Search results for: monetary policy orientation

Authors: Estela Macedo Alves

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This paper is an overview on public policy analysis focused on the study of Brazilian public policy making process. The methodology is based on the review of some theories on the subject, linking them to Brazilian reality. The study presents basic policy analysis concepts, such as policy, polity and politics. It is emphasized John Kingdon's Multiple Stream Model, because of its clarifying aspects concerning public policies formulation process in democratic countries. In this path it was possible to establish interpretations on environmental public policies in Brazil and understand its methods, instead of presenting only a case study. At the end, it is possible to connect theory with Brazilian reality, identifying negative and positive points of its political processes and structure.

Keywords: Brazilian policies, environmental public policy, multiple stream model, public policy analysis

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Authors: Muhammad A. Ishaq, S. U. R. Aliyu

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This paper on an exposition of Islamic fiscal policy attempts to discuss the basic principles of Islamic fiscal policy in an Islamic economy. The paper presents a number of definitions of the subject matter, its nature and its tools of application. Government spending, taxation and public borrowings were identified as the tools of the policy. The paper identifies zakat both as a veritable source of revenue and a major instrument of economic stabilization. Furthermore, the paper presents an algebraic 2-sector and 3-sector models from the basic Keynesian model. The paper posits that in view of uniqueness of its instruments, absence of interest rate in the economy and the policy’s derive towards socioeconomic justice and redistribution, Islamic fiscal policy is capable of stabilizing Islamic economy and ushering it into the path of long term economic growth and prosperity.

Keywords: automatic built-in-stabilizers, government spending, Islamic fiscal policy, taxation, zakat

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Authors: Nura Suleiman

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The foreign policy of any country or nation is intended to promote and protect the country’s national interest. To achieve this interest, a country has to be guided by certain principles and influence of domestic and international conditions. The history of Nigerian foreign policy is directed to defend its sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, to promote and sustain the economic well-being of Nigerians, and promotion of Africa and world peace with justice. With the change of time and leadership, coupled with corruption, despite all the foreign policy determinants endowed with Nigeria as a country, sacrificed its foreign interest for the benefit of the western powers, by this it lost the opportunity to formulate policies according to its own need and desires.

Keywords: foreign policy, Nigeria, Western power

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Authors: Stephen Oduro

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With a quantitative research design, this study seeks to analyze how, an intangible resource, Organisational Unlearning shapes the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and Innovation Outcomes among social entrepreneurship organizations in Ghana. The Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm and EO-Performance Contingency framework was adopted as the underpinning theories of the study. Entrepreneurial Orientation dimensions, namely Innovativeness, Autonomy, Risk-Taking, Proactiveness, and Competitive aggressiveness were examined to determine its significant, direct influence on the Innovation Outcomes of the social enterprises in Ghana. Organizational Unlearning dimensions, specifically examination of lens fitting, the consolidation of emergent understandings, and framework for changing individual habits were explored to determine whether they strengthen or weaken the direct nexus between Entrepreneurial Orientation dimensions and Innovation Outcomes. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to 556 targeted social enterprises across Africa through online questionnaire platform and the data generated and proposed hypotheses were analyzed and tested using Structural Equation Model-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS 3) statistical tool. The findings revealed that EO dimensions, specifically proactiveness, autonomy, innovativeness, and risk-taking are positively related to IO, but we found no significant support for competitive aggressiveness. The findings, moreover, divulged that the positive, direct relationship between EO and IO is highly strengthened by OU. It is concluded that OU fully moderates the direct link between EO and IO. The present study contributes to the our understanding of the interrelationship among Entrepreneurial Orientation, Organizational Unlearning, and Innovation Outcomes in the social entrepreneurship context.

Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, innovation outcomes, organizational unlearning, RBV, SEM-PLS, social enterprise, Africa

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Authors: Cristina Costa-Lobo, Priscila Martins, Silvia Amado Cordeiro, Ana Campina

