The belt and road initiative (BRI) emanates from China and seeks to connect Europe, Asia and Africa through transport and telecommunications infrastructure. Despite the importance…
Abstract
Purpose
The belt and road initiative (BRI) emanates from China and seeks to connect Europe, Asia and Africa through transport and telecommunications infrastructure. Despite the importance of Africa in the BRI network, very little research has been done on the BRI in Africa, and even less of this emanates from Africa itself. In particular, considering that the BRI investments in Africa are largely transport related, there is almost no research covering the area of logistics, which should be greatly affected by the infrastructure investments. This paper sought to establish the current state of logistics research related to the BRI in Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric analysis was conducted on documents extracted from the SCOPUS database.
Findings
The findings indicate that there is a lack of research in critical areas such as environmental, social and economic impact of BRI transport investments, governance, logistics performance and international cooperation. In particular, there is a massive gap in local knowledge regarding the BRI.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to published research indexed in the SCOPUS database. Future research directions include empirical studies into BRI project initiation investigation, economic and environmental impacts, governance structures and policy intervention requirements and macro-level logistics impacts.
Practical implications
The study emphasises the importance publishing all the relevant information regarding BRI related projects in Africa to create transparency.
Originality/value
The study investigates the current research on the effect of China's BRI on transport and logistics in Africa through a bibliometric analysis. The investigation reveals that while there are huge investments in infrastructure, the actual effect on logistics of participating countries in Africa has not been interrogated.
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Mbali Cynthia Valashiya and Rose Luke
This study evaluated the enhancement of information sharing practices with third party logistics service providers (3PLs) in a supply chain solutions company that provides…
Abstract
Purpose
This study evaluated the enhancement of information sharing practices with third party logistics service providers (3PLs) in a supply chain solutions company that provides transport and warehousing software in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methods case study was conducted to investigate the problem. Both strands of quantitative and qualitative data were given equal priority. Three rounds of primary data were sequentially collected, analysed and triangulated. An online questionnaire was distributed to a sampling frame of seventeen companies which were randomly selected from the population. Three company executives were purposively sampled to participate in a focus group interview. Data from an open-ended questionnaire were used to explain and validate the findings from clients and executives who participated in the two preceding rounds of data collection.
Findings
It was found that information sharing improves the collaboration of channel members, increases competitive advantage and ultimately leads to better customer service. The improvement of relationships and continuous technological upgrades are recommended for improving visibility of information and effectiveness in the management of supply chains.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited by the characteristics of the case study methodology. Case study research suffers from restricted generalisability, problems with cross-checking and the risk of bias and subjectivity. This implies that the results of this case study may not be generalised to the overall population. The selection of a mixed methods design was intended to curb the limitations that are inherent to this study.
Practical implications
This study was limited to a few respondents and participants, which raises concerns about both the statistical power and the generalisability of the results. However, the results provide useful insights into some of the information sharing practices in the industry.
Originality/value
The value of the study contributes to the supply chain's dependence on 3PLs for value creation and the reliance on technology to share information amongst channel members. This study highlights a need for organisations to build collaborative relationships with 3PLs and continuously update technological infrastructure in order to meet supply chain network goals.
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Debbie Haski-Leventhal and Akriti Mehra
This study aims to extend existing research on impact measurement (IM) in social enterprises (SEs) by capturing, comparing and contrasting perceptions of IM in SEs in Australia…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to extend existing research on impact measurement (IM) in social enterprises (SEs) by capturing, comparing and contrasting perceptions of IM in SEs in Australia and India.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology was used to study five cases each in India and Australia. The SEs were identified using snowball and theoretical sampling, and grounded theory was applied to analyze the data.
Findings
Emerging perceptions of IM in both countries are described according to the development of the SE, its perceived impact and IM methods and challenges. Primary differences between India and Australia lie in perceptions of impact and IM, and related tools and processes. Similarities include understanding the importance of IM and the challenges faced. Signaling theory is used to depict how some SEs use IM to signal quality to their stakeholders and how information asymmetry can be reduced by measuring and reporting on IM.
Research limitations/implications
There is limited representation from developed and developing countries, and the snowball and theoretical sampling approaches used to identify SEs have limitations, including limited representation of SEs.
Practical implications
There is presently no standardized method of IM due to common challenges and perceived barriers. It is, therefore, important for SEs to work toward developing their own comprehensive IM methodology that is ingrained in strategy, applied on a regular basis and used to measure collective impact to increase sense of ownership and acceptability for employees and partners.
