Journal articles on the topic 'Telecommunication Standardization Sector Case studies'

Purpose – Although the benefits of customer loyalty are well researched and understood, a clear explication of how customer attitudinal loyalty evolves is lacking. Cultural discrepancies across contexts are also argued as restraining the search for universal and dominant antecedents of loyalty. As a result of the high collectivistic ranking of the Nigerian culture, the purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents of attitudinal loyalty within the Nigerian telecom market. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on survey data obtained from 138 informants who are experienced users of telecommunication services in Nigeria. The cross-sectional data were examined for internal consistency using Cronbach α internal consistency measure whereas the proposed hypotheses were tested using a multiple regression technique after conducting series of validation tests to ensure that none of the assumptions of regression was violated. Findings – The results indicate that service reliability and customer commitment explains 65 per cent of the total variance in attitudinal loyalty. Additionally, customer commitment was established as a stronger predictor of attitudinal loyalty than service reliability. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to the extent that it used a convenience sampling approach which may not have allowed for a fully matched profile of the respondents. But the satisfactory fit of the regression model allows for the research to be a basis of a reliable comparison for future studies. Additionally, due to the limited evidence on how attitudinal loyalty evolves in the telecommunication sector, the results that emerged from this research should only be compared cautiously to the findings of previous studies. Practical implications – For users of telecommunication services to become attitudinally loyal, telecom firms must get customers to become committed to their brands and also deliver reliable services. Consequently, capacity building investments that enable reliable services to be delivered and creative pricing structure and information sharing as well as promise fulfilment which attract customers’ commitment are therefore at the core of developing attitudinally loyal customers’ pool. Originality/value – Although studies on customer loyalty are not new, the fact that this paper examined how attitudinal loyalty evolves in a saturated telecommunication context with a high collectivistic cultural ranking makes it a significant contribution to customer loyalty research because of the concentration of most studies in the western markets, the likelihood of disparities across markets influencing the antecedents of the construct and the absence of such research in the Nigerian telecom setting.

The use of technology in education in Sub-Saharan Africa has been reported to be hindered by many factors including inadequate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, low internet speed, and lack of skills to use educational technologies. This paper aim at evaluating how the available ICT infrastructure at the College of Information and Communication Technologies (CoICT) can support, with acceptable Quality of Service (QoS), the delivery of multimedia applications for eLearning services. The evaluation was performed over a network testbed implemented in a computer laboratory for wired and wireless connections. The testbed consisted of five personal computers (PCs) connected via a switch and a router to the internet for the wired connection. The wireless connection consisted of three PCs and a laptop connected through a switch and a router to the internet via a wireless access point. Four different multimedia applications were run through the PCs, and traffic data was mirrored and captured at one of the PC using Wireshark network analyzer. The traffic included streamed and conversational video and audio using YouTube and Zoom applications, respectively; interactive web browsing using web browsers; bulk file transfer, and a mixture of all applications running on the computers. Traffic data captured during the running of these applications were packet loss, delay, jitter, and throughput. The QoS performance parameters obtained were within the acceptable threshold values as per International Telecommunication Union, Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) values. Results revealed that ICT infrastructure at CoICT can support delivery of multimedia content for eLearning purposes for both wired and wireless connections. Having the infrastructure capable of supporting multimedia applications with the acceptable QoS implies that instructors are equipped with a conducive environment that supports multimedia application. Hence, they are expected to use and continue using educational technologies to facilitate teaching and learning processes.

Social reporting has become a critical area of interest in healthcare systems, and it has also become increasingly important for the academic community and practitioners in recent decades. Recent studies have found the existence of a slow spread of social reporting initiatives in public hospitals and a lack of guidelines and homogeneity in social reporting documents. This study aims to contribute to the literature, offering updated evidence from Italy. Through a document analysis, we (a) assessed the trends of social reporting initiatives in the Italian public hospital sector; (b) analyzed the current forms, contents, and quality, of social reporting documents, in order to isolate common elements, differentiation and emerging trends; (c) analyzed the informational power of social reporting documents for public hospitals stakeholder. Data were extracted from the public hospital website. The results confirm the scarce dissemination and homogeneity of social reporting documents and highlight the need for non-financial reporting standardization in public hospitals.

Koperasi Telkomsel (Kisel) as a business of selling and distributing telecommunication products, need to adapt and formulate new strategies in changes of telecommunications sector as a result of customer behavior and the Covid-19 pandemic effects. The aims of this research are to formulate Kisel’s strategy, starting from environment analysis, formulate alternative strategy, and create strategy priority in sales and distribution of telecommunication products changes. This research was conducted using qualitative and quantitative research methods with primary data collection techniques from 31 respondents through surveys, interviews, and Focus Group Discussions (FGD), as well as using secondary data from internal data and literature studies. The selection of respondents was carried out deliberately (purposive sampling) considering that the selected respondents have experience and expertise in their fields and have the authority to determine policies and operational decisions. From this research, the results of the identification and analysis of environmental factors were obtained with an Internal Factors Evaluation (IFE) value of 2.74 and an External Factors Evaluation (EFE) of 3.04. These results are in the build & growth quadrant of IE Matrix with intensive strategies such as market penetration, market development, product development and integration strategies. From the SWOT analysis and QSPM decision-making technique, Kisel’s four strategic initiatives and priorities were obtained, such as maintaining and securing existing businesses, strengthening business infrastructure and digital business foundations, strengthening and developing core businesses and expanding non-captive market businesses. Keywords: Formulation of Strategy, Koperasi Telkomsel, Telecommunication, SWOT Analysis, QSPM.

Abstract: A noble operational framework – 2K5S, a modified form of Toyota production system (TPS) incorporating Kaizen, Kaikaku and 5S is introduced in this paper. Kaizen is continuous improvement concept implementing a small step at a time to produce a small or moderate improvement in productivity. Kaikaku is a moderate innovative approach implementing new work method or means to produce a drastic improvement in productivity by eliminating wastes at the same time. The 2K5S is then implemented in the operations of a pineapple farm and a series of case studies are conducted. The outcomes of the case studies have revealed that through the introduction and implementation of the 2K5S operational framework, some significant organisational improvements have been witnessed. Apart from significantly increment in productivity, other advantages achieved including increasing in effectiveness and efficiency in the operational processes, improved visual management of the process, improved operational health and safety and morale of the workers, improved housekeeping, waste elimination and process standardization. The outcomes of this study have demonstrated that 2K5S is a powerful and practical operational framework model which is applicable for agricultural organisation. Keywords: Toyota production system (TPS), 2K5S, Kaizen, Kaikaku, 5S, continuous improvement, agricultural sector.

Purpose There are over 263m out-of-school children in the world, and Nigeria is not an exception to the problem facing basic education. Education provides the necessary skills and knowledge needed by people in other to live a better life. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of multinational corporations (MNC) towards basic education development in Nigeria using Etisalat Telecommunication as a case study. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative method of data collection and analysis was used for the study. Interviews were conducted with 15 participants. NVivo software was utilized in transcription, coding and analysis of data from the interview conducted. Findings Findings from the research revealed that Etisalat has made a significant contribution towards the development of the education sector in Nigeria, particularly basic education. This is evident in “adopt a school” initiative across the country. Etisalat intervention is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4: quality education, which has led to improved infrastructure, school enrolment and most importantly improved quality of learning. Practical implications This study will help educational institutions, government and international organization explore ways of utilizing private funds to develop basic education, not only in Nigeria but other climes around the world. Originality/value This study adds to the literature on the role of non-state actors, especially MNC, towards developing the education sector in Nigeria. Previous studies have focussed on MNCs in other sectors; the use of Etisalat Telecommunication opens a new frontier in understanding the role of telecommunications MNCs in developing basic education in Nigeria.

Being a never-ending debate, the direction of developing standards has to be in the opposite direction in facilitating international trade. This study investigated the relationship of standard, patent, and labor on Indonesian import. This study found some differences and very diverse correlations between the components in the second factor, both positively and negatively correlated. Those studies are generally carried out by developed countries, where the infrastructure to support innovation and standards has developed rapidly. The analysis of this research was carried out using panel data regression and the Cobb-Douglas function. Estimation was carried out using the fix effect and the random effect models. The robust model found variables that impact Indonesian import performance, both simultaneous and partial tests. In addition, a significant impact of the contribution of national standards on the growth of import value and sectors was determined. The low growth rate of patents for the same sector shows the innovation sectors that contributed less to the import value when observed more deeply. In contrast to national standards tending to be domestic, the growth standard of a sector will be inversely proportional to the growth in the value of imports in that sector, except for sectors whose conformity assessment does not support infrastructure. Besides, this study found that labor had no significant impact on import value. However, there was a significant potential from developing national standards and adopting international standards for the growth of national import performance in Indonesia. In addition to functioning as an empirical investigation of the effect of the growth of national standards, the adoption of international standards, labor, and patents on the growth of import value, it also looks at the contribution to the knowledge of developing countries' import growth factors, especially those related to standardization. The analysis shows that national standard growth and adoption growth differently contribute to Indonesian import performance. The findings show that the two factors in standard development have different functions in import performance. This paper further contributed to the knowledge of import growth factors of a developing country, particularly those related to standardization.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the voice of the customer, key performance indicators, critical to quality characteristics, critical success factors, and commonly used tools and techniques for deploying the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy in Indian private hospitals, with special attention to the medical records. Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes the action research methodology to obtain a greater understanding of the use of LSS in the Indian healthcare sector. Multiple case studies were designed and successfully deployed to understand and ascertain challenges in LSS implementation. Five case studies were carried out in the Medical Records Departments (MRD) of four private hospitals in India. Findings Patients perceive that waiting in queue harms their health, which can be rectified by addressing the cycle time of the system. The research also found that effective leadership, availability of data, involvement of cross-functional team and effective communication are critical to the success of LSS projects. In addition, control charts, cause and effect diagram, 5S, gemba, two-sample t-test, standardization, waste analysis and value stream mapping are some of the common tools used to improve healthcare systems. Research limitations/implications The research was restricted to studying the impact of LSS on the workflow and resource consumption of the MRD in Indian allopathic hospitals only. The validity of the results can be improved by including more hospitals and more case studies from the healthcare sector in different countries. Originality/value The findings will enable researchers, academicians and practitioners to incorporate the results of the study in LSS implementation within the healthcare system to increase the likelihood of successful deployment. This will provide greater stimulus across other departments in the hospital sector for wider and broader application of LSS for creating and sustaining process improvements.

