Using Data in Decision-Making: Analysis from the Music Industry

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Internet use provides an increasing amount of data that has potential value for managers and policy makers but, without a precise understanding of the meaning of data, erroneous conclusions may be drawn which could adversely affect future decisions made by managers

Open innovation in the power & energy sector: Bringing together government policies, companies’ interests, and academic essence

The Power and Energy (P&E) sector needs to respond to several challenges fostering investments in research and development. According to the Open Innovation (OI) paradigm, key stakeholders like utilities, vendors, laboratories, universities etc. should take advantage of external knowledge to improve their innovation performance. Several studies have demonstrated that firms adopting the OI paradigm are more likely to innovate. Despite the interest of P&E firms in enhancing their innovation capabilities, surprisingly few articles (usually case studies) described the implementation of the OI paradigm in P&E firms. This article fills the gap by identifying the key drivers that encourage a firm in the P&E sector to embrace the OI paradigm. The authors adopt a hybrid research approach collecting evidence from the literature and through a multiple case-study analysis involving seven British firms and universities operating in the P&E industry. As the drivers of OI have mutual influence, this article describes them with a fuzzy cognitive map. Finally, the authors identify appropriated policies to enhance the OI adoption and, consequently, the sustainability of innovation in the P&E sector. A salient research agenda closes the paper

Informal Governance of Non-State Armed Groups in the Sahel

Key Findings: Non-state armed groups, including violent extremist organizations, self-defense militias, and criminal gangs, are governance providers to local populations in the Sahel to a much greater degree than previously reported in the so-called “ungoverned spaces.” NSAGs provide four key forms of governance: security; justice; political and economic administration; social support and enforcement of social rules, across large sections of Mali, but also in Burkina Faso and Niger. Through this informal governance, NSAGs garner support and legitimacy from local leaders and communities at large. Current Responses: State and international responses have overall ignored this NSAG informal governance and have pursued: 1. a counter-terrorism strategy that is hampered by its failure to take into account the deeply embedded nature of NSAGs in local communities; and 2. a central statebuilding strategy that has so far largely failed to replace or even undermine NSAG legitimacy as governance providers. Relevance to NATO: Any involvement of international organizations in the Sahel needs to go beyond a strict counter-terrorism understanding of NSAGs, including VEOs. Furthermore, local and international actors on the ground warned that any additional involvement should avoid duplicating and undermining existing activities. Thus, any international involvement in the Sahel needs to take a broader vision of NSAG activities – beyond simply seeing them as “terrorists” or “criminal gangs” – and needs to be carefully coordinated with national and international partners