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Everything will change in a JIT environment and cause revolution in the information systems required.

A framework is presented based on the MRP Evolution‐Information System Evolution (MEISE) grid to classify MRP users in terms of the diagonal band along the dimension of information processing system development. The classification scheme provides a guideline for the information system specialist to make necessary adjustments of information systems when they decide to upgrade their MRP systems. Furthermore, the MEISE grid also facilitates the organisation of information and production functions while maintaining overall co‐ordination. Finally, the operational implications of deviating from the diagonal band are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the startup models adopted by entrepreneurs in launching platform enterprises, and the effectiveness of business incubators across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Data reflecting origin, models, services, ownership and other variables were collected on over 600 platforms and 196 incubators, and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Market portfolio of the platform startups is dominated by independent models, as incubators and accelerators were found to be inadequate in platform establishment within the region in terms of the services rendered to incubatees. The results also indicate that private ownership still dominates the startup ecosystem with a scant presence of public participation and almost a complete absence of public-private partnerships.

This exploratory study is constrained by a limited access to information on the platform ecosystem within the SSA region, curbing the scope of empirical work; but serves as a foundation for further investigations within the domain.

The paper highlights the imperative for African Governments to make conscious efforts in driving enabling policies that will help bridge the gaps identified in facilitating the development of the region’s emergent platform economy.

The paper empirically elucidates the limited availability of critical resources necessary in supporting the successful development and growth of platform startups; and helps explain why the platform ecosystem within the region, though very active in the last decade, has not been laden with landmark and scaled innovations.

Modelling is a research methodology that has received little academic attention since it began to be formulated in the 1970s. On the spectrum of clean language interviewing (CLI) applications described in Chapter 1, the most sophisticated is modelling, and especially modelling that takes place in real time during the interview.

This chapter defines what we mean by ‘a model’ and ‘modelling’ and explains how they are related to CLI. We situate the chapter by recounting how modelling became linked to CLI. To conclude we consider some of the methodological challenges faced by both the interviewee and interviewer involved in a modelling research project.

We also explain how interviewee metaphors discussed in Chapter 3 can support the modelling process. Much of the modelling that takes place during an interview resides in the background of the interaction. To illustrate modelling we provide an annotated transcript of a symbolic modelling interview that uses clean language to model the skill of ‘knowing what is essential’.

This chapter places previous incubator-incubation literature within a relevant geographic and policy context, and extracts the reasons for the wide-scale adoption of the incubator model as a new venture creation mechanism. Arguments developed highlight that in the flurry of political lobbying during the 1990s–2000s leading to the rapid expansion of incubators-incubation across the European Union (EU), policy makers, practitioners and researchers alike failed to focus on what is key to understanding incubators’ true impact — internal incubation processes. A review of incubator development and impact at the level of two EU member states, Germany and Italy, is presented. This allows for a clearer context-bound sense of the state-of-art in incubator-incubation research to emerge. In turn it becomes possible to clearly highlight the direction of further research in the area where there is a stalemate between two opposing camps — one which has produced evidence to suggest that incubators make a significant difference in reducing start-up risk, and the other, which believes incubators do not give tax payers value-for-money. Structured in this way, this chapter is able to draw attention to the essential ‘missing ingredient’ in previous research which is key to understanding the impact incubators can have. This ingredient is the dynamics of the internal process of incubation.

The world is currently facing one of the most significant refugee crises in history, posing challenges to policymakers in host countries needing to facilitate socio-economic integration of refugees urgently. Policymakers and scholars have started shedding light on the entrepreneurial potential of refugees. Refugees confront considerable institutional barriers in their new environments. Particularly challenging is that they lose connection to their home country ecosystem through forced displacement and are not yet well-embedded in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem of the host country. The disconnection to the local ecosystem hinders refugees from accessing various resources essential to entrepreneurial activities. Against this background, this chapter illuminates the role of business incubators in integrating refugee entrepreneurs into the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, paying particular attention to relational dynamics within incubators. This study conducts explorative qualitative research with a single case study of a German business incubator for refugees. This study identifies three types of relational dynamics that characterise operation of refugee business incubators and two mechanisms constructive and descriptive to their mission. Finally, this study derives practical implications for refugee business incubators and policymakers in refugee-hosting countries.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the initial evidence on the role of business incubation (BI) in supporting startups and BI practices from developing communities in Uganda.

This study is cross-sectional and a triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data were used. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and an interview guide from 28 incubators.

Results indicate that business incubators play different roles in communities such as business assistance, networking, provision of necessary infrastructure and provision of an enabling environment. Furthermore, BI practices were identified such as networking, human resource, tenant management and assessment practices.

This study was cross-sectional and thus monitoring changes in behavior of incubatees overtime was not possible. The study was conducted in Uganda, and it is possible that the results of this study can be generalized to developing communities with environments similar to that of Uganda.

The results are important for business incubators in improving the sustainability of startups in Uganda. The study will enable business incubators to understand their role and incubator practices in as far as supporting small and medium-sized enterprises is concerned.

While there have been a number of studies on BI, this study provides an initial empirical evidence on the role of BI and BI practices using evidence from developing communities in Uganda.

It is now widely accepted that the institutional interventions of states are a foundational influence on the dynamics of organizational forms. But why do states act? In this chapter, we apply the behavioral theory of the firm to develop an explanation of state actions based on the fact that they are boundedly rational rivals. The instrument of state competition we examine is the founding of business incubators, a primary tool in the entrepreneurial strategy of economic development. We predict that business incubators are more likely to be founded in a state when (1) the state falls behind comparable states in the indicators of economic development; (2) the state falls behind its own historical trajectories of economic development; (3) the state has slack resources in the form of budget surpluses; (4) comparable and rival states adopt incubators as a development strategy. Our analysis of incubator foundings in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania throughout 1980–2004 supports all of these propositions.

Although numerous national and organisational level approaches have taken to improve their mental health, Japanese workers still suffer from high rates of mental health problems. Despite its worldwide application, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) has not been evaluated for these problems in-depth. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of NLP training for mental health among Japanese workers.

A pre-post test design with repeated measurements was used with 30 Japanese workers, who were undertaking NLP Practitioner Certification training. The effects on mental health were assessed with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale at pre-training, post-training and a three-month follow-up.

The mean scores of depression and stress decreased significantly, and mental well-being increased significantly between pre-training and post-training and between pre-training and follow-up. There was no significant difference between post-training and the follow-up for any of the measures.

The results suggest this training was effective for mental health of Japanese workers, and the positive effects on mental well-being were sustained.

This is the first ever study to empirically evaluate the effects of the regulated NLP training on the mental health of Japanese workers, conducted by researchers well-versed in NLP. This training might be conducive to improving the mental health of the Japanese workforce. Larger scale and/or controlled studies are needed.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will prove consequential in the years ahead. Some of the effects will be tremendous and others subtle. Many of the repercussions will be unique for women. Society shapes public policy, and in pursuit of national interests, public policy can take into consideration or neglect the individual. It has been cautioned that short‐term, narrowly focused views leave many individuals unaccounted for; there exists a great danger in making generalizations, particularly when individuals and their lives are at stake. To ensure prosperity for all, all must be considered.