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This chapter is based on the findings of the empirical material gathered in Finland and Sweden through interviews with education and audiovisual (AV) media actors and policymakers in 2017–2018. The aim of the chapter is to discuss the innovation systems of the education sector and Finland and Sweden in general, compare the sectoral innovation models of the two sectors, and conclude with discussing the resulting challenges for policymakers. Our results show that a new EdTech sector employing the competences of the education, information and communication technology, and AV media sectors has begun to emerge and actors in the both countries have eagerly taken actions to boost its development as a business and export field. We discuss the reasons and consequences of this development.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the innovative management strategies at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) during volatile post-merger years, in its quest for a sustainable future. It illustrates how the institution went from a place of relative uncertainty and volatility to a place of progression and stability by adapting to its environment and challenging circumstances.

A holistic and inter-disciplinary approach is taken by the authors to demonstrate that organizational innovation and sustainability do not happen in isolation. The paper includes a literature review to contextualize the challenging environment in which the UJ was established and functions. A brief description of the strategic goals of the university is provided as a framework from within which the innovative management activities were launched. Data and information from the UJ’s stakeholder reports were used as measurement tools to determine the progress in reaching strategic targets.

Innovation in higher education reported on in this paper is a result of many planning sessions, policy and procedure formulations, brainstorming and benchmarking exercises, performance reviews, management interventions and statistical analyses. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions for innovation in sustainable development in higher education include decisive leadership on strategic direction; regular, flexible and inclusive planning; regular culture climate surveys; constant monitoring of progress; and strategic agility that is essential to promote innovation among the entire workforce.

The challenges, context and approaches provided in this paper serve as a frame of reference for other institutions of higher learning that face similar challenges in a dynamic, diverse and volatile environment.

Insurance companies play a significant role in every economy; hence, it is essential to investigate and understand the factors that propel their profitability. Unlike previous studies that present a linear relationship, this study provides initial evidence by exploring the non-linear impacts of the determinants of profitability amongst life insurers in South Africa.

The study uses a panel dataset of 62 life insurers in South Africa, covering 2013–2019. The generalised method of moments and the dynamic panel threshold estimation technique were used to estimate the relationship.

The empirical results from the direct relationship reveal that investment income and solvency significantly predict life insurance companies' profitability. On the other hand, underwriting risk, reinsurance and size reduce profitability. Further, the dynamic panel threshold analysis confirms non-linearities in the relationships. The results show that insurance size, investment income and solvency promote profitability beyond a threshold level, implying a propelling effect on life insurers' profitability at higher levels. Below the threshold, these factors have an adverse effect. The study further points to underwriting risk, reinsurance and leverage having a reduced effect on life insurers' profitability when they fall above the threshold level.

The findings suggest that insurers interested in boosting their profit position must commit more resources to maintain their solvency and manage their assets and returns on investment. The study further recommends that effective control of underwriting risk is critical to the profitability of the life insurance industry.

The study contributes to the literature by providing first-time evidence on the determinants of life insurance companies' profitability by way of exploring threshold effects in South Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the performance of the Indian non-life (general) insurance sector in terms of efficiency, productivity and returns-to-scale economies. In addition to this, it identifies the determinants of efficiency.

This study employs a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) bootstrap approach to estimate the level and determinants of efficiency. In the first stage, the DEA bootstrap approach is employed to estimate bias-corrected efficiency scores. In the second stage, the truncated bootstrapped regression is used to identify the effect of firm-level characteristics on the efficiency of insurers. Moreover, the bootstrapped Malmquist index is used to examine the productivity growth over the observation period 2005–2016.

The bootstrapped DEA results show that the Indian non-life insurance sector is moderately technical, scale, cost and allocative efficient, and there is a large opportunity for improvement. Moreover, the results reveal that the public insurers are more cost efficient than the private insurers. It is also evident that all the insurers irrespective of size and ownership type are operating under increasing returns to scale. Malmquist index results divulge an improvement in productivity of insurers, which is attributable to the employment of the best available technology. Bootstrapped DEA and bootstrapped Malmquist index results also show that the global financial crisis of 2008 has not severely affected the efficiency and productivity of the Indian non-life insurance sector. The truncated regression results spell that size and reinsurance have a statistically significant negative relationship with efficiency. It also shows a statistically significant positive age–efficiency relationship.

