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The purpose of this paper is to shed light on co-creative approaches for place innovation in an Arctic town, based on the relocation of Kiruna’s city center in northern Sweden. Three cases of co-creative innovation processes in Kiruna are investigated and compared: an R&D project about local perceptions and visions of attractive urban environments; an R&D project about norm-creative design principles for inclusive and attractive urban design; and an R&D project about cross-industrial synergies for city center attractiveness.

The study’s research design encompasses a comparative and participatory approach. The comparative approach implies investigation and comparison of three cases of co-creative innovation processes in Kiruna. The participatory approach implies joint development of new knowledge by researchers and local actors. The data consists of participatory observations of workshops and qualitative interviews with local actors.

The study reveals that the studied processes have harnessed the city center relocation as an opportunity to make Kiruna more attractive to residents and visitors, by using the co-creative approaches of Living Lab, Now-Wow-How and Norm-creative design. These approaches have enabled experts and local actors to jointly identify excluding patterns and norms in the relocation process and to envision inclusive and attractive (re-)configurations and (re-)conceptualizations of the future Kiruna.

The results add to the academic strand of inclusive urban transformation, by providing insights into co-creative approaches for re-imagining an Arctic town in times of industrial and social change. New insights are provided regarding how the geographical, industrial and cultural identity of an Arctic town can be harnessed to envision new configuration, content and communication that is attractive and accessible for a diversity of residents and visitors.

The results highlight the potential to harness Arctic and rural characteristics in the promotion of urban attractiveness and public well-being, especially when combined with co-creative identification and transformation of excluding norms and patterns.

The results provide new insights into how co-creative approaches may facilitate innovative and inclusive renewal of towns and cities in the Arctic and beyond.

To provide a framework for understanding and analyzing economizing in differentiated distribution networks.

The paper is conceptual and reviews and develops some of the concepts and ideas provided by Wroe Alderson. The developed framework is then used in combination with some principle empirical examples from the PC industry to illustrate how the framework can be used in order to understand economizing in differentiated distribution networks. The paper also brings forward some methodological concerns regarding the use of the transvection concept in an empirical setting.

The paper concludes that by using a transvection approach three key concepts with regard to economizing in differentiated distribution networks can be identified; crossing points, sorting, and uniformity. These are interrelated and together they provide insight with respect to the logic of economizing in these kinds of networks.

The paper brings forward some “old” Aldersonian concepts in a “modern” setting and shows how these concepts can be used to understand economizing in differentiated distribution networks. The transvection is reintroduced as a useful concept for analyzing distribution structures, and the author found, in particular, that the concept is highly useful for understanding today's modern distribution arrangements.

Building on Kavaratzis and Hatch’s (2013) identity-based place branding model, this paper aims to explore the spatial and social dimensions of the place brand identity formation process and how residents used social media to participate in the process of shaping a city brand during a crisis.

Adopting an interpretive and social constructionist approach, this study analyses a sample of 187 short videos created and posted by Wuhan residents on the social media app Douyin during a COVID-19 lockdown. The authors read the videos as cultural texts and analysed underlying social processes in the construction of place brand identity by residents.

This study develops an adapted conceptual model of place identity formation unfolding in four sub-processes: expressing, impressing, mirroring and reflecting, and each sub-process subsumes two dimensions: the social and the spatial. In addition, this study empirically describes how residents participated in place branding processes in two ways, namely, their construction of city brand identity via communicative practice and their exertion of changes to a city brand during a crisis. The model reveals how place brands emerge and can be transformed.

This paper amplifies Kavaratzis and Hatch's (2013) identity-based place branding model by testing it in an empirical study and highlighting the social and spatial dimensions. This paper contributes to research about participatory place branding by exploring how residents participated in the place branding process. This study analysed short videos on social media, a new communication format, rather than textual narratives dominating past studies.

The purpose of this article is to explore possible contributions to the development of models to define business networks conceptually, and identify and delineate them empirically by integrating concepts and ideas from “market exchange theory” originating in the works of Alderson.

Following a conceptual discussion defining business networks as a type of exchange system, empirical data were used to exemplify and illustrate the theoretical development ideas. From data on 22 business firms collected in 1999‐2001 in the form of transcribed interviews and other print documentation, a business network as a type of exchange system was identified comprising five business entities. This case serves as illustration to the remainder of the theoretical discussions throughout the paper.

Based on a conceptualisation of business networks as a type of exchange system and a notion of interaction encompassing exchange processes stemming from both market exchange theory and social exchange theory, it is suggested that business networks can be more consistently identified and delineated empirically using this theoretical base.

The empirical case is merely illustrative, and more extensive empirical work is needed to further test the ideas of business networks as a type of exchange system. The implications to the study of markets‐as‐networks are that these ideas can be used as a basis for identification, delineation and analysis of business networks.

This paper extends Alderson's work by suggesting a fourth type of transformation: transformation in ownership, as well as by developing a typology with five resource types in the exchange system. Furthermore, it provides a conceptual tool that can be used by researchers to identify, delineate and analyse business networks and incorporates market exchange theory.

We explore how scholarly understandings of and the practice of organizational transformation have evolved since Bartunek and Louis’s (1988) Research in Organizational Change and Development chapter. While Bartunek and Louis hoped to see strategy scholarship and OD approaches to transformation inform each other, strategy literature has drifted away from transformation toward more continuous change. OD practice has focused on the implementation of its own versions of transformation through Large Group Interventions, Appreciative Inquiry, the new dialogic OD, and Theory U. Based on a discussion of Theory U, we call attention to the importance of individuals as an important source of new ideas in understanding and practicing large-scale change.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to analyse the possibilities for e-government transformations in public sector organisations and how these possibilities can be improved.

The research constructs a model based on a literature review that focusses on the pressure that drives transformations, on the challenges transformations face and on the abilities needed for overcoming these challenges. The resulting model is subsequently used to analyse a successful case and to identify the keys to success in terms of the strategies used to transform.

The possibilities for transformation depend on the organisational and contextual configuration (a public sector organisation and the context it operates in) which is more or less supportive of transformations. The configuration can be characterized by the pressure to transform, the challenges that must be overcome and the abilities to do so. There are some basic conditions that impact the possibilities for making the configuration more supportive of transformations: the interest of powerful stakeholders, the degree of publicness, the possibilities for changing the configuration are path dependent and the factors that matter for the possibilities for transformation are interrelated and might be governed by different authorities which make it difficult to manage and change them. When improving the possibilities for transformation in a configuration, the pressure can be increased, transformations can be made easier to accomplish by reducing challenges and by providing more support and abilities might be developed to better overcome the challenges. Transformation is accomplished through an interplay between actions that improve and exploit the configuration.

The findings are based on a single case.