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Behavior directed toward high levels of sports performance and excellence implies task-focused processes, processes of cognitive and emotional regulation. This research aims to understand if subjective well-being, emotional regulation, and motivational orientation influence the performance of competitive athletes. The sample of this study is a non-probabilistic convenience sample, consisting of 50 male athletes, aged 14 to 15 years, who belong to training teams integrated in the pedagogical department of a sports club in the North of Portugal. In terms of performance, the distinction between team A and team B is due to the championships in which the respective athletes participate. Team A participates in national championships where the levels of demand and challenge are more pronounced and the team B only participates in championships at the district level. Was verified the internal consistency of the subjective happiness scale, the emotional regulation scale, and the motivational orientation questionnaire. SPSS, version 22.0, was used in the data treatment. When comparing the dimensions of emotional regulation with performance, it can be seen that athletes with lower sports scores have higher levels of emotional control and emotional self-awareness. As far as situational responsiveness is concerned, only the emotional self-control dimension and the emotional self-awareness dimension show an influence on the income, although, contrary to what would be expected, they appear to be associated with lower incomes. When comparing the motivational orientation with the athletic performance, it is verified that the athletes with the highest performance present an ego-oriented motivation, evidencing the athletes with a lower performance athletic tendency towards the task orientation. Only the ego-oriented dimension seems to be associated with high sport performance. The motivational orientation for the ego and the dimensions emotional control and emotional self-awareness are presented in this study as having influence on sports performance. Following these studies that have shown concern with the characterization of the best athletes and the promotion of higher sports performances, this work contributes to the signaling of psychological variables associated with high sports income.

Keywords: subjective well-being, emotional regulation, motivational orientation, sports performance

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Authors: Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad, Hadi Yazdi

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The greatest influence we have from the world is shaped through the visual form, thus light is an inseparable element in human life. The use of daylight in visual perception and environment readability is an important issue for users. With regard to the hazards of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and in line with the attitudes on the reduction of energy consumption, the correct use of daylight results in lower levels of energy consumed by artificial lighting, heating and cooling systems. Windows are usually the starting points for analysis and simulations to achieve visual comfort and energy optimization; therefore, attention should be paid to the orientation of buildings to minimize electrical energy and maximize the use of daylight. In this paper, by using the Design Builder Software, the effect of the orientation of an 18m²(3m*6m) room with 3m height in city of Tehran has been investigated considering the design constraint limitations. In these simulations, the dimensions of the building have been changed with one degree and the window is located on the smaller face (3m*3m) of the building with 80% ratio. The results indicate that the orientation of building has a lot to do with energy efficiency to meet high-performance architecture and planning goals and objectives.

Keywords: daylight, window, orientation, energy consumption, design builder

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Authors: Renuka Mahadevan, Sharon Chang

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This exploratory study is based on potential cruisers’ monetary valuation of cruise attributes. Using choice experiment, monetary trade-offs between four different cruise attributes are examined with Australians as a case study. We found 50% of the sample valued variety of onboard cruise activities the least while 30% were willing to pay A$87 for cruise-organised activities per day, and the remaining 20% regarded an ocean view to be most valuable at A$125. Latent class modelling was then applied and results revealed that potential cruisers’ valuation of the attributes can be used to segment the market into adventurers, budget conscious and comfort lovers. Evidence showed that socio demographics are not as insightful as lifestyle preferences in developing cruise packages and pricing that would appeal to potential cruisers. Marketing also needs to counter the mindset of potential cruisers’ belief that cruises are often costly and that cruising can be done later in life.

Keywords: latent class modelling, choice experiment, potential cruisers, market segmentation, willingness to pay

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Authors: E. T. Svahn

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This article documents how open science policy is perceived in the scientific literature globally throughout the history. It also presents what policy needs are persistent to enable safe and effective dissemination of scientific knowledge. This information may be of interest to open science and science policy makers globally, especially in the view of recent adoption of supranational open science policies such as Plan S. Evaluation of open science policy landscape is in pressing need of assessment regarding its impact on the research community and society at wide as no previous literature review has been conducted on the topic. This study is a rigorous literature review based on constructivist grounded theory method on the full body of scientific open science policy publications. Selection of these articles has been conducted in 2019 and 2020 in major global knowledge databases. Through the analysis of these articles, two key themes emerged that are seen to shape the relationship between science and society. 1st is that of the policy enabling open science in a safe and effective way, and 2nd is that of the outcome of the science policy may have on the research community and the wider society. These findings accentuate that open science policies can have a major impact on not only research process and availability of knowledge but also on society itself. As an outcome of this study, a theoretical framework is constructed, and the need for further study on open science policy itself on a higher level becomes apparent.

