National trade associations, economic development and globalization

In the post communism regime, the responsibility of economic development has largely been shifted to private sector. The increasing role of private sector enterprises introduced the new concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR), democratization in business and finance, corporate culture, fair trade, good governance and economic freedom and participation. The ‘wealth maximization concept’ under the ‘extreme capitalism’, limited liability, separate entity, agency cost, professionalism, and competitiveness were redefined. The implementation of the separate entity concept and the code of corporate governance have become more important in the post communism regime. Now, problems in trade and investment are closely linked with the problems of unemployment, income distribution, poverty, macroeconomic growth, regional and infrastructure development, socio-cultural changes, political structure, and the rate of crimes in a country. Business related issues couldn’t be studied in isolation; they are integrated with the sociopolitical dimensions of an economy. In the present inclination of globalization where the word ‘countries’ is being silently replaced by ‘economies’, the role of trade bodies has became more important. The policy advocacy, research and to work as a leading and supreme think tank should be the core activities of the national and multilateral chambers of commerce. The power and role of the chambers in global polices has been studied and contemplated by various analysts. The role of trade associations, chambers of commerce, large corporations and the business groups in the economic development has become an important area of research which lead the drastic development in the literature of business economics. Now, Business Economics has become an important branch of the applied economics. To provide a forum for research and debates on the contemporary issues in Business Economics, the National Association of Business Economists are serving in the developing and industrialized countries. These associations have close association with the National Chambers of Commerce. Various economists have been analyzing on the productivity, importance and the role of the local chambers and the trade specific associations. Aldrich, Fiol, and Staber from Cambridge University, Arendt from University of Chicago, Axelrod, from New York, Benhabib from Princeton University, Dowling from Oxford University, Fombrun from Harvard Business School, Fukuyama from John Hopkins University, Gutmann from Harvard University, Harré from Cambridge University, Lehne from New York University, Olson from Harvard University, North from Cambridge University, Olson from Harvard University, and Shapiro from Oxford University are famous research scholars in the filed of business economics who have been serving on the role of large business houses and the business representative associations in the economic and socio political development and changes in the global business and financial environment. The paper covers the importance and background of the study, nexus of the chambers with the states and multilateral institutions and effects on socioeconomic development and policy Recommendations.Trade Associations, Globalization, Governance,

Spot Your Leadership Style – Build Your Leadership Brand

The purpose of the research paper is to present various leadership styles with illustrations of international leader types. It helps the reader spot a particular leadership style for building a leadership brand. It attempts to motivate senior level leaders to appreciate what style of leadership is essential in the current scenario

Scholars Forum: A New Model For Scholarly Communication

Scholarly journals have flourished for over 300 years because they successfully address a broad range of authors' needs: to communicate findings to colleagues, to establish precedence of their work, to gain validation through peer review, to establish their reputation, to know the final version of their work is secure, and to know their work will be accessible by future scholars. Eventually, the development of comprehensive paper and then electronic indexes allowed past work to be readily identified and cited. Just as postal service made it possible to share scholarly work regularly and among a broad readership, the Internet now provides a distribution channel with the power to reduce publication time and to expand traditional print formats by supporting multi-media options and threaded discourse. Despite widespread acceptance of the web by the academic and research community, the incorporation of advanced network technology into a new paradigm for scholarly communication by the publishers of print journals has not materialized. Nor have journal publishers used the lower cost of distribution on the web to make online versions of journals available at lower prices than print versions. It is becoming increasingly clear to the scholarly community that we must envision and develop for ourselves a new, affordable model for disseminating and preserving results, that synthesizes digital technology and the ongoing needs of scholars. In March 1997, with support from the Engineering Information Foundation, Caltech sponsored a Conference on Scholarly Communication to open a dialogue around key issues and to consider the feasibility of alternative undertakings. A general consensus emerged recognizing that the certification of scholarly articles through peer review could be "decoupled" from the rest of the publishing process, and that the peer review process is already supported by the universities whose faculty serve as editors, members of editorial boards, and referees. In the meantime, pressure to enact regressive copyright legislation has added another important element. The ease with which electronic files may be copied and forwarded has encouraged publishers and other owners of copyrighted material to seek means for denying access to anything they own in digital form to all but active subscribers or licensees. Furthermore, should publishers retain the only version of a publication in a digital form, there is a significant risk that this material may eventually be lost through culling little-used or unprofitable back-files, through not investing in conversion expense as technology evolves, through changes in ownership, or through catastrophic physical events. Such a scenario presents an intolerable threat to the future of scholarship

