Search results for: political transformation
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3926

Search results for: political transformation

3866 Theorizing Digital Transformation, Digitization and Digitalization in Africa Emerging Research in Digital Business: A Critical Review of the Current Scholarship

Authors: Ayanda Magida

Abstract:

The paper aims to provide a critical review of the current state-of-the-art literature on emerging digital business theories. They are specifically focusing on the emergent theories on digital transformation, digitization, and digitalization and their importance in the global south. Digital business is an emergent field that cuts across the different existing disciplines. The paper is threefold- to provide the conceptual and theoretical definition of the DT, digitization and digitization. There is a growing need to provide some of the differences between digitalization, digitization and digital transformation from a theoretical and conceptual basis. These tend to be confused and often use interchangeably the second aim is to focus on the emerging theories on digital transformation and digital business. Finally, the paper provides some critical review of the importance of scholarship in the field from the global south. The systematic review of the literature was conducted through the different research databases to provide some of the major theories in the field of digital business and critically argue for the global south stance. Much of the research on the development and adoption of digital technologies, specifically digital transformation, has been done in the west and developed countries. There is thus a dearth of research conducted in developing countries and the global south.

Keywords: digital transformation, digitization, digital business, digitalization

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3865 Design, Research and Culture Change in the Age of Transformation

Authors: Maya Jaber

Abstract:

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges that require immediate attention and mitigation for the continued prosperity of human existence. The transformation will need to occur that is top-down and bottom-up on holistic scales. A new way of thinking will need to be adopted that is innovative, human-centric, and global. Designers and researchers are vital leaders in this movement that can help guide other practitioners in the strategy development, critical thinking process, and alignment of transformative solutions. Holistic critical thinking strategies will be essential to change behaviors and cultures for future generations' survival. This paper will discuss these topics associated with Dr. Jaber's research.

Keywords: environmental social governance (ESG), integral design thinking (IDT), organizational transformation, sustainability management

Procedia PDF Downloads 154
3864 Neo-Realism in Thai’s Film after Political Crisis in October 14, 1973 and Political Crisis between 2005-2014

Authors: S. Pison

Abstract:

The objective of presenting this article is to analyze between Thai’s film and Thai society in political crisis, to study the development and trend of the film which reflects society in Thailand from political crisis of 14 October 1973 and the present day political crisis using a comparative study of the two era, both the similarities and differences in the film reflects the society in an era of change.

Keywords: film, political, neo-realism, social, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 307
3863 A Model Architecture Transformation with Approach by Modeling: From UML to Multidimensional Schemas of Data Warehouses

Authors: Ouzayr Rabhi, Ibtissam Arrassen

Abstract:

To provide a complete analysis of the organization and to help decision-making, leaders need to have relevant data; Data Warehouses (DW) are designed to meet such needs. However, designing DW is not trivial and there is no formal method to derive a multidimensional schema from heterogeneous databases. In this article, we present a Model-Driven based approach concerning the design of data warehouses. We describe a multidimensional meta-model and also specify a set of transformations starting from a Unified Modeling Language (UML) metamodel. In this approach, the UML metamodel and the multidimensional one are both considered as a platform-independent model (PIM). The first meta-model is mapped into the second one through transformation rules carried out by the Query View Transformation (QVT) language. This proposal is validated through the application of our approach to generating a multidimensional schema of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) DW. We are interested in the BSC perspectives, which are highly linked to the vision and the strategies of an organization.

Keywords: data warehouse, meta-model, model-driven architecture, transformation, UML

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3862 From Ritual City to Modern City: The City Space Transformation of Xi’an in the Early 20th Century

Authors: Zhang Bian, Zhao Jijun

Abstract:

The urban layout of Xi’an city (the capital Chang’an in the Tang dynasty) was shaped by feudal etiquette, but this dominant factor was replaced by modern city planning during the period of the Republic of China. This makes Xi’an a representative case to explore the transformation process of Chinese cities in the early 20th century. By analyzing the contrast and connection between the historical texts of city planning and the realistic construction activities recorded by the maps and images, this paper reviews the transformation process of the urban space of Xi’an in the early 20th century and divides it into four phases according to important events that significantly impacted planning and construction activities. Based on this, the entire transformation of Xi’an’s city planning and practices can be characterized by three aspects: 1) the dominant force of the city plan and construction changed with the establishment of modern city administrations; 2) the layout of the city was continuously broadened to meet the demand of modern economy and city life; and, 3) the ritual space was transformed into practical space for commercial and recreational activities.