Keywords: constructivist grounded theory, open science policy, rigorous literature review, science policy

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Authors: Ruth Donkoh, Wing On Lee, Solomon A. Boateng, Portia Oware Twerefoo, Josephine Donkor

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In this paper we defend the value of theories and approaches to educational policy and planning in enhancing the educational developments in Ghana. This mission is achieved by enumerating the recent educational developments in Ghana and juxtaposing it with some educational theories, approaches to policy making, and policy planning to see if the educational developments conform with the theory principles as well as policy making and planning processes. Data collection for the research was made through textual analysis of policy documents as well as review of relevant literatures. The findings reveled that educational developments in Ghana are unable to attain its objectives due to the policies not conforming with the policy formation and planning principles. In addition, was that education planning in Ghana does not follow the policy-administration dichotomy theory principles and likewise the distribution of educational needs goes contrary to the equity theory. We recommend that educational policies in Ghana should be in conformity with the principles of theories as well as the approaches to educational policy making and planning to help meet the needs of learners, attain educational quality, and to help in the accomplishment of educational development objectives.

Keywords: Ghana education, equity theories, politics- administration dichotomy theory, educational policies, educational planning

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Authors: M. Alwetaishi, Giulia Sonetti

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It is architecturally accepted that building form and design is considered as one of the most important aspects in affecting indoor temperature. The total area of building plan might be identical, but the design will have a major influence on the total area of external walls. This will have a clear impact on the amount of heat exchange with outdoor. Moreover, it will affect the position and area of glazing system. This has not received enough consideration in research by the specialists, since most of the publications are highlighting the impact of building envelope in terms of physical heat transfer in buildings. This research will investigate the impact of orientation of various building forms in various climatic regions. It will be concluded that orientation and glazing to wall ratio were recognized to be the most effective variables despite the shape of the building. However, linear ad radial forms were found more appropriate shapes almost across the continent.

Keywords: architectural building design, building form, building design in different climate, indoor air temperature

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Authors: Raeda F. Abualrub, Amani Abdulnabi

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Aim: The aims of this study were to (a) examine the levels of nurses' political efficacy and involvement in health policy; and (b) explore the relationships between political efficacy, involvement in health policy, and participants’ background variables. Background: Nurses as citizens and health care providers have the right to express their opinions and beliefs in regard to issues that are concerned with the health care system or the public health domain. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional design using was utilized. A self-administered questionnaire (Political Efficacy Scale & Involvement in Health Policy Scale) was completed by a convenience sample of 302 nurses. Results: The results of this study showed low levels of involvement in health policy and political efficacy and a positive weak correlation between political efficacy and involvement in health policy. The perceived level of political efficacy was associated positively with nurses’ age and experience. Conclusions: Nurse administrators and managers may empower, support, and encourage nurses to enhance their involvement in health policy. Implications for Nursing Management: The findings have implications for nursing leaders and administrators to design appropriate strategies to enhance nurses’ involvement in health policy development.

Keywords: health policy, Jordan, nurses, political efficacy

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Authors: Viktorija Mano

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The objective of my research is to critique the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stance on foreign investment and the benefits for small, open economies of allowing the free movement of capital. In my research as a whole I will explore the extent to which this stance impacted upon and influenced the economic policies of Macedonia. This will involve providing a contextualized, critical account of the policy of the IMF focusing on a comparison of its policies during the early 2000s through policy documents, political discourse and enacted policies in Macedonia. The conditionality associated with these policies, such as the enforcement of austerity measures (including cutting public spending and reducing debt) and the privatization of public institutions has provoked strong reactions in countries which receive such loans. My main focus in my research is on exploring how the process of Financial Liberalization (FL) of the Macedonian economy affected capital flows in the form of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the private sector and how the recent Greek crisis of 2008 has impacted on this. In the case of Macedonia, the reality of FL was tested by the collapse of the Greek economy. However, this paper will highlight the main duties of the IMF and the goals of the FL process implemented in various countries.Additionally, I will undertake a rhetorical documentary analysis on the IMF reports regarding the process of FL in Macedonia since its independence until today.