The public sector should find the balance between making transformations easier and increasing capabilities. The lessons from this research suggest that a more balanced strategy focussing more on eliminating the contextual and organisational challenges that make these projects so complex and providing more support might be a better investment than just aiming to increase project level capabilities.

Just as practice might benefit from changing the balance between increasing project level capabilities and making transformation easier, e-government research might improve its relevance by changing the balance between suggesting new approaches and researching the basic conditions for the exploitation of IT in public sector organisations. While the essence of public sector organisations in some cases makes transformations very challenging, there are still factors that might be improved upon through research.

Previous research has established knowledge about transformational challenges and solutions. Based on this knowledge this research constructs a model that can be used to systematically analyse the possibilities for success, and strategies for dealing with these challenges are suggested.

Higher education in the UK has been subject to extensive changes. Government policy has stressed the need for an increase in student numbers. Discusses the changes needed in degree course management to create a system which is sufficiently flexible and efficient to cope with more students without loss of quality. Applies the theory of total quality management to higher education, indicating the need to treat degree courses as continuous production systems, rather than batch runs with standardized components and early detection of faults (unlearned work) to reduce quality costs (student failures and exam resits). Proposes that the US higher education system should be used as a model for the UK.

The concept of the customer order decoupling point (CODP) has been used in many different contexts as an important structural concept for the traditional forward supply chain. The CODP is rarely explicitly applied in reverse supply chain management and the purpose of this paper is to show that the CODP can be an important corner stone of a framework for analysis of the closed‐loop supply chain containing both forward and reverse material flows.

Conceptual similarities are identified using analogies between forward and reverse supply chains. First, the concepts are discussed in their original context of forward flows and thereafter the concepts are applied on reverse flows. Finally, a holistic closed‐loop model is established.

The conventional CODP framework for forward flow supply chains can be extended to cover also reverse material flows and therefore providing a foundation for a more comprehensive discussion of closed‐loop supply chains useful in both education, research, and industrial applications. Using the suggested extended framework it is possible to identify nine fundamental supply chain configurations.

Differentiating between demand driven and forecast driven activities plays a critical role in practical supply chain management and this paper highlights that this approach also can be applied to closed‐loop supply chains and therefore extending the reach of the toolbox previously developed for the forward supply chain.

The concept CODP has not previously been comprehensively treated for the closed‐loop supply chain and this paper provides a foundation for establishing a strategic structural framework for discussing issues such as lean vs agile and balancing efficiency and responsiveness in a more comprehensive context involving also reverse material flows.

The study begins by defining and conceptualizing Transformative Leadership Conversation (TLC). The conceptualization addresses the meaning of transformation, sensemaking and learning dialogue, and the conversation structures of framing, questioning and listening, and affirming. Next, the authors build a theoretical argument from self-determination theory on the function of TLC. The study concludes with an empirical test of the structure and function of TLC.

There were two parts to the empirical study. First, the authors designed and tested a scale to measure TLC by its structural features (e.g. questioning, listening and affirming language). Second, the authors used a correlational design with ex-post facto data to test the primary assumption that TLC activates autonomous motivation and action. Data came from a random sample of 2,500 teachers in a southwestern state. Useable responses were obtained from 1,615 teachers, for a response rate of 65%.

The empirical tests reveal that the 12-item and 6-item measure of the School Leader Transformative Conversation Scale present valid and reliable evidence on the frequent use of TLC. Consistent with the hypothesized model, TLC had a direct, positive relationship with teacher vitality. It also had a negative relationship with autonomy frustration and a positive indirect effect on teacher vitality by reducing the negative effect of autonomy frustration.

TLC advances a new conceptual lens to study school leadership as a discursive process. The concept opens lines of inquiry that have not yet been examined in school settings.

A growing body of research suggests that conflict can be beneficial for groups and organizations (e.g., De Dren & Van De Vliert, 1997). This paper articulates the argument that to be in conflict is to be emotionally activated (Jones, 2000) and utilizes Galtung's (1996) triadic theory of conflict transformation to locate entry points for conflict generation. Application of these ideas is presented through exemplars that demonstrate the utility of addressing emotions directly in the management of organizational conflicts.

This study aims to focus on a key unanswered question about how digitalization and the knowledge processes it enables affect firms’ strategies in the international arena.

The authors conduct a systematic literature review of relevant theoretical and empirical studies covering over 20 years of research (from 2000 to 2023) and including 73 journal papers.

This review allows us to highlight a relationship between firms’ international strategies and the knowledge processes enabled by applying digital technologies. Specifically, the authors discuss the characteristics of patterns of knowledge flows and knowledge processes (their origin, the type of knowledge they carry on and their directionality) as determinants for the emergence of diverse international strategies embraced by single firms or by populations of firms within ecosystems, networks, global value chains or alliances.

Despite digital technologies constituting important antecedents and critical factors for the internationalization process, and international businesses in general, and operating cross borders implies the enactment of highly knowledge-intensive processes, current literature still fails to provide a holistic picture of how firms strategically use what they know and seek out what they do not know in the international environment, using the affordances of digital technologies.

This paper aims to show how a sociological description – a swarm analysis of the Nazi dictatorship – initially made with the means borrowed from George Spencer-Brown’s Calculus of Indications, can be transformed into a digital circuit and with which methods and tools of digital mathematics this digital circuit can be analyzed and described in its behavior. Thus, the paper also aims to contribute to a better understanding of Chapter 11 of “Laws of Form.”

The analysis uses methods of automata theory for finite, deterministic automata. Basic set operations of digital mathematics and special set operations of the Boolean Differential Calculus are used to calculate digital circuits. The software used is based on ternary logic, in which the binary Boolean logic of the elements {0, 1} is extended by the third element “Don’t care” to {0, 1, −}.

The paper confirms the method of transforming a form into a digital circuit derived from the comparative functional and structural analysis of the Modulator from Chapter 11 of “Laws of Form” and defines general rules for this transformation. It is shown how the indeterminacy of re-entrant forms can be resolved in the medium of time using the methods of automata theory. On this basis, a refined definition of the degree of a form is presented.

The paper shows the potential of interdisciplinary approaches between sociology and information technology and provides methods and tools of digital mathematics such as ternary logic, Boolean Differential Calculus and automata theory for application in sociology.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a process‐based design of integrated management systems (IMS) implementation.

An extensive survey of peer‐reviewed literature was conducted. Based on the literature review, a comprehensive methodology for the design and implementation of an IMS was developed.

A critical review of the strategies employed and of difficulties encountered in IMS implementation reveals the need for a context‐ and process‐based design of IMS. At the operational level core activities are first designed from the perspective of stakeholders' requirements and then treated with operational excellence tools to strip away waste. The transformed core processes are then integrated with mainstream individual management systems to form one composite and holistic management system. The institutionalisation of IMS needs to be addressed in its design (through process embedded design) as well as at the users' level (through education and training of employees).

The paper provides the process‐based strategy for IMS implementation and institutionalisation.

