The role of socio-technical experiments in introducing sustainable Product-Service System innovations

This is the pre-print version of the chapter published in 2015 by Springer in the book “The Handbook of Service Innovation” (edited by Renu Agarwal, Willem Selen, Göran Roos and Roy Green). The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6590-3_18Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability, but their implementation and diffusion are hindered by several cultural, corporate, and regulative barriers. Hence, an important challenge is not only to conceive sustainable PSS concepts, but also to understand how to manage, support, and orient the introduction and diffusion of these concepts. Building upon insights from transition studies (in particular, the concepts of Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management), and through an action research project, the chapter investigates the role of design in introducing sustainable radical service innovations. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments, partially protected spaces where innovations can be incubated and tested, become more mature, and potentially favor the implementation and scaling up process

"One thing leads to anothercommodities" - linkages and industrial development: a conceptual overview

Sub-Sahara African commodity exporting economies have benefitted greatly from the commodities boom of the past decade. The conventional wisdom argues that resource extraction is corrosive of industrial development. This is due to a combination of the macroeconomic consequences of resource exploitation and the assumed enclave nature of capital- and technology-intensive mineral and energy extraction. The paper challenges this pessimistic �resource curse� argument and argues that there are unexploited opportunities for promoting industrial development through the development of linkages from the commodities sector. In particular, these opportunities may be greater for backward than for forward linkages, particularly in the minerals and energy sectors. In making this case, this Discussion Paper draws on the experience of high-income countries which have resource-intensive economic structures, the geographical specificity of many resources and the growing interest of large resource-extracting firms in outsourcing the production of inputs which are outside of their core competences, It sets out a general model of linkages between industry and services and the commodities sector which distinguishes between win-win and win-lose outcomes. The paper concludes with a brief review of the reasons why Governments might wish to intervene to support linkages between the commodities and the industrial and service sectors. Companion Discussion Papers 13 and 14 report the results of a detailed empirical research focus on the extent and determination of linkages in nine African economies, and on policies which may promote the broadening and deepening of linkages from the commodities to the industrial sector in Sub-Sahara Africa and other low income regions of the world

Toll roads: Analysing a case of collective moral disengagement in an e-government project

There has been little research that examines how public managers involved in e-government decisionmaking can sometimes negatively affect the welfare of citizens and waste public resources. This case study analyses collective moral disengagement mechanisms used by leaders and their subordinates to justify a controversial urban e-tolling project in South Africa. Using deductive content analysis, legal documents and public records were coded for modes of moral disengagement. The results show that public managers morally exonerated their decision: by endowing it with socially worthy purposes; euphemistic labelling; displacing and diffusing responsibility; downplaying negative consequences; making favourable comparisons; and disparaging and blaming opposing groups. Enhancements to existing governance frameworks and broader societal safeguards are recommended to prevent moral transgressions and improve e-government decisionmaking. Specific tactics for reputation rebuilding are also recommended when the publicity of alleged moral transgressions is high. Further research is needed to investigate how e-government leaders and broader social actors can engage public managers to enhance transparency and accountability

Effectiveness of HRD for developing SMEs in South Asia

Today South Asia is host to a large youth bulge which is entering the labor market every year posing challenging questions for the national governments in the context of employable skills, space for entrepreneurship, innovation and economic freedom. SME sector provides an opportunity for the young to exercise their ideas and ideals. However a prerequisite for the young to be innovate is the how countries produce and retain a high end human capital. This study provides a review of national socio-economic policies in South Asian region - which answer such challenges.human resource development, small and medium enterprises, economic growth, competitiveness

Possible futures for the health system of South Africa towards 2030

The South African health system is in crisis. To improve access to health services and move towards universal health coverage the South African government has decided to implement National Health Insurance (NHI). The implementation of such health reforms to the health system of SA is further complicated by the rapidly changing technological environment in the form of the fourth industrial revolution. The NHI and the fourth industrial revolution are expected to impact on the health system of the country, but what the impacts will be remain unclear. A review of the theory and practice of future studies support the notion that change management for healthcare organisations operating within the SA health system must be approached differently. The volatility introduced by the NHI within the context of the fourth industrial revolution necessitates the creation of strategic foresight using futures methodologies. The research has attempted to gain an understanding of the impact of National Health Insurance and the fourth industrial revolution on the health system of SA through the creation of possible futures for the health system, in the form of four alternative scenarios, towards 2030. The six pillars of future studies as stated by Inayatullah (2008) were used as a research methodology and assisted in the mapping, anticipation and timing of the issues facing the health system. The future was deepened using causal layered analysis and alternative futures were constructed through double-variable scenario creation methods using the worldviews identified during the causal layered analysis. From the constructed scenarios the research attempted to identify the preferred future for the health system of South Africa. The preferred future was used in the development of the Future Vision for the Health System of South Africa towards 2030. It is clear to achieve the desired health system towards 2030 the private and the public sectors must collaborate to create a hybrid health system which is supported by fourth industrial revolution technologies

Possible futures for the health system of South Africa towards 2030

The South African health system is in crisis. To improve access to health services and move towards universal health coverage the South African government has decided to implement National Health Insurance (NHI). The implementation of such health reforms to the health system of SA is further complicated by the rapidly changing technological environment in the form of the fourth industrial revolution. The NHI and the fourth industrial revolution are expected to impact on the health system of the country, but what the impacts will be remain unclear. A review of the theory and practice of future studies support the notion that change management for healthcare organisations operating within the SA health system must be approached differently. The volatility introduced by the NHI within the context of the fourth industrial revolution necessitates the creation of strategic foresight using futures methodologies. The research has attempted to gain an understanding of the impact of National Health Insurance and the fourth industrial revolution on the health system of SA through the creation of possible futures for the health system, in the form of four alternative scenarios, towards 2030. The six pillars of future studies as stated by Inayatullah (2008) were used as a research methodology and assisted in the mapping, anticipation and timing of the issues facing the health system. The future was deepened using causal layered analysis and alternative futures were constructed through double-variable scenario creation methods using the worldviews identified during the causal layered analysis. From the constructed scenarios the research attempted to identify the preferred future for the health system of South Africa. The preferred future was used in the development of the Future Vision for the Health System of South Africa towards 2030. It is clear to achieve the desired health system towards 2030 the private and the public sectors must collaborate to create a hybrid health system which is supported by fourth industrial revolution technologies

Grave expectations : participatory greywater management in two Western Cape shack settlements

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-180).South Africa faces enormous challenges in the face of burgeoning urbanisation and the growth of underserviced shack settlements. Waste water disposal is but one of many aspects of basic services that are lacking. This anthropological dissertation is focused upon a Water Research Commission funded project, conducted by University of Cape Town academics from the departments of Civil Engineering, Social Anthropology and Environmental and Geographic Sciences, and carried out in two shack settlements in the Western Cape, South Africa. The project's aim was to engender community-level greywater management through participatory methods in the two shack settlements. The dissertation involves close analyses of participatory methods, the legislation and policy which governs service delivery to shack settlements in South Africa, and ethnographic accounts of shack settlement residents' experiences of service delivery. This information is compared with the assumptions upon which the project was predicated, to argue that the project's participatory aims were challenged from the outset by the political and socio-economic context within which the project was carried out. Moreover, in line with enduring criticisms of participatory development - in spite of a professed adherence to the methodologies - was unable to achieve its participatory goals