The Samburu, Maasai, and Their Neighbours: a synopsis of six related volumes by Paul Spencer

The volumes are: "The Samburu: a study of gerontocracy in a nomadic tribe" (1965); "Nomads in Alliance: symbiosis and growth among the Rendille and Samburu of Kenya" (1973); "The Maasai of Matapato: a study of rituals of rebellion" (1988); "Time, Space, and the Unknown: Maasai configurations of power and providence" (2003); "The Pastoral Continuum: the marginalization of tradition in East Africa" (1998); "Youth and Experiences of Ageing among Maa: models of society evoked by the Maasai, Samburu, and Chamus of Kenya" (2014). This synopsis has an index and a maximum of 300 words per chapter

Between planned and emergent change: decision maker’s perceptions of managing change in organisations

Today’s business environment is increasingly complex, interconnected, unpredictable and competitive. Within this context decision makers struggle to find some stability amidst uncertainty using planned change methods while being aware of the need for flexibility and agility to leverage emergent change and survive. It is this tension between the desire for continuity and the experience of emergence in change processes that this paper addresses. To examine this tension the paper contrasts the planned organisational change methods used by decision makers since the 1950s with the more recent emergent change approaches developed out of economic destabilization and increased competition. The paper is based on a qualitative research project that used relevant organisational documents and in-depth interviews with 14 highly placed decision makers involved in change efforts in different organisations to explore different experiences and understandings of change. The stories told show a rich picture of organisational change efforts as well as individual understandings and insights. The experiences transmitted by the different decision makers illustrate the tension between planned and emergent change. The language they use however, leads to the conclusion that a ‘becoming view’ on change combining both continuity and emergence could help to eliminate the paradox

Exploring moderators between perceived stress and well-being of chinese entrepreneurs

At present, entrepreneurs have received unprecedented recognition and attention from both the government and the society. Although stress can increase the driving force of innovation to a certain extent, excessive stress can still lead to serious outcomes. While bringing stress, characteristics such as high independence and task diversity can also enhance entrepreneurs' well-being. How can entrepreneurs maintain a high level of well-being in a stressful situation? It is a problem worthy of attention. Although a large number of studies have examined the moderators of the relationship between perceived stress and stress outcomes in the general population, there are few studies on the moderators between entrepreneurial perceived stress and well-being. Therefore, on the basis of exploring the stressors of Chinese entrepreneurial entrepreneurs, this study focuses on one research question: What factors can moderate entrepreneurs’ perceived stress and well-being? This paper mainly uses qualitative method and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) to analyze the data. The study found that stress coping strategies, entrepreneurial motivation, organizational identity and social capital within the entrepreneurial team play a moderating role between perceived stress and life satisfaction. Specifically, the study found that: (1) problem-solving strategies can alleviate the negative impact of perceived stress on life satisfaction; (2) entrepreneurs with internal entrepreneurial motivation can achieve higher happiness; (3) entrepreneurs without clear organizational identity can achieve higher happiness; (4) high TMT social capital can cushion the negative impact of perceived stress on life satisfaction. The study has taken a step forward in exploring Chinese entrepreneurs' entrepreneurial stressors as well as the moderators of perceived stress and well-being, laying a theoretical foundation for further empirical examinations.Hoje, tanto no nível do governo quanto no nível social, o valor dos empresários empreendedores tem recebido reconhecimento e atenção sem precedentes. Embora a pressão aumente a força motriz para a inovação em certa medida, a pressão excessiva ainda pode causar sérias consequências. Enquanto traz a pressão, as características de alta independência autônoma, diversidade de tarefas e outras de empreendedorismo também podem aumentar a felicidade dos empresários. Como os empresários empreendedores podem manter um alto nível de felicidade sob uma situação de alta pressão é um problema real que merece atenção. Quanto à pesquisa teórica, embora um grande número de estudos tenha estudado os fatores reguladores da relação entre pressão percebida e resultados causados pela pressão na população em geral, ainda existem poucos estudos sobre os fatores reguladores entre a pressão percebida e a felicidade dos empresários. Por isso, com base na das fontes de pressão de empresários empreendedores na China, este estudo concentra-se em uma pergunta de estudo: Quais fatores regulam a relação entre a pressão percebida e a satisfação com a vida dos empresários empreendedores? O texto utiliza principalmente métodos qualitativos e Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) para analisar os dados. O estudo descobriu que a estratégia de enfrentamento à pressão, motivação empreendedora, identidade de organização e capital social dentro da equipa empreendedora desempenham uma função reguladora entre a pressão percebida e a satisfação com a vida. Em termos, o estudo descobriu que (1) o uso da estratégia de solução de problemas pode aliviar o impacto negativo da pressão percebida na satisfação com a vida; (2) os empresários com motivação empreendedora interna podem alcançar maior sensação de felicidade; (3) os empresários sem identidade de organização clara podem obter uma maior sensação de felicidade; (4) O alto capital social TMT pode aliviar o impacto negativo da pressão percebida na satisfação com a vida. A conclusão deste texto tenta explorar as fontes de pressão dos empresários empreendedores na China e os fatores regulatórios na relação entre a pressão percebida e a sensação de felicidade, estabelecendo uma base teórica para os futuros testes comprobatórios