Keywords: city space, the early 20th century, transformation, Xi’an city

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3861 Political Alienation and Corruption in Libya

Authors: Mabroka B. Al-Werfalli

Abstract:

This paper looks at some aspects of Libya’s political culture relating to corruption and tries to map the links that bond political alienation to corruption. The subject was approached by surveying opinion. The study, of which culture of corruption was part, concerned the phenomena of political alienation in Libya. It was based on a survey conducted in winter 2001 and targeted a sample of 877 participants from the city of Benghazi. The questions were designed to determine the extent to which corruption is seen, by the Libyans, as a national problem. It also describes perceptions about levels, types and causes of corruption; trust in governmental institutions and senior officials of the State and assessments of anti-corruption regulations and actions taken by the regime.

Keywords: anti-corruption, corruption, culture of corruption, participating in corruption, political alienation, political culture

Procedia PDF Downloads 349
3860 Decision-Making Process Based on Game Theory in the Process of Urban Transformation

Authors: Cemil Akcay, Goksun Yerlikaya

Abstract:

Buildings are the living spaces of people with an active role in every aspect of life in today's world. While some structures have survived from the early ages, most of the buildings that completed their lifetime have not transported to the present day. Nowadays, buildings that do not meet the social, economic, and safety requirements of the age return to life with a transformation process. This transformation is called urban transformation. Urban transformation is the renewal of the areas with a risk of disaster and the technological infrastructure required by the structure. The transformation aims to prevent damage to earthquakes and other disasters by rebuilding buildings that have completed their non-earthquake-resistant economic life. It is essential to decide on other issues related to conversion and transformation in places where most of the building stock should transform into the first-degree earthquake belt, such as Istanbul. In urban transformation, property owners, local authority, and contractor must deal at a common point. Considering that hundreds of thousands of property owners are sometimes in the areas of transformation, it is evident how difficult it is to make the deal and decide. For the optimization of these decisions, the use of game theory is foreseeing. The main problem in this study is that the urban transformation is carried out in place, or the building or buildings are transport to a different location. There are many stakeholders in the Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Campus, which is planned to be carried out in the process of urban transformation, was tried to solve the game theory applications. An analysis of the decisions given on a real urban transformation project and the logical suitability of decisions taken without the use of game theory were also supervised using game theory. In each step of this study, many decision-makers are classifying according to a specific logical sequence, and in the game trees that emerged as a result of this classification, Nash balances were tried to observe, and optimum decisions were determined. All decisions taken for this project have been subjected to two significant differentiated comparisons using game theory, and as decisions are taken without the use of game theory, and according to the results, solutions for the decision phase of the urban transformation process introduced. The game theory model developed from beginning to the end of the urban transformation process, particularly as a solution to the difficulty of making rational decisions in large-scale projects with many participants in the decision-making process. The use of a decision-making mechanism can provide an optimum answer to the demands of the stakeholders. In today's world for the construction sector, it is also seeing that the game theory is a non-surprising consequence of the fact that it is the most critical issues of planning and making the right decision in future years.

Keywords: urban transformation, the game theory, decision making, multi-actor project

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3859 Microstructural and Magnetic Properties of Ni50Mn39Sn11 and Ni50Mn36Sn14 Heusler Alloys

Authors: Mst Nazmunnahar, Juan del Val, Alena Vimmrova, Blanca Hernando, Julian González

Abstract:

We report the microstructural and magnetic properties of Ni50Mn39Sn11 and Ni50Mn36Sn14 ribbon Heusler alloys. Experimental results were obtained by differential scanning calorymetry, X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. The Ni-Mn-Sn system undergoes a martensitic structural transformation in a wide temperature range. For example, for Ni50Mn39Sn11 the start and finish temperatures of the martensitic and austenite phase transformation for ribbon alloy were Ms = 336K , Mf = 328K, As = 335K and Af = 343K whereas no structural transformation is observed for Ni50Mn36Sn14 alloys. Magnetic measurements show the typical ferromagnetic behavior with Curie temperature 207K at low applied field of 50 Oe. The complex behavior exhibited by these Heusler alloys should be ascribed to the strong coupling between magnetism and structure, being their magnetic behavior determined by the distance between Mn atoms.

Keywords: as-cast ribbon, Heusler alloys, magnetic properties, structural transformation

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3858 Digital Transformation in Production Planning and Control: Evaluation of the Organizational Readiness

Authors: Tobias Wissing, Peter Burggräf, Johannes Wagner

Abstract:

Cost pressure, competitiveness and the increasing turbulence of globalized saturated markets has been the driver for a variety of research activities in the field of production planning and control (PPC) during the past decades. For some time past an increasing awareness for innovative technologies in terms of Industry 4.0 can be noticed. Although there are many promising approaches a solely installation of those smart solutions will not maximize the PPC performance. To accelerate the successful digital transformation the cooperation between employee and technology also has to be adapted. The existing processes and organizational structures might be not sufficient to maximize the utilization of technological innovations. This paper presents the key results of an extensive study which was conducted by the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of the RWTH Aachen University to evaluate the current situation and examine the organizational readiness for this digital transformation.

