Sharpening the Cutting Edge: Corporate Action for a Strong, Low-Carbon Economy

Outlines lessons learned from early efforts to create a low-carbon economy, current and emerging best practices, and next steps, including climate change metrics, greenhouse gas reporting, effective climate policy, and long-term investment choices

A Market for Success: How a Robust Service Provider Market Can Help Community Colleges Improve Student Completion

Outlines how external service providers can help community colleges enhance institutional redesign, use of data, student services and supports, and faculty development in order to remove barriers to completion, increase efficiency, and improve outcomes

Knowledge management : a learning mix perspective

How can an organization define policy for managing its knowledge ? In this article, an integrative model is proposed : the Learning Mix. It consists of 4 interacting facets: Information Technology, Learning Structure, Knowledge Portfolio and Learning Identity.knowledge management; learning; learning model

Competing by Saving Lives: How Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Companies Create Shared Value in Global Health

This report looks at how pharmaceutical and medical device companies can create shared value in global health by addressing unmet health needs in low- and middle-income countries. Companies have already begun to reap business value and are securing competitive advantages in the markets of tomorrow

Ghana TRIPS Over the TRIPS Agreement on Plant Breeders' Rights

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Thaddeus Manu, 'Ghana Trips Over the TRIPS Agreement on Plant Breeders' Rights', African Journal of Legal Studies, Vol 9 (1): 20-45, July 2017. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 31 July 2019. The final, published version is available online at doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/17087384-12342070. Published by BRILL.The premise under which the global IP system is validated has often focused on a traditional materialistic approach. While this seems to find legitimate support in economic reasoning, such a fundamental view also appears to contradict a related social norm claim which dictates that society ought to be shaped by appropriate values rather than economic rubrics. Although Ghana is not a signatory member of the UPOV Convention, there is explicit evidence that the PBRs Bill under consideration in Parliament contains provisions modelled on the UPOV Act 1991 rather than the potentially flexible and “effective sui generis system” in TRIPS. This paper aims to contribute to a recently active area of discussion on the topic by examining the consequences of stringent legislation on PBRs in the absence of adequate safeguard measures to protect public interests. Consequently, the hypothesis of this paper rests on the argument that every system needs checks and balances and the legislative system is no exception; therefore, social policy matters must be integrated into the so-called PBRs Bill in order not to undervalue public interests. To conclude, the author presents an argument based on a logical balance that ought to be found on the path to promulgating such legislation.Peer reviewe

Negotiating healthy trade in Australia: health impact assessment of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

Drawing on leaked texts of potential provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, this health impact assessment found the potential for negative impacts in the cost of medicines, tobacco control policies, alcohol control policies, and food labeling. Overview The Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation (CHETRE) has been working with a group of Australian academics and non-government organisations interested in the health of the Australian population to carry out a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) negotiations. In the absence of official publicly available drafts of the trade agreement, the health impact assessment drew on leaked texts of potential provisions and formulated policy scenarios based on high priority health policies that could be affected by the TPP. The HIA found the potential for negative impacts in each of the four areas under investigation: the cost of medicines; tobacco control policies; alcohol control policies; and food labeling. In each of these areas, the HIA report traces the relevant proposed provisions through to their likely effects on the policy scenarios onto the likely impact on the health of Australians, focusing particularly on vulnerable groups in the Australian community. The report makes a number of recommendations to DFAT regarding the TPP provisions and to the Australian Government regarding the TPP negotiating process

Agile Supply Chain Management in Multinational Corporations: Opportunities and Barriers

The purpose of our research is to study new opportunities in agile supply chain management, identify barriers to agile supply chain management, develop a methodology to overcome these barriers and make proposals for agile supply chain management in multinational corporations.The study and analysis of supply chain management of multinational corporations allowed us to define the specifics of the industry using the following research methods: the choice of logistics intermediaries, forecasting (indicators, flows, etc.), nomenclature groups, risk optimization, statistical data analysis.The methods of grouping and systematizing statistical data into registries were applied to assess the business agility of supply chain management and obtain results. In addition, the expert assessment method was used to assess the agility indicators of the following companies METRO Cash & Carry, Gloria Jeans and Gazprom. Procurement (timeliness and prices), supply management, product management, finished-product output and shipment management were assessed. The calculations showed that the multinational corporations METRO Cash & Carry, Gloria Jeans and Gazprom should continue to increase the agility of supply chain management and implement the SCM strategy, which will quickly address and mitigate supply chain disruptions. We also believe that the companies should adapt SCM in the organizational structure optimization in order to eliminate bottlenecks