Purpose This paper aims to examine how a combination of legitimacy needs and actions (LNAs) can shed light on the legitimacy behaviour of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) operating in an institutional business environment that is witnessing significant public–private sector role reversal. The legitimacy process is promoted as an exemplar to inform the increasing number of public–private sector role reversals in the utility, transportation, health and telecommunication sectors. Design/methodology/approach Based on empirical evidence, this paper triangulates data from archival policy announcements, retrospective case studies and face-to-face interviews. A replication logic methodology was used to establish LNAs and categorized themes. Findings The findings show that market, relational, investment, alliance and social legitimacy needs are crucial drivers for PHEIs when hybridizing their legitimacy practices, especially during critical phases of institutional reform. The proposed conceptual framework demonstrates how the legitimacy construction process is the result of internal development and external validation. Research limitations/implications In providing some empirical descriptions and generalizations, the model makes limited attempt to determine with any specificity how PHEIs interact with their institutional environment, beyond a process of data triangulation. Practical implications The proposed LNA framework is especially relevant in industries where the government has historically been a major institutional stakeholder, but where market liberalization is leading to increasingly active participation by the private sector. Findings can help PHEIs deal with reform policies by establishing deep and varied expertise inside their organizations and through links with international universities, industries and government agencies enable knowledge exchange, transfer, partnerships and the development of alliance capitalism. Originality/value This study provides a more comprehensive approach for theorizing the interrelatedness and embeddedness of organizations with common business and institutional demand factors and linkages and their changing roles, particularly the multi-scale impacts of LNAs on legitimacy sustainability.

Abstract To drive forward a fundamental change in the construction sector to achieve environmentally friendly progress in the construction processes, one promising approach is the synchronous implementation of the three main drivers technology, construction, and design. The key to this transformation is end-to-end digitalization. Our approach aims to achieve a new architectural quality by linking digitized design tools, ecological and environmentally friendly concepts, and serial production processes. Against this background, two research projects were advanced to enable adaptive prefabricated systems based on combined additive manufacturing. Two case studies illustrate the research results. In the first, a digital assessment tool is being developed to improve planning processes. With the tool, standardized yet adaptive constructions can be evaluated according to their sustainability impact in an early design phase. The second approach focuses on delivering a customized material composition realized with additive manufacturing methods. In an automated co-extrusion process, the dimensions and building-physical quality of story-high wall panels (floor-to-ceiling) can be adapted to individual requirements. The optimum balance of standardization vs individualized building solutions will introduce a novel flexibility for the architectural design process as well as a higher production efficiency. This strategy of individualized standardization is based on integrative collaboration and visionary research.

Water services—including urban water supply, wastewater, and stormwater services—are essential to society and critical for protecting human health and the well-being of communities. Goal 6 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognizes this importance and aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Despite progress, the UN reports billions of people still lack water and sanitation services. Many governments around the world face the challenge of balancing between investment in new assets, programs, and services and providing the required funding for repair and replacement of existing water assets. This paper argues infrastructure asset management establishes a foundational framework for the system of operations, management, and importantly, governance of assets to deliver services. An enabling environment for asset management, in addition to supporting the delivery of services, also contributes to meeting public policy objectives. The research question is: How can governments utilize public policy to enable asset management and consequently achieve societal objectives. A variety of public policy instruments used to enable infrastructure asset management and support achievement of government goals and objectives, such as the UN SDGs, are outlined and analyzed. The methodology involved a survey and case studies drawn from three countries, focused on the water sector. It also presents outcomes, common elements, and the need for and benefits of standardization.

Shipping heavy-duty goods or equipment is being a new sector recently, and the pallet is rather important. In this article, a comparison of various materials revealed that laminated veneer lumber was ideal for heavy-duty packaging industry. For various pallets with random parameters, a hybrid reliability optimization design method was proposed, which aimed to provide an effective computational tool for reliability design of pallet system. With first-order second-moment method, the separation and combination of component and system failure probabilities were obtained. Several case studies were included to illustrate the computational procedures, as well as to discuss the effects of dimension and quantity of members. Using design of experiment method, the sensitivities of each parameter were significant, and the optimization of whole system was realized. To reduce the cost, recycling and standardization were worth considering in the future.

Research on cross-sector collaboration has grown over the past decade. This model of collaboration brings organizations in two or more sectors together, to link or share information, resources, activities and capabilities when no single organization has enough time, money, knowledge or authority to address them alone. In a post-disaster period, the governmental organizations particularly in developing countries usually are unable to provide all necessary services alone; hence, collaboration with other agencies is required. In the last decades, studies have used the viewpoint of collaboration between NGOs and the government, and shown a beneficial relationship between them. Most studies have focused on the structures of the collaboration in the aftermath of disasters with hierarchies, protocols, authoritarian roles and the standardization of procedures but there is a gap in analysing the process factors and the interaction of process and structural factors influencing the collaboration during post-disaster period. In this study, the aim is to identify the main factors of process and structures influencing the collaboration between Iranian government and NGOs after the earthquake in Bam city in Iran in 2003. Analysing the content of the previous studies showed that lack of experience on how to deal with disasters and unclear tasks as well as insufficient trust and mutual understanding between the actors were the main reasons of failure in collaboration. The lack of specific organizational tasks at a given time led to exacerbate the tension in the process of working together; increase the lack of common understanding, and fail to achieve the mutual goal.

In the current era of Industrial 4.0, open innovation, and the sharing economy, innovation ecosystems are formed through government-industry-university (triple helix) interaction. The concept of responsible innovation has emerged to explore how innovation can be conducted in a transparent, trustworthy, and sustainable way so as to respond to the public interest. While current literature provides a conceptual framework, details of how responsible innovation can be formed, developed, and sustained in the sharing economy, in particular in developing countries, have been under-explored. This paper aims to explore factors of responsible innovation, linking dimensions with business practice, and identify the dynamic stages of the industry life cycle. Through an in-depth case study of China’s shared bicycle industry and the firm Hellobike, this paper has prioritized factors which lead to responsibility, such as user safety and friendliness in product design, real-time operations combined with big data, collaboration between industry and local government for industry standardization, and user credit systems. It has enriched key dimensions based on literature and case studies and proposed dynamic interaction models for industry, government, users, and universities at different stages of responsible innovation in the shared bicycle sector. From this empirical study, future research areas have been identified.

Taking the French oncology sector as a case study, this paper shows that guidelines are used strategically by individual physicians and groups of physicians. While some studies have made convincing arguments about the rise of guidelines as a manifestation of a new type of objectivity, this case study provides evidence that the proliferation of medical guidelines is also the result of an attempt by some physicians to improve their positions relative to competing groups. Guidelines could indeed be strategic resources used by professional actors at the expense of other professionals in order to (1) maintain a sufficient amount of activity and (2) increase control over therapeutic decisions. The study also points to other kinds of changes that guidelines may influence, beyond medical practices and coordination: the evolution of the structure of power relationships inside the medical profession. A perspective on the sociology of organizations, which places concrete exchange and bargaining relations at the core of its analysis and treats social control as being continually challenged and (re)produced, helps to identify other reasons why standardization does not prevent local specificities and may even enhance them.

Environmental impact assessment reports meant for proposed development actions can be evaluated to reveal their quality and fitness for the purpose of environmental decision-making. Therefore, this study evaluated the quality and identified strengths and weaknesses in environmental impact assessment reports of telecommunications infrastructure proposed for Plateau State in Nigeria. To this end, 80 reports were evaluated using the modified version of the Lee and Colley review package. The results revealed the following points. In Review Area 1.0 (Description of the proposed telecommunications facilities) and Review Area 5.0 (Communication of results), the quality of environmental impact assessment reports was found to be generally satisfactory. However, the quality of all reports was considered ‘very unsatisfactory’ (‘F’) regarding their overall legal compliance with the requirements stipulated in the remaining three Review Areas, namely, Review Area 2.0 (Terrain susceptibility in the proposed project areas), Review Area 3.0 (Associated and potential environmental impacts), and Review Area 4.0 (Mitigation measures/alternatives). This ‘F’ rating was assigned to 65% (52/80) of reports regarding Review Area 3.0 because the information provided was ‘very unsatisfactory’; important tasks were poorly carried out or not attempted at all. Moreover, in review areas such as Review Area 2.0 and Review Area 4.0, all reports in the evaluation were assigned an ‘F’ quality. Such an unsatisfactory quality rating is ascribable to the very unsatisfactory manner in which the reports were populated, especially as important task(s) were poorly performed or not attempted at all. Historically, only Review Area 1.0 and Review Area 5.0 indicated improvements in quality over time, whereas the remaining three review areas (Review Area 2.0, Review Area 3.0 and Review Area 4.0) did not improve. Based on the results obtained from the study, we recommend that there should be periodic reviews of environmental impact assessment reports by independent reviewers and environmental consultants should adhere to the sectoral guidelines for telecommunication infrastructure during the production of these reports. Moreover, in order to build technical capacity, more studies on report quality must be conducted in all sectors in Nigeria.

Purpose This paper aims to identify the dimensions of a firm’s service innovation competence. This paper also aims to establish the relationship between a firm’s service innovation competence dimensions and customer-oriented service innovation configurations and customer adoption. This study probes the supply side of service innovation to assess the key drivers or capabilities that influence the service innovation process at the firm level. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the triangulation method using existing theoretical concept supplemented by 18 in-depth interviews of senior level managers from service firms from three sectors – hospitality, mobile telecommunication services and financial services. The interview findings were supplemented by 12 service innovation case studies (four from each sector). Content analysis of in-depth interviews was performed using three raters, and inter-rater reliability was tested. Case studies were categorized in terms of the strength of the innovation competence dimension observed. Findings Based on the content analysis of the interviews and categorization of case study observations, six distinct dimensions of the firm’s service innovation competence were identified. Four attributes of each dimension were also identified. Based on the interview insights and case observations, seven propositions are suggested, and a conceptual framework is presented to establish the relationship between the firm’s service innovation competence dimensions and service innovation configurations and customer adoption. Research limitations/implications This study was conducted in the Indian context and remains to be tested using quantitative research. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed framework in a different geographical context to ascertain its validity. Practical implications The conceptual framework presented in the paper may help managers of service firms in building innovation capabilities that are relevant to development of customer-oriented innovations. This would lead to better customer adoption of their new services. Originality/value This paper fills an important knowledge gap regarding the dimensions of a critical supply-side component of service innovation, that is, innovation competence. Clear identification of competence dimensions and their relationship with customer adoption extends the current knowledge on service innovation.