Keywords: FDI, financial liberalization, Greece, IMF, Macedonia

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Authors: Djehich Mohamed Yousri

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This research tries to highlight the different stages and developments of financial policy which has evolved significantly in its means and mechanism, goals as well, according to the successful developments of the society, in addition to that, the role of the country has been developed from custody to intervening country, that evolution does not impact only on financial science but it was reflected on financial system concepts, that helped fr transport it from neutral financial policy to intervening policy, since each stage was characterized by a set of characteristics, financial policy considers like reflective mirror to the role of state in all times, when the state has been absent as an organized authority to society, the role of financial policy was weakened and has been limited under the impact of ideology which exists at all time, financial role has was limited until the state intervened in all aspects of life, the state role is also influential in economic, social, and political life, this study highlighting the most important developments of financial policy under successful economic systems.

Keywords: public expenditure, government spending, taxes, revenues public, economics

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Authors: Dina Alfreahat, Zoltan Sebestyen

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Safety is considered as one of the project’s success factors. Poor safety management may result in accidents that impact human, economic, and legal issues. Therefore, it is necessary to consider safety and health as a project success factor along with other project success factors, such as time, cost, and quality. Organizations have a knowledge deficit of the implementation of long-term safety practices, and due to cost control, safety problems tend to receive the least priority. They usually assume that safety management involves expenditures unrelated to production goals, thereby considering it unnecessary for profitability and competitiveness. The purpose of this study is to introduce, analysis and identify the correlation between the orientation of the public safety procedures of an organization and the public safety standards applied in the project. Therefore, the authors develop the process and collect the possible mathematical-statistical tools supporting the previously mentioned goal. The result shows that the adoption of management to safety is a major factor in implementing the safety standard in the project and thereby improving safety performance. It may take time and effort to adopt the mindset of safety orientation service development, but at the same time, the higher organizational investment in safety and health programs will contribute to the loyalty of staff to safety compliance.

Keywords: project management perspective, safety orientation, safety performance, safety standards

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Authors: Xue Wang, Li-Wei Fan

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The technology innovation has become the driving force of social and economic development and transformation. The guidance and support of public policies is an important condition to promote the realization of technology innovation goals. Policy effectiveness evaluation is instructive in policy learning and adjustment. This paper reviews existing studies and systematically evaluates the effectiveness of policy-driven technological innovation. We used 167 articles from WOS and CNKI databases as samples to clarify the measurement of technological innovation indicators and analyze the classification and application of policy evaluation methods. In general, technology innovation input and technological output are the two main aspects of technological innovation index design, among which technological patents are the focus of research, the number of patents reflects the scale of technological innovation, and the quality of patents reflects the value of innovation from multiple aspects. As for policy evaluation methods, statistical analysis methods are applied to the formulation, selection and evaluation of the after-effect of policies to analyze the effect of policy implementation qualitatively and quantitatively. The bibliometric methods are mainly based on the public policy texts, discriminating the inter-government relationship and the multi-dimensional value of the policy. Decision analysis focuses on the establishment and measurement of the comprehensive evaluation index system of public policy. The economic analysis methods focus on the performance and output of technological innovation to test the policy effect. Finally, this paper puts forward the prospect of the future research direction.

Keywords: technology innovation, index, policy effectiveness, evaluation of policy, bibliometric analysis

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Authors: Vesile Evrim, Aliyu Awwal

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Today as in the other domains, there are an enormous number of political transcripts available in the Web which is waiting to be mined and used for various purposes such as statistics and recommendations. Therefore, automatically determining the political orientation on these transcripts becomes crucial. The methodologies used by machine learning algorithms to do the automatic classification are based on different features such as Linguistic. Considering the ideology differences between Liberals and Conservatives, in this paper, the effect of Personality Traits on political orientation classification is studied. This is done by considering the correlation between LIWC features and the BIG Five Personality Traits. Several experiments are conducted on Convote U.S. Congressional-Speech dataset with seven benchmark classification algorithms. The different methodologies are applied on selecting different feature sets that constituted by 8 to 64 varying number of features. While Neuroticism is obtained to be the most differentiating personality trait on classification of political polarity, when its top 10 representative features are combined with several classification algorithms, it outperformed the results presented in previous research.

Keywords: politics, personality traits, LIWC, machine learning

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Authors: Vesna Bosilj Vukšić, Darija Ivandić Vidović, Ljubica Milanović Glavan

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Information technology plays an irreplaceable role in introducing and improving business process orientation in a company. It enables implementation of the theoretical concept, measurement of results achieved and undertaking corrective measures aimed at improvements. Information technology is a key concept in the development and implementation of the business process management systems as it establishes a connection to business operations. Both in the literature and practice, insurance companies are often seen as highly process oriented due to the nature of their business and focus on customers. They are also considered leaders in using information technology for business process management. The research conducted aimed to investigate whether the perceived leadership status of insurance companies is well deserved, i.e. to establish the level of process orientation and explore the practice of information technology use in insurance companies in the region. The main instrument for primary data collection within this research was an electronic survey questionnaire sent to the management of insurance companies in the Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia. The conducted research has shown that insurance companies have a satisfactory level of process orientation, but that there is also a huge potential for improvement, especially in the segment of information technology and its connection to business processes.

