As the impact of COVID-19 on businesses was impossible to predict, so is the future of migrant entrepreneurs – some of whom, before the outbreak, had to deal with immigrant status…
Abstract
Purpose
As the impact of COVID-19 on businesses was impossible to predict, so is the future of migrant entrepreneurs – some of whom, before the outbreak, had to deal with immigrant status associated challenges. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to focus on African migrant entrepreneurs in China, much less studied ethnic migrants who have always lived on the margins of Chinese society, to examine their entrepreneurial resilience under COVID-19 in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative design using a survey and semi-structured follow-up interviews as the primary data collection instrument. The questions in the questionnaire guide were adapted from the Center for Global Development survey instrument designed to gauge the resilience of SMEs under COVID-19.
Findings
Although most business operations in China are impacted, African migrant businesses were very hit due to existing social challenges coupled with their informality (i.e. operating at a low level of organization), lack of contingency plans and lack of stimulus support. COVID-19 is thus not only a force majeure that threatens the growth expectation of African owned-business but also presents a threat to their very existence in an already challenging society for Africans.
Research limitations/implications
Although the study has achieved its intended purpose, the sample was relatively small due to the low return rate of questionnaires and the difficulties in reaching out to target respondents due to the restrictive measures on movements during the data collection period.
Originality/value
This paper draws attention to the entrepreneurship-related challenges faced by ethnic migrants in China during a crisis. The social challenges of Africans living in China became a global topical issue during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. However, little is known about their entrepreneurship endeavors and the associated difficulties. This paper helps our understanding of African businesses’ resilience in China during uncertain times, such as the one created by COVID-19.
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Three distinctive domains of inquiry in comparative and international education (CIE) point to epistemic fault lines that simultaneously enable and disable the possibilities for…
Abstract
Three distinctive domains of inquiry in comparative and international education (CIE) point to epistemic fault lines that simultaneously enable and disable the possibilities for social transformation in the cultural ecologies that demarcate, but also entangle, the so-called Global South and the North. Historically, these domains of inquiry – language/multilingualism, education, and development – engage arenas in which ideas about wellbeing, social arrangements, and the politics of knowledge (and of power) are constantly constructed, contested, and renegotiated. This analysis pinpoints some of the discursive technologies, which guarantee that active scholarly innovations and differentiation proceed in ways that ultimately leave intact the territorialized regionalizations of development differences. It reflects on ongoing fieldwork from the South to highlight three spheres of social control, and struggle, illustrative of the coloniality of difference and the expanding institutionalization of learning (as schooling) in an era of global interventionism. These loci – the sources of knowledge traditions, the sites of its enactment, and the power of knowledge transactions – represent overlapping activation points through which education interventions both stimulate and stultify social transformations. Specifically, the sources, sites, and power of knowledge offer empirical and discursive tools for historiographic reconsideration of the role of linguistic diversity and education in social change processes, and, crucially, for shifting critical focus from merely the occidentality of contemporary education traditions to the universalism of its social imaginaries. In this critical reading of new understandings of language(s) as invention, therefore, lies analytic opportunities for rethinking epistemic dilemmas in linking education and “development” in CIE scholarship.
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Christine Min Wotipka and Francisco O. Ramirez
Starting in the 1960s, university systems around the world began to undergo a variety of drastic changes that would forever alter higher education. The spread of social movements…
Abstract
Starting in the 1960s, university systems around the world began to undergo a variety of drastic changes that would forever alter higher education. The spread of social movements were fueled by anti-war protests, demands for civil rights, and new forms of economic and political organization (Lipset, 1993). In terms of changes in universities, students demanded greater educational access and equal opportunities. A worldwide logic of inclusiveness increasingly affected national political and educational outcomes, including transformations in multiple dimensions of the status of women in the polity and in the educational system. This chapter focuses on the emergence and expansion of women's studies curricula in universities throughout the world, treating this unexpected development as a further manifestation of the globalization of a logic of inclusiveness.