Keywords: cyber-physical production system, digital transformation, industry 4.0, production planning and control

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3857 Terrorism: Definition, History and Different Approaches in the Analysis of Terrorism Phenomenon

Authors: Shabnam Dadparvar, Laijin Shen, Farzad Ravanbod

Abstract:

Nowadays, the political phenomenon of terrorism is considered as an effective factor on political, social, and economic changes. It has replaced the recognized political phenomena such as revolutions, wars (total war among two or more political units with distinct identities in the form of national states), coups d’état, insurgencies and etc. and has challenged political life in all its levels (sub national, national, and international political groups). In this paper by using descriptive-analytical method, the authors try to explain the spread of this political phenomenon across the world, its definition and types, also analyze different approaches to understand it. The authors believe that the Logical-Rational approach is the best way to explain and understand this phenomenon.

Keywords: logical approach, psychological- social approach, religious approach, terrorism

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3856 Social Media as a Tool for Political Communication: A Case Study of India

Authors: Srikanth Bade

Abstract:

This paper discusses how the usage of social media has altered certain discourses and communicated with the political institutions for major actions in Indian scenario. The advent of new technology in the form of social media has engrossed the general public to discuss in the open forum. How they promulgated their ideas into action is captured in this study. Moreover, these discourses happening in the social media is analyzed from certain philosophical traditions by adopting a framework. Hence, this paper analyses the role of social media in political communication and change the political discourse. Also, this paper tries to address the issue that whether the deliberation made through social media had indeed communicated the issue of political matters to the decision making authorities.

Keywords: collective action and social capital, political communication, political discourse, social media

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3855 Fusion of MOLA-based DEMs and HiRISE Images for Large-Scale Mars Mapping

Authors: Ahmed F. Elaksher, Islam Omar

Abstract:

In this project, we used MOLA-based DEMs to orthorectify HiRISE optical images. The MOLA data was interpolated using the kriging interpolation technique. Corresponding tie points were then digitized from both datasets. These points were employed in co-registering both datasets using GIS analysis tools. Different transformation models, including the affine and projective transformation models, were used with different sets and distributions of tie points. Additionally, we evaluated the use of the MOLA elevations in co-registering the MOLA and HiRISE datasets. The planimetric RMSEs achieved for each model are reported. Results suggested the use of 3D-2D transformation models.

Keywords: photogrammetry, Mars, MOLA, HiRISE

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3854 Youth Branches of the Ruling Political Party as an Intersection Point: An Examination in Context of Capital Type

Authors: Merve Ak Efe

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Youth branches in Turkey are one of the sub-fields where political ideologies are intersected with daily life practices. When the youth branches are examined within the framework of daily life practices, a social area can be defined where many types of capital turn into gains. The relationship between politics and capital is not only financial but can also be observed in the form of social, cultural, or emotional capital. This paper examines the political mobilization of young people who are members of the Youth Branch of the Justice and Development Party. The reason why JDP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) was chosen is that they have been the ruling party for twenty years, and there is a considerable number of young members within the party. Since Bayrampaşa is a district where JDP is politically active, This study is based on Bayrampaşa youth branches. The study examines how young people who are members of the party are mobilized and the everyday life practices and emotions underlying this mobilization. The data was collected through in-depth interviews with 13 young people, and the participant observation method was applied at the weekly meetings of the Justice and Development Party Bayrampaşa Youth Branch. Youth Branches represent a political space in which emotions turn into action for the young people who are involved in the party. During the field study at the micro level, it has been observed that the Bayrampaşa JDP Youth Branch hosted a transformation that incorporates political and social practices into modern tactics. One of the other results shows that being a member of youth branches causes a significant rise in social capital for young people. On the other hand, for the members with low cultural capital, there is an increase in social capital; however, an increase in cultural capital is not prominent.

Keywords: political mobilization, everyday practices, emotional capital, social capital, cultural capital

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3853 Theorizing Women’s Political Leadership: Cross-National Comparison

Authors: Minjeoung Kim

Abstract:

Since women obtained the right to vote in 1893 for the first time in New Zealand, they have tried to participate actively into politics but still the world has a few women in political leadership. The article asks which factors might influence the appearance of women leadership in politics. The article investigates two factors such as political context, personal factors. Countries where economic development is stable and political democracy is consolidated have a tendency of appearance of women political leadership but in less developed and politically unstable countries, women politicians can be in power with their own reasons. For the personal factor, their feminist propensity is studied but there is no relationship between the appearance of women leaders and their feminist propensity.