The paper should be useful for practitioners searching for a recipe to integrate management systems, for government regulatory agencies seeking to facilitate the integration of management systems, and for researchers as a future area of research.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a protocol for developing students into social actors using young adult (YA) literature in social studies. The world-changing through social action protocol (WSAP) utilizes five recursive steps (P2TripleS): problem posing, problem history, systems thinking, solutions thinking and social action. WSAP is designed to provide secondary social studies teachers with tools to create thematic units, activities and discussions about difficult current issues, such as school violence, bullying, death, or suicide. The purpose of WSAP is to help teachers incorporate strategies to encourage civic action for social justice.

In this paper, WSAP is applied to the YA novel Violent Ends (Hutchinson et al., 2015), which describes a school shooting and its effects from multiple perspectives.

This paper discusses the use of the theoretical framework, WSAP and its five recursive steps (P2TripleS). The protocol developed is a helpful tool for teachers to integrate ELA and Social Studies curriculum in a student-centered, project-based environment while addressing the C3 and Common Core State Standards. The protocol is applied to the YA novel, Violent Ends (Hutchinson et al., 2015) and includes questions and strategies that guide teachers and students to critically think about democratic action and gun violence.

The specific steps of the WSAP protocol will be demonstrated with Violent Ends, providing example activities from this book for practitioners.

This paper is the first to apply the WSAP with a YA text.

This paper establishes the link between institutional development (ID) and process consulting. It does so by recognising ID’s concern for client exploration and learning and process consulting’s focus on client ownership and increased capacity. In that context, the paper outlines the modalities for generating organisation and efficiency reforms in the Tanzanian civil service. It highlights the central role of middle‐ranking civil servants in the twin process of learning and the building of capacity. It looks at the resulting impact of the organisation and efficiency reforms. Finally, it reviews the process consulting experience in terms of the often elusive states of growing ownership and commitment to the reform process. Both are prerequisites for sustainability; an enduring challenge in the developing world.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of using information and communication technology (ICT) on retail property in Malaysia. It also examines what listed property companies perceive in terms of the implications of using ICT in the retail property sector in Malaysia.

Data were collected from sample surveys completed by 79 property companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange). An ICT retail impact matrix was then developed to assess the significance of ICT on retail property in Malaysia.

The findings of the study revealed that ICT would have only a minor impact on retail property in Malaysia and that there would still be a need for the traditional means of conducting a retail property business. It also found that the listed property companies were ready to implement ICT applications and that the demand for retail property would still increase in Malaysia in the future.

Only 66 percent of listed property companies in Malaysia (the respondents) participated in the study.

This paper seeks to look at the impact ICT has on retail property in Malaysia. For this purpose, an ICT retail impact matrix was developed to assess this impact. As such, this study will be used as a benchmark for future ICT studies relating to retail property and the real estate sector in Malaysia.

While the theoretical interaction of the creative and cultural industries and entrepreneurship in business is gaining attention in the literature, such entrepreneurial practices are extending their role and position in the economy and in urban areas undergoing transformation. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to that literature by generating a model that links creative entrepreneurship with urban transformation as places see and expect continuous change and development.

The authors adopt a conceptual approach, embedded in a triple helix model, of creative entrepreneurship and urban transformation of the Baltic Triangle area of Liverpool, England. The authors inform this through a case study analysis, including qualitative interview data relating to the Baltic Creative.

The authors demonstrate the need for interdisciplinary research to assess value creation, value delivery and innovation as contributors to urban transformation based on creative entrepreneurship, while at the same time resulting in creative placemaking.

This is a conceptual paper that will be used to frame future empirical research on generating additional insight by interviewing key actors to heighten understanding of innovation, value creation and value delivery process of placemaking, creative change and urban transformation.

This work can help inform creative policymaking, planning and development to achieve both social and economic impacts for a place and the wider region.

The authors both contextualize and show the transferability of the model, using the example of Liverpool’s Baltic Creative in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle area of the city, highlighting the impact of creative change.

Al-Tahrir Square (Liberation Square, in Arabic) is one of the main public spaces in Cairo, Egypt, and was the focal point for the Egyptian Revolution of January 2011. Although Tahrir Square is traditionally a noisy disliked crowded traffic zone, people gathering and demonstrating during 2011 transformed the a space into a livable interactive civic place (Bricoleurbanism, 2019). The study integrates three main subjects affecting each other: first; Tahrir history and its architectural description, second; activities and events of 2011 revolution at Tahrir and thirdly; theories and concepts of place/space transformations. Many space and place transformation cycles of the Al-Tahrir square have been studied for over a century. It shows that transformation happens when a “meaning” is added and “memories” turn into “behavior” and belonging (Pallasmaa, 2014). This chapter discusses how both the functions and the mental image of Al-Tahrir Square changed with the events along with the behavior of its occupants during 2011.

The square was analyzed to discover the mechanisms, motives, and reasons that caused such change. Furthermore, a comparison between Tahrir Square's status before and after 2011 was offered, according to “New Urbanism's successful places criteria” (PPS, 2009). Recently, physical and moral evacuation of the square deliberately enforced to replace its iconographic status as a place of revolution, with ancient Egyptian elements. This study elaborates on these results demonstrating how Cairo's Tahrir Square is a remarkable example of the dynamic nature of public spaces turning into places, and then into spaces again, due to actions of authority or the will of people.

The purpose of this study is to document how a traditional residential neighborhood, Ihwa village in Seoul, South Korea, is transformed into a tourist attraction and demonstrate the complexity of the overtourism phenomenon and the multifaceted conflicts among stakeholders that emerged in the course of urban transformation. Particularly, the study explores how tourism growth, urban transformation and overtourism are intertwined with each other and how the role of social media and media contributed to tourism growth and the transformation of an urban neighborhood.

The study conducted text analytics (a big data analysis) using personal blogs and news articles. Our data for text analytics was defined to retrieve all news articles and blogs existent in the NAVER portal, the largest Korean portal and search engine, for the period between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2018. The data was collected using a web crawling program, TEXTOM version 3.0.

Text analysis of blog entries and news articles suggests that each medium has its unique role and domain to play. While the news media contributed to the initial surge of interest in Ihwa village, genuine growth of tourism in Ihwa village seems to be attributed to social media. Texts that appeared in blogs strongly indicated that people used their blogs to share their trip experiences, which can be subsequently assumed that blogs had an influential role in promoting a small place like Ihwa mural village, while news articles tended to highlight negative or unusual events occurred in Ihwa village. The study also addressed the multifaceted nature of the conflicts that were inherent in the issue of urban regeneration and how those conflicts were developed and manifested in the process of touristification and overtourism in Ihwa village. As touristification can manifest in various forms in different places, the case of Ihwa village demonstrates a unique development of touristification; private tourism companies or tourism agencies did not initiate or intend to cause tourism gentrification. Rather, touristification is a byproduct of urban revitalization through public art and is a result of interplay between the local government’s interest, social media and new tourist demand.