Nico Ulmer, Ntiokam Divine and Kerstin Wydra
Less than eight years remain to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Numerous authors underlined the importance of language in achieving the SDGs; however, its role…
Abstract
Purpose
Less than eight years remain to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Numerous authors underlined the importance of language in achieving the SDGs; however, its role in the process remains overlooked. This paper aims to investigate the sustainability understanding among Tanzanian students and graduates, their translation approaches and the awareness of people living outside of universities regarding sustainability and the SDGs. The importance of including language in implementing the SDGs is highlighted, and further research regarding local languages to enhance sustainability awareness is suggested.
Design/methodology/approach
This study builds upon an extensive review of the current language of instruction conundrum present in many African countries and embeds the SDGs in this complex situation. Using a Tanzanian University as a case study, a questionnaire was administered to Tanzanian students and graduates, and follow-up interviews were conducted.
Findings
Findings suggest that Tanzanian higher education students and graduates are knowledgeable about both sustainability and the SDGs, with most of them integrating at least one goal into their respective research. However, in the interviews conducted, interviewees stated that in their experience, only a minority of people outside of universities are aware of both concepts. The findings indicate that the aim of target 4.7 and, ultimately, the pledge to leave no one behind remain void when African languages continue to be neglected.
Research limitations/implications
A case study is characterized by a lack of generalizability. Findings from this study should, therefore, be transferred cautiously to other African countries and universities. Furthermore, university students and graduates represent highly educated participants, which does not allow deductions to other parts of society.
Originality/value
The authors are not aware of other studies investigating the views of Tanzanian students and graduates regarding sustainability and language and how they handle emerging translation challenges in their research. Furthermore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to highlight the importance of language in achieving target 4.7 of the SDGs and, ultimately, the pledge to leave no one behind. It, therefore, represents a valuable contribution to the scientific body of knowledge regarding education for sustainable development and language.
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Annie Booth, Sinead Earley, Kyle Aben, Barbara Otter, Todd Corrigal and Christie Ray
The purpose of this paper is to discuss an innovative course offered as a partnership between the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (Canada), the Prince George…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss an innovative course offered as a partnership between the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (Canada), the Prince George Chamber of Commerce (Canada) and local businesses: UNBC’s third-year undergraduate/graduate course, carbon and energy management.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have all participated in the development, design and/or delivery of the course and have provided their reflections on the experience. In addition, they sought insights from students and other interested people on the impact and significance of this course.
Findings
Carbon and energy management is an action learning-based co-created course initiated by the Chamber to address an interest in mitigating climate change amongst local businesses. Among businesses, the carbon economy is under considerable discussion. The increased awareness of climate change, and the need to better manage carbon, has led to local businesses eager to reduce greenhouse gases but lacking the expertise necessary. UNBC students (undergraduate and graduate) learn innovative and practical skills through creating carbon footprint analyses for small- to medium-sized business/non-profit clients, providing recommendations on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and formally presenting their findings to their clients. After five years, 46 businesses and non-profit organizations have participated in the course along with over 30 students and 5 separately hired student interns. The Chamber is now rolling out the program for Canadian Chamber of Commerce interested in similar community–university partnerships.
Originality/value
This paper describes a course that is a novel approach to university–community partnerships, both in approach and focus area. The linking, through the course, of small- to medium-sized businesses with the provision of plans for carbon reduction developed by university students is an unusual approach. However, there is significant value to all partners in the approach. Allowing the main community partner to serve as the lead in the project also offers an unusual experience and perspective for the university partner, as often such partnerships are largely driven by the post-secondary institution’s interests and needs, which can create a challenging power dynamic. Instead, the course offers a lesson in how a university can be clearly in service to the community at the community’s invitation. Finally, this paper offers reflections on the value of this type of project for creating sustainability initiatives from the perspective of all participants, students, faculty, university administration, city government, participating businesses and the Chamber of Commerce, demonstrating the critical need for understanding a project as an intersection of all participating actors.