Keywords: women political leadership, political context, slow track, transitory countries, feminist propensity

Procedia PDF Downloads 383
3852 Context Specific E-Transformation Decision-Making Framework

Authors: A. Hol

Abstract:

Nowadays, within quickly changing business environments, companies are often faced with specific problems where knowledge required to make timely decisions is often available however is not always readily accessible by the decision makers, in a required form. To identify if in any way via innovative system development companies could be assisted so that they can make quicker industry specific decisions in a given time and space, researchers conducted in depth case study investigation during which they studied company’s e-transformation recommendations, company’s current issues and problems as well as the nature of company’s pressing decisions. This study utilizes Scenario Based Analysis with the aim to help identify parameters crucial for the development of the system that could support decision making in a given time and space. Based on the findings, Context Specific e-transformation decision making framework is proposed.

Keywords: e-transformation, business context, decision making, e-T Guide, ICT

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3851 The Impact of Political Polarization on the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the United States: A Qualitative Study

Authors: Peiran Ma

Abstract:

This study explored the role of political polarization in an individual's decision of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 15 participants participated in individual interviews and focus group discussions about the relationships among domestic political polarization, vaccine hesitancy, and behavioral responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Political affiliation affected an individual’s decision on the COVID-19 vaccination, such that people who identified as Liberals and Democrats were more accepting of the vaccine. On the other hand, the level of influence declined over time (2020-2022) when the general conception of COVID-19 immunization shifted from political to personal. Results provided qualitative support to the previously identified positive relationship between divided political opinions and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and highlighted the decreasing trend in the power of political polarization in vaccination and the existence of other factors.

Keywords: COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy, political polarization, partisanship, ideology

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3850 Transformation of Traditional Marketplaces in an Urban Context: Case of Chalai Market, Thiruvananthapuram

Authors: Aswathy Vijayan, Sharath Sunder Rajeev

Abstract:

Trade has been fundamental in the footprint of human civilization since ancient time. In most of the historic cities, city development was along trading routes, where marketplaces are the major entrance to a city and hence a major element of the urban fabric. Marketplaces are where the commercial activities flourish, people, having a sense of belonging to the place, where they easily fit in. Acknowledging the built environment in and around the market in a way, creating a sense of place is an important factor in the success of public spaces. Local markets are developed in an organic manner, which adds on to the people experience and perception of urban space. With the city development, the commercial needs within the city increase, hence marketplaces flourish, irrespective of the functional segregation within. The work-live culture in the marketplaces diminishes as the commercial expansion washes away the residential patches within it. Real estate flourishes as the newer infills are without considering the carrying capacity of the place. Chalai market is a prominent business center serving the regional level of Thiruvananthapuram city. The transformation trend of marketplaces in city cores are understood from case study on Fatimid Cairo Marketplace. The parameters that led to transformation of marketplaces in a global context is considered for the analysis of the Chalai market. The structure of the marketplace over the years is analyzed in terms of transformation in location, transformation in the land- use, change in commodity, and transformation in movement and activity. The aim of the research is to emphasize the need to understand the transformation trend, in creating a suitable development pattern for the city. The unregulated transformation within the city core has led to tremendous transformation in the user group and user pattern and eventually to the commercial trend. With the change in lifestyle and need for new amenities have led to addition of new infills leading to the degradation of the native commerce. Hence addressing the transformation of marketplaces are crucial to maintaining the locational significance and cultural importance and heritage of the place.

Keywords: bazaar, market centers, marketplaces, traditional city, traditional market, urban fabric

Procedia PDF Downloads 116
3849 The Practices of Citizen Participation and Political Accountability in Malaysia Local Government

Authors: Halimah Abdul Manaf, Ahmad Martadha Mohamed, Zainal M. Zan, Nur Rusydina Khadzali

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Strengthening accountability among civil servants has been at the centre of government transformation ever since the country is striving to become a developed nation by the year 2020. One critical area that has become the loci of attention is increasing the accountability of local government by delivering services that are preferred by the communities. This article explores the practices of citizen participation and political accountability in local government in Malaysia. The existing literature has identified a mismatch between the demands of the community and the actual services delivered by the local government. Based upon this framework, this research attempts to examine the linkages between citizen participation and political accountability in selected local governments in Malaysia. This study employs quantitative method involving 1155 respondents who were randomly selected from local government personnel as well as local citizens. The instruments in the questionnaires were adopted from Wang and Wart (2007) who have also studied local government accountability. The findings reveal that respondents are satisfied with the services provided to the community. However, three areas of concerned are the inadequacy of citizens’ participation in programs, immediate actions on complaints as well as the slow response to repair dilapidated basic infrastructures such as roads, park, and recreations. It is recommended that local governments in Malaysia continue to engage the citizens in the decision making process so that the needs and demands of the citizens can be adequately fulfilled.