Text analytics using big data have rarely been attempted to understand the role of social media in relation to tourism growth and touristification of an urban tourism place. This study advances the literature by applying big data analysis to user-generated content in blogs. The study also contributes to the deeper understanding of a different developmental pattern of touristification in an urban tourism place as well as the complexity of the overtourism phenomenon and the multifaceted conflicts among stakeholders.

This chapter brings new knowledge on the effects of transformation in metropolitan and urban ruralities, as well as focus on social sustainability in these localities. The case study Sundom, Vaasa, Finland, highlights areas under pressure of transformation. ‘Metropolitan ruralities’ is used here as an umbrella concept, subdivided into metropolitan ruralities and smaller (non-metropolitan) urban ruralities. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are combined in a triangular study. An octagon figure (Fig. 4), including the main variables of the triangular study, is configured, to visualize different variables as a whole. The statistical material is more limited in urban ruralities – for example fewer property trades, less inhabitants and fewer voters – which make these case studies more vulnerable for the impact of extremes. The core of the chapter is to study how and if current global trends in metropolitan ruralities are visible in localities further down the urban scale. A stricter rural gentrification is expected in metropolitan ruralities than in urban ruralities, as the Sundom case exemplifies transformation with mild gentrification. Both metropolitan and urban ruralities are considered ‘breeding grounds’ for new rurban identities, with variations on an urban-rural scale. Metropolitan ruralities are expected to attract more exurbanite migrants, and urban ruralities attract more ‘exruralite’ migrants. This chapter also outlines some practical and social implications, argues for strengthening social sustainability in metropolitan ruralities and puts some much needed focus on transformation in metropolitan as well as non-metropolitan urban ruralities.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of different levels of place understanding (primarily typo-morphological analysis) on the nature of interventions within historic urban setting and buildings within the City of Amman.

The research methodology depended on an extensive thematic survey and analysis. The typo-morphological analysis addressed several of Amman's residential hills and their connections with the downtown area. The thematic place survey tool included different units of analysis (e.g. buildings, public spaces, streets and sloped lands between streets) and addressed the values of these various buildings and spaces, their typology, typo-morphology and relation to the urban context, nature of change and transformations over time to mention a few. The extensive survey also included semi-structured interviews about these buildings addressing their emergence, historic context and values.

The paper presents an architectural typology for Amman's architecture and its relationship with the city's morphology stressing the specificity of Amman's historic core and residential hills. The paper also discusses the effect of this level of place understanding on the nature and levels of interventions within historic settings and buildings.

This level of place understanding (typo-morphological analysis) can have a positive impact on the practice of architectural and urban conservation by informing the nature of interventions within historic urban setting and buildings within the city. More specifically, this level of place understanding can, first, inform the development of urban and heritage guidelines within conservation areas in one of Amman's residential neighborhoods (Weibdeh) and, second, inform the nature of interventions to existing historic buildings based on respect of building typology.

This paper contributes to the disciplines of architectural and urban conservation illustrating how place understanding can inform practices of heritage conservation and future policies and strategies concerning new intervention within such heritage places.

In 2006, the United Nations established the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. Simultaneously, the UN has adopted the sustainable development goals in 2015 and the 17 goals must be achieved by member states by 2030. Regionally, countries within the Caribbean community have formulated the Kingston Accord (2004) and the Declaration of Petion Ville (2013). Both of these two instruments outlined a regional framework on the issue of persons with disabilities (PWDs). The media, therefore, have axiological roles to play in educating and informing all the stakeholders of these programmes, policies and legislation. It is within this context that this researcher did a qualitative assessment of how the media within Caribbean societies have been aiding the process of developmental transformation for PWDs. The main purpose of this paper therefore; is to show that if the varied programmes and policies relating to PWDs within the Anglophone Caribbean are to be successfully implemented, digital and traditional media will have to play a lead role through their social and ethical responsibilities in changing attitudes of non-disabled individuals towards the members of this vulnerable group. The main purpose of this paper therefore; is to show that if the varied programmes and policies relating to PWDs within the Anglophone Caribbean are to be successfully implemented, digital and traditional media will have to play a lead role through their social and ethical responsibilities in changing attitudes of non-disabled individuals towards the members of this vulnerable group.

The central argument guiding this paper is that if the varied programmes and policies relating to PWDs within the Caribbean are to be successfully implemented, the media, in all its forms, will have to play a lead role through their social and ethical responsibilities in changing attitudes of non-disabled individuals towards the members of this vulnerable group. The unequivocal questions that have been answered are how and what are the media doing to aid in the transformation of the lives of PWDs in the Caribbean? Are they fulfiling their social and ethical responsibilities?

The major finding is that the media in the Anglophone Caribbean has significant work to do to fulfil one of its social and ethical responsibilities in aiding the developmental transformation of PWDs in the region.

The research is limited by the fact that there is serious data scarcity on the population of PWDs in the region. Serious research on the population is just emerging and this will change significantly over the next few years.

The practical implication of this study is that it will bring to the forefront of the media in the Caribbean, the importance of placing issues relating to PWDs on the development agenda in a consistent manner.

PWDs will be brought in the mainstream of Caribbean society over time.

This is an original study and will undoubtedly contribute to a greater understanding of the media and PWDs in the Caribbean.

This paper aims to propose a research agenda towards a holistic, grounded and flexible approach to cultural heritage that can address social challenges and transformations in the context of place. It critiques the dominant/hegemonic cultural heritage narratives, deriving from juridification and calls for a grounded approach in the way cultural heritage is framed and experienced.

The paper is conceptual, focusing on the need to open a line of enquiry into the relationship between legal texts, cultural heritage narratives and social challenges and transformations. It follows the letter of the international conventions on cultural heritage against the worked example of the medieval town of Rhodes in Greece.

The paper sets the relevant research priorities for the investigation of the effective relationship between cultural heritage and social challenges in the context of place, and further stretches the need to evaluate the role of legal and regulatory texts to that effect.

The paper identifies new priorities for thinking about the effects of juridification/the law, cultural heritage and social challenges/transformations in a place-specific context. It seeks to open new avenues of scientific explorations and new interdisciplinary dialogues between a variety of disciplines that are relevant to the way a place engages and addresses social challenges and transformations.

