Emerging Non-state Actors in Global Development: Challenges for Europe

As part of the broader research programme on how 'new actors in international development' might influence European development cooperation in the coming decade, this paper provides an overview of the engagement of three types of non-state development actors: private foundations, corporate philanthropies, and global vertical programmes. In discussing financial commitments, funding priorities, and implementation approaches of these actors, the paper identifies key issues for European donors to consider in developing a response to their growing presence in the development landscape

Foundations for the Future: Emerging Trends in Foundation Philanthropy

Paper presented at the Forum on Philanthropy, Public Policy and the Economy, January 19-20, 2000.Foundations are currently experiencing an unprecedented period of change. Historically, change in the foundation sector has been created from within or in response to legislative and regulatory changes. At the cusp of the 21st century, however, foundations face a barrage of simultaneous external forces that are redefining the world in which philanthropy operates. Never before in the history of the philanthropic sector has so much change taken place, at such a rapid pace, outside of the control of the foundations themselves. This paper presents the societal trends that are affecting philanthropy, analyzes the impact they are having on foundation programs and operations, and discusses ways that foundations might reinvent themselves to capitalize on the unique opportunities present in today's environment

Mobile Value Added Services: A Business Growth Opportunity for Women Entrepreneurs

Examines the potential for mobile value-added services adoption by women entrepreneurs in Egypt, Nigeria, and Indonesia in expanding their micro businesses; challenges, such as access to digital channels; and the need for services tailored to women

Contextual impacts on industrial processes brought by the digital transformation of manufacturing: a systematic review

The digital transformation of manufacturing (a phenomenon also known as "Industry 4.0" or "Smart Manufacturing") is finding a growing interest both at practitioner and academic levels, but is still in its infancy and needs deeper investigation. Even though current and potential advantages of digital manufacturing are remarkable, in terms of improved efficiency, sustainability, customization, and flexibility, only a limited number of companies has already developed ad hoc strategies necessary to achieve a superior performance. Through a systematic review, this study aims at assessing the current state of the art of the academic literature regarding the paradigm shift occurring in the manufacturing settings, in order to provide definitions as well as point out recurring patterns and gaps to be addressed by future research. For the literature search, the most representative keywords, strict criteria, and classification schemes based on authoritative reference studies were used. The final sample of 156 primary publications was analyzed through a systematic coding process to identify theoretical and methodological approaches, together with other significant elements. This analysis allowed a mapping of the literature based on clusters of critical themes to synthesize the developments of different research streams and provide the most representative picture of its current state. Research areas, insights, and gaps resulting from this analysis contributed to create a schematic research agenda, which clearly indicates the space for future evolutions of the state of knowledge in this field

Organizational Excellence in Palestinian Universities of Gaza Strip

The research aims to identify the organizational excellence in Palestinian universities of Gaza Strip, from the perspective of senior management. The questionnaires were distributed the top senior management in the Palestinian universities, and the study population was (344) employees in senior management in Palestinian universities. A stratified random sample were selected from of employees in the Palestinian universities consist of (182) employees at return rate of (69.2%). SPSS program for analyzing and processing the data was used. The study reached the following results: the senior management agrees largely on the importance of the axis of "Leadership Excellence" and "Excellence service sectors". The senior management agrees moderately about the importance of the axis of the “Knowledge excellence". The study showed that there is a weakness in the employment of scientific research to serve the community, there is weakness in the follow-up of the universities management for the performance of their graduates in the institutions in which they work. Senior management agrees on the importance of the "Organizational Excellence" moderately. The recommendations of study includes: the need to develop principles and fair criteria for the selection of the best candidates for the university and university leaders based on specialization, competence, experience, skills, integrity and not on the basis of favoritism

Unleashing the Potential of US Foundation Endowments: Using Responsible Investment to Strengthen Endowment Oversight and Enhance Impact