Given the need for the development of interdisciplinary studies and research, including in the Engineering field and in the Building sector, this paper suggests a multidisciplinary approach to the maintenance of lithic surfaces, by analyzing some high-performance building materials and products, such as hydrophobization coating films. As it has been determined and acknowledged by the scientific community worldwide, the main aggression factor affecting the geomaterials used in the construction of heritage assets is represented by water and/or excessive humidity, especially in the case of the use of porous limestone, such as those available in the Repedea - Iasi area (Romania). Therefore, in order to ensure better maintenance of a lithic calcareous material of this type, it is necessary to use a hydrophobic preventive treatment. The findings of the research conducted and described in this paper represent one of the first steps on the path to standardization regarding the confirmation of the efficiency of the hydrophobization products, which have been increasingly present on the Romanian specialized market lately. Thus, this paper is addressed to all the specialists interested in maintaining the lithic surfaces exposed to various environmental factors, as it is useful for both historical and civil constructions.

Safaricom Public Limited Company faces diverse challenges regarding service quality aspects. The communication authority of Kenya ensures that the quality of service amongst the mobile service providers in Kenya is in compliance with Kenya Information and Communication Act of 1998. While the other telecommunication players like Airtel and Telkom Kenya improved in their service quality, Safaricom failed to register any service quality improvement. Safaricom further failed to meet the minimum service quality on eight of the ten regions that were checked by Communication Authority of Kenya. Safaricom has consistently performed poorly and below the minimum set quality threshold in relation to service quality for the four years preceding 2016 financial years in its performance. This study therefore sought to examine the influence of service characteristics on service quality of Safaricom Public Limited Company in Nakuru County. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to examine the role of service intangibility, service inseparability, service perishability and service variability on the service quality of Safaricom public limited company in Nakuru County. This study adopted expectancy theory and servqual methods in meeting its objectives. This study used descriptive research design to guide the study in meeting its objectives. The study targeted the customers who enter into Safaricom Public Limited Company shop in Nakuru County in any particular day. A sample size of 95 customers was used. This study used structured questionnaires to obtain data from respondents of the study. This study used subject matter experts who comprises of the research supervisor and the four managers from the Safaricom Public Limited Company. Cronbach’s Alpha test of internal consistency was used to test the reliability of the questionnaire using the data obtained from the pilot study carried out using 10 respondents from Airtel Kenya. The filled questionnaires were checked for completeness and then coded and entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis of data. The entire analysis was presented in form of tables. The study revealed that the multiple regression model used in this study was statistically significant in predicting the level of service quality at Safaricom Public Limited in Nakuru County. In respect to this, it was found that quality of service at Safaricom Public Limited in Nakuru County could be significantly be predicted using service variability, service perishability, service intangibility, and service inseparability as predictor variables. It was also revealed that 77.6% of the variability in service quality at Safaricom Public Limited in Nakuru County is due to changes that occur in service variability, service perishability, service intangibility, and service inseparability. The model was found to be accurate in its prediction due to a small standard error of the estimate of 0.11327. The study findings and recommendations are of great importance to Safaricom Public Limited Company in understanding what needs to be addressed in order to improve the quality of service they offer to their customers. This study will also benefit customers of Safaricom Public Limited Company in receiving quality services as a result of readdressing the previous methods of service delivery. Future researchers and academicians stand to benefit from this study as it lays the foundation on which their studies was based.

AbstractForeign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent years has created a positive impact for ASEAN countries. FDI give spillover effects that directly contribute capital improvements, technological developments, and global market access, also skills and managerial transfers. In order to attract FDI inflow into country, ASEAN member countries need to know what factors which attract investment related to the needs of infrastructure types and other factors. The purpose of this study is examine the determinant of FDI in ASEAN countries. This research method used is panel data regression period 2005-2015 from 10 countries in ASEAN. The results showed simultaneously and partially telecommunication infrastructure, market size, trade openness, and labor force variable have significant relationship with FDI inflows in ASEAN countries.Keywords: panel data regression, telecommunication infrastructure, market size, trade openness, labor force, FDI.ReferencesAppleyard, DR. 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Purpose In highly dynamic industries, business processes require exploitation, i.e. activities that are associated with an increase in productivity through automation, standardization, integrated architectures, and the usage of existing IT resources. As a complementary capability, exploration is needed, i.e. the ability to flexibly implement new and innovative IT resources (Lee et al., 2015). The purpose of this paper is to use the concept of ambidexterity, which is researched intensively outside the domain of business processes (e.g. Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004; Tang and Rai, 2014), to address this paradoxical trade-off within business processes. Design/methodology/approach The paper follows a qualitative approach. A multiple case study comprising 11 interviews and additional document analysis in six organizations is conducted in the German energy sector to examine the proposed framework. Findings This paper shows the importance of balancing exploitative and explorative business process IT (BPIT) capabilities. The process-theoretical outcome of this study is the BPIT Capability Framework that provides explanation for the interaction between exploitation and exploration. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the understanding of how to build ambidextrous BPIT capabilities by explaining the underlying mechanisms for feedback loops that occur in cases of imbalance. The scope of the conducted study presents a limitation and thus future research is encouraged to further validate the findings of this paper. Originality/value By drilling down to the process level, this paper addresses the gaps that limited empirical studies have in business process management research (Recker and Mendling, 2015) and the focus on business processes that is lacking from the literature on organizational IT management (Gregory et al., 2015).

- Quality diversification in food production: initiatives of re-localisation of production-consumption networks In an era characterized by a tendency towards globalisation of food supply chains and standardization of consumption habits, many rural areas are witnessing initiatives based on the re-discovery of local food traditions and productions, and on their promotion towards distant markets. These initiatives mainly regard areas where a local food culture is still present, and some local supply chains have survived even in recent decades. In some other rural areas, on the contrary, standardization of food production and consumption led to a completely export-oriented primary sector and to the disappearance of almost any sort of local supply chains. In some of these areas, mainly in Northern European countries, grass root initiatives of re-localisation of the food supply chains have recently emerged, aiming at promoting the local consumption of locally produced food. This entails strengthening (or re-creating) local food productions, creating local markets and encouraging local consumption of the products . This phenomenon emerged also within the eu funded research "corason - A cognitive approach to rural sustainable development - the dynamics of expert and lay knowledges", in which about 30 case-studies of local food production from twelve countries have been investigated. Five of them represent initiatives of relocalisation: Cahir Farmers' Market in Ireland, Skye and Lochalsh Horticultural Development Association and Food Link Group in Scotland, Eldrimner project in Sweden, and Netzwerk Vorpommern in Germany. All these initiatives share some basic aims: social sustainability at community level, environmental sustainability, local culture valorisation. Shortening the distance that food travels means sustaining local producers income and, often, delivering better quality food to consumers. At the same time it encourages diversification of agriculture, it supports environmental protection, and it provides opportunities for the revitalization of rural communities. Other evidences arise from a comparative analysis of these experiences. A relevant role of civil society has been noticed. Further, a strong ideological component is sometimes present, with initiatives promoted by actors belonging to, or inspired by, social movements. All the initiatives show a high degree of selfgovernance, with a central role played by pro-active local actors. There is a re-definition of food quality. Emphasis is given to localness, as a key attribute in itself as well as a condition influencing other attributes. An emphasis is also given to the positive relational and social aspects related to the establishment of local networks. These initiatives require specific knowledge dynamics, in particular the rediscovery of a traditional food culture (varieties, cultivation methods, recipes) that had been forgotten among local communities.JEL Codes: Q13, Q56, R12Key words: local networks, food quality, food supply chains, traditional knowledge, Northern Europe

Insurance services are a special category of services, characterized by a high standardization and at the request of customers to protect themselves from a number of financial losses that they may suffer as a result of risks. For this reason, it is very important that insurers provide quality services to customers. Customer satisfaction is paramount for attracting new customers and retaining existing ones, thus achieving a loyal customer base. They will recommend the insurance company and other potential customers if they are satisfied, thus increasing the market share of the insurance company. The quality of insurance services and the relationship between the insurance company and the client have been the subject of many studies over time, most often being followed by the impact that the quality of services has on their behavior. Starting from the identified problem, I set out in this paper to look at how consumers’ perceptions of the quality of insurance services influence their perceptions of their relationship with the insurance company and implicitly their behaviour towards it.Starting from these approaches, we aimed in this paper to see what is the meaning given by the consumers of the insurance services of the company Allianz Țiriac to the concept of quality of insurance services.Our study consisted of an extensive process, carried out in several stages of work, namely: elaboration of the questionnaire addressed to the insurance company’s clients, establishing the sample, collecting data based on questionnaires, centralizing and processing the data and interpreting the results.The case study took place over a month, on a sample of 300 people, most of the respondents are between 26 and 45 years old, who work in the private sector and came monthly between 1800-290 lei. The GAP analysis highlights some aspects of the services offered by Allianz Țiriac. A negative GAP highlights the unfavorable aspects of the services provided by the insurance company and raises an alarm about the situation of the company.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and explore the primary characteristics of the best papers, which have been selected by the Toulon-Verona Conference (TVC) Excellence in Services scientific committee for the period 2008-2016. Design/methodology/approach The study includes a review of the best papers (n = 51) selected by the TVC’s scientific committee from 2008 to 2016 and obtained through the TVC’s archives. The primary highlights of each paper include number of authors, authorship profile (i.e. lead author affiliation, gender, and geographic location), co-authors’ geographic locations, classification of the papers, research topics, varieties of research methods used, number of electronic downloads (as of June 2017), number of citations, and subject keywords. Coding sheet developed to ensure standardization, consistency and to ensure the relevant data were collected for the content analysis. Mixed methods analysis (analyze quantitative data qualitative and and vice versa) was used to provide descriptive statistics. Findings In total, 51 best papers have been selected by the TVC scientific committee and reflected 145 authors. Lead authors were from a total of 50 HEIs worldwide and one consultant (private sector). Six papers were self-authored while the 45 were multi-authored. The majority of the papers written by Italian authors (58.8 percent); followed by France, Greece, and Sweden (5.9 percent each); Australia, Portugal, Spain, and UK (4 percent each); Austria, Norway, Slovenia, and Vietnam (1.9 percent each). In total, 37 papers were classified as a research paper, 10 case studies, and 4 theoretical. Practical implications The analysis for the first time define methodological trends for the TVC’s best papers and suggest possible future research topic and methodological approach for research in the management field. Originality/value The findings are unique for the TVC conference, for the TQM’s special issue, which provide practical implications for researchers and conference organizers and contribute to the literature of analyzing published papers.

