Services Trade Negotiations in the Doha Round : Opportunities and Risks for Pakistan

This paper seeks to examine how locking-in of Pakistans unilateral liberalization at the WTO/GATS and further liberalization of services trade would affect Pakistans competitiveness. Focusing on the opportunities and risks of such liberalization the paper discusses possible options regarding the corollary regulatory reforms and other flanking measures that may be needed to achieve these goals. The sectors studied in this paper are (a) construction and related engineering services; (b) architecture, engineering and integrated engineering services; (c) energy services; and (d) environmental services.liberalization, Services, regulation, Pakistan

The Promise of Open Educational Resources

This whitepaper defines OER, discusses what underlies the open educational resources movement and the current status of open educational resources, presents MIT's OpenCourseware project as a case-study, and concludes with future visions for teaching and learning, challenges, and observations

Spartan Daily, April 14, 2004

Volume 122, Issue 46https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/9980/thumbnail.jp

Promoting fair globalization in textiles and clothing in a post-MFA environment

The working paper reports on the current trade conditions in the textile clothing industry in the post Multifibre Agreement era. Additionally, the paper advocates for a fairer globalization, promoting better work conditions, labor wages and general social equality in producer countries

The interplay of strategic and internal green marketing orientation on competitive advantage

This paper seeks to clarify and refine the relationship between strategic and internal green marketing and firm competitiveness. Despite the significance of corporate environmental strategy to firms adopting a triple-bottom line performance evaluation, there is insufficient focus on strategic green marketing and its impact on a firm’s competitiveness. This study fills the gap by providing a comprehensive view of strategic green marketing and its impact on competitive advantage. Findings also reveal the moderating role of internal green marketing actions towards the development of a sustained competitive advantage. Specifically, the findings build on contemporary green marketing literature suggesting that a significant interplay between strategy and people exists which enhances the creation of competitive advantage. This in turn increases financial performance. Finally, this research uses an updated approach to build on current literature concerning the drivers and outcomes of strategic green marketing. This provides managers with nuanced insights about environmentally-driven competitive advantage

Strategic group mapping and strategy canvas analysis of the environmental consulting sector : a project-based dissertation on the German Market : a public archival data web-content analysis

Nesta dissertação na modalidade de projeto tive a oportunidade de entrar em contacto com uma Pequena Média empresa no setor de consultoria ambiental, onde me foi pedido para realizar uma análise à competição no mercado alemão, focando-me em mercados específicos em que a empresa se planeia especializar (Nanomateriais, Biocidas e Instrumentos Médicos). É possível observar que as leis ambientais mais restritivas, desenvolvimentos dentro da química e consciência ambiental estão a criar um grande potencial para crescimento e relevância deste setor. Gestão estratégica e categorização estratégica desenvolveram muitas correntes de pesquisa e no entanto, ferramentas estratégicas ainda não foram utilizadas para analisar o setor da Consultoria ambiental, que tem sido negligenciado na literatura. Através de uma análise de dados de arquivamento públicos (websites, páginas de LinkedIn, e relatórios anuais), foi possível aplicar ferramentas estratégicas (Mapeamento de grupos estratégicos e o Canvas estratégico) a uma amostra de 57 empresas de consultoria ambiental no mercado alemão assim como recolher sinais de competitividade e tamanho das empresas. Nesta análise pode-se comprovar que a revolução digital, sustentabilidade e responsabilidade corporativa já se encontram presentes nesta indústria, que várias empresas oferecem tanto apoio ambiental com foco regulatório e de gestão como um apoio ambiental com foco cientifico, procurando eficiência ambiental e redução de desperdício, e que nanomateriais parecem ser o mercado menos presente em websites, comparativamente com o mercado dos biocidas e dos instrumentos médicos. Este trabalho permitiu demonstrar o valor que ferramentas estratégicas podem ter, mesmo quando aplicado a informação publica, neste caso de websites, e também demonstrar as respetivas limitações, permitindo-nos ter uma melhor visão das nuances estratégicas e estrutura de um setor negligenciado. Para além disso, o contexto da análise estratégica também demonstra que o Brexit pode agir como um catalisador de expansão geográfica, o que é um impacto estratégico que ainda não tinha sido estudado previamente em empresas nesta indústria.In this project-based dissertation I had the chance to work with an environment consulting SME, where I was asked to do a competitor analysis of the German Market in particular sectors in which they will focus on (Nanomaterials, Biocides and Medical Devices). It is possible to observe that the increasingly stringent environmental policies, chemistry developments and environmental consciousness are creating a great potential for the growth in size and relevance of this sector. Strategic management and strategic categorization have developed into many streams of research, and however, strategic tools still haven’t been used to describe the environmental consulting sector, which has been overlooked in the literature. Through an analysis of public archival data (Company website, LinkedIn and annual reports), it was possible apply the Strategic group mapping and Strategy canvas frameworks to a sample of 57 environmental consulting companies in the German market, as well as to collect other signs of competitiveness and size. In this analysis it was found that the digital revolution, sustainability and corporate responsibility are already present in this industry, it was found that many companies are providing not only environmental regulatory and managerial support but at the same time providing scientific support, focusing on environmental efficiency and waste management, and that nanomaterials seem to be the least featured market in companies websites comparatively to biocides and medical devices. This paper allowed to demonstrate the value that strategic tools can have, even when applied to public website-content, as well as to demonstrate their limitations, allowing us to give a better overview of the strategic nuances and structure of an overlooked sector. Moreover, the context of this company’s strategic analysis also showcases that Brexit can act as a catalyst of geographical expansion, which is a strategical impact in this industry that hasn’t been studied before for companies in this industry

Do environmental and financial performances affect environmental disclosures? Evidence from listed companies in Indonesia

The number of companies in Indonesia that have participated in environmental-related activities continues to grow. Some of these companies have also engaged and implemented an assessment program called Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating (PROPER). This assessment program was initially launched by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment in 1995 to measure and rate the environmental performance of companies in Indonesia. They have also administered an environmental management system as part of their environmental protection initiatives. However, the level of environmental disclosure by these companies is still low. This may occur due to the current situation in which the companies are not obliged to incorporate environmental disclosures on their annual reports. For those companies that disclose their environmental performance, there is also no apparent reason on why they have done that. This research aims to examine the effect of environmental performance, company financial performance, and company characteristics on environmental disclosure. The population used in this research comprised of all registered non-financial companies in the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014–2016. The sample was selected using a purposive sampling method to obtain 36 sample companies and analyzed through multiple regression analysis. Results show that the environmental performance variable, which is described by PROPER ratings and environmental management systems, and company size variable, both affect the extent of environmental disclosures. However, the financial performance variable, which is described by companies’ profitability and leverage, and the number of board commissioners variable, both do not significantly affect the extent of environmental disclosures