Keywords: citizen participation, political accountability, local government, Malaysia

Procedia PDF Downloads 190
3848 Digital Transformation of Payment Systems Using Field Service Management

Authors: Hamze Torabian, Mohammad Mehrabioun Mohammadi

Abstract:

Like many other industries, the payment industry has been affected by digital transformation. The importance of digital transformation in the payment industry is very crucial. Because the payment industry is considered a leading industry in digital and emerging technologies, and the digitalization of other industries such as retail, health, and telecommunication, it also depends on the growth rate of digitalized payment systems. One of the technological innovations in service management is Field Service Management (FSM). Despite the widespread use of FSM in various industries such as petrochemical, health, maintenance, etc., this technology can also be recruited in the payment industry, transforming the payment industry into a more agile and efficient one. Accordingly, the present study pays close attention to the application of FSM in the payment industry. Given the importance of merchants' bargaining power in the payment industry, this study aims to use FSM in the digital transformation initiative with a targeted focus on providing real-time services to merchants. The research method consists of three parts. Firstly, conducting the review of past research, applications of FSM in the payment industry are considered. In the next step, merchants' benefits such as emotional, functional, economic, and social benefits in using FSM are identified using in-depth interviews and content analysis methods. The related business model in helping the payment industry transforming into a more agile and efficient industry is considered in the following step. The results revealed the 10 main pillars required to realize the digital transformation of payment systems using FSM.

Keywords: digital transformation, field service management, merchant support systems, payment industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 137
3847 Transforming Space to Place: Best-Practice Approaches and Initiatives

Authors: Juanee Cilliers

Abstract:

Urban citizens have come to expect more from their cities, demanding optimal conditions for business creativity and professional development, along with efficient, sustainable transportation and energy systems that feed robust economic development and healthy job markets. Urban public spaces are an important part of the urban environment, creating the framework for public life and quality thereof. The transformation of space into successful public places are crucial in this regard as planning must safeguard flexibility towards future changes, whilst simultaneously be capable of acting on short-term demands in order to address the complexity of public spaces within urban areas. This research evaluated two case studies of different cities in Belgium which successfully transformed spaces into lively public places. The transformation was illustrated and evaluated by means of visual analyses and space usage analyses of the original and redesigned space, along with the experience and value that the redesign brought to the area. Selected design elements were identified and evaluated based on the role in the transformation process, in an attempt to draw conclusions with regards to theory-practice relevance and to guide the transformation of space to place of (similar) public spaces.

Keywords: space, place, transformation, case studies

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3846 The Need for Educational Psychology in Teacher Education for Sustainable Transformation and Security in Nigeria

Authors: Kaltume Kabir Sharrif

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Teacher education is the bedrock of educational growth and development of any nation. With development in education all human problems can be overcome. Educational Psychology, on the other hand, is in a strategic position for any programme in teacher education to be successful hence other aspects of societal issues. In other words, no teacher education can be of any help in ensuring transformation and security without adequate study in Educational Psychology. Without adequate knowledge and skills in Educational Psychology the teacher may not function effectively in the course of discharging his duty. It is in view of this, that the paper discusses some aspects of Educational Psychology that are of paramount importance in teacher education for sustainable transformation and security of Nigeria. Some recommendations were offered on the role educational psychology play in resolving security challenges facing the country. These include enriching educational psychology with topics from forensic psychology that will provide the teacher the skills of fighting crime in the school, Behavioural Science Unit should be established in each school to monitor the behavior of students, among others.