PurposeThis article addresses the lack of formal design guidance that supports flexibility within the architectural and engineered systems of manufacturing facilities through the development of a taxonomy and associated terminology.Design/methodology/approachThis research performed a comparative analysis of 15 manufacturing facilities located both within the United States (73 percent of cases) and internationally (27 percent of cases). These case studies provided details on how and where flexibility was incorporated into the design of a manufacturing facility. Specific consideration was given to the primary design features that enabled a decoupling of the facility from the manufacturing process. These design features were then clustered to identify main design strategies that enable flexibility.FindingsBy grouping the design features together and creating a common vocabulary, three coherent design approaches for flexible facilities were identified, each having a different potential for responding to short-term and long-term changes. These include general purpose, scalable, and dedicated facilities.Research limitations/implicationsBy delineating three high-level strategies for early flexible facility design, this research synthesizes a conceptual understanding of flexibility with practical and implementable designs. This synthesis provides an incremental advance to a complex challenge for researchers. It also provides decision support to design teams by aiding in project definition, when flexibility is desirable. This research is primarily limited by the number of cases reviewed. With more cases, additional facility design strategies may be identified.Practical implicationsThe findings in this research allow for a basic understanding of how a flexible facility can be designed with only limited or vague information about the product and manufacturing processes contained within. The development of terminology associated with each facility design strategy provides standardization for the discussion and implementation of flexibility early in the design process. In doing so, flexible designs become easier to create and more efficient to implement.Originality/valueThis research provides the first synthesized approach for considering flexible facility design strategies within the manufacturing sector.

Purpose The authors will give an overview of the railway market, with a focus on Morocco, before seeing the challenges to face, before listing some benefits of rail links in terms of development, ecology, security, space management, etc. The authors will then give an overview of the development of BIM, its benefits, risks and issues. The purpose of this paper is to verify that the BIM can provide the railway with the tools to face some of its challenges and improve its productivity. Design/methodology/approach This paper is part of our research project on the integration of BIM in railway, which is the result of a partnership between Colas Rail Maroc and the ENSAK of the Ibn Tofail University of Kenitra. The objective of this paper is mainly to confirm that the integration of BIM with the railway, through a theoretical and practical study, can have positive impacts. To do this, our methodology consists in studying briefly the development of the railway, the need to improve the budgets and schedules of the projects, to increase the productivity, before showing the advantages of the BIM in the sector of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). The study of feedback from railway projects (chosen for their date of completion – beyond 2014, their size, their geographical situation in several countries and for the availability of literature in a new field) will confirm the initial hypotheses. Among the projects studied will be a project that has been the subject of an article written by the authors of this paper. In the discussion of the results, the authors will focus on the benefits, risks and limitations of integrating BIM into the railway. In conclusion, the authors are laying the groundwork for future research in the field. Findings The cases study discussed in this paper and previous research confirms the hypotheses of the literature. The integration of BIM into railway projects can have several advantages: collaboration, time saving, cost optimization, prevention of conflicts between networks, construction before construction, optimization of facility management, improvement of the quality of works, prefabrication. They also allowed us to illustrate the risks (status and appropriation of the BIM model, lack of standardization of versions or software and lack of understanding of the basics of schedules and specifications) and limitations (lack of feedback, lack of adaptability and convergence of tools). These experiences have also shown that the use of BIM is not just a technological transition, but a revolution in the project management process, which requires several key success factors (participation of all, commitment, change management and adoption of the collaborative approach). Visualization, collaboration and conflict elimination are the three main chapters where the benefits of BIM can be organized. In fact, there is a lot of intersection between these chapters, but they have been chosen as the main ideas around which all the benefits can be better understood. Visualization primarily addresses the benefits to an individual and improving one’s personal understanding as a result of using BIM. The collaboration refers to the cooperative action of several team members, which is encouraged and facilitated by BIM. Conflict elimination mainly concerns project-related benefits, such as conflict reduction, waste, risks, costs and time. For railway infrastructure projects, the main purpose of using BIM is to improve the design integration process, internal project team communication and collision detection to eliminate risk of rehabilitation. Research limitations/implications The application of the BIM process in railway infrastructure requires constant improvement. This concerns the development of libraries and the models available to all users in order to encourage the development of this methodology and, consequently, its use of information throughout the life cycle of an infrastructure work. Practical implications The case study of real projects incorporating BIM confirms the results of the literature review. The benefits of integrating BIM into rail projects are multiple and proven: cost control, decision support, avoids extra work due to design errors, improves detection of interface problems, improves planning of vision, help with prefabrication and facility management, etc. Finally, the BIM process is able to overcome delays in procedures slowing the development of the construction industry in many countries, especially in Morocco, because of the slowness of design (or downright bad design). Social implications The integration of BIM into rail is becoming a global trend. This integration requires government decisions and a maturation of technology and tools. The authorities of some developed countries studied (Sweden, UK, France, Germany) in the railways, at different stages of implementation, are adopting BIM in the process of setting up new railway projects. This political impulse is still behind in southern countries, such as Morocco. The trend and the data collected indicate an adoption between 2020 and 2030 of BIM in all/some AEC projects in developed countries. This will have an impact on other countries that will soon be doing the same, especially in the railway sector to adopt the BIM. Originality/value As part of the realization of this paper, we proceeded to the implementation of an electrical substation as part of the project to build 40 electric traction substations built by Colas Rail on behalf of ONCF.

A mere two years ago International Sports Studies was celebrating its fortieth anniversary. At that time, at the beginning of 2018, your editor was able to reflect on the journey of our professional association – the International Society for Comparative Physical Education and Sport (ISCPES). It started with a small, cohesive, and optimistic group of physical education scholars from Europe and North America interested in working across boundaries and exploring new international horizons. The group that met in Borovets in 2017 on the eve of the society’s fortieth anniversary, represented a wider range of origins. They were also more circumspect, tempered by their experience in what had become, four decades later, a very much more complex competitive and fragmented professional environment. Such a comparison seems almost to have reflected a common journey, from the hope and optimism of youth to entry into the challenges and responsibilities of mid adulthood. Yet from the perspective of contemporary history, these last four decades seem generally to be viewed as having been a time of unbroken human progress. Certainly, this is a defensible view when we use technological and economic progress as the criterion. The nation of Indonesia provides an excellent example of progress by these measures. The world’s 10th largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, and a member of the G-20. Furthermore, Indonesia has made enormous gains in poverty reduction, cutting the poverty rate by more than half since 1999, to 9.78% in 2020. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Indonesia was able to maintain a consistent economic growth, recently qualifying the country to reach upper middle-income status. The World Bank (www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/overview) Indeed, when we look at the economic growth charts of the world over the last century, without exception they resemble a J curve with growth over the last half century being particularly rapid. But, from time to time, we need to be reminded that human existence is rather like a coin. Looking at the top side provides one picture but then, when we turn the coin over, a totally different view presents itself. From time to time, pictures find their way to our television screens that remind us that real challenges of poverty are still faced by many today. Similarly, though we have talked about seventyfive years of peace, the other side of the coin reveals that around the globe armed conflict has continued remorselessly since the official ending of World War II in September 2nd 1945. A visit to Wikipedia and its list of ongoing conflicts in the world will inform the casual reader, that in the current or past calendar year there have been over 10,000 deaths related to four major wars – in Afghanistan, the Yemen, Syria and Mexico. In addition, eleven wars, eighteen ‘minor conflicts’ and fifteen ‘skirmishes’ have added to death and misery for many around the world. I make these points in case those of us who are fortunate enough to live in relatively stable, safe and prosperous environments, might be tempted to become complacent and forget how much always needs to be done to increase the welfare of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. Humankind’s end of decade report needs to remind us that, if our progress has generally been steady, there remains area where we still need to improve. Further we need to remember that wealth and material prosperity are not the sole criteria for human well-being and happiness. Quality of life needs to be measured by much more than Gross Domestic Product alone. Such thoughts now seem to be suddenly highlighted, as we move into another new decade. For virtually worldwide, it seems to as if the coin has suddenly been flipped. In 2018 we were looking forward with different expectations to those that we now have since the start of 2020. At a time when the world has never been more interconnected, we have been forcibly reminded that with that connectedness comes a level of risk. There is a belief by some, that interconnectedness provides some sort of protection against war and conflict and that trade relationships provide a rationale for peaceful cooperation between the peoples of the world. However, it is that very interconnectedness that today leaves us at greater risk to the ravages of the latest pandemic to strike the world. Countries that have managed the CoVid19 virus most successfully, have been those like New Zealand that have isolated themselves from others and restricted movements and interactions both across and within borders. Consequently, people in many different settings find themselves in lockdown and working from home. This sudden restriction on interactions and movement, has provided a unique opportunity for reflection by many. Stepping back from the frantic pace of twenty first century lifestyle, though it has inevitably caused much concern economically for many, has given others a chance to rediscover simpler pleasures of previous ages. Pleasures such as the unhurried company of family and friends and the chance to replace crowded commuting with leisurely walks around the local neighbourhood. So, it has been that a number of voices have been pointing to this as a unique opportunity to re-set our careers and our lifestyles. With this comes a chance to re-examine core values and in particular question some of the drivers behind the endlessly busy and often frentic approach to life that characterises our modern fast changing world, with its ceaseless demand for us all to ‘keep up’ and ‘get ahead’. It is then in a spirit of reset that I am pleased to introduce International Sports Studies’ first special supplement. We take very seriously our mission of connecting physical education and sport professionals around the world. It has made us very conscious of the dangers of adopting a view on the world that is centred in the familiar and our own back yards. Yet we all tend to slip into a view of life that seems to be driven and reinforced by the big media and the loudest voices in an interconnected world. Individuals chasing the dream of celebrity are easily recognisable from New Delhi to Anchorage or from Nairobi to Sapporo. We seem forced to listen to them and their ideas even when we wish to disassociate from them. In sport too it seems that in all corners of the world, the superstars of football Messi, Ronaldo, Pogba, Bale are known wherever the game is played. News and influence too often seem to flow from the places where these same celebrities of screen and sporting fields are based. It is the streets and recreation areas of Hollywood, Madrid and Turin, all comparatively restricted areas of the globe, which are continuously brought to us all by the ubiquitous screens. Some of the latest figures from the ITU, the Telecommunication Development Sector a specialised United Nations agency, have estimated that at the end of 2019, 53.6 per cent of the global population, or 4.1 billion people, were using the Internet (ITU, 2020). It is a figure that continues to increase steadily as does the stretch of its influence. The motivation behind this supplement focusing on studies in physical education and sport within Indonesia, can be found in the origins of comparative physical education and sport study. We can all learn by comparison with others and their approaches to both similar and unique problems and challenges. It does not however always make sense to limit ourselves to matching our situations with others for the sole purpose of making scholarly comparisons. Often it makes more sense simply to visit colleagues in another setting and examine in some depth their concerns and practices. Such studies are called area studies and they involve illuminating what is occurring in different settings in order to increase our own understanding and awareness. Indonesia provides a special and important starting point for just such a study. Located off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia in the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is an archipelago that lies across the Equator and spans a distance equivalent to one-eighth of the Earth’s circumference. It is the world’s fourth largest country in terms of population (Legge, 2020). It is a nation that appears modest in its demeanour and that of its people yet has much to offer the rest of us, especially in terms of our common professional interest. The purpose of volume 42e is to offer an opportunity for our colleagues in Indonesia to speak to the global community and for the global community to learn a little more about the work of their colleagues in Indonesia. It is the first of what is intended to be a series within the tradition of comparative studies. It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work with a special editorial team from Indonesia in this project. Their details are briefly provided below. I commend to you the work of this representative group of physical education and sports scholars. I invite you to join us in lifting our heads above our own parapets and resetting our own perspectives by reaching out and listening to a wider circle of colleagues from around the world. We may not be able to travel to meet each other at this time but we can still interact and share, as our responsibility as academics and professionals requires us to do. John Saunders Brisbane, November 2020 References ITU (2020) Statistics. Accessed from https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics? Legge, J. D. (2020) Indonesia. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed from https://www.britannica.com/place/Indonesia

This study aims to determine the effect of company growth, company size, debt policy on case profitability studies of telecommunications companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange either simultaneously or partially. The population in this research is a case study of the telecommunication sub-sector listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for the 2018-2020 period as many as 6 companies. Hypothesis testing in this study was carried out using the Smart PLS (Partial Least Square) program. Based on the analysis of the magnitude of the influence obtained for the percentage of influence of Company Size is the most dominant influence of other variables with a percentage of 48.3575% while the variable growth of the Company is only able to influence the variable Profitability of 6%. And the Debt Policy variable only affects the Profitability variable by -1%. For Variable Growth, Company Size, Debt Policy on Profitability of 53.36%.