The purpose of this book chapter is to examine how sustainable developmental goal (SDG) implementation for sustainability transformation can be driven by the business practice of a multinational enterprise (MNE). It concerns sustainability transformation that takes place in complex environments with the engagement of different types of stakeholders from various organizations and domains. The chapter focuses on inclusive stakeholder orientation to move from a firm-centric to a societal perspective grounded in an ethical, macro-oriented, and network philosophy. The transformation is embedded in the global transformation agenda, the UN 2030 agenda, with its 17 SDGs. In this chapter, the authors assess MNEs’ role in implementing the SDGs by conceptualizing sustainability transformation practice in a business context of IKEA grounded in circular economy and circular society thinking. Implementing the SDGs strengthens the “challenge-driven transformative change.” Based on the theoretical and conceptual framework, the authors have constructed a matrix and contextualized the case of IKEA. It results in a descriptive analysis of MNE SDG implementation for sustainability transformation. The chapter has contributed a general model for a sustainability transformation practice in a business context embedded in circular economy and circular society thinking, which can utilize for challenge-driven transformative change. The new model has been redesigned for its new purpose. The model is constructed based on a new theoretical and conceptual framework and from the context of IKEA as a MNE acting as a globally integrated enterprise with a circular and societal transformation focus.

This study aims to examine the process of tourism gentrification from China tourists, a major source market, in two neighbourhoods in Hong Kong: one that has been long exposed to tourism and one that is just being discovered by tourists. Through a series of in-depth interviews with local residents and community leaders, complemented by non-participant observation, the paper tracks the commercial, social and cultural changes that have occurred or are occurring in these two places.

This study evaluates the process of place change through tourism gentrification in two neighbourhoods in Hong Kong that are at different stages of the process. An ontological approach is adopted using an interpretivist paradigm involving in-depth interviews and on-site observations, supplemented by secondary data. These data were complemented by non-participant observation.

Both the places have been transformed due to the influx of mainland Chinese tourists. Some impacts felt by both communities have much in common, such as congestion and shop dislocation, while others are more location specific. Even though the degree of tourism gentrification is different, locals from both locations tend to hold negative perceptions towards tourists, although of different strengths. All have also noted the traditional social cohesion is not as strong as before.

The paper argues that tourism gentrification exists on a continuum as neighbourhoods move seemingly inextricably from local-centric nodes to tourist-centric nodes. Apart from enlightening the theory of tourism gentrification, it provides insights to the local leaders on proper tourism development by balancing the social and economic benefits.

The majority of business-to-business companies are working on their digital transformation in sales. Despite enormous transformation efforts, the expected productivity gains are often missing in most companies. Based on empirical research, this paper aims to develop a new market-oriented transformation model. Management implications as well as future research directions are derived for a more focused digital transformation process in sales.

Within the exploratory research study, 90 key informants were interviewed to provide better insights in the context of digital transformation in sales. The accuracy of the research results was safeguarded by triangulation.

As this research paper will show, the reasons for the missing productivity gains caused by a limited knowledge about the main success factors of digital transformation as well as a lack of understanding of digital transformation as an evolving process.

Based on the empirical research, a new market-oriented transformation model is developed and management implications as well as future research directions are derived for a more focused digital transformation process in sales.

Climate change is upon us, and the soft landing window has almost certainly closed given the current pace of response. But climate change is only one of the huge issues facing humanity – indeed, the planetary boundaries model (Rockström et al., 2009; Steffen et al., 2015) ranks biodiversity loss and biochemical flows even further along the path of irreversible planet-threatening change. In the face of powerful inertia, how can we at least shape the hard landing that seems inevitable, where civilization as we know it will likely collapse to support the rising of much better ones? The SDG Transformations Forum supports development of powerful T-systems as a purposeful transformation strategy with this goal. To do so, the Forum has developed a strategy drawing from leading knowledge about how transformation happens, and creating systems change communities that are applying and advancing the strategy in the experimental, adaptive manner focused on deep learning and radical action.

Purpose – By analysing the experience of homelessness, this chapter aims to understand how individuals experience involuntary life changes in uncertain contexts and analyses the role of consumption, in terms of possessions and practices, along the process.

Methodology/approach – This study adopts a phenomenological approach, focusing on the homelessness experience. It involves an 18 month quasi-ethnography study in a charity that supports the homeless individuals, where interviews about their retrospective biographical accounts were performed. The data was analysed using existential phenomenological procedures.

Findings – Informants’ pathways to homelessness reveal a four-stage process of forced self-transformation (initial self, forced negotiation, transition, transformed self) which takes place across two stressful situational contexts: the triggering events for transformation (i.e. that led informants to lose their home) and the persisting state of uncertainty (i.e. further survival living in the streets).

Social implications – In the current postmodern times there is greater uncertainty surrounding individuals’ life changes. The consequences of the current economic crisis have threatened individuals to lose their homes. By having a better understanding of the way individuals experience this type of loss, the study brings new information about how to support them.

Originality/value of chapter – This study highlights contexts where Van Gennep's transformational routine may not be suitable in the current postmodern times, and provides an alternative transformational routine that takes into account the uncertainty that accompanies involuntary transformations.

The scope of this chapter is place and its identity in view of global changes. The ground for undertaking the topic is the belief that by conscious activity undertaken to protect the value of places we are capable of facing modern changes involving the homogenization of space.

Today we are witnessing a rapid destruction of the existing urban forms, leading to fading legibility of the city structure, destroying the state of subtle balance between space and place, and shaking the sense of identity of city inhabitants. The values of identity, legibility, and a traditional network of meanings and symbols are fading away. The space of flows supplants the space of places, evoking essential changes in the functional structure of cities, almost all over the world.

Is it possible to preserve the tradition and identity of place under globalization conditions? It is a challenge for architects, urban planners, decision-makers, investors, and inhabitants. One potential role of the urban planner is perceived as active participation in creating new qualitative social attitudes, as well as undertaking mediating, promotional, and educational activities. Tools that could be helpful in shaping a new model of place involve comprehensive discussion and education in the field of the value of space, shaping social awareness and grounds for social development. It may be concluded with some caution that such comprehensive discussion will contribute to raising the level of knowledge about the world and the sense of the value of space.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate e-business driven organisational transformation and its resource implications for a European automotive multinational corporation. The application of Business Process Change Model (BPCM) was used to investigate throughout the five developmental stages of transformation and the associated resource implications in business-to-business (B2B) and extranet applications.

Based on a case study design, B2B and extranet applications were selected. A triangulated research approach was used to capture the resource implications upon transformation, incorporating a participant observation and interviews.

The findings indicate that the resource implications change in a transformation process based on individual e-business applications as well as the developmental stages of BPCM. Throughout the transformation only resource investment remained present in both applications. The change in resource implications and iterations between the BPCM stages in the case of “process redefinition”, “continuous improvement” underline why organisational transformation in similar settings could indicate variances in organisations’ transformation results.

The paper offers an insight into the resource implications in an e-business enabled transformation and underpins the importance of using developmental stages to bridge the divide between planning and application. The resource impact has been evaluated within the automotive sector using BPCM, future empirical research is needed to test the BPCM in other industrial e-business enabled transformation settings.