Keywords: business processes management, process orientation, information technology, insurance companies

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Authors: Abderrahmen Aloulou, Younes Boujelbene

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The current paper displays a new method of extracting information content from options prices by eliminating biases caused by daily variation of contract maturity. Based on Kernel regression tool, this non-parametric technique serves to obtain a spectrum of interpolated options with constant maturity horizons from negotiated optional contracts on the S&P TSX 60 index. This method makes it plausible to compare daily risk neutral densities from which extracting time continuous indicators allows the detection traders attitudes’ evolution, such as, belief homogeneity, asymmetry and extreme Risk Perception. Our findings indicate that the applied method contribute to develop effective trading strategies and to adjust monetary policies through controlling trader’s reactions to economic and monetary news.

Keywords: risk neutral densities, kernel, constant maturity horizons, homogeneity, asymmetry and extreme risk perception

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Authors: Zhang Qingzhong

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Though there exists an increasing number of research studies on the headquarters-subsidiary relationship, and within this context, there is a focus on subsidiaries' contributory role to multinational corporations (MNC), subsidiary autonomy, and the conditions under which autonomy exerts an effect on subsidiary performance still constitute a subject of debate in the literature. The objective of this research is to study the MNC subsidiary autonomy and performance relationship and the effect of subsidiary entrepreneurial orientation and trust on subsidiary autonomy in the China environment, a phenomenon that has not yet been studied. The research addresses the following three questions: (i) Is subsidiary autonomy associated with MNC subsidiary performance in the China environment? (ii) How do subsidiary entrepreneurship and its trust in headquarters affect the level of subsidiary autonomy and its relationship with subsidiary performance? (iii) Does subsidiary autonomy have a mediating effect on subsidiary performance with subsidiary’s entrepreneurship and trust in headquarters? In the present study, we have reviewed literature and conducted semi-structured interviews with multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiary senior executives in China. Building on our insights from the interviews and taking perspectives from four theories, namely the resource-based view (RBV), resource dependency theory, integration-responsiveness framework, and social exchange theory, as well as the extant articles on subsidiary autonomy, entrepreneurial orientation, trust, and subsidiary performance, we have developed a model and have explored the direct and mediating effects of subsidiary autonomy on subsidiary performance within the framework of the MNC. To test the model, we collected and analyzed data based on cross-industry two waves of an online survey from 102 subsidiaries of MNCs in China. We used structural equation modeling to test measurement, direct effect model, and conceptual framework with hypotheses. Our findings confirm that (a) subsidiary autonomy is positively related to subsidiary performance; (b) subsidiary entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to subsidiary autonomy; (c) subsidiary’s trust in headquarters has a positive effect on subsidiary autonomy; (d) subsidiary autonomy mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and subsidiary performance; (e) subsidiary autonomy mediates the relationship between trust and subsidiary performance. Our study highlights the important role of subsidiary autonomy in leveraging the resource of subsidiary entrepreneurial orientation and its trust relationship with headquarters to achieve high performance. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings and propose directions for future research.

Keywords: subsidiary entrepreneurial orientation, trust, subsidiary autonomy, subsidiary performance

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Authors: Ahmad Ardillah Rahman

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The decentralisation policy in education has been a trend in some countries in the last two decades. In Indonesia, the implementation of the policy has been introduced since 2003 with the occurrence of School-Based Management policy. The reform has affected the way principals and teachers should involve in school practices in which more autonomies and flexibilities are given to teachers in conducting their teaching practices. Almost 13 years since the policy was firstly introduced, the government and teachers in Indonesia still face some obstacles in maximising the potential benefits of the implementation of the decentralised education system. This study, thus, critically analyses the challenges of decentralised education policy for teachers in Indonesian education context. The purposes of this study are threefold. Firstly, it will explore the history of policy transformation from a centralised to a decentralised education policy. Secondly, it points out the advantages of the decentralised policy implementation. The last, it provides a comprehensive description of challenges faced by Indonesian teachers with the new roles in designing and implementing a curriculum. By using data from existing surveys and research, this study concludes that to successfully implement the transformation in the educational reform of Indonesia, continual and gradual teachers’ training, professional career pathway, and local monitoring for teachers should be developed and strengthened.

