommendations to motivate and retain Millennials, the largest generation in the US workforce * Backed by a research study with over 11,000 participants, from three generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials) * Explores Millennials' political engagement, cultural diversity, social media use, and views on class conflict, all of which will shed light on a Millennial-led future

* Presents practical recommendations to motivate and retain Millennials, the largest generation in the US workforce * Backed by a research study with over 11,000 participants, from three generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials) * Explores Millennials' political engagement, cultural diversity, social media use, and views on class conflict, all of which will shed light on a Millennial-led future

The aftermath of the 2008 crisis has substantially increased the regulation of banks and insurance companies and curtailed their risk taking, which has shifted much of the risk to their clients: firms and consumers. At the same time, digitalization has encouraged the entry of new firms combining finance and technological innovation, a phenomenon known as FinTech. The emergence of non-bank financial entities has contributed to the fragmentation of financial services, and also opened up new markets. Furthermore, the growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility has made it increasingly important for financial organizations to care about their public image. Drawing together these diverse strands, this book examines how the financial sector is evolving and how the existing actors are adapting to the institutional change and to the challenges from new actors and competitors. It also addresses the issue of how financial organizations are providing fixes to the challenges at the systemic level and how a healthier, more diverse and socially responsible financial sector is beneficial to the operations of the market economy as a whole. While there are books that address each of these issues, and also books that look at organizational diversity, there are few that investigate their interconnectedness. Responsible Finance and Digitalization offers a topical overview of the changes that are taking place in the financial sector and how the financial sector itself can contribute to solving global challenges. It equips both students (at MBA and other levels) and practitioners with analytical tools to reflect on this change and to take appropriate action to ensure that their organization can successfully navigate it and create value.

Due to its potential transformative nature, empathy has increasingly received attention in business, psychology, neuroscience, education, medicine, social sciences and design, to mention only a few. During the last two decades, discussions about the role of empathy in design and creative research and practice have developed, with empathy perceived as a key instrument in human-centred design and design thinking. This book revisits the powerful concept of empathy in the new post-pandemic era in which ubiquitous digitalisation presents challenges to retaining human-centredness when developing products and services. The book presents a practical four-step approach to the challenges presented concerning how organisations can turn from merely feeling empathy with or for people, to actions of empathy and compassion that can be implemented with and by communities. A wide range of organisations and organisational settings can benefit from the presented case studies and research methods. Through them, the book explores how to discover, share and act with empathy and compassion in the new digitally driven post-pandemic era to innovate across a wide range of organisations, including for-profit and not-for-profit businesses and those in the public and third sectors. This edited volume will appeal to global researchers in the fields of product and service design and digital, social innovation, as well those interested in organisational development. The practical, interdisciplinary nature of the book and innovative four-step approach will also appeal to upper-level students.

Boasts an impressive author list from multiple disciplinary and geographical backgrounds. Explores a wide range of issues, including economic growth, youth employment, gender, regulatory frameworks, business environments, entrepreneurship, and interest-driven power politics. Adds much-needed perspectives to the debates that shape both Europe's and Africa's digital transformation and innovation environments.

This book provides an impressive overview of emerging technologies, especially nanotechnologies and biotechnologies, and their prospective applications. It identifies and describes existing and potential markets for emerging technology-based applications, and projects scenarios for macroeconomic development based on these technologies. Integrated roadmaps for the development of a nano- and bioindustry are shown and policy measures and corporate strategies developed to advance these technologies. These measures are illustrated using roadmaps and policy case studies.The book combines a practical, comprehensive overview of the technical side of emerging technologies and their applications in various fields with an analysis of market developments and characteristics.

Based on the authors Robert Johnson and Douglas Bate's thirty-two years of experience consulting to major organizations, The Power of Strategy Innovation contains tools and tricks to help companies excel in dynamic markets and provide groundbreaking products and services. You'll learn how to apply innovative thinking to your company's business model to bridge the gap between strategy and product development; how to remain flexible, future-oriented, and responsive to market changes and your clients' changing needs; and how to create a perpetual flow of viable new business opportunities. The authors refer to this as "innovation" rather than "strategic planning," but the truth is somewhere in-between: through a proven five-phase discovery process --for staging, aligning, exploring, creating, and mapping--strategic innovation will become a company-wide competency. The book's latest edition, updated in 2013, includes a new preface and epilogue describing the emergence of enterprise innovation and its impact on both companies' day-to-day planning and focuses on the future. Informative interviews with corporate leaders dispersed throughout the book provide further insight into different industries and the ways they have committed to taking a more innovative approach. To that end, through these shared methodologies, The Power of Strategy Innovation will forever transform the way you do business--and help you rise to become a leader in your industry.