Purpose This paper aims to propose a framework for how privacy-preserving technologies (PETs) create business value for organizations. The framework was developed by examining the literature on privacy and information technology’s impact (symbolic and function). The authors evaluate the framework’s applicability using multiparty computation (MPC) as an instance of PETs, with expert interviews in the telecommunication industry. Design/methodology/approach In an illustrative case of four telecommunication companies, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with experts and used MPC as an instance of PET. Findings The evaluation of the framework indicates that PETs create business value for organizations: enhancing customer interactions, sales, personalized services, predicting market trends and collaboration among organizations. The findings show that business value of PETs is mainly driven by consumers and organizations willing to share data and collaborate. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to the telecom sector and focused on MPC as an instance of PET. Further studies should be conducted to explore the benefits of other PETs and MPC. Future research could find out if this framework is also helpful for implementing other PETs or even other types of technology. The authors’ framework provides factors that future studies can use to quantify the impact of PETs. The authors hope that this framework provides an overarching reference for organizations considering the adoption of PETs. Practical implications The authors’ findings inform managers in exploring the business value of PETs for organizations. This study also provides insights into which costs and risks to consider when implementing PETs. Originality/value This study is one of the few to propose a framework on how PETs create business value for organizations. Future research can use factors in the framework (e.g. customer interactions, sales, personalized services and market trend prediction) to conduct a quantitative study on PETs’ business value. Managers adopting PETs can use the framework to identify areas where PETs impact their organization.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to demonstrate a cloud business intelligence model for industrial SMEs. An initial model was developed to accomplish this, followed by validation and finalization of the cloud business intelligence model. Additionally, this research employs a mixed-techniques approach, including both qualitative and quantitative methods. This paper aims to achieve the following objectives: (1) Recognize the Cloud business intelligence concepts. (2) Identify the role of cloud BI in SMEs. (3) Identify the factors that affect the design and presenting a Cloud business intelligence model based on critical factors affecting SMEs during pandemic COVID-19. (4) Discuss the importance of Cloud BI in pandemic COVID-19 for SMEs. (5) Provide managerial implications for using Cloud BI effectively in Iran’s SMEs. Design/methodology/approach In the current study, an initial model was first proposed, and the cloud business intelligence model was then validated and finalized. Moreover, this study uses a mixed-methods design in which both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. The fuzzy Delphi Method has been applied for parameter validation purposes, and eventually, the Cloud business intelligence model has been presented through exploiting the interpretive structural modeling. The partial least squares method was also applied to validate the model. Data were also analyzed using the MAXQDA and Smart PLS software package. Findings In this research, from the elimination of synonym and frequently repeated factors and classification of final factors, six main factors, 24 subfactors and 24 identifiers were discovered from the texts of the relevant papers and interviews conducted with 19 experts in the area of BI and Cloud computing. The main factors of our research include drivers, enablers, competencies, critical success factors, SME characteristics and adoption. The subfactors of included competitors pressure, decision-making time, data access, data analysis and calculations, budget, clear view, clear missions, BI tools, data infrastructure, information merging, business key sector, data owner, business process, data resource, data quality, IT skill, organizational preparedness, innovation orientation, SME characteristics, SME activity, SME structure, BI maturity, standardization, agility, balances between BI systems and business strategies. Then, the quantitative part continued with the fuzzy Delphi technique in which two factors, decision-making time and agility, were deleted in the first round, and the second round was conducted for the rest of the factors. In that step, 24 factors were assessed based on the opinions of 19 experts. In the second round, none of the factors were removed, and thus the Delphi analysis was concluded. Next, data analysis was carried out by building the structural self-interaction matrix to present the model. According to the results, adoptability is a first-level or dependent variable. Regarding the results of interpretive structural modeling (ISM), the variable of critical success factors is a second-level variable. Enablers, competencies and SME characteristics are the third-level and most effective variables of the model. Accordingly, the initial model of Cloud BI for SMEs is presented as follows: The results of ISM revealed the impact of SME characteristics on BI critical success factors and adoptability. Since this category was not an underlying category of BI; thus, it played the role of a moderating variable for the impact of critical success factors on adoptability in the final model. Research limitations/implications Since this study is limited to about 100 SMEs in the north of Iran, results should be applied cautiously to SMEs in other countries. Generalizing the study's results to other industries and geographic regions should be done with care since management perceptions, and financial condition of a business vary significantly. Additionally, the topic of business intelligence in SMEs constrained the sample from the start since not all SMEs use business intelligence systems, and others are unaware of their advantages. BI tools enable the effective management of companies of all sizes by providing analytic data and critical performance indicators. In general, SMEs used fewer business intelligence technologies than big companies. According to studies, SMEs understand the value of simplifying their information resources to make critical business choices. Additionally, they are aware of the market's abundance of business intelligence products. However, many SMEs lack the technical knowledge necessary to choose the optimal tool combination. In light of the frequently significant investment required to implement BI approaches, a viable alternative for SMEs may be to adopt cloud computing solutions that enable organizations to strengthen their systems and information technologies on a pay-per-use basis while also providing access to cutting-edge BI technologies at a reasonable price. Practical implications Before the implementation of Cloud BI in SMEs, condition of driver, competency and critical success factor of SMEs should also be considered. These will help to define the significant resources and skills that form the strategic edge and lead to the success of Cloud BI projects. Originality/value Most of the previous studies have been focused on factors such as critical success factors in cloud business intelligence and cloud computing in small and medium-sized enterprises, cloud business intelligence adoption models, the services used in cloud business intelligence, the factors involved in acceptance of cloud business intelligence, the challenges and advantages of cloud business intelligence, and drivers and barriers to cloud business intelligence. None of the studied resources proposed any comprehensive model for designing and implementing cloud business intelligence in small and medium-sized enterprises; they only investigated some of the aspects of this issue.

This third publication of JOVACET follows the Special Issue which emanated from our 2018 conference on adult learning and education. While the Special Issue was focused on papers presented on the theme of the conference, the conference call for papers also yielded additional submissions outside the scope of the Special Issue, which contributed to this subsequent volume. Articles in this issue are situated in the vocational education and workplace training domains and constitute research at the level of practice as well as at the macro-policy level. Our first article herein, authored by Barabasch, Caldart and Keller, concerns competence development in apprenticeship training, and how innovation in the labour market in Switzerland is impacting on VET (vocational education and training) learning cultures as well as on approaches to learning at, and through, work. The Swiss dual-learning model, in which the major part of apprentice learning takes place in the workplace, is widely admired, and Switzerland is seen as an innovation leader among its peers in Europe. Even so, the constant drive for innovation, new technologies and work processes can be seen to be impacting on workforce development. Vocational learners are requiring new skill sets, for instance less product-specific knowledge and more ‘agile’ approaches such as ‘creativity’, ‘reflectivity’, and ‘taking the initiative’. Through a case study of the Swiss telecommunication industry, the authors examine how a new, innovative learning culture is being shaped in order to adapt to new work demands. Next, Gaffoor and Van der Bijl report on an investigation into factors that influence retention and attrition at a sample technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college in South Africa. The reasons for student dropout at public colleges have not been well documented and only a handful of studies have been conducted to date. The social and economic cost of young people leaving schools and colleges with incomplete qualifications is potentially crippling, and it is imperative that institutions understand the ‘push’ or ‘pull’ factors that are at play. Using the early constructs of Tinto, and later Bean, the authors attempt to provide a more holistic explanation of why students fail to complete their college programmes. From explanations of early college exit, Groener and Andrews examine the access pathways into higher education offered by TVET colleges through their vocational qualifications in early childhood educator training. Public colleges have for many years offered early childhood development (ECD) programmes for aspirant teachers, and a persistent source of frustration has been the lack of articulation in this field between TVET college and university qualifications. Universities offer initial teacher education in ECD but only very recently has there been an attempt to build pathways into these university qualifications by perusing the nature and content of the programmes offered at colleges. Nonetheless, it is not the lack of articulation which is the main focus of this article, but rather the aspirations of students who enter TVET colleges in order to create a basis for recognition of prior learning (RPL) for access into university by an alternative route. Evidence from Groener and Andrews’ case study shows that students in the sample who had the goal of access to university after completing their vocational college programme, demonstrated considerable agency and determination in overcoming structural and institutional barriers in pursuit of their goals. Moving from learner-centred studies to broader social and policy constructs in TVET, Kraak’s article considers the concept of ‘intermediation’ in the brokering of training compacts, especially in the light of the role that sector education and training authorities (SETAs) are required to play in South Africa. SETAs have a range of mandated functions with regard to employers in their scope of authority, but, with regard to training and development, they have an essential role in, inter alia, fostering links among employers, unions, and training providers. South Africa still has some way to go in developing the kind of relationships between employers and training providers that have seen established vocational systems become successful, and in enabling young graduates in these systems to become sought-after, highly skilled employees. Notwithstanding the slow progress towards the goal of a coherent system in which supply and demand can coexist, the author points to at least two successful examples of intermediation which could serve as a basis for future initiatives. An interesting dimension of the article is the inclusion of key stakeholder perspectives of four senior officials in the skills system, perspectives which suggest that, in the current dispensation, the expectation of intermediation may be a step too far for most SETAs. In this regard, Kraak acknowledges the input he received from the late Adrienne Bird, Director of the Special Projects Unit in the Department of Higher Education and Training, where she was leading the Centres of Specialisation initiative to revitalise the apprenticeship model. Adrienne Bird was a passionate advocate of vocational education and training and had a distinguished career in the South African post-apartheid skills development system. Her untimely passing in 2019, after a long battle with ill health, leaves a void in our still fragile and emergent national training architecture, where her dedication, experience and keen insight will no doubt be missed. Needham continues on the policy theme in his article as he interrogates the inability of the public TVET sector to meet human-capital development goals of reduced unemployment and improved economic returns on education investment. He argues that, while privatisation of education is a global phenomenon, in South Africa it is the result of the state’s adoption of neo-liberal reforms and a shift in emphasis on education as a public good in favour of narrower interests. The dominant discourses of performance management, efficiency, accountability, and the like have come to characterise education, to the detriment of developmental goals. He critiques privatisation policy approaches, for instance the ‘outsourcing’ of public education to private providers and the disincentivisation of public colleges to offer occupational programmes which, he argues, led to the creation of multiple private providers to offer this training. When colleges were subsequently encouraged to offer SETA-led occupational programmes, many colleges found themselves ill-equipped to take on this task, he contends. In essence, the article concludes that neither public nor private providers have been well served by the confusing privatisation policy messages, and the two systems of provision have as a result been pitted against each other rather than working collaboratively for more effective skills development delivery. Finally, in this issue of JOVACET, there is a book review by Martin Mulcahy, a former educator, policy analyst, and education adviser with vast experience of post-school education and training. He reviews the latest Springer handbook edited by McGrath, Mulder, Papier and Suart (2019), which is a mammoth two-volume edition covering nine broad themes and containing a host of scholarly articles within each theme. Mulcahy provides an informative overview of the handbook and its various sections, which will no doubt be a welcome and essential introduction to both volumes for vocational researchers, policymakers, teachers and students. We are indeed pleased that this timeous review could be included in this edition of JOVACET. The authors of papers in this issue of JOVACET demonstrated patience and diligence throughout the rigorous peer-review process, and undertook with good grace the amendments that needed to be made to their articles. We trust that readers will appreciate their effort.