The results hold practical implications for the regulators, policy makers, practitioners and decision makers of the Indian non-life insurance companies.

This study is the first of its kind that comprehensively investigates different types of robust efficiency measures, determinants of efficiency, productivity growth and returns-to-scale economies in the Indian non-life insurance market for an extended time period.

This study proposes a methodology based on data source triangulation to measure the “strategic fit” for the automotive supply chain.

At first, the authors measured the responsiveness of the Indian automobile supply chain, encompassing the top ten major automobile manufacturers, using both sentiment and conjoint analysis. Second, the authors used data envelopment analysis to identify the frontiers of their supply chain. The authors also measured the supply chain's efficiency, using the balance sheet. Further, the authors analyzed the “strategic fit” zone and discussed the results.

The results indicate that both the proposed methods yield similar outcomes in terms of strategic fitment.

The study outcomes facilitate measuring the strategic fit, thereby leveraging the resources available to align. The methodology proposed is both easy to use and practice. The methodology eases time and costs by eliminating hiring agencies to appraise the strategic fit. This valuable method to measure strategic fit can be considered feedback for strategic actions. This methodology could also be incorporated possibly as an operative measurement and control tool.

Data triangulation meaningfully enhances the accuracy and reliability of the analyses of strategic fit. Data triangulation leads to actionable insights relevant to top managers and strategic positioning of top managers within a supply chain.

Nowadays, the competitiveness of any organisations rests dominantly on how they can manage their performance. A host of performance variables such as quality, reliability, and efficiency are recognised as competitive priorities. This paper reviews the criteria and dimensions of performance measures, and discusses six core performance indicators in agribusiness operations with particular reference to the poultry/broiler farms. Besides, a holistic “Quality, Reliability and Efficiency” view of performance is proposed when developing measures for poultry agribusiness operations.

Although several microeconomic and macroeconomic factors driving banks' credit quality have been well-studied in the literature, one aspect which appears to have received limited attention is bankruptcy reforms. To address this issue, the author exploits data on Middle East and North Africa (MENA) country banks during the period 2010–2020 and examines the impact of bankruptcy laws on their credit quality.

In view of the staggered nature of the implementation of legal reforms across countries, the author utilize a difference-in-differences specification to tease out the causal impact.

The findings reveal that bankruptcy reforms lead to a significant improvement in banks' credit quality. The impact is manifest mainly for conventional banks and driven by an increase in recovery intensity. The author also presents evidence which shows that such reforms exert positive real effects, although this impact differs across country characteristics.

The study is among the early ones for the MENA region to assess the interlinkage between bankruptcy reforms and banks' credit quality.

The proceedings of the 17 editions of the conference of the Spanish Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism constitute a valuable archival resource within the research on Spanish tourism. But so far their contents have not been analyzed. The aim of this chapter is to examine the research that has been presented at its conference by means of a bibliometric analysis of the proceedings of 17 editions. The study focuses on the origin of the research (countries, regions, institutions, and authors), as well as its characteristics in terms of themes dealt with, geographical areas researched, methodologies, disciplinary areas, and attitudes toward tourism. Implications for the evolution of the research are discussed in terms of knowledge contributions and the shaping of major tourism research traditions.

Examines one of the most important reforms relating to public enterprise (PE) policy in India, namely divestment of their share‐holdings. Discusses the philosophy, process, organizational mechanism, expectations and outcomes of divestment in PEs. Finally, points out the major weaknesses retarding the success of the newly introduced divestment policy and outlines some reformatory measures to overcome them. As a backdrop, presents the historical background, current scenario, and problems and performance of PEs in India, but has been restricted to the central PEs, i.e. enterprises owned and managed by the central government only.

This paper offers a novel conceptual framework based on decision‐making institutions, structures and principles, for a systemic integration of ethics and economic development. Within this framework ethical issues are systematically incorporated into the main components of the decision‐making process for sustained economic and ethical development. These components include an optimal decision‐making structure based on merit and justice, proper decision‐making procedures, reliable information flows, rational and moral decision‐making criteria, and an effective motivation structure that includes both material and moral incentives