A small but growing number of US foundations are investigating or pursuing sustainable and responsible investing approaches -- often employing such terms as mission-related investing or impact investing. They are embracing the notion that in addition to making grants, they can employ investment and shareowner strategies across their assets to help achieve positive societal outcomes and targeted financial returns. This report is designed for foundation staff and trustees who are interested in encouraging their institutions to align a broader portion of their assets under management with their programmatic goals or to factor environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into their investment decisions to help fulfill fiduciary duties. Practitioners in the sustainable and responsible investment industry who serve foundations, including consultants, research providers, financial advisors, and investment managers, can also benefit from the information and resources in this paper.Using extensive data from primary and secondary resources, this paper presents the current range and state of involvement by foundations in sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) and profiles a number of foundations whose approaches to SRI have resulted in meaningful environmental, social or corporate governance outcomes. It demonstrates that it is feasible for foundations to invest their endowments in alignment with their mission and ESG issues of concern, while at the same time achieving their overall financial goals. This report also details a range of resources, including many that have emerged just in the past few years, available to foundations in their efforts to explore SRI. Last, the report offers recommendations and ideas for foundation officers and trustees to enable them to guide their institutions into this space

Private Sector Investment and Sustainable Development: The Current and Potential Role of Institutional Investors, Companies, Banks and Foundations in Sustainable Development

This paper seeks to provide the Financing for Development process with a perspective on the role institutional investors, companies, and foundations can play in the design and implementation of a financing strategy for global sustainability. This will help bridge the terminology and investment approaches of institutional investors, companies, foundations, and governments. The paper highlights ongoing efforts among private investors to increase the impact of their investments. It concludes with a set of key actions facing investors, companies and foundations in their transition towards investment practices that contribute to sustainable development

Flight Operations and Engineering Documentation Managing and Distribution Supported by Intelligent Transport Systems

Aviation as a multitude of activities is meant to satisfy needs of its customers to overcome distance and time between any departure and arrival point in the world. Airlines and other aircraft operators (governments, armed forces, general aviation, and business aviation) differ in their structure depending on their size and services they provide. Some departments are to be found in larger airlines only. However, core departments, to every airline or aircraft operator, are flight operations department and engineering department. Sophistication and the size of these departments depend on the size of the system they are incorporated in. Business logistics of an airline consist of numerous distinctive activities and functions. These activities have to be planned and completed in synchronisation. The paper presents an overview to intelligent systems for the support to these activities with particular stress on flight operations and maintenance functions in a medium sized airline. Authors show how the approach to documentation management, as a part of logistics in the production of transportation service, has evolved since the early 1990s when aviation has started to recognise the value of digital technical data. In light of this, authors analyse conceptual framework adopted by today's aircraft manufacturers towards their logistics activities supported by Internet as a new means of transferring data. The advent of new sophisticated pilot-machine interfaces and aircraft systems tends to increase the volume of the documentation describing these tools drastically. The paper communicates how operational documentation has to change to move towards a more easy and modern media. Intelligent systems that prove aviation entering a period where the "written book" is going to be complemented if not largely supplemented by the "electronic book" are presented from the early beginnings of digital data application to the most recent achievements

The significance of logistics in servicing growing volumes of e-commerce

Purpose: The article highlights the multi-task nature and prospects of the development of the transit potential of warehouse logistics systems, reveals the theoretical and methodological foundations of logistics in the storage and cargo handling system, indicates and confirms the importance of warehousing logistics in the context of servicing the growing volumes of electronic commerce. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the purposes of developing logistics in the storage and cargo handling system we study the technical and technological support and design developments that have significant potential for increasing the efficiency of logistics processes, and to study consumer behavior in the warehouse services market and transport market trends - warehouse activities. Findings: Automation significantly simplifies logistics processes, information exchange, remote control and management, optimizes costs by combining various market entities and objects, target groups and parameters of logistics processes on electronic platforms. Integration in modern logistics allows synchronizing the complex information component of electronic services and platforms and activating the formation of a system interface that is common for all elements of the logistics system of warehousing, cargo processing and inventory management. Practical implications: The results of the study can be implemented in the activities of Russian companies in order to develop the transit potential of warehouse logistics systems. Originality/value: The significance of this study lies in shifting the emphasis to the need to switch to improved customer service systems taking into account the needs and development of online retail and fulfillment of logistics operators (full-cycle operator: taking goods from the customer’s warehouse, responsible storage, packaging, delivery, work with returns), tied to the development of infrastructure, as the foundation for increasing the efficiency, speed and quality of logistics processes.peer-reviewe