scholarly journals FDI Uppers and Downers: A Macedonian Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mico Apostolov

AbstractThis article examines how foreign direct investments influence the performance and entrepreneurship of domestic firms, a crucial question for economies – especially transition economies – driven by the incursion of global, exogenous factors. This research uses a qualitative research methodology, and specifically a case study method. The country in question is Macedonia, a Southeast European economy. Further, the study is interested in the way foreign direct investments shape the overall business environment. Overall, the results point to the influence of foreign firms in assisting business activity. The impact of foreign investment is, in general, positive, and tends to influence the restructuring process of domestic economy.

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Saida Parvin

Women’s empowerment has been at the centre of research focus for many decades. Extant literature examined the process, outcome and various challenges. Some claimed substantial success, while others contradicted with evidence of failure. But the success remains a matter of debate due to lack of empirical evidence of actual empowerment of women around the world. The current study aimed to address this gap by taking a case study method. The study critically evaluates 20 cases carefully sampled to include representatives from the entire country of Bangladesh. The study demonstrates popular beliefs about microfinance often misguide even the borrowers and they start living in a fabricated feeling of empowerment, facing real challenges to achieve true empowerment in their lives. The impact of this finding is twofold; firstly there is a theoretical contribution, where the definition of women’s empowerment is proposed to be revisited considering findings from these cases. And lastly, the policy makers at governmental and non-governmental organisations, and multinational donor agencies need to revise their assessment tools for funding.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeev Kumar Singh ◽  
Helmut Yabar ◽  
Rie Murakami-Suzuki ◽  
Noriko Nozaki ◽  
Randeep Rakwal

<p>Environmental policies are designed to deal with externalities either by internalizing environmental costs or imposing specific standards for environmental pollution. This study aims to examine the impact of environmental regulations related to End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) on innovation in Japan. We determined whether there is any statistical difference in patent activity comparing the periods before and after the regulations were enacted. In order to control for exogenous factors such as business cycles, we also analyzed the ratios of ELV and total environmental patents during the same periods. Results showed that environmental regulations drive innovations and the number of ELV-related patents were larger even after controlling for such exogenous factors. We concluded that environmental policy for ELV in Japan was effective in inducing innovation. However, we also found that the weakness in these types of command and control policy is the lack of incentives for further innovation.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 501-538
Author(s):  
Blaine Stout

Abstract The intent of this study is to examine the effects of economic sanctions on companies with significant fdi operating in the sanctioned country. Using case study methodology, we consider the impact of sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation (rf) by the United States of America for its intrusion into the sovereign rights of Ukraine. Past sanction events in South Africa and pre-rf formation are reviewed. Two measurable frameworks are developed to study strategies based on ‘divestment and non-divestment’ (Malone and Goodin 1997) dimensions and coupled with variables related to ‘direct and indirect’ effects on financial performance, forgone potential, (Losman 1988) and foreign direct investment (Biglaiser and Lektzian 2011). This research also relies on the historical accounts of Hufbauer et al. (2007) for the compilation of facts related to economic sanctions. Through literature review, the study asks: 1) Strategically, how does a company respond to the economic sanctions imposed by its home country on the sanctioned country in which it has significant fdi? 2) Financially, how do economic sanctions affect the company’s performance and fdi? and 3) Organizationally, how do economic sanctions affect the relationships with those recipient companies of fdi? The study focus is on the energy industry in which the rf economy relies upon for 40 percent of its sustainability and the company of focus is Exxon Mobil (xom). The author readily acknowledges that a single case study may not provide the degree of conclusiveness found in a cross-case study format. However, the outcome of the study does provide a template for use in future case reviews.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hairul Azlan Annuar ◽  
Nur Barizah Abu Bakar

The paper adopts a descriptive case study method to examine the impact of juristic views on the operations of two Malaysian takaful companies. In order to achieve this objective, the annual financial reports of both companies were analysed. Interviews with each company’s finance managers and with a member of the Malaysian Shariah Advisory Council were undertaken for a more in-depth coverage. Also a written correspondence with a senior official of the central bank was accomplished. Similarities and differences between the two companies were identified and it is concluded that the differences are serious enough to warrant interventions from the regulators in the form of mandatory disclosures in the annual reports. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-92
Author(s):  
Tanja Grublješič ◽  
Nejc Čampa