Organisations should take a developmental approach to transformation that assesses resources implications. This also raises the need for using models such as the BPCM to fine-tune the transformation effort, through the inclusion of a more interactive iteration between BPCM stages.

In this paper, the authors present an analysis of an e-business related, organisational transformation project, including an assessment of its ultimate effectiveness. This is the first case study, which focuses on resource implications solely and utilises the BPCM framework to understand the evolution of transformation effort and its resource implications.

This paper brings a fresh contribution to the role of space and places in Consumer Culture Theory. Investigating the context of tattooing, it conceptualizes the various articulations that link the body as a topia and a utopia, and the street shops (as “other” places or heterotopia) where consumers’ identity projects are undertaken.

Our approach is based on an ethnographic work, that is, the observation of the shop and interviews conducted with its two managers, three male tattooists, and a young female apprentice.

We show how the changes that affect heterotopic places in the world of tattooing impact the way body identity projects are taken care of. We highlight the material and symbolic exchanges that “take place” and “make place” between the shop as a heterotopia and people’s utopias of the body.

The research involves a single fieldwork and deliberately focuses on the female apprentice as the main informant of this study.

This paper draws attentions to the emergence of women in the world of tattooing and their transformative role of highly gendered meanings and practices.

In articulating the links between bodies, their utopias and heterotopic places where these are carried out, we contribute not only to the understanding of the meaning that consumers attribute to the transformation of their body, but also to the role played by spaces – sites as well as gendered bodies – in our understanding of these phenomena.

Attempts to discover an internal logic in the high‐speed events taking place in the former Soviet Union. In addressing the problems of the country′s disintegration, examines the issue in its socioeconomic, political and territorial‐administrative aspects. Analyses, for this purpose, the nature of Soviet society prior to Gorbachev′s reforms, its present transitional stage and its probable direction in the near future.

This chapter discusses the findings of a research project rooted in the unique context of a former Victorian square in South London squatted in the 1980s and 1990s. Over three decades, squatters (later homeowners and tenants) mended derelict houses, created two community gardens and green streets, and set up a vegetarian café locally. The square, an oasis in the middle of London, is now a fashionable neighborhood to live and visit because of its enduring artistic flair and alternative cultural “feel.” Through ethnographic methods, our research focused on how residents transformed derelict buildings and neglected spaces and on the evolving dynamics of this neighborhood undergoing progressive gentrification, reflecting similar trends in many other neighborhoods in London. This chapter analyses these informal practices as examples of creative placemaking. Framed by the intricate interplay between the community's initiatives and the challenges posed by contemporary processes of regeneration and gentrification, we explore how such practices shaped both the material fabric of the place as well as its immaterial character: its sense of community and identity and the feelings and memories associated with its built environment. Informed by Lefebvre's theories on the social production of space and the right to the city, our analysis emphasizes the importance of informality, everyday practice, spontaneity, and self-management in shaping and sustaining a vibrant urban culture. By exploring how these elements intersect with forces of regeneration and gentrification, this chapter aims to contribute to a nuanced understanding of creative placemaking, the complex dynamics at play in the ongoing transformation of urban spaces, and the resilience of bottom-up, community-driven placemaking initiatives in the face of external pressures.

This study aims to assess and analyse the phenomenon of digitalization, which is characterized by the regular emergence of new technologies and their continuous potential for development. It focuses on the selection of technologies that can sustainably enhance efficiency or confer competitive advantages for companies, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This study conducted a survey among 96 SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The survey is based on semi-structured interviews with SME management representatives. The authors then process the collected data by examining the average rate of digital transformation in each block, the mode and the median. The focus was on developments and changes in enterprise digital transformation.

The process model is a systematic framework for integrating new technologies in businesses, helping identify key technologies for sustainable efficiency and competitive advantage. This paper demonstrates the evolution of digital transformation in different building blocks of the BM Canvas for SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The average digital transformation rate has decreased for the Channels block, whereas other blocks have increased and will continue to grow.

The findings offer practical insights for SMEs looking to adopt digital transformation strategies. By using the technology evaluation canvas (TEC), businesses can make informed decisions about technology investments, ensuring a strategic approach to digitalization that aligns with their operational goals and capabilities.

This study presents an innovative approach to technology evaluation tailored for SMEs, addressing the challenges of limited resources and the need for strategic digitalization. The integration of the TEC into the process model enhances its applicability and value, providing a unique contribution to the field of business model development and digital transformation.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a leagile transformation model for product development that guides manufacturers in the construction of a road map and the management of its deployment in line with both lean and agile improvement objectives.

An intervention qualitative and transformative research approach was adopted in order to develop required knowledge to theorise professional practice made from rigorous observations of facts. The research project took place over a period of two and a half years, in partnership with an international firm that develops and produces a wide range of luxury products.

The application of the methodology proved that a lean transformation does not have to be generated only by the field needs but it can follow a mixed approach where a top-down transformation management linked with strategic objectives is deployed without compromising implication and needs from people on the field. The right balance can be found between the strategic aspect of transformation and the incremental aspect on the field of lean paradigms.

For complete validation and widespread scientific application, the model should be tested in other sectors and industries.

The application case of the leagile model in several divisions of a luxury organisation proved that the proposed approach can be used as a guide for manufacturer in the construction of an improvement road map and in the management of its deployment. The application cases enabled a number of positive results to be generated and measured on quantitative indicators such as service ratio for new products for which, one of the divisions saw an increase of 30 per cent. The approach created a positive revolution among development team members by its potential in terms of communication, steering, benchmarking and knowledge system.

The model supports the identification and prioritisation of improvement initiatives by focusing on the levers for improvement that meet the needs and objectives of transformation, as well as the organisation’s maturity level.

This chapter discusses the role of language in the transformation of two African institutions of higher education, namely the University of Botswana (in Botswana) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (in South Africa). The transformation of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which is aimed at addressing the inequalities and other ills of the apartheid era, has taken on board language issues. For instance, isiZulu is being developed and promoted to join English as a language of scholarship. In contrast, the University of Botswana’s transformation does not stem from a political background of oppression. The institutional transformation has to do internationalization and the conversion into a research-intensive university. This transformation, unlike at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, has not taken a strong move to develop and promote Setswana (Botswana’s national language) as a language of scholarship.

In the emerging transformation economy, there is a shift from staging memorable experiences for many to eliciting life-transformative events for one. This study aims to understand how transformative experiences can be guided and what prerequisites are needed to elicit human transformation when designing experiences. This study borrows positive psychology as a theoretical lens to explore festivals as a prime context for liminal transformative experiences in the hospitality context.

A constructivist qualitative research design was used through 31 in-depth interviews. To ensure experience recollection, memory formation and integration of the experience into long-term transformative effects, all interviewees had attended an electronic dance music festival in the past 12 months.

Guided by the positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments (PERMA) model, the thematic analysis revealed a series of psychological and contextual dimensions around PERMA and liminality that need to occur for transformative experiences, personal growth and self-transcendence to happen.