Increasing regional competitiveness by network strategy case: The strategy process of Lahti University Network

In a network society different areas and cities are forced to compete with and against each other. The success of urban districts is partly dependent of the people`s level of know-how and the districts` capability to create, process and spread out knowledge. Although Lahti Region has been considered a declined industrial region, it is full of potential: There are a sufficient amount of inhabitants; its infrastructure is competitive; its logistical position in Finland is central; it is near the capital city, Helsinki; the nature is near in Lahti. The city has innovative enterprises in wood, metal and plastic industries. On the other hand, the lack of university leads to remote R&D-spending, low standard of education and to the fact that the flow of young, educated people is easily passing the urban district of Lahti. Although Lahti does not have a university of its own, it has been able to attract some Finnish universities to start up branch offices in Lahti. Nowadays, there are three units from different universities with nine professorships. The lack of the university emphasizes the need of local actors, like research and education organisations, companies, authorities and Lahti Region Centre of Expertise Programme to co-operate strategically with each other. One example of this co-operation is the Lahti University Centre (LUC). LUC is a network of independent university level organisations in the city of Lahti. According to the co-operation contract, it consists of the following actors: Helsinki University of Technology Lahti Center; Lappeenranta University of Technology; University of Helsinki, Palmenia Centre for Research and Continuing Education; Helsinki University, Department of Ecological and Enviromental Sciences. The basic task of the LUC is to raise the university level know-how capacity in Lahti region and serve its economic life in areas of research, development and education in order to increase regional competitiveness. Although Lahti University Center has been established it does not have a proper strategy or an action plan. The network of these independent university organisations needs a strategy which guidelines and supports their actions and is compatible with the regional innovation system. The study focuses on the strategy process of a network organisation. Research problems are: - how leadership will be decentralized in a network - the roles and commitment of actors - how to formulate a viable vision - what are the main areas of strategic co-operation The study is an action research, where researchers also be actors in the strategy process. The strategy process will be understood as a learning process of the network. Some traditional strategic analyses such as feasibility analysis and benchmarking as well as some creativity tools like vision workshop will be tested. Leadership will be decentralized among all the actors in order to get the full engagement of the actors. The network strategy of the Lahti University Center gives information and serves as a possible benchmarking partner for other similar network organisations in Europe. This case will be one part of the researchers` study project to develop a model for the strategic planning of the network.

Synopsis of global scenario and forecasting surveys scenarios in risk habitat megacity (RHM)

The main objective of the paper is to provide a synopsis of global scenario and forecasting surveys. First, the paper will give an overview on existing global scenario and forecasting surveys and their specific scenario philosophies and storylines. Second, the major driving forces that shape and characterise the different scenarios will be identified. The scenario analysis has been provided for the research project Risk Habitat Megacity (HRM) that aims at developing strategies for sustainable development in megacities and urban agglomerations. The analysis of international scenario surveys is an essential component within RHM. The scenario analysis will be the basis and source for the development of own RHM-framework scenarios and for defining specific driving forces of change.scenarios, megacities, risk habitat

A comparative analysis of strategies for design in Finland and Brazil

This paper reports on work in progress and initial findings of a research project that is comparing existing strategies for design (in promotion, support and policy fields) in four selected countries: Finland, South Korea, Brazil and India. For this specific paper, Finland and Brazil are the case studies compared. The paper explains the criteria for selection of these subjects, based on their stage of development and position on the Global Competitiveness Index (World Economic Forum). The objective of the research project is to investigate how countries with different national contexts adopt different strategies for design in coherence with their positions, weaknesses and strengths. Keywords: Design Policy, Design Strategy, Case Study/Ies, Brazil, Finland, Economic Development.</p