Originality/value
The paper brings the social entrepreneurs’ perspectives on measuring social impact while comparing these perspectives in one developing and one developed country.
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David Birnbaum and Carol Petersen
The so‐called Denver connection should be today’s shining example of how to achieve health care quality and safety improvement through lasting evidence‐based collaborations led by…
Abstract
The so‐called Denver connection should be today’s shining example of how to achieve health care quality and safety improvement through lasting evidence‐based collaborations led by health professionals. Instead, this 30 year old experiment is all but forgotten and the story of its demise is a tale of destructive corporate growth. Unfortunately, it bears prescient similarity to problems in health care restructuring today. We should question whether today’s business models, management performance, and accreditation mandates have set the right stage before we venture forth to act again. Unless we ensure a better environment in which to operate, today’s “new” approaches for improving quality and safety may be doomed to the same sad fate.
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A fashion writer suggested on the radio the other day that women unable to afford a new spring dress could spruce up last year's outfit with this year's ‘in’ accessories — gloves…
Evgenia (Jenny) Kanellopoulou, Kay Lalor and Luke Bennett
This account becomes both a theoretical and a methodological exploration of walking with the law; as such the purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how we migh walk in order to…
Abstract
Purpose
This account becomes both a theoretical and a methodological exploration of walking with the law; as such the purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how we migh walk in order to attend to how the law makes the built environment possible, how it shapes and creates places to be lived in, visited and experienced and how the law manifests in human encounters and interactions in the everyday life of the city.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors combine a walking narrative approach with an open-ended interview to raise awareness of the law’s hidden presence in the urban environment. The authors explore the city of Sheffield, in Yorkshire, in the North of England, to learn about its past, regeneration and future development by combining the appreciation of the built environment, as experienced by the senses and movement, with a guided tour.
Findings
This study highlights the interconnectivity of law and place both objectively and subjectively: the authors discuss sensorial experiences of law, and also elaborate on the normativity of law, as manifested in the regulation and the making of urban places in Sheffield.
Originality/value
The originality lies in the combination of methods used to appreciate the manifestation of law in the built environment, comprising interview, autoethnographic elements and walking (multisensory experience).
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Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.
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This chapter will explore how different feminist theories and theorists have informed what counts as research, what is defined as a research issue, and methodological approaches…
Abstract
This chapter will explore how different feminist theories and theorists have informed what counts as research, what is defined as a research issue, and methodological approaches to research in higher education. It will consider the theoretical and methodological tools feminist academics have mobilized in order to develop more powerful explanations of how gender and other forms of difference work in the relation to the positioning of the individual, higher education and the nation state within globalized economies. It pays particular regard to the feminist political project of social justice.
2019 was a big year. The Great Hack and investigative journalism of Carole Cadwalladr exposed the machinations of Cambridge Analytica. The US senate summoned Mark Zuckerberg to…
Abstract
2019 was a big year. The Great Hack and investigative journalism of Carole Cadwalladr exposed the machinations of Cambridge Analytica. The US senate summoned Mark Zuckerberg to face an extended interrogation on the ways in which Facebook screens content. Greta Thunberg fomented a global ‘climate emergency’ movement with attacks on lying political leaders. If 2016 saw ‘post-truth’ rise to prominence as a concept, 2019 was characterised by myriad efforts to champion truth and counter misinformation. And then the COVID-19 crisis hit. The urgency we began to feel in 2019 to address the ills in our society and hunt for a cause and cure has intensified. We now daily ask at whose door we can lay the blame and, from there, what solutions we can implement. For now, we have drawn the battle lines between tech and society and looked to pit governments against technologies which have changed the face of media. But amidst this flurry of activity, we need to stop and ask ourselves: are we setting our sights on the right actors and are we taking the right next steps?
Written in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this contribution responds to the burning debate on how to overcome our current infodemic and immunise against future outbreaks. It offers an alternative narrative and argues for a much more radical course of action. It posits that we have misidentified the root cause of our current post-truth reality. It argues that we are in fact experiencing the extreme consequence of decades of poor education the world over. It champions a shift from drilling young people in so-called facts and figures to developing those deep levels of literacy in which critical thinking plays a fundamental part. This is not to exculpate the Facebooks and Twitters of our time – new tech has no doubt facilitated the dissemination of half-truths and untruths. But it is to insist upon contextualising our current albeit horrifying reality within a much more complex and longer-running societal challenge. In other words, this chapter makes a fresh clarion call for rethinking how we have got to where we are and where we might most meaningfully go next, as well as how, indeed, we might conceptualise the links between technology, government, media and education.