The Australian Government has been actively evaluating how best to merge the functions of the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) and the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) for around two years now. Broadly, the reason for this is an attempt to keep pace with the communications media transformations we reduce to the term “convergence.” Mounting pressure for restructuring is emerging as a site of turf contestation: the possibility of a regulatory “one-stop shop” for governments (and some industry players) is an end game of considerable force. But, from a public interest perspective, the case for a converged regulator needs to make sense to audiences using various media, as well as in terms of arguments about global, industrial, and technological change. This national debate about the institutional reshaping of media regulation is occurring within a wider global context of transformations in social, technological, and politico-economic frameworks of open capital and cultural markets, including the increasing prominence of international economic organisations, corporations, and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Although the recently concluded FTA with the US explicitly carves out a right for Australian Governments to make regulatory policy in relation to existing and new media, considerable uncertainty remains as to future regulatory arrangements. A key concern is how a right to intervene in cultural markets will be sustained in the face of cultural, politico-economic, and technological pressures that are reconfiguring creative industries on an international scale. While the right to intervene was retained for the audiovisual sector in the FTA, by contrast, it appears that comparable unilateral rights to intervene will not operate for telecommunications, e-commerce or intellectual property (DFAT). Blurring Boundaries A lack of certainty for audiences is a by-product of industry change, and further blurs regulatory boundaries: new digital media content and overlapping delivering technologies are already a reality for Australia’s media regulators. These hypothetical media usage scenarios indicate how confusion over the appropriate regulatory agency may arise: 1. playing electronic games that use racist language; 2. being subjected to deceptive or misleading pop-up advertising online 3. receiving messaged imagery on your mobile phone that offends, disturbs, or annoys; 4. watching a program like World Idol with SMS voting that subsequently raises charging or billing issues; or 5. watching a new “reality” TV program where products are being promoted with no explicit acknowledgement of the underlying commercial arrangements either during or at the end of the program. These are all instances where, theoretically, regulatory mechanisms are in place that allow individuals to complain and to seek some kind of redress as consumers and citizens. In the last scenario, in commercial television under the sector code, no clear-cut rules exist as to the precise form of the disclosure—as there is (from 2000) in commercial radio. It’s one of a number of issues the peak TV industry lobby Commercial TV Australia (CTVA) is considering in their review of the industry’s code of practice. CTVA have proposed an amendment to the code that will simply formalise the already existing practice . That is, commercial arrangements that assist in the making of a program should be acknowledged either during programs, or in their credits. In my view, this amendment doesn’t go far enough in post “cash for comment” mediascapes (Dwyer). Audiences have a right to expect that broadcasters, production companies and program celebrities are open and transparent with the Australian community about these kinds of arrangements. They need to be far more clearly signposted, and people better informed about their role. In the US, the “Commercial Alert” <http://www.commercialalert.org/> organisation has been lobbying the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to achieve similar in-program “visual acknowledgements.” The ABA’s Commercial Radio Inquiry (“Cash-for-Comment”) found widespread systemic regulatory failure and introduced three new standards. On that basis, how could a “standstill” response by CTVA, constitute best practice for such a pervasive and influential medium as contemporary commercial television? The World Idol example may lead to confusion for some audiences, who are unsure whether the issues involved relate to broadcasting or telecommunications. In fact, it could be dealt with as a complaint to the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman (TIO) under an ACA registered, but Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) developed, code of practice. These kind of cross-platform issues may become more vexed in future years from an audience’s perspective, especially if reality formats using on-screen premium rate service numbers invite audiences to participate, by sending MMS (multimedia messaging services) images or short video grabs over wireless networks. The political and cultural implications of this kind of audience interaction, in terms of access, participation, and more generally the symbolic power of media, may perhaps even indicate a longer-term shift in relations with consumers and citizens. In the Internet example, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Internet advertising jurisdiction would apply—not the ABA’s “co-regulatory” Internet content regime as some may have thought. Although the ACCC deals with complaints relating to Internet advertising, there won’t be much traction for them in a more complex issue that also includes, say, racist or religious bigotry. The DVD example would probably fall between the remits of the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s (OFLC) new “convergent” Guidelines for the Classification of Film and Computer Games and race discrimination legislation administered by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). The OFLC’s National Classification Scheme is really geared to provide consumer advice on media products that contain sexual and violent imagery or coarse language, rather than issues of racist language. And it’s unlikely that a single person would have the locus standito even apply for a reclassification. It may fall within the jurisdiction of the HREOC depending on whether it was played in public or not. Even then it would probably be considered exempt on free speech grounds as an “artistic work.” Unsolicited, potentially illegal, content transmitted via mobile wireless devices, in particular 3G phones, provide another example of content that falls between the media regulation cracks. It illustrates a potential content policy “turf grab” too. Image-enabled mobile phones create a variety of novel issues for content producers, network operators, regulators, parents and viewers. There is no one government media authority or agency with a remit to deal with this issue. Although it has elements relating to the regulatory activities of the ACA, the ABA, the OFLC, the TIO, and TISSC, the combination of illegal or potentially prohibited content and its carriage over wireless networks positions it outside their current frameworks. The ACA may argue it should have responsibility for this kind of content since: it now enforces the recently enacted Commonwealth anti-Spam laws; has registered an industry code of practice for unsolicited content delivered over wireless networks; is seeking to include ‘adult’ content within premium rate service numbers, and, has been actively involved in consumer education for mobile telephony. It has also worked with TISSC and the ABA in relation to telephone sex information services over voice networks. On the other hand, the ABA would probably argue that it has the relevant expertise for regulating wirelessly transmitted image-content, arising from its experience of Internet and free and subscription TV industries, under co-regulatory codes of practice. The OFLC can also stake its claim for policy and compliance expertise, since the recently implemented Guidelines for Classification of Film and Computer Games were specifically developed to address issues of industry convergence. These Guidelines now underpin the regulation of content across the film, TV, video, subscription TV, computer games and Internet sectors. Reshaping Institutions Debates around the “merged regulator” concept have occurred on and off for at least a decade, with vested interests in agencies and the executive jockeying to stake claims over new turf. On several occasions the debate has been given renewed impetus in the context of ruling conservative parties’ mooted changes to the ownership and control regime. It’s tended to highlight demarcations of remit, informed as they are by historical and legal developments, and the gradual accretion of regulatory cultures. Now the key pressure points for regulatory change include the mere existence of already converged single regulatory structures in those countries with whom we tend to triangulate our policy comparisons—the US, the UK and Canada—increasingly in a context of debates concerning international trade agreements; and, overlaying this, new media formats and devices are complicating existing institutional arrangements and legal frameworks. The Department of Communications, Information Technology & the Arts’s (DCITA) review brief was initially framed as “options for reform in spectrum management,” but was then widened to include “new institutional arrangements” for a converged regulator, to deal with visual content in the latest generation of mobile telephony, and other image-enabled wireless devices (DCITA). No other regulatory agencies appear, at this point, to be actively on the Government’s radar screen (although they previously have been). Were the review