Citizen Engineers: Leaders in Building a Sustainable World

As with the “citizen soldiers” of World War II, the engineering industry must produce “citizen engineers” who will accept the leadership challenge necessary to deliver a combination of technical, economic, social, and environmental values to its stakeholders that will truly improve people’s quality of life

Change management in Greek state-owned enterprises : the role of archaic Hellenic philosophy and the adoption of business process management

PhD ThesisThis thesis presents and discusses the findings from research in Change Management (CM) in Greek State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). These organisations are currently under great pressure from the state to implement changes with the aim to improve their competitiveness, increase profitability, and become non-reliant on government rescue funds. Previous reform policies have been unsuccessful, mainly due to direct political intervention in the operation of the Greek SOEs, bureaucracy, ineffective recruitment, lack of employee participation in the management of the organisations, and resistance to privatisation efforts. The recent economic crisis in Greece and the imposition of austerity measures has led to reductions in salaries and a diminution in governmental financial support to SOEs, and the abolition of the permanent employment status of new recruits. The author’s work experience, combined with extensive literature review suggested that Ancient Greek Philosophy (AGP) could play an important cultural role in influencing the beliefs, and attitudes of management and staff working in Greek organisations. Greek SOEs are adopting Business Process Management (BPM), which among other contemporary management tools is a method for both implementing change and operational improvements. The research concentrates on: (i) the facilitating or inhibiting role of AGP in bringing about change; and (ii) the impact of adopting BPM as a method of promoting change in Greek SOEs. The theoretical framework of context (why), content (what), and process (how) in the management of strategic and operational change and competitiveness, developed by Pettigrew et al. (1989) was used to investigate change in Greek SOEs. A deductive followed by an inductive analysis of the data was conducted to extend the model of Pettigrew et al. (1989) to account for both the influence of AGP and the impact of BPM in implementing change in Greek SOEs. The Ancient belief that change is unavoidable could facilitate change, while push for change that is not associated with long-term benefit to both the organisation and the employees could face great resistance. A performance related pay system using monetary reward based incentives to promote business process implementation, and a fair bonus scheme to encourage and reward achievement is required

Agency, stewardship and the universal-family firm : a qualitative historical analysis

This paper introduces the idea of a non-kinship-based Universal-family firm, an organizational form we developed based on interpreting historical writings in their socio-economic context. We analyzed Luke’s gospel with an eye toward drawing implications for the stewardship-agency debate in the contemporary family business literature. Our paper makes contributions at two important levels. In addition to introducing and developing theory about the Universal-family firms, we also contribute to the methodological toolkit of family business scholars by providing a template for using historical documents to challenge, enhance and develop theory

Philanthropy Insights

The Philanthropy Insights Report is based on research aimed at furthering the overall understanding of philanthropy in South Africa.The report was written in collaboration with various philanthropic experts from different fields.The different subsections will provide you with a deeper insight into philanthropy and guidance on starting your philanthropic journey

AFRICA'S TRADITIONS AND CULTURE OF MARRIAGE: a look at the role that African women play

openNella storia della civiltà umana, il matrimonio è stata una delle istituzioni sociali più antiche e critiche. L'Enciclopedia Britannica definisce il matrimonio come un'unione fisica, legale e morale tra un uomo e una donna per creare una famiglia. La capacità legale di sposarsi, il consenso reciproco e un contratto di matrimonio definito dalla legge sono i tre elementi cruciali di un matrimonio. Questo documento analizza come il matrimonio nel sistema tradizionale africano abbia contribuito alla relativa pace nelle loro società, più precisamente andiamo a vedere che ruolo occupano le donne all’interno dei matrimoni nei paesi africane e il valore che viene detto alla donna sposataIn the history of human civilization, marriage has been one of the oldest and most critical social institutions. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines marriage as a physical, legal, and moral union between a man and a woman to create a family. Legal capacity to marry, mutual consent, and a marriage contract defined by law are the three crucial elements of a marriage. This paper analyzes how marriage in the traditional African system has contributed to the relative peace in their societies, more specifically we go to see what role women occupy within marriages in African countries and the value that is said to the married woma

The Economic Problem of Happiness. Keynes on Happiness and Economics

In their latest book (2008), Bruno Frey and the members of the research group he chairs at the University of Zurich announce that happiness research is leading a revolution in economics. More precisely, the revolutionary character of happiness economics would draw on measurement, on how people value goods and social conditions, as well as on policies. This paper aims to discuss critically this claim and what we identified as five crucial issues of mainstream happiness economics, i.e.: 1. the ambiguous relationship between income and happiness, 2. the “back to Bentham” approach, 3. problems of incommensurability, 4. heterogeneity and multidimensionality, 5. the scope of economics in relation to happiness. In so doing, we attempt to review John Maynard Keynes’s vision about happiness and economics, starting from a revisiting of his essay Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren in the light of his early unpublished writings on ethics as well as of the whole bulk of his writings in economics. We then provide reasons to argue that the rediscovery of Keynes’s legacy in this respect can be of help to point out and examine the most controversial aspects of today’s happiness research.Happiness, Happiness economics, John Maynard Keynes, Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren

An Education Towards the Future

By the 2030s, we will have computerised devices the size of blood cells that will put our neocortex on the cloud. Current 3‐year‐olds will graduate in 2031. Borders are progressively irrelevant and a global approach is essential. Teachers must prepare their students for a global society of permanent access to varied information and resources: from AI‐assisted processing to actions carried out by robots and autonomous vehicles. Four main conditions seem essential: Permanent updating: Standards and practices must be constantly revised, exactly like software is and for the same reasons. Collaboration: A multi‐faceted approach indispensable to develop high‐quality education through combined efforts. Autonomy: Educators see their mission hindered by one reform after another. Governments must allocate the appropriate resources and let professionals do their job. Individualisation: There are endless variations of human brain and capacities. We must serve all that diversity: it is a duty towards each individual and a benefit to humanity. The chapter will illustrate four eras of knowledge through human history. It will analyse the contributions of the International Baccalaureate. And it will outline the approach at San Francisco de Paula, Sevilla International College, inspired by the International Baccalaureate (IB) and Singularity University

Back to Eden: A Practical Ecotheology and Entrepreneurial Endeavor

Back to Eden (BTE) practical ecotheology is a presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, anchored in the Garden of Eden story, before the fall of mankind, enculturated in an African ethos within various African perspectives, traditions, and worldviews. It is useful to reclaim God-given African Christian identity and agency. Essentially, BTE ecotheology is mankind divinely integrated vertically with God and horizontally with humanity and His creation, based on Genesis 1–2. It is an appeal to become deeply rooted in the Spiritual soil of divine truth, to become entrenched in the incarnate Son, and to become planted as an ecological steward of God’s creation. It is an invitation to become grounded—heart, mind, soul, body, and spirit—in the Creator’s tangible, loving presence. Humanity returns to Eden and receives original God-given identity and agency, when saved by the blood of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, and surrendered to God’s will for mankind and His created universe. Redeemed humanity, in a diversity of ethnicities, is reconciled in Eden, and in divine unified community, expresses the image of God and executes His delegated authority as ecological caretakers of Earth. Ultimately, BTE practical ecotheology addresses the need for economic empowerment, to combat the problem of poverty, through entrepreneurial opportunities. It serves as a practical ministry foundation for BTE projects, education, environmental guardianship, and entrepreneurial endeavors. The research focuses on two rural, African independent, Pentecostal communities in Uganda and Zambia. This topic is personal. As a minister of the gospel, a thirty-one-year business owner, a certified public accountant, and a third-generation entrepreneur, the writer serves as a consultant to entrepreneurs as they envision, launch, and scale businesses

Nation Branding During a Crisis : A thematic analysis of the 2010–2015 nation-branding strategies of Greece

To nations of the 21st century, the concept known as nation branding has become a common way to encounter economic, political, and social issues. However, many researchers question whether nation branding actually makes a difference during more serious circumstances, such as an economic crisis. This study looks at the branding strategies of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) during the crisis years 2010–2015, with the aim of achieving a better understanding of how nation branding is conducted during a crisis. The research questions were the following: What were the nation-branding strategies of Greece during the crisis years 2010–2015? Are there signs or mentions of the crisis in the strategies? How does the Greek nation branding correspond to the findings of previous research? The data used in the study consists of strategic documents by the GNTO and the Greek Ministry of Tourism, and was collected from the website of GNTO as well as the European Commission (EC). The data was thematically analyzed based on the dimensions of Anholt’s nation-brand hexagon. The texts were first coded according to the predetermined themes (Tourism, People, Culture & Heritage, Investment & Immigration, Governance, and Exports), after which the branding under each theme was further studied. The analysis revealed that the branding strategies of the GNTO to a great extent corresponded to the findings of previous research, and the six nation-brand dimensions appeared to be clearly visible in the strategies. The Tourism theme was the most prominent theme in the data, followed by Culture & Heritage and People. Governance and Exports can be said to be the least common themes in the 2010–2015 strategies. In addition to the six nation-brand dimensions, a crisis perspective was added to the analysis. The Crisis theme was more visible than expected based on the theory of the economic crisis taboo. There was little to none economic crisis taboo to be found in the material. Future studies could look deeper into the ways that the crisis affected the Greek nation brand and vice versa. Examining the work of GNTO and other Greek organizations further to see to what extent these actors cooperate in the building of Brand Greece would also be beneficial