This study provides a guideline for event organisers and experiences designers to intentionally design and occasion positive human experiences in temporal and spatial liminal hospitality consumption contexts. Psychological and contextual dimensions are identified as critical factors in facilitating human transformation.

This paper bridges the emerging transformation economy, experience design and positive psychology. Grounded in PERMA, the study offers a novel theoretical model that serves as a framework for both transformative experience research and practical experience design.

As part of an evaluation of the nationally mandated Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) “transformation” in one foundation NHS trust, the authors explored the experiences of mental health staff involved in the transformation.

The authors employed a qualitative methodology and followed an ethnographic approach. This included observation of mental health staff involved in the transformation and informal interviews (80 h). The authors also undertook semi-structured interviews with key staff members (n = 16). Data were analysed thematically.

The findings fall into three thematic areas around the transformation, namely (1) rationale; (2) implementation; and (3) maintenance. Staff members were supportive of the rationale for the changes, but implementation was affected by perceived poor communication, resulting in experiences of unpreparedness and de-stabilisation. Staff members lacked time to set up the necessary processes, meaning that changes were not always implemented smoothly. Recruiting and retaining the right staff, a consistent challenge throughout the transformation, was crucial for maintaining the service changes.

There is little published on the perceptions and experiences of mental health workforces around the CAMHS transformations across the UK. This paper presents the perceptions of mental health staff, whose organisation underwent significant “transformational” change. Staff demonstrated considerable resilience in the change process, but better recognition of their needs might have improved retention and satisfaction. Time for planning and training would enable staff members to better develop the processes and resources necessary in the context of significant service change. Developing ways for services to compare changes they are implementing and sharing good practice around implementation with each other are also vital.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a Central-European perspective into the international discussion of the participatory place-making. The research focuses on the renewal of the large prefabricated housing estates, dominant type of urban housing in the area where after the privatisation process resident-owners own only a so-called floating plot under their block. In total, 80 per cent of the land of the whole neighbourhood remains public. The question is how participatory place-making works in this specific urban, social and cultural situation?

By introducing the topic from a theoretical point of view, the study is based on research conducted in Budapest’s Újpalota Housing Estate. Fieldwork, project analysis and interviews uncover the complexity of this Hungarian case where appropriation of residents, municipality and European social regeneration projects are simultaneously present with different types of participatory methods.

The majority of real changes in Újpalota – as well as in housing estates of post-Communist countries in general – are led by individual or common appropriation that sometimes becomes convincing participation. This informal transformation of the built or natural environment can create a small sense of place everywhere. At the same time, it can work against the architectural and urban character of a neighbourhood or a building, rendering a feeling of disorder.

The paper based on this Hungarian case shows that the real culture of participatory place-making is still missing in post-Communist context, and despite some good examples, the majority of people are inactive, waiting for changes to be made by leaders.

Cities throughout the world have experienced fundamental social, cultural and economic transformation in recent decades. Socio-cultural and urban identities have been transforming radically; globalization, internationalization and the rapid flow of information, as the case in the rest of the world, have played a significant role in changing cities and their people. These changing dynamics have affected continuity and development trends in urban-housing environments and housing preferences. The multidimensional outcomes of this transformation are manifest in peculiarities of activity patterns, behavioral relationships, and socio-cultural norms, as well as in architectural and urban configurations. These rapid economic and social changes demand continual redefinition of urbanization and housing concerns. Therefore, the main aim of the article that based on ongoing research is to examine implications of urban and architectural transformations in Istanbul with the subjects of economical, cultural and political conditions.

Based on these above arguments, article aims to analyze and discuss the relationship between urban dynamics and new housing developments in Istanbul in the context of transformation process. The article, which consists of five sections, has three sections besides the introduction and conclusion. In the first two part a theoretical framework is established, explaining and discussing culture, continuity and change in the process of urbanization. The second part includes the latest housing trends in Istanbul with the subjects of economical, cultural and political conditions that Turkey is already in and related. The third part examines the emerging patterns of social and cultural differentiation in Istanbul through the examples of the exclusive suburbs At the end, we argue that recent housing projects and trends represent new forms of organizing social and cultural differences, and could be read as urban forms, which create segregation and reproduce inequalities while transforming the character of public life.

The purpose of this paper is to identify sensing, seizing and reconfiguring routines of dynamic capabilities that enable digital transformation in firms.

A qualitative approach is used. Representatives from a firm going through digital transformations are interviewed, and focus groups have been carried out with a consultancy firm experienced in giving advice to firms going through digital transformation.

Six routines identified as relevant specifically for digital transformation are identified. These are cross-industrial digital sensing, inside-out digital infrastructure sensing, digital strategy development, determination of enterprise boundaries, decomposition of digital transformation into specified projects and creation of a unified digital infrastructure.

The authors provide direction for managers on how to approach digital transformation. In relation to previous research, the authors provide more specific guidance regarding how to reconfigure the organization in digital transformation.

The paper uses a novel context for digital transformation and complements the very few studies available using dynamic capabilities to understand digital transformation.

This paper aims to devise a framework for mapping and designing business ecosystems and to demonstrate its effectiveness in crafting digital transformation for traditional marketplaces.

A digital business ecosystem framework is developed as a Value Exchange Network (VEN) to analyze both the existing marketplace business ecosystem and a prospective digital marketplace ecosystem. The transformation process is divided into four stages. The first stage begins with describing the case and mapping it onto the framework as a business ecosystem depicted in a Value Exchange Network Diagram (VEND). In the second stage, a future or new business ecosystem is designed and represented using VEND. The third stage involves developing guidelines for the digital transformation. Finally, the fourth stage focuses on creating a management tool to operate and expand the new digital business ecosystem.

Traditional marketplaces in Indonesia face significant threats from hypermarkets, supermarkets, minimarkets and the growing preference of the younger generation for digital marketplaces, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our framework (VEN) offers a structured approach to support traditional marketplaces in undergoing digital transformation through four stages.

This paper showcases the expressive power of our business ecosystem framework. The digital transformation of the traditional marketplace presented here serves as an example application of the framework. However, the framework has yet to be tested in a real-world digital transformation project.

This paper offers direction and guidelines for the digital transformation journey of traditional marketplaces using the VEN framework.

This paper uses an innovative framework for mapping, analyzing and constructing business ecosystems, presenting a four-stage method to outline the digital transformation of traditional marketplaces. The adoption of ecosystem thinking in the pursuit of digitally transforming conventional marketplaces is novel, offering a comprehensive approach to this transformation.