to look more inclusively, the ACCC, the OFLC and the specialist telecommunications bodies, the TIO and the TISSC may also be drawn in. Current regulatory arrangements see the ACA delegate responsibility for broadcasting services bands of the radio frequency spectrum to the ABA. In fact, spectrum management is the turf least contested by the regulatory players themselves, although the “convergent regulator” issue provokes considerable angst among powerful incumbent media players. The consensus that exists at a regulatory level can be linked to the scientific convention that holds the radio frequency spectrum is a continuum of electromagnetic bands. In this view, it becomes artificial to sever broadcasting, as “broadcasting services bands” from the other remaining highly diverse communications uses, as occurred from 1992 when the Broadcasting Services Act was introduced. The prospect of new forms of spectrum charging is highly alarming for commercial broadcasters. In a joint submission to the DCITA review, the peak TV and radio industry lobby groups have indicated they will fight tooth and nail to resist new regulatory arrangements that would see a move away from the existing licence fee arrangements. These are paid as a sliding scale percentage of gross earnings that, it has been argued by Julian Thomas and Marion McCutcheon, “do not reflect the amount of spectrum used by a broadcaster, do not reflect the opportunity cost of using the spectrum, and do not provide an incentive for broadcasters to pursue more efficient ways of delivering their services” (6). An economic rationalist logic underpins pressure to modify the spectrum management (and charging) regime, and undoubtedly contributes to the commercial broadcasting industry’s general paranoia about reform. Total revenues collected by the ABA and the ACA between 1997 and 2002 were, respectively, $1423 million and $3644.7 million. Of these sums, using auction mechanisms, the ABA collected $391 million, while the ACA collected some $3 billion. The sale of spectrum that will be returned to the Commonwealth by television broadcasters when analog spectrum is eventually switched off, around the end of the decade, is a salivating prospect for Treasury officials. The large sums that have been successfully raised by the ACA boosts their position in planning discussions for the convergent media regulatory agency. The way in which media outlets and regulators respond to publics is an enduring question for a democratic polity, irrespective of how the product itself has been mediated and accessed. Media regulation and civic responsibility, including frameworks for negotiating consumer and citizen rights, are fundamental democratic rights (Keane; Tambini). The ABA’s Commercial Radio Inquiry (‘cash for comment’) has also reminded us that regulatory frameworks are important at the level of corporate conduct, as well as how they negotiate relations with specific media audiences (Johnson; Turner; Gordon-Smith). Building publicly meaningful regulatory frameworks will be demanding: relationships with audiences are often complex as people are constructed as both consumers and citizens, through marketised media regulation, institutions and more recently, through hybridising program formats (Murdock and Golding; Lumby and Probyn). In TV, we’ve seen the growth of infotainment formats blending entertainment and informational aspects of media consumption. At a deeper level, changes in the regulatory landscape are symptomatic of broader tectonic shifts in the discourses of governance in advanced information economies from the late 1980s onwards, where deregulatory agendas created an increasing reliance on free market, business-oriented solutions to regulation. “Co-regulation” and “self-regulation’ became the preferred mechanisms to more direct state control. Yet, curiously contradicting these market transformations, we continue to witness recurring instances of direct intervention on the basis of censorship rationales (Dwyer and Stockbridge). That digital media content is “converging” between different technologies and modes of delivery is the norm in “new media” regulatory rhetoric. Others critique “visions of techno-glory,” arguing instead for a view that sees fundamental continuities in media technologies (Winston). But the socio-cultural impacts of new media developments surround us: the introduction of multichannel digital and interactive TV (in free-to-air and subscription variants); broadband access in the office and home; wirelessly delivered content and mobility, and, as Jock Given notes, around the corner, there’s the possibility of “an Amazon.Com of movies-on-demand, with the local video and DVD store replaced by online access to a distant server” (90). Taking a longer view of media history, these changes can be seen to be embedded in the global (and local) “innovation frontier” of converging digital media content industries and its transforming modes of delivery and access technologies (QUT/CIRAC/Cutler & Co). The activities of regulatory agencies will continue to be a source of policy rivalry and turf contestation until such time as a convergent regulator is established to the satisfaction of key players. However, there are risks that the benefits of institutional reshaping will not be readily available for either audiences or industry. In the past, the idea that media power and responsibility ought to coexist has been recognised in both the regulation of the media by the state, and the field of communications media analysis (Curran and Seaton; Couldry). But for now, as media industries transform, whatever the eventual institutional configuration, the evolution of media power in neo-liberal market mediascapes will challenge the ongoing capacity for interventions by national governments and their agencies. Works Cited Australian Broadcasting Authority. Commercial Radio Inquiry: Final Report of the Australian Broadcasting Authority. Sydney: ABA, 2000. Australian Communications Information Forum. Industry Code: Short Message Service (SMS) Issues. Dec. 2002. 8 Mar. 2004 <http://www.acif.org.au/__data/page/3235/C580_Dec_2002_ACA.pdf >. Commercial Television Australia. Draft Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice. Aug. 2003. 8 Mar. 2004 <http://www.ctva.com.au/control.cfm?page=codereview&pageID=171&menucat=1.2.110.171&Level=3>. Couldry, Nick. The Place of Media Power: Pilgrims and Witnesses of the Media Age. London: Routledge, 2000. Curran, James, and Jean Seaton. Power without Responsibility: The Press, Broadcasting and New Media in Britain. 6th ed. London: Routledge, 2003. Dept. of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts. Options for Structural Reform in Spectrum Management. Canberra: DCITA, Aug. 2002. ---. Proposal for New Institutional Arrangements for the ACA and the ABA. Aug. 2003. 8 Mar. 2004 <http://www.dcita.gov.au/Article/0,,0_1-2_1-4_116552,00.php>. Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement. Feb. 2004. 8 Mar. 2004 <http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us_fta/outcomes/11_audio_visual.php>. Dwyer, Tim. Submission to Commercial Television Australia’s Review of the Commercial Television Industry’s Code of Practice. Sept. 2003. Dwyer, Tim, and Sally Stockbridge. “Putting Violence to Work in New Media Policies: Trends in Australian Internet, Computer Game and Video Regulation.” New Media and Society 1.2 (1999): 227-49. Given, Jock. America’s Pie: Trade and Culture After 9/11. Sydney: U of NSW P, 2003. Gordon-Smith, Michael. “Media Ethics After Cash-for-Comment.” The Media and Communications in Australia. Ed. Stuart Cunningham and Graeme Turner. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2002. Johnson, Rob. Cash-for-Comment: The Seduction of Journo Culture. Sydney: Pluto, 2000. Keane, John. The Media and Democracy. Cambridge: Polity, 1991. Lumby, Cathy, and Elspeth Probyn, eds. Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics. Melbourne: Cambridge UP, 2003. Murdock, Graham, and Peter Golding. “Information Poverty and Political Inequality: Citizenship in the Age of Privatized Communications.” Journal of Communication 39.3 (1991): 180-95. QUT, CIRAC, and Cutler & Co. Research and Innovation Systems in the Production of Digital Content and Applications: Report for the National Office for the Information Economy. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, Sept. 2003. Tambini, Damian. Universal Access: A Realistic View. IPPR/Citizens Online Research Publication 1. London: IPPR, 2000. Thomas, Julian and Marion McCutcheon. “Is Broadcasting Special? Charging for Spectrum.” Conference paper. ABA conference, Canberra. May 2003. Turner, Graeme. “Talkback, Advertising and Journalism: A cautionary tale of self-regulated radio”. International Journal of Cultural Studies 3.2 (2000): 247-255. ---. “Reshaping Australian Institutions: Popular Culture, the Market and the Public Sphere.” Culture in Australia: Policies, Publics and Programs. Ed. Tony Bennett and David Carter. Melbourne: Cambridge UP, 2001. Winston, Brian. Media, Technology and Society: A History from the Telegraph to the Internet. London: Routledge, 1998. Web Links http://www.aba.gov.au http://www.aca.gov.au http://www.accc.gov.au http://www.acif.org.au http://www.adma.com.au http://www.ctva.com.au http://www.crtc.gc.ca http://www.dcita.com.au http://www.dfat.gov.au http://www.fcc.gov http://www.ippr.org.uk http://www.ofcom.org.uk http://www.oflc.gov.au Links http://www.commercialalert.org/ Citation reference for this article MLA Style Dwyer, Tim. "Transformations" M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture <http://www.media-culture.org.au/0403/06-transformations.php>. APA Style Dwyer, T. (2004, Mar17). Transformations. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture, 7, <http://www.media-culture.org.au/0403/06-transformations.php>