Keywords: curriculum design, decentralisation, school-based management, teachers’ autonomy

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Authors: S. Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, S. Mandal

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Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) is gaining popularity in many branch of engineering and various applications due to their light weight, specific strength per unit weight and high stiffness in particular direction. As the strength of material is high it can be used in thin walled structure as industrial roof sheds satisfying the strength constraint with comparatively lesser thickness. Analysis of bending behavior of FRP panel has been done here with variation in oriented angle of stiffener panels, fiber orientation, aspect ratio and boundary conditions subjected to transverse loading by using Finite Element Method. The effect of fiber orientation and thickness of ply has also been studied to determine the minimum thickness of ply for optimized section of stiffened FRP panel.

Keywords: bending behavior, fiber reinforced polymer, finite element method, orientation of stiffeners

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Authors: Imam Uddin, Imtiaz Ahmed Memon

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This paper analyzes the ideological contextuality of market oriented strategy language used by Industry leaders to envision the future of Islamic financial Institutions (IFIs) in the light of Wittgenstein language-games and Foucault’s power-discourse framework. The analysis infers that the explicit market orientation of strategy language and modern knowledge of finance now defines various concepts related of Islamic finance, let alone Islamic finance theory itself. Theorizing and practicing Islamic finance therefore under the dominant influence of modern strategy discourse and modern knowledge of finance has significant implications for developing an ethical and spiritual orientation of Islamic banks. The concerned academia and scholarship therefore need to review such trends and work around the possible degradation to the public image of IFIs and resulting disappointments of religiously inspired customers.

Keywords: Islamic finance discourse, strategy discourse, language games, strategic intent, productive misunderstanding

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Authors: Anna Pudlo

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The EU law encompasses many supranational legal systems (EU law, ECHR, international public law and constitutional traditions common to the Member States) which guarantee the protection of fundamental rights, with partly overlapping scopes of applicability, various principles of interpretation of legal norms and a different hierarchy. In EU law, the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation originates from both the primary and secondary EU legislation. At present, the prohibition is considered to be a fundamental right in pursuance of Article 21 of the Charter, but the Court has not yet determined whether it is a right or a principle within the meaning of the Charter. Similarly, the Court has not deemed this criterion to be a general principle of EU law. The personal and materials scope of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation based on Article 21 of the Charter requires each time to be specified in another legal act of the EU in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter. The effect of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation understood as above will be two-fold, for the States and for the Union. On the one hand, one may refer to the legal instruments of review of EU law enforcement by a Member State laid down in the Treaties. On the other hand, EU law does not provide for the right to individual petition. Therefore, it is the duty of the domestic courts to protect the right of a person not to be discriminated on grounds of sexual orientation in line with the national procedural rules, within the limits and in accordance with the principles set out in EU law, in particular in Directive 2000/78. The development of the principle of non-discrimination in the Court’s case-law gives rise to certain doubts as to its applicability, namely whether the principle as the general principle of EU law may be granted an autonomous character, with respect to the applicability to matters not included in the personal or material scope of the Directives, although within the EU’s competence. Moreover, both the doctrine and the opinions of the Advocates-General have called for the general competence of CJEU with regard to fundamental rights which, however, might lead to a violation of the principle of separation of competence. The aim of this paper is to answer the question what is the nature of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in EU law (a general principle in EU law, or a principle or right under the Charter’s terminology). Therefore, the paper focuses on the nature of Article 21 of the Charter (a right or a principle) and the scope (personal and material) of the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation in EU law as well as its effect (vertical or horizontal). The study has included the provisions of EU law together with the relevant CJEU case-law.