Keywords: transformation, security challenges, teacher education, educational psychology

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3845 Changing Skills with the Transformation of Procurement Function

Authors: Ömer Faruk Ada, Türker Baş, M. Yaman Öztek

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In this study, we aim to investigate the skills to be owned by procurement professionals in order to fulfill their developing and changing role completely. Market conditions, competitive pressure, and high financial costs make it more important than ever for organizations to be able to use resources more efficiently. Research shows that procurement expenses consist more than 50 % of the operating expenses. With increasing profit impact of procurement, reviewing the position of the procurement function within the organization has become inevitable. This study is significant as it indicates the necessary skills that procurement professionals must have to keep in step with the transformation of procurement units from transaction oriented to value chain oriented. In this study, the transformation of procurement is investigated from the perspective of procurement professionals and we aim to answer following research questions: • How do procurement professionals perceive their role within the organization? • How has their role changed and what challenges have they had to face? • What portfolio of skills do they believe will enable them to fulfill their role effectively? Literature review consists of the first part of the study by investigating the changing role of procurement from different perspectives. In the second part, we present the results of the in-depth interviews with 15 procurement professionals and we used descriptive analysis as a methodology. In the light of these results, we classified procurement skills under operational, tactical and strategic levels and Procurement Skills Framework has been developed. This study shows the differences in the perception of purchasing by professionals and the organizations. The differences in the perception are considered as an important barrier beyond the procurement transformation. Although having the necessary skills has a significant effect for procurement professionals to fulfill their role completely and keep in step with the transformation of the procurement function, It is not the only factor and the degree of high-level management and organizational support has also a direct impact during this transformation.

Keywords: procuement skills, procurement transformation, strategic procurement, value chain

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3844 Development of Disability Studies in Post-Transformational Central and East European Countries from the 80s until Present

Authors: Klaudia Muca

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Disability studies as an international movement are still developing, especially in the Central and East European young democratic countries. It is crucial to recognize in what manner this development might lead to create a sustainable social environment. Thanks to disability studies the process of introducing disability studies and its main ideas might become as effective as in the 90s in the USA or other Western countries. In the Central and East Europe lack of activism in favor of the disabled in the early stages of democratic transition (i.e. the 80s and 90s) caused misrepresentation of the disabled and their experience in present political and social sphere of life. People with disabilities were made to hold a minor position in society due to political changes that introduced in fact non-equal democracy. The results of this study indicate that activism in favor of people with disabilities and works of art created by the disabled are tools that influence present disability politics. That suggests that young European democracies need to modify their current political path in order to establish more equal social policies.

Keywords: democratic transformation, disability as minority, misrepresentation of experience, non-equal democracy, sustainability

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3843 Transformation of Iopromide Due to Redox Gradients in Sediments of the Hyporheic Zone

Authors: Niranjan Mukherjee, Burga Braun, Ulrich Szewzyk

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Recalcitrant pharmaceuticals are increasingly found in urban water systems forced by demographic changes. The groundwater-surface water interface, or the hyporheic zone, is known for its impressive self-purification capacity of water bodies. Redox gradients present in this zone provide a wide range of electron acceptors and harbour diverse microbial communities. Biotic transformations of pharmaceuticals in this zone have been demonstrated, but not much information is available on the kind of communities bringing about these transformations. Therefore, bioreactors using sediment from the hyporheic zone of a river in Berlin were set up and fed with iopromide, a recalcitrant iodinated X-ray contrast medium. Iopromide, who’s many oxic and anoxic transformation products have been characterized, was shown to be transformed in such a bioreactor as it passes along the gradient. Many deiodinated transformation products of iopromide could be identified at the outlet of the reactor. In our experiments, it was seen that at the same depths of the column, the transformation of iopromide increased over time. This could be an indication of the microbial communities in the sediment adapting to iopromide. The hyporheic zone, with its varying redox conditions, mainly due to the upwelling and downwelling of surface and groundwater levels, could potentially provide microorganisms with conditions for the complete transformation of recalcitrant pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: iopromide, hyporheic zone, recalcitrant pharmaceutical, redox gradients

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3842 Proposing an Agile and Sustainable Industry 4.0 Implementation Framework for Small and Medium size Manufacturing Companies

Authors: Joshua Denning, Kapila Liyanage

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Digital transformation has the power to change the way we live and work. Within the manufacturing sector many companies have been quick to adapt to the new digital ways of working especially after the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated adoption. Within the manufacturing sector the umbrella term of industry 4.0 does a good job at summarising specific technologies that can be adopted as part of a digital transformation to leverage many benefits to the business. These technologies include but are not limited to big data, advanced robotics, IoT, digital twins, augmented reality and many more. As larger companies with abundant resource and knowledge in these areas have adopted these new technologies they pave the way for SME’s within the industry to follow suit however they are stalling in doing so do to many factors limiting their ability to progress. This paper explores the critical success factors to digital transformation under industry 4.0 for manufacturing SME’s. It proposes a detailed framework to enable businesses to implement industry 4.0 in a sustainable and agile way catering specifically to the needs of SME’s.

