Search results for "Strategic"
showing 10 items of 847 documents
Rethinking the Finance of Post-Compulsory Education
2010
Throughout the world, the finance of education is in serious crisis. The crisis of educational finance is not limited to the problem of meeting the obligations of societies to provide some minimum amount of compulsory education for their students. This minimum does not assure the preparation of an appropriately trained labour force in a world that is increasingly technicological and in which a competitive economy requires the remplacement of traditional production processes with others based on sophisticated labour and capital. The rapid growth of post-compulsory systems of education is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for industrialization and economic development.
After the Millennium Development Goals. Remarks on the ethical assessment of global poverty reduction success
2018
The Millennium Development Goals were effective from 2000 to 2015. Statistics show that most of the goals were met, and particularly success in the goal of reducing extreme poverty (MDG1) gained wide recognition. Despite the strong ethical language related to poverty reduction, there has been little analysis of the ethical significance of the MDG achievements. Since statistical and ethical definitions and representations of poverty never completely overlap, conclusions concerning ethical progress are not directly available from the statistics. This article shows how this ethical significance can be analysed and what kinds of controversies and uncertainties relate to the issue. As part of th…
Local social services in disaster management: Is there a Nordic model?
2017
Abstract The Nordic states have extensive welfare systems in which the local social services are an important component. Despite a growing research on disaster resilience, we lack research examining in systematic way whether and how local social services in the Nordic countries contribute to resilience. Aiming to fill this gap, this article asks whether we can identify a common Nordic model of the role of local social services in disasters, or whether the countries have taken different paths. We use policy documents and legislation to examine the extent to which roles for local social services are embedded in the disaster management systems of the five Nordic countries. We analyze the insti…
The Theory of the Flying Geese Pattern of Development and Its Interpretations
1994
An interpretation is made of Akamatsu Kaname's theory of the flying geese pattern of development, launched in Japan during the 1930s. This theory explains how an undeveloped country can become developed relatively quickly. The undeveloped country adopts suitable labour-intensive industries from more developed countries. It produces first for the home market, but starts to export as soon as the industries have grown strong enough. Initially, products are simple, crude and cheap, but gradually the level of quality is elevated. The procedure is repeated over and over again, leading to a rapid process of national economic development. In Japanese postwar industrial policy, certain industries w…
The Prospects for the Social Economy in a Changing World
1997
Even if the ‘social economy’ has traditionally been marginalized and a subordinated form of production within capitalist societies, the economic, social, territorial and environmental problems of the present times have tended to make it a strategic instrument. This is not only because of its qualities as an economic and management instrument, but also because it is an expression of a dynamic and creative civil society. The aim of this paper is to show the potential of the social economy, the way it has been encapsulated during the postwar period and the conditions that now favour its full development. In the face of new challenges, the efficiency criterion, hitherto used to assess alternati…
Searching for new paradigms in a globalized world: Business ethics as a management strategy
2008
The process of globalization is an undeniable reality of today's world. Yet, paradoxically, the cornerstone of this phenomenon, economic performance, varies widely across the world whatever indicator (for example, GDP/habitant, competitiveness) we choose to use to compare countries. Increasingly, studies tend to explain this apparently paradoxical situation with reference to the issue of corruption and ethics. In essence, corruption is perceived to be an important impediment to the economic development of a country (or area). Many studies of corruption are focused at the national level. The aim of this conceptual paper is to explore the role of the firm (as opposed to national states or int…
Forecasting Errors of New Venture Survival
2014
This article studies entrepreneurs' forecast errors around market entry. Using data on nascent entrepreneurs in the U.S. and start-ups in Finland, we find that besides being overoptimistic on average in both countries, entrepreneurs' survival expectations can barely distinguish survival from exits. Moreover, about one fourth of the entrepreneurs do not provide an estimate for the survival of a typical venture. However, among those that do provide it, the estimates are less overoptimistic. We also compare the forecast accuracy of entrepreneurs to those of macroeconomic forecasters. Our findings provide guidance for the development of positive theories of entrepreneurial belief formation and …
The internationalization of family businesses: A review of extant research
2010
Abstract Among family businesses (FBs) internationalization has become a strategy for growth, and sometimes even for survival. This review article presents an analysis conducted on 25 refereed journal articles on FB internationalization. The articles typically portrayed the internationalization of FBs as a sequential process following the Uppsala model of internationalization; by contrast, some FBs were regarded as “born-again” global firms. In methodological terms, most of the articles focused on what-questions rather than why/how-questions. The articles did not make much use of internationalization or FB-specific theories. Our study takes a step towards clarifying the following issues: (i…
Finnish forest-based companies in transition to the circular bioeconomy : drivers, organizational resources and innovations
2020
Abstract Forest-based businesses are the center of the transition to the sustainable and competitive circular bioeconomy in Finland. This study explores the transition of Finnish FBS firms to new business models, with a focus on the organizational resources and capabilities needed for transition. It also identifies the important elements in the business environment and the role of innovations in this process. The study uses thematic interviews with managers from various FBS firms and companies from interfacing sectors, all of which have operations in Finland. Despite the differences between firms, the study finds many common drivers and resources that FBS companies highlight as significant …
The Strategic Use of Innovation to Influence Environmental Policy: Taxes versus Standards
2015
Abstract This paper evaluates the strategic behavior of a polluting monopolist to influence environmental policy, either with taxes or with standards, comparing two alternative policy games. The first of the games assumes that the regulator commits to an ex-ante level of the policy instrument. The second one is the time-consistent policy game. We find that the strategic behavior of the firm is welfare improving and leads to more environmental innovation than under regulatory commitment if a tax is used to control pollution. However, the contrary occurs if an emission standard is used. Under commitment, it is shown that both policy instruments are equivalent. We conclude that the optimal env…