A classical delphi study to identify the barriers of green information technologies

This qualitative, classical Delphi study explored the apparent lack of corporate commitment to prioritized Green Information Technologies (GITs), which could delay the economic benefits for maximizing the use of energy resources.  The purpose of this study was to examine the leadership barriers impeding the adoption of GITs.  A panel of nineteen Information Technology and Sustainability experts participated in this study.  The panels' members were from industry, government, and academia.  The NVivo 9 software was used for the qualitative data analysis and reports the results.  The leadership barriers identified in this study as impeding were the lack of understating of GIT and the benefits it can yield for organizations.  To gain energy cost reductions, and to meet future environmental regulations, a paradigm change is needed to integrate GIT into organizational strategies, processes, and culture.  The results of this study give useful recommendations to rationalize the adoption of GIT to overcome implementation barriers.

The Virtual University and Avatar Technology: E-learning Through Future Technology

E-learning gains increasingly importance in academic education. Beyond present distance learning technologies a new opportunity emerges by the use of advanced avatar technology. Virtual robots acting in an environment of a virtual campus offer opportunities of advanced learning experiences. Human Machine Interaction (HMI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bridge time zones and ease professional constraints of mature students. Undergraduate students may use such technology to build up topics of their studies beyond taught lectures. Objectives of the paper are to research the options, extent and limitations of avatar technology for academic studies in under- and postgraduate courses and to discuss students' potential acceptance or rejection of interaction with AI. The research method is a case study based on Sir Tony Dyson's avatar technology iBot2000. Sir Tony is a worldwide acknowledged robot specialist, creator of Star Wars' R2D2, who developed in recent years the iBot2000 technology, intelligent avatars adaptable to different environments with the availability to speak up to eight different languages and capable to provide logic answers to questions asked. This technology underwent many prototypes with the latest specific goal to offer blended E-learning entering the field of the virtual 3-D university extending Web2.0 to Web3.0 (Dyson. 2009). Sir Tony included his vast experiences gained in his personal (teaching) work with children for which he received his knighthood. The data was mainly collected through interviews with Sir Tony Dyson, which helps discover the inventor’s view on why such technology is of advantage for academic studies. Based on interviews with Sir Tony, this research critically analyses the options, richness and restrictions, which avatar (iBot2000) technology may add to academic studies. The conclusion will discuss the opportunities, which avatar technology may be able to bring to learning and teaching activities, and the foreseeable limitations – the amount of resources required and the complexity to build a fully integrated virtual 3-D campus. Key Words: virtual learning, avatar technology, iBot2000, virtual universit

Corporate governance systems in Europe : differences and tendencies of convergence ; Crafoord lecture

The corporate governance systems in Europe differ markedly. Economists tend to use stylized models and distinguish between the Anglo-American, the German and the Latinist model.1 In this view, for instance, the Austrian, Dutch, German, and Swiss systems are said to be variations of one model. For lawyers the picture is of course, much more detailed as particular rules may vary even where common principles prevail. Many comparative studies on these differences have been undertaken meanwhile.2 I do not want to add another study but to treat a different question. Are there as a consequence of growing internationalization, globalization of markets and technological change, also tendencies of convergence of our corporate governance systems? My answer will be in two parts. As corporate governance systems are traditionally mainly shaped by legislation, the first part will analyze the influence of the economic and technological change on the rule-setting process itself. How does this process react to the fundamental environmental change? That includes a short analysis of the solution of centralized harmonizing of company law within the EU as well as the question of whether EU-wide competition between national corporate law legislators can be observed or be expected in the future. The second part will then turn to the national level. It deals with actual tendencies of convergence or, more correctly, of approach by the German corporate governance system to the Anglo-American one