Keywords: digital transformation, industry 4.0, manufacturing SME, sustainability, business agility

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3841 Influence of Transformation Leadership Style on Employee Engagement among Generation Y

Authors: Z. D. Mansor, C. P. Mun, B. S. Nurul Farhana, Wan Aisyah Nasuha Wan Mohamed Tarmizi

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The aim of this research is to determine the influence of transformation leadership style on employee engagement among Generation Y. The growing of Generation Y employees in Malaysia has raised concerns about how to engage and motivate this cohort. Transformation Leadership style is one of the key factors to increase employee engagement levels in the organization. This study has proven to be important for the researchers and the organization to properly understand the concept of employee engagement, transformation leadership style and their relationship. The samples in this study included 221 respondents of Generation Y who are currently working in Selangor and Klang Valley area in Malaysia. The data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The results show that there is a significant relationship between the dimension of intellectual stimulation, inspiration motivation and individual consideration on employee engagement. In contrast, the results have revealed that there is no significant relationship between idealized influences of a leader on employee engagement among Generation Y.

Keywords: employee engagement, transformational leadership styles, gen Y, survey

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3840 A Good Start for Digital Transformation of the Companies: A Literature and Experience-Based Predefined Roadmap

Authors: Batuhan Kocaoglu

Abstract:

Nowadays digital transformation is a hot topic both in service and production business. For the companies who want to stay alive in the following years, they should change how they do their business. Industry leaders started to improve their ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) like backbone technologies to digital advances such as analytics, mobility, sensor-embedded smart devices, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and more. Selecting the appropriate technology for the related business problem also is a hot topic. Besides this, to operate in the modern environment and fulfill rapidly changing customer expectations, a digital transformation of the business is required and change the way the business runs, affect how they do their business. Even the digital transformation term is trendy the literature is limited and covers just the philosophy instead of a solid implementation plan. Current studies urge firms to start their digital transformation, but few tell us how to do. The huge investments scare companies with blur definitions and concepts. The aim of this paper to solidify the steps of the digital transformation and offer a roadmap for the companies and academicians. The proposed roadmap is developed based upon insights from the literature review, semi-structured interviews, and expert views to explore and identify crucial steps. We introduced our roadmap in the form of 8 main steps: Awareness; Planning; Operations; Implementation; Go-live; Optimization; Autonomation; Business Transformation; including a total of 11 sub-steps with examples. This study also emphasizes four dimensions of the digital transformation mainly: Readiness assessment; Building organizational infrastructure; Building technical infrastructure; Maturity assessment. Finally, roadmap corresponds the steps with three main terms used in digital transformation literacy as Digitization; Digitalization; and Digital Transformation. The resulted model shows that 'business process' and 'organizational issues' should be resolved before technology decisions and 'digitization'. Companies can start their journey with the solid steps, using the proposed roadmap to increase the success of their project implementation. Our roadmap is also adaptable for relevant Industry 4.0 and enterprise application projects. This roadmap will be useful for companies to persuade their top management for investments. Our results can be used as a baseline for further researches related to readiness assessment and maturity assessment studies.

Keywords: digital transformation, digital business, ERP, roadmap

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3839 Urban Stratification as a Basis for Analyzing Political Instability: Evidence from Syrian Cities

Authors: Munqeth Othman Agha

Abstract:

The historical formation of urban centres in the eastern Arab world was shaped by rapid urbanization and sudden transformation from the age of the pre-industrial to a post-industrial economy, coupled with uneven development, informal urban expansion, and constant surges in unemployment and poverty rates. The city was stratified accordingly as overlapping layers of division and inequality that have been built on top of each other, creating complex horizontal and vertical divisions based on economic, social, political, and ethno-sectarian basis. This has been further exacerbated during the neoliberal era, which transferred the city into a sort of dual city that is inhabited by heterogeneous and often antagonistic social groups. Economic deprivation combined with a growing sense of marginalization and inequality across the city planted the seeds of political instability, outbreaking in 2011. Unlike other popular uprisings that occupy central squares, as in Egypt and Tunisia, the Syrian uprising in 2011 took place mainly within inner streets and neighborhood squares, mobilizing primarily on more or less upon the lines of stratification. This has emphasized the role of micro-urban and social settings in shaping mobilization and resistance tactics, which necessitates us to understand the way the city was stratified and place it at the center of the city-conflict nexus analysis. This research aims to understand to what extent pre-conflict urban stratification lines played a role in determining the different trajectories of three cities’ neighborhoods (Homs, Dara’a and Deir-ez-Zor). The main argument of the paper is that the way the Syrian city has been stratified creates various social groups within the city who have enjoyed different levels of accessibility to life chances, material resources and social statuses. This determines their relationship with other social groups in the city and, more importantly, their relationship with the state. The advent of a political opportunity will be depicted differently across the city’s different social groups according to their perceived interests and threats, which consequently leads to either political mobilization or demobilization. Several factors, including the type of social structures, built environment, and state response, determine the ability of social actors to transfer the repertoire of contention to collective action or transfer from social actors to political actors. The research uses urban stratification lines as the basis for understanding the different patterns of political upheavals in urban areas while explaining why neighborhoods with different social and urban environment settings had different abilities and capacities to mobilize, resist state repression and then descend into a military conflict. It particularly traces the transformation from social groups to social actors and political actors by applying the Explaining-outcome Process-Tracing method to depict the causal mechanisms that led to including or excluding different neighborhoods from each stage of the uprising, namely mobilization (M1), response (M2), and control (M3).