Keywords: EU law, EU principles, non-discrimination in EU law, Charter of the Fundamental Rights

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Authors: Ondrej Slach, Jan Machacek, Jan Zenka, Lucie Hyllova, Petr Rumpel

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The aim of the paper is to identify and asses different trajectories of two fashionable urban policies –creative and smart cities– in specific post-socialistic context. Drawing on the case of Czechia, we employ the concept of policy mobility research. More specifically, we employ a discourse analysis in order to identify the so-called 'infrastructure' of both policies (such as principal actors, journals, conferences, events), with the special focus on 'agents of transfer' in a multiscale perspective. The preliminary results indicate faster and more aggressive spatial penetration of smart cities policy compared to creative cities policy in Czechia. Further, it seems that existed translation and implementation of smart cities policy into the national and urban context resulted in deliberated fragmented policy of smart cities in Czechia (pure technocratic view), which might be a threat for the future development of social sustainability, especially in cities that are facing increasing social polarisation. Last but not least, due to the fast spatial penetration of the concept and policies of smart cities, it seems that creative cities policy has almost been crowded out of the Czech urban agenda.

Keywords: policy mobility, smart cities, creative cities, Czechia

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Authors: Layla Albdr

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Saudi Arabia instituted the policy of Sensitizing and Training Stakeholders for E-learning and witnessed wide adoption in many institutions. However, it is at the infancy stage and needs time to develop to mirror the US and UK. The majority of the higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia have adopted E-learning as an alternative to traditional methods to advance education. Conversely, effective implementation of the policy of sensitization and training of stakeholders for E-learning implementation has not been attained because of various challenges. The objectives included determining the challenges and opportunities of the E-learning policy of sensitization and training of stakeholders in Saudi Arabia's higher education and examining if sensitization and training of stakeholder's policy will help promote the implementation of E-learning in institutions. The study employed a descriptive research design based on qualitative analysis. The researcher recruited 295 students and 60 academic staff from four Saudi Arabian universities to participate in the study. An online questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was then analyzed and reported both quantitatively and qualitatively. The analysis provided an in-depth understanding of the opportunities and challenges of E-learning policy in Saudi Arabian universities. The main challenges identified as internal challenges were the lack of educators’ interest in adopting the policy, and external challenges entailed lack of ICT infrastructure and Internet connectivity. The study recommends encouraging, sensitizing, and training all stakeholders to address these challenges and adopt the policy.

Keywords: e-learning, educational policy, Saudi Arabia, policy of sensitization and training

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Authors: Nazira Kakulia

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The analysis of transformation of institutional changes outlines two important characteristics. These are: the speed of the changes and their sequence. Successful transformation must be carried out in three different stages; On the first stage, macroeconomic stabilization must be achieved with the help of fiscal and monetary tools. Two-tier banking system should be established and the active functions of central bank should be replaced by the passive ones (reserve requirements and refinancing rate), together with the involvement growth of private sector. Fiscal policy by itself here means the creation of tax system which must replace previously existing direct state revenues; the share of subsidies in the state expenses must be reduced also. The second stage begins after reaching the macroeconomic stabilization at a time of change of formal institutes which must stimulate the private business. Corporate legislation creates a competitive environment at the market and the privatization of state companies takes place. Bankruptcy and contract law is created. he third stage is the most extended one, which means the formation of all state structures that is necessary for the further proper functioning of a market economy. These three stages about the cycle period of political and social transformation and the hierarchy of changes can also be grouped by the different methodology: on the first and the most short-term stage the transfer of power takes place. On the second stage institutions corresponding to new goal are created. The last phase of transformation is extended in time and it includes the infrastructural, socio-cultural and socio-structural changes. The main goal of this research is to explore and identify the features of such kind of models.

Keywords: competitive environment, fiscal policy, macroeconomic stabilization, tax system

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Authors: Riktesh Srivastava

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Online Shopping have established an astonishing evolution in the last few years. And it is now apparent that B2C architecture is becoming progressively imperative channel for even traditional brick and mortar type traders as well. In this completion knowing customers and predicting behavior are extremely important. More important, when any customer logs onto the B2C architecture, the traces of their buying patterns can be stored and used for future predictions. Such a prediction is called Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Earlier, we used Net Present Value to do so, however, it ignores two important aspects of B2C architecture, “market risks” and “big amount of customer data”. Now, we use RFM- Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value to estimate the CLV, and as the term exemplifies, market risks, is well sheltered. Big Data Analysis is also roofed in RFM, which gives real exploration of the Big Data and lead to a better estimation for future cash flow from customers. In the present paper, 6 factors (collected from varied sources) are used to determine as to what attracts the customers to the B2C architecture. For these 6 factors, RFM is computed for 3 years (2013, 2014 and 2015) respectively. CLV and Revenue are the two parameters defined using RFM analysis, which gives the clear picture of the future predictions.