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Magda Kandil, Muhammad Shahbaz, Mantu Kumar Mahalik and Duc Khuong Nguyen
Using annual data from 1970 to 2013 for China and India, this paper aims to examine the impact of globalization and financial development on economic growth by endogenizing…
Abstract
Purpose
Using annual data from 1970 to 2013 for China and India, this paper aims to examine the impact of globalization and financial development on economic growth by endogenizing capital and inflation and drawing comparisons between the two fastest growing emerging market economies.
Design/methodology/approach
In the long run, co-integration test results indicate that financial development increases economic growth in China and India.
Findings
The results also reveal that globalization accelerates economic growth in India but, surprisingly, impairs economic growth in China, as it increases competition for exports. The results furthermore disclose that acceleration in capitalization and inflation, as a proxy for aggregate demand, are positively linked to economic growth in China and India.
Originality/value
Causality test results indicate that both financial development and economic growth are interdependent. In contrast, causality runs from higher economic growth to increased globalization in India, while the results do not support long-term causality between globalization and economic growth in China.
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To be effective, unions have to adopt structures that fit the demands of their environments. When key elements of these environments change, there is pressure for union structures…
Abstract
To be effective, unions have to adopt structures that fit the demands of their environments. When key elements of these environments change, there is pressure for union structures to do likewise. Yet, while the U.S. airline industry has seen fundamental changes over the past three decades, the basic contours of union representation, including single-carrier bargaining and craft organization, have remained largely intact. Adjustments to the structure of airline labor have been more subtle and include intensified efforts to organize the unorganized; better coordination among the sub-units of some national unions; and improved cooperation across union and national boundaries.
Rana Salman Anwar, Rizwan Raheem Ahmed, Dalia Streimikiene, Justas Streimikis and David Zamek
This study focuses on the complex dynamics of food supply chain safety, safety governance and security in Pakistan’s food industry. By delving into the connections between hygiene…
Abstract
Purpose
This study focuses on the complex dynamics of food supply chain safety, safety governance and security in Pakistan’s food industry. By delving into the connections between hygiene practices, safety governance, customer perceptions, supplier attitudes and food safety outcomes, this study aims to shed light on the elements that shape food safety governance in the region.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis was conducted using self-administered questionnaires, with data collected from 352 individuals recruited from different departments within Pakistan’s food supply chain businesses. Using STATA software, we calculated important variables’ direct and indirect effects on the scales taken from previous studies by applying structural equation modeling (SEM) and path analysis.
Findings
The analysis found significant relationships between safety governance, hygiene practices, consumer perceptions, supplier attitudes and food safety outcomes. Violations of hygiene standards considerably impacted food safety and security; the relationship between these violations and food safety results was mediated by consumer psychological capital. Furthermore, the correlation between cleanliness procedures and food safety results was observed to be moderated by supplier attitudes.
Research limitations/implications
Even though the study has dramatically improved our understanding of food safety governance, we must acknowledge its limitations and consider future research. Researchers may expand knowledge in this critical area and promote evidence-based policies and practices to improve food safety and security by addressing these constraints and exploring new directions. Cooperation across disciplines and sectors can create a more robust, reliable and sustainable food system. This approach will protect public health and improve communities worldwide.
Practical implications
The results have practical implications, as analysis found significant relationships between safety governance, hygiene practices, consumer perceptions, supplier attitudes and food safety outcomes. Violations of hygiene standards considerably impacted food safety and security; the relationship between these violations and food safety results was mediated by consumer psychological capital. Furthermore, the correlation between cleanliness procedures and food safety results was observed to be moderated by supplier attitudes.
Social implications
For policymakers, regulatory agencies, industry stakeholders and consumers, the findings emphasize the importance of strict hygiene standards, consumer trust and engagement and supply chain partner collaboration to ensure food system safety and security.
Originality/value
This study illuminates the intricate interactions that shape food safety governance in Pakistan’s food supply chain business. For policymakers, regulatory agencies, industry stakeholders and consumers, the findings emphasize the importance of strict hygiene standards, consumer trust and engagement and supply chain partner collaboration to ensure food system safety and security.