Environmental Dynamics, Organizational Adaptation, and Business Effectiveness in Nigeria

This study critically examined Environmental Dynamics, Organizational Adaptation and Effectiveness of Organizations in Nigeria. Organizations in Nigeria like other organizations all over the world are flake, uncertain,  complex and dynamic due to some environmental changes that affect their operations. These environmental changes occur in the Political, Physical, Economic, Social and Technological forces of the organizations being  investigated. Changes in the informational dimension of the organizations also affected the way in which they carry out their normal business. From the analysis, it was observed that it is the absolute responsibility of the management and organizations to adopt ways and means of adapting reasonably to these environmental changes in order for them to survive grow, develop and become very profitable. Structural flexibility and coping are some means out of the dilemma of systematic changes that face them. A good structural design and the benevolent autocratic leadership policy should be put in place for their stability even though those  organizations that adopted the democratic leadership style do also centralize and stabilize on the long-run and become highly synergic and successful.Key words: Environmental Dynamics, Adaptation, Effectiveness, Structural design, benevolent autocracy and synergy

Multi Agent Systems in Logistics: A Literature and State-of-the-art Review

Based on a literature survey, we aim to answer our main question: “How should we plan and execute logistics in supply chains that aim to meet today’s requirements, and how can we support such planning and execution using IT?†Today’s requirements in supply chains include inter-organizational collaboration and more responsive and tailored supply to meet specific demand. Enterprise systems fall short in meeting these requirements The focus of planning and execution systems should move towards an inter-enterprise and event-driven mode. Inter-organizational systems may support planning going from supporting information exchange and henceforth enable synchronized planning within the organizations towards the capability to do network planning based on available information throughout the network. We provide a framework for planning systems, constituting a rich landscape of possible configurations, where the centralized and fully decentralized approaches are two extremes. We define and discuss agent based systems and in particular multi agent systems (MAS). We emphasize the issue of the role of MAS coordination architectures, and then explain that transportation is, next to production, an important domain in which MAS can and actually are applied. However, implementation is not widespread and some implementation issues are explored. In this manner, we conclude that planning problems in transportation have characteristics that comply with the specific capabilities of agent systems. In particular, these systems are capable to deal with inter-organizational and event-driven planning settings, hence meeting today’s requirements in supply chain planning and execution.supply chain;MAS;multi agent systems

Water for People, Water for Life

This report documents the serious water crisis we are facing at the beginning of the 21st century. This crisis is one of water governance, essentially caused by the ways in which we mismanage water. But the real tragedy is the effect it has on the everyday lives of poor people, who are blighted by the burden of water-related disease, living in degraded and often dangerous environments, struggling to get an education for their children and to earn a living, and to get enough to eat. The executive summary offers an analysis of the problem as well as pilot case studies for water management and recommendations for future action

Adapting to Climate Change in Reindeer Herding: The Nation-State as Problem and Solution.

This paper discusses the role of nation-states and their systems of gover- nance as sources of barriers and solutions to adaptation to climate change from the point of view of Saami reindeer herders. The Saami, inhabiting the northernmost areas of Fennoscandia, is one of more than twenty ethnic groups in the circumpolar Arctic that base their traditional living on reindeer herding. Climate change is likely to affect the Saami regions severely, with winter temperatures predicted to increase by up to 7 centigrade. We argue that the pastoral practices of the Saami herders are inherently better suited to handle huge natural variation in climatic con- ditions than most other cultures. Indeed, the core of their pastoral practices and herding knowledge is skillful adaptation to unusually frequent and rapid change and variability. This paper argues that the key to handle permanent changes successfully is that herders themselves have sufficient degrees of freedom to act. Considering the similarities in herding practices in the fours nation-states between which Saami culture is now divided . Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia . the systems of governance are surprisingly different. Indeed, the very definition of what is required to be defined as an ethnic Saami is very different in the three Nordic countries. We argue that timely adjust- ments modifying the structures of governance will be key to the survival of the Saami reindeer herding culture. Since the differences in governance regimes . and the need to change national governance structures . are so central to our argument, we spend some time tracing the origins of these systems.

Environmental determinants of multinational companies in Nepal: a case of KFC and Pizza Hut

Masteroppgave i bedriftsøkonomi – Universitetet i Nordland, 201