Sales Funnel Management (SFM) as a part of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is of great importance in the automotive industry when the companies want to attract new customers and retain the existing ones. Due to the complex and changing business environment customers are becoming more and more demanding and less loyal to their current brands. Existing research has shown that IT/IS play a crucial role throughout the execution of the CRM activities. However, the mere existence of an IS in a company is not enough. The ability and willingness of companies to use these IS in a sufficient manner plays a key role in the success and failure of CRM activities. Therefore, the objective of the article is to show how the role of the IS impacts on the effectiveness of the SFM through conducting a case study analysis in a leading German automotive company. The results show that IS has an important impact on improvements in execution of all phases of SFM and importantly contributes to primary goals and measures of effectiveness of the SFM in the automotive company, which are the increased number of vehicles sold and the lowest possible cost per vehicle sold, as well as higher level of customer satisfaction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Nadhillah Kusindriani ◽  
Martha Tri Lestari

Ustadz Evie Effendi was a public figure who is known by the public as a modern ustadz that use the Sundanese language when do Da’wah. The perceptions given by the society particularly of ustadz Evie Effendi Da'wah pilgrims are positive until ultimately ustadz Evie exposed "misinterpretation" case in August 2018 when he misinterpreted a verse in the Sura in the Quran. The occurrence of a case of "misinterpretation" had a significant impact for ustadz Evie Effendi, one of them is a lot of pilgrims from ustadz Evie Effendi in Bandung which is no longer a loyal following lectures activities conducted by him. The existence of the impact that occurs from the "misinterpretation" case encourages researchers to see how the changes in perception that occurred in ustadz Evie Effendi Da'wah worshipers in Bandung. This study used a qualitative approach through the case study method uses the concept of Yin (2015). The results of this research show that changes in perception that occurred in Ustadz Evie Effendi Da'wah worshipers in Bandung is different for adult ages (40 – 50 years) and adolescents (20 years) as well as temporary caused culture society Indonesia which is permissive.Ustadz Evie Effendi merupakan seorang publik figur yang dikenal oleh masyarakat sebagai ustadz kekinian yang menggunakan bahasa Sunda ketika ceramah. Persepsi yang diberikan masyarakat khususnya jamaah dakwah ustadz Evie Effendi positif sampai pada akhirnya ustadz Evie terkena kasus “salah tafsir” pada bulan Agustus 2018 ketika ia salah menfasirkan ayat dalam suatu surat di Al-Quran. Terjadinya kasus “salah tafsir” memberikan dampak yang cukup besar bagi ustadz Evie Effendi salah satunya adalah banyak dari jamaah dakwah ustadz Evie Effendi di Kota Bandung yang tidak lagi setia mengikuti kegiatan ceramah yang dilakukan ustadz Evie Effendi. Adanya dampak yang terjadi dari kasus “salah tafsir” mendorong peneliti untuk melihat bagaimana perubahan persepsi yang terjadi pada jamaah dakwah ustadz Evie Effendi di Kota Bandung. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif melalui metode studi kasus menggunakan konsep Yin (2015). Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa perubahan persepsi yang terjadi pada jamaah dakwah ustadz Evie Effendi di Kota Bandung berbeda untuk kalangan usia dewasa (40 – 50 tahun) dan remaja (20 tahun) serta bersifat sementara yang disebabkan kultur masyarakat Indonesia yang permisif.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vytautas Zalys

The emerging of digital technology not only encourages the development of new tools but also changes traditional approaches to solving emerging problems. The sound, music, art, colors, etc. that prevailed in the 20th-century forms of therapy are being replaced by integrated systems that overcome many of these forms, thanks to digital technology. With the increasing number of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the world, such systems provide new opportunities for the treatment of these disorders. In this research, the creation of such a system has