Keywords: urban stratification, syrian conflict, social movement, process tracing, divided city

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3838 Political Deprivations, Political Risk and the Extent of Skilled Labor Migration from Pakistan: Finding of a Time-Series Analysis

Authors: Syed Toqueer Akhter, Hussain Hamid

Abstract:

Over the last few decades an upward trend has been observed in the case of labor migration from Pakistan. The emigrants are not just economically motivated and in search of a safe living environment towards more developed countries in Europe, North America and Middle East. The opportunity cost of migration comes in the form of brain drain that is the loss of qualified and skilled human capital. Throughout the history of Pakistan, situations of political instability have emerged ranging from violation of political rights, political disappearances to political assassinations. Providing security to the citizens is a major issue faced in Pakistan due to increase in crime and terrorist activities. The aim of the study is to test the impact of political instability, appearing in the form of political terror, violation of political rights and civil liberty on skilled migration of labor. Three proxies are used to measure the political instability; political terror scale (based on a scale of 1-5, the political terror and violence that a country encounters in a particular year), political rights (a rating of 1-7, that describes political rights as the ability for the people to participate without restraint in political process) and civil liberty (a rating of 1-7, civil liberty is defined as the freedom of expression and rights without government intervention). Using time series data from 1980-2011, the distributed lag models were used for estimation because migration is not a onetime process, previous events and migration can lead to more migration. Our research clearly shows that political instability appearing in the form of political terror, political rights and civil liberty all appeared significant in explaining the extent of skilled migration of Pakistan.

Keywords: skilled labor migration, political terror, political rights, civil liberty, distributed lag model

Procedia PDF Downloads 1002
3837 The Competitiveness of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: Digital Transformation of Business Models

Authors: Chante Van Tonder, Bart Bossink, Chris Schachtebeck, Cecile Nieuwenhuizen

Abstract:

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in national economies around the world, being contributors to economic and social well-being. Due to this, the success, growth and competitiveness of SMEs are critical. However, there are many factors that undermine this, such as resource constraints, poor information communication infrastructure (ICT), skills shortages and poor management. The Fourth Industrial Revolution offers new tools and opportunities such as digital transformation and business model innovation (BMI) to the SME sector to enhance its competitiveness. Adopting and leveraging digital technologies such as cloud, mobile technologies, big data and analytics can significantly improve business efficiencies, value proposition and customer experiences. Digital transformation can contribute to the growth and competitiveness of SMEs. However, SMEs are lagging behind in the participation of digital transformation. Extant research lacks conceptual and empirical research on how digital transformation drives BMI and the impact it has on the growth and competitiveness of SMEs. The purpose of the study is, therefore, to close this gap by developing and empirically validating a conceptual model to determine if SMEs are achieving BMI through digital transformation and how this is impacting the growth, competitiveness and overall business performance. An empirical study is being conducted on 300 SMEs, consisting of 150 South-African and 150 Dutch SMEs, to achieve this purpose. Structural equation modeling is used, since it is a multivariate statistical analysis technique that is used to analyse structural relationships and is a suitable research method to test the hypotheses in the model. Empirical research is needed to gather more insight into how and if SMEs are digitally transformed and how BMI can be driven through digital transformation. The findings of this study can be used by SME business owners, managers and employees at all levels. The findings will indicate if digital transformation can indeed impact the growth, competitiveness and overall performance of an SME, reiterating the importance and potential benefits of adopting digital technologies. In addition, the findings will also exhibit how BMI can be achieved in light of digital transformation. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in a highly relevant and important topic in management studies by analysing the impact of digital transformation on BMI on a large number of SMEs that are distinctly different in economic and cultural factors

Keywords: business models, business model innovation, digital transformation, SMEs

Procedia PDF Downloads 212