Introduction Eating is one of the most quintessential activities of human life. Because of this primacy, eating is, as food anthropologist Sidney Mintz has observed, “not merely a biological activity, but a vibrantly cultural activity as well” (48). This article posits that the current awareness of climate change in the Western world is animating such cultural activity as the Slow Food movement and is, as a result, stimulating what could be seen as an evolutionary change in popular foodways. Moreover, this paper suggests that, in line with modelling provided by the Slow Food example, an increased awareness of the connections of climate change to the social injustices of food production might better drive social change in such areas. This discussion begins by proposing that contemporary foodways—defined as “not only what is eaten by a particular group of people but also the variety of customs, beliefs and practices surrounding the production, preparation and presentation of food” (Davey 182)—are changing in the West in relation to current concerns about climate change. Such modification has a long history. Since long before the inception of modern Homo sapiens, natural climate change has been a crucial element driving hominidae evolution, both biologically and culturally in terms of social organisation and behaviours. Macroevolutionary theory suggests evolution can dramatically accelerate in response to rapid shifts in an organism’s environment, followed by slow to long periods of stasis once a new level of sustainability has been achieved (Gould and Eldredge). There is evidence that ancient climate change has also dramatically affected the rate and course of cultural evolution. Recent work suggests that the end of the last ice age drove the cultural innovation of animal and plant domestication in the Middle East (Zeder), not only due to warmer temperatures and increased rainfall, but also to a higher level of atmospheric carbon dioxide which made agriculture increasingly viable (McCorriston and Hole, cited in Zeder). Megadroughts during the Paleolithic might well have been stimulating factors behind the migration of hominid populations out of Africa and across Asia (Scholz et al). Thus, it is hardly surprising that modern anthropogenically induced global warming—in all its’ climate altering manifestations—may be driving a new wave of cultural change and even evolution in the West as we seek a sustainable homeostatic equilibrium with the environment of the future. In 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring exposed some of the threats that modern industrial agriculture poses to environmental sustainability. This prompted a public debate from which the modern environmental movement arose and, with it, an expanding awareness and attendant anxiety about the safety and nutritional quality of contemporary foods, especially those that are grown with chemical pesticides and fertilizers and/or are highly processed. This environmental consciousness led to some modification in eating habits, manifest by some embracing wholefood and vegetarian dietary regimes (or elements of them). Most recently, a widespread awareness of climate change has forced rapid change in contemporary Western foodways, while in other climate related areas of socio-political and economic significance such as energy production and usage, there is little evidence of real acceleration of change. Ongoing research into the effects of this expanding environmental consciousness continues in various disciplinary contexts such as geography (Eshel and Martin) and health (McMichael et al). In food studies, Vileisis has proposed that the 1970s environmental movement’s challenge to the polluting practices of industrial agri-food production, concurrent with the women’s movement (asserting women’s right to know about everything, including food production), has led to both cooks and eaters becoming increasingly knowledgeable about the links between agricultural production and consumer and environmental health, as well as the various social justice issues involved. As a direct result of such awareness, alternatives to the industrialised, global food system are now emerging (Kloppenberg et al.). The Slow Food (R)evolution The tenets of the Slow Food movement, now some two decades old, are today synergetic with the growing consternation about climate change. In 1983, Carlo Petrini formed the Italian non-profit food and wine association Arcigola and, in 1986, founded Slow Food as a response to the opening of a McDonalds in Rome. From these humble beginnings, which were then unashamedly positing a return to the food systems of the past, Slow Food has grown into a global organisation that has much more future focused objectives animating its challenges to the socio-cultural and environmental costs of industrial food. Slow Food does have some elements that could be classed as reactionary and, therefore, the opposite of evolutionary. In response to the increasing homogenisation of culinary habits around the world, for instance, Slow Food’s Foundation for Biodiversity has established the Ark of Taste, which expands upon the idea of a seed bank to preserve not only varieties of food but also local and artisanal culinary traditions. In this, the Ark aims to save foods and food products “threatened by industrial standardization, hygiene laws, the regulations of large-scale distribution and environmental damage” (SFFB). Slow Food International’s overarching goals and activities, however, extend far beyond the preservation of past foodways, extending to the sponsoring of events and activities that are attempting to create new cuisine narratives for contemporary consumers who have an appetite for such innovation. Such events as the Salone del Gusto (Salon of Taste) and Terra Madre (Mother Earth) held in Turin every two years, for example, while celebrating culinary traditions, also focus on contemporary artisanal foods and sustainable food production processes that incorporate the most current of agricultural knowledge and new technologies into this production. Attendees at these events are also driven by both an interest in tradition, and their own very current concerns with health, personal satisfaction and environmental sustainability, to change their consumer behavior through an expanded self-awareness of the consequences of their individual lifestyle choices. Such events have, in turn, inspired such events in other locations, moving Slow Food from local to global relevance, and affecting the intellectual evolution of foodway cultures far beyond its headquarters in Bra in Northern Italy. This includes in the developing world, where millions of farmers continue to follow many traditional agricultural practices by necessity. Slow Food Movement’s forward-looking values are codified in the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture 2006 publication, Manifesto on the Future of Food. This calls for changes to the World Trade Organisation’s rules that promote the globalisation of agri-food production as a direct response to the “climate change [which] threatens to undermine the entire natural basis of ecologically benign agriculture and food preparation, bringing the likelihood of catastrophic outcomes in the near future” (ICFFA 8). It does not call, however, for a complete return to past methods. To further such foodway awareness and evolution, Petrini founded the University of Gastronomic Sciences at Slow Food’s headquarters in 2004. The university offers programs that are analogous with the Slow Food’s overall aim of forging sustainable partnerships between the best of old and new practice: to, in the organisation’s own words, “maintain an organic relationship between gastronomy and agricultural science” (UNISG). In 2004, Slow Food had over sixty thousand members in forty-five countries (Paxson 15), with major events now held each year in many of these countries and membership continuing to grow apace. One of the frequently cited successes of the Slow Food movement is in relation to the tomato. Until recently, supermarkets stocked only a few mass-produced hybrids. These cultivars were bred for their disease resistance, ease of handling, tolerance to artificial ripening techniques, and display consistency, rather than any culinary values such as taste, aroma, texture or variety. In contrast, the vine ripened, ‘farmer’s market’ tomato has become the symbol of an “eco-gastronomically” sustainable, local and humanistic system of food production (Jordan) which melds the best of the past practice with the most up-to-date knowledge regarding such farming matters as water conservation. Although the term ‘heirloom’ is widely used in relation to these tomatoes, there is a distinctively contemporary edge to the way they are produced and consumed (Jordan), and they are, along with other organic and local produce, increasingly available in even the largest supermarket chains. Instead of a wholesale embrace of the past, it is the connection to, and the maintenance of that connection with, the processes of production and, hence, to the environment as a whole, which is the animating premise of the Slow Food movement. ‘Slow’ thus creates a gestalt in which individuals integrate their lifestyles with all levels of the food production cycle and, hence to the environment and, importantly, the inherently related social justice issues. ‘Slow’ approaches emphasise how the accelerated pace of contemporary life has weakened these connections, while offering a path to the restoration of a sense of connectivity to the full cycle of life and its relation to place, nature and climate. In this, the Slow path demands that every consumer takes responsibility for all components of his/her existence—a responsibility that includes becoming cognisant of the full story behind each of the products that are consumed in that life. The Slow movement is not, however, a regime of abstention or self-denial. Instead, the changes in lifestyle necessary to support responsible sustainability, and the sensual and aesthetic pleasure inherent in such a lifestyle, exist in a mutually reinforcing relationship (Pietrykowski 2004). This positive feedback loop enhances the potential for promoting real and long-term evolution in social and cultural behaviour. Indeed, the Slow zeitgeist now informs many areas of contemporary culture, with Slow Travel, Homes, Design, Management, Leadership and Education, and even Slow Email, Exercise, Shopping and Sex attracting adherents. Mainstreaming Concern with Ethical Food Production The role of the media in “forming our consciousness—what we think, how we think, and what we think about” (Cunningham and Turner 12)—is self-evident. It is, therefore, revealing in relation to the above outlined changes that even the most functional cookbooks and cookery magazines (those dedicated to practical information such as recipes and instructional technique) in Western countries such as the USA, UK and Australian are increasingly reflecting and promoting an awareness of ethical food production as part of this cultural change in food habits. While such texts have largely been considered as useful but socio-politically relatively banal publications, they are beginning to be recognised as a valid source of historical and cultural information (Nussel). Cookbooks and cookery magazines commonly include discussion of a surprising range of issues around food production and consumption including sustainable and ethical agricultural methods, biodiversity, genetic modification and food miles. In this context, they indicate how rapidly the recent evolution of foodways has been absorbed into mainstream practice. Much of such food related media content is, at the same time, closely identified with celebrity mass marketing and embodied in the television chef with his or her range of branded products including their syndicated articles and cookbooks. This commercial symbiosis makes each such cuisine-related article in a food or women’s magazine or cookbook, in essence, an advertorial for a celebrity chef and their named products. Yet, at the same time, a number of these mass media food celebrities are raising public discussion that is leading to consequent action around important issues linked to climate change, social justice and the environment. An example is Jamie Oliver’s efforts to influence public behaviour and government policy, a number of which have gained considerable traction. Oliver’s 2004 exposure of the poor quality of school lunches in Britain (see Jamie’s School Dinners), for instance, caused public outrage and pressured the British government to commit considerable extra funding to these programs. A recent study by Essex University has, moreover, found that the academic performance of 11-year-old pupils eating Oliver’s meals improved, while absenteeism fell by 15 per cent (Khan). Oliver’s exposé of the conditions of battery raised hens in 2007 and 2008 (see Fowl Dinners) resulted in increased sales of free-range poultry, decreased sales of factory-farmed chickens across the UK, and complaints that free-range chicken sales were limited by supply. Oliver encouraged viewers to lobby their local councils, and as a result, a number banned battery hen eggs from schools, care homes, town halls and workplace cafeterias (see, for example, LDP). The popular penetration of these ideas needs to be understood in a historical context where industrialised poultry farming has been an issue in Britain since at least 1848 when it was one of the contributing factors to the establishment of the RSPCA (Freeman). A century after Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (published in 1906) exposed the realities of the slaughterhouse, and several decades since Peter Singer’s landmark Animal Liberation (1975) and Tom Regan’s The Case for Animal Rights (1983) posited the immorality of the mistreatment of animals in food production, it could be suggested that Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth (released in 2006) added considerably to the recent concern regarding the ethics of industrial agriculture. Consciousness-raising bestselling books such as Jim Mason and Peter Singer’s The Ethics of What We Eat and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (both published in 2006), do indeed ‘close the loop’ in this way in their discussions, by concluding that intensive food production methods used since the 1950s are not only inhumane and damage public health, but are also damaging an environment under pressure from climate change. In comparison, the use of forced labour and human trafficking in food production has attracted far less mainstream media, celebrity or public attention. It could be posited that this is, in part, because no direct relationship to the environment and climate change and, therefore, direct link to our own existence in the West, has been popularised. Kevin Bales, who has been described as a modern abolitionist, estimates that there are currently more than 27 million people living in conditions of slavery and exploitation against their wills—twice as many as during the 350-year long trans-Atlantic slave trade. Bales also chillingly reveals that, worldwide, the number of slaves is increasing, with contemporary individuals so inexpensive to purchase in relation to the value of their production that they are disposable once the slaveholder has used them. Alongside sex slavery, many other prevalent examples of contemporary slavery are concerned with food production (Weissbrodt et al; Miers). Bales and Soodalter, for example, describe how across Asia and Africa, adults and children are enslaved to catch and process fish and shellfish for both human consumption and cat food. Other campaigners have similarly exposed how the cocoa in chocolate is largely produced by child slave labour on the Ivory Coast (Chalke; Off), and how considerable amounts of exported sugar, cereals and other crops are slave-produced in certain countries. In 2003, some 32 per cent of US shoppers identified themselves as LOHAS “lifestyles of health and sustainability” consumers, who were, they said, willing to spend more for products that reflected not only ecological, but also social justice responsibility (McLaughlin). Research also confirms that “the pursuit of social objectives … can in fact furnish an organization with the competitive resources to develop effective marketing strategies”, with Doherty and Meehan showing how “social and ethical credibility” are now viable bases of differentiation and competitive positioning in mainstream consumer markets (311, 303). In line with this recognition, Fair Trade Certified goods are now available in British, European, US and, to a lesser extent, Australian supermarkets, and a number of global chains including Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonalds, Starbucks and Virgin airlines utilise Fair Trade coffee and teas in all, or parts of, their operations. Fair Trade Certification indicates that farmers receive a higher than commodity price for their products, workers have the right to organise, men and women receive equal wages, and no child labour is utilised in the production process (McLaughlin). Yet, despite some Western consumers reporting such issues having an impact upon their purchasing decisions, social justice has not become a significant issue of concern for most. The popular cookery publications discussed above devote little space to Fair Trade product marketing, much of which is confined to supermarket-produced adverzines promoting the Fair Trade products they stock, and international celebrity chefs have yet to focus attention on this issue. In Australia, discussion of contemporary slavery in the press is sparse, having surfaced in 2000-2001, prompted by UNICEF campaigns against child labour, and in 2007 and 2008 with the visit of a series of high profile anti-slavery campaigners (including Bales) to the region. The public awareness of food produced by forced labour and the troubling issue of human enslavement in general is still far below the level that climate change and ecological issues have achieved thus far in driving foodway evolution. This may change, however, if a ‘Slow’-inflected connection can be made between Western lifestyles and the plight of peoples hidden from our daily existence, but contributing daily to them. Concluding Remarks At this time of accelerating techno-cultural evolution, due in part to the pressures of climate change, it is the creative potential that human conscious awareness brings to bear on these challenges that is most valuable. Today, as in the caves at Lascaux, humanity is evolving new images and narratives to provide rational solutions to emergent challenges. As an example of this, new foodways and ways of thinking about them are beginning to evolve in response to the perceived problems of climate change. The current conscious transformation of food habits by some in the West might be, therefore, in James Lovelock’s terms, a moment of “revolutionary punctuation” (178), whereby rapid cultural adaption is being induced by the growing public awareness of impending crisis. It remains to be seen whether other urgent human problems can be similarly and creatively embraced, and whether this trend can spread to offer global solutions to them. References An Inconvenient Truth. 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