The governance of our towns and cities requires an approach that connects people with nature and places. Digital technology can be the glue that does this, if it serves the needs of the various stakeholders, including urban communities. It means identifying the potential connections across people, digital, and place themes, examining successful approaches, and exploring some of the current practice (or lack of it) in spatial planning and smart cities. This can be considered using a range of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies with other methodologies which combine the use of socioeconomic and environmental data about the urban environment. This ambient domain sensing can provide the ecological and other data to show how digital connectivity is addressing the placemaking challenges alongside providing implications for urban governance and communities.

In the current business landscape, organizations are increasingly investing in digital transformation initiatives such as the adoption of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, deep learning, to optimize their operations, maintain competitiveness and efficiently address customer demands. However, this heightened dependence on digital technology introduces elevated risks to cybersecurity and privacy. This study aims to investigate the relationship between investments in digital transformation and cybersecurity and privacy protection efforts.

To address this, a survey was conducted among 44 managers from diverse industries. The survey explored the correlation between digital transformation investments and cybersecurity measures, as well as assessed senior managers’ awareness of associated risks.

Our study reveals that, despite investments in digital transformation, insufficient efforts and resource allocation toward cybersecurity such as the failure to implement industry-standard practices like vulnerability assessments, data encryption, ISO 27001 and NIST guidelines may increase the likelihood and severity of future security breaches. Our study identified third-party integration as a major concern, with data breaches involving the theft of sensitive company and customer data being the most frequently reported security issue among participants. Our findings demonstrate the need for senior managers to improve their focus on cybersecurity in digital transformation projects.

This research highlights the gap between digital transformation investments and cybersecurity practices; presents actionable strategies including resource allocation, integrating cybersecurity into company culture, investing in human resources, evaluating third-party risks, and applying data protection principles; and emphasizes the need for a stronger managerial focus on cybersecurity.

Today, businesses, organizations and governments attach great importance to digital transformation to meet the needs of their customers, business partners, and employees to adapt to the developing technology in recent years. Digital transformation, which is a challenging and mandatory process, has been and continues to be passed by institutions today. However, the successful management of this transformation without conflict can be realized by accurately detecting new communication technologies and examining, understanding, and implementing the transformation process in detail. This process will be painful, where radical changes will take place in the structure, processes, functions, and business models of the organization. Different challenges may be encountered in each of the startup, execution, and governance subprocesses examined in the digital transformation process. Many conflicts such as time and budget shortages, inadequate digital skills and lack of vision for digital customer processes, cybersecurity threats, human resource shortages, difficulty in managing technology, failure to achieve cloud structure integration, vision, and culture differences are the reasons why this process cannot be managed fluently and accurately. For businesses that focus on this goal, regardless of scale, digital transformation has become a necessity, not an alternative to choose. In this study, the digital transformation process and maturity model were discussed, and technological and digital conflicts were emphasized. It seeks to shed light on the work they will do by making recommendations for institutions to manage this process in the best way.

Talking about smart cities also entails talking about new ways of mobility. Various concepts compete for reimagining future mobility, most prominently connected cars, robo taxis, and other forms of shared mobility. New digital technologies, changing customer requirements, but also new competitors are dynamically affecting previous market logics. To stay future-proof in this new world of mobility, the automotive sector, which is an important nucleus for developing such mobility solutions, is currently undergoing fundamental digital transformation processes. Established car manufacturers have to find their path to choose out of the many possibilities on the rise. Against this backdrop, they face the major challenge to find an answer to the question: Who are we and who do we want to be in the future? Therefore, we argue that organizations’ digital transformation is highly entangled with questions on organizational identity and discuss digital transformation as a potential identity threat for established organizations.

We begin this chapter by introducing the concept of organizational identity. Afterward, we will continue with applying it to the practical context of car manufacturers: After depicting the major trends of digitalization in the mobility and automotive sector, we will focus on the digital transformation processes of established automotive companies and discuss their impact on organizational identity. Empirical illustrations of the Volkswagen case depict our theoretical considerations.

We provide theoretical ideas for better understanding the impact of digital transformation on organizational identity, as well as suggestions for practitioners concerned with organizations’ digital transformation processes.

The main purpose of this paper is to approach the legal problems of mass privatisation in Poland. The authors present the structure of national investment funds which intend to be the experimental financial intermediaries in Poland. Their assets are quoted on the Stock Exchange in Warsaw from the beginning of May 1997. New and controversial roles of management firms are discussed in this paper.

Inter-organisational governance is an important enabler for information processing, particularly in relationships undergoing digital transformation (DT) where partners depend on each other for information in decision-making. Based on information processing theory (IPT), the authors theoretically and empirically investigate how governance mechanisms address information asymmetry (uncertainty and equivocality) arising in capturing, sharing and interpreting information generated by digital technologies.

IPT is applied to four cases of public–private relationships in the Dutch infrastructure sector that aim to enhance the quantity and quality of information-based decision-making by implementing digital technologies. The investigated relationships are characterised by differing degrees and types of information uncertainty and equivocality. The authors build on rich data sets including archival data, observations, contract documents and interviews.

Addressing information uncertainty requires invoking contractual control and coordination. Contract clauses should be precise and incentive schemes functional in terms of information requirements. Information equivocality is best addressed by using relational governance. Identifying information requirements and reducing information uncertainty are a prerequisite for the transformation activities that organisations perform to reduce information equivocality.

The study offers insights into the roles of both governance mechanisms in managing information asymmetry in public–private relationships. The study uncovers key activities for gathering, sharing and transforming information when using digital technologies.

This study draws on IPT to study public–private relationships undergoing DT. The study links contractual control and coordination as well as relational governance mechanisms to information-processing activities that organisations deploy to reduce information uncertainty and equivocality.

The purpose of this paper is to develop multi-physics computational model for the conventional gas metal arc welding (GMAW) joining process has been improved with respect to its predictive capabilities regarding the spatial distribution of the mechanical properties (strength, in particular) within the weld.

The improved GMAW process model is next applied to the case of butt-welding of MIL A46100 (a prototypical high-hardness armor-grade martensitic steel) workpieces using filler-metal electrodes made of the same material. A critical assessment is conducted of the basic foundation of the model, including its five modules, each dedicated to handling a specific aspect of the GMAW process, i.e.: first, electro-dynamics of the welding-gun; second, radiation/convection controlled heat transfer from the electric arc to the workpiece and mass transfer from the filler-metal consumable electrode to the weld; third, prediction of the temporal evolution and the spatial distribution of thermal and mechanical fields within the weld region during the GMAW joining process; fourth, the resulting temporal evolution and spatial distribution of the material microstructure throughout the weld region; and fifth, spatial distribution of the as-welded material mechanical properties.

The predictions of the improved GMAW process model pertaining to the spatial distribution of the material microstructure and properties within the MIL A46100 butt-weld are found to be consistent with general expectations and prior observations.

To explain microstructure/property relationships within different portions of the weld, advanced physical-metallurgy concepts and principles are identified, and their governing equations parameterized and applied within a post-processing data-reduction procedure.