Keywords: CLV, RFM, revenue, recency, frequency, monetary value

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Authors: Victor Oyewumi Ogunbiyi

Abstract:

Food waste is a global sustainability issue that demands that multiple stakeholders participate in solving it. This article examines how different food system stakeholders are held responsible in the policy debate related to food waste reduction. The study adopts a qualitative approach, paying attention to the views of both public and private policymakers and constructing their views relating to opportunities and policy initiatives towards waste reduction. The data consists of a list of opportunities and food policy initiatives in the development process in Nigeria. The authors identify three emerging opportunities: sectoral growth, technological demands in food service, and sustainable collaborative behaviour. The findings also revealed key policy initiatives for development: law and regulations, multi-stakeholder collaboration, economic incentives, research, and new knowledge. The study extends the marketing literature on food sustainability by investigating several stakeholders’ roles beyond the practical management of the food services sector. Additionally, considering policy initiative development for food waste mitigation sheds light on how stakeholders’ policy initiatives can sustain the food service sector. Finally, the authors outline policy implications.

Keywords: multistakeholder engagement, food services, food waste, policy initiatives, Nigeria

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Authors: Vivek Anand, Rainer Naegele

Abstract:

Industry 4.0 is a global mega-trend revolutionizing the world of advanced manufacturing, but also bringing up challenges for SMEs. In response, many regional, as well as digital Industry 4.0 Platforms, have been set up to boost the competencies of established enterprises as well as SMEs. The concept of 'Clusters' is a policy tool that aims to be a starting point to establish sustainable and self-supporting structures in industries of a region by identifying competencies and supporting cluster actors with services that match their growth needs. This paper is motivated by the idea that Clusters have the potential to enable firms, particularly SMEs, to accelerate the innovation process and transition to digital technologies. In this research, the efficacy of Industry 4.0 platforms as Cluster ecosystems is evaluated, especially for SMEs. Focusing on the Baden Wurttemberg region in Germany, an action research method is employed to study how SMEs leverage other actors on Industry 4.0 Platforms to further their Industry 4.0 journeys. The aim is to evaluate how such Industry 4.0 platforms stimulate innovation, cooperation and competitiveness. Additionally, the barriers to these platforms fulfilling their promise to serve as capacity building cluster ecosystems for SMEs in a region will also be identified. The findings will be helpful for academicians and policymakers alike, who can leverage a ‘cluster policy’ to enable Industry 4.0 ecosystems in their regions. Furthermore, relevant management and policy implications stem from the analysis. This will also be of interest to the various players in a cluster ecosystem - like SMEs and service providers - who benefit from the cooperation and competition. The paper will improve the understanding of how a dialogue orientation, a bottom-up approach and active integration of all involved cluster actors enhance the potential of Industry 4.0 Platforms. A strong collaborative culture is a key driver of digital transformation and technology adoption across sectors, value chains and supply chains; and will position Industry 4.0 Platforms at the forefront of the industrial renaissance. Motivated by this argument and based on the results of the qualitative research, a roadmap will be proposed to position Industry 4.0 Platforms as effective clusters ecosystems to support Industry 4.0 adoption in a region.

Keywords: cluster policy, digital transformation, industry 4.0, innovation clusters, innovation policy, SMEs and startups

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Authors: Brianna Ross, John Sollers, Christopher Edwards

Abstract:

In the age of heightened social and political discourse, there is a tendency for individuals and media sources to use dehumanization as a tool to influence group thoughts and attitudes. When considering individual interactions, there is a need to determine what characteristics increase or predict dehumanization. The present study investigated dehumanization tendencies related to social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) while factoring in political affiliation. Two-hundred and seven individuals participated in an anonymous study to reveal that there was a significant relationship between high SDO and high RWA scores. There was also a significant correlation between the dehumanization of Black Lives Matter and SDO. These findings suggest that those who are “double high” (scoring highly on both SDO and RWA are more likely to dehumanize others, particularly social groups they disagree with. Acknowledging that there are significant changes occurring in the sociopolitical atmosphere, it is essential that researchers understand dehumanization tendencies in modern society to better define the concept of othering and its consequences on social interaction.

Keywords: dehumanization, social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, political affiliation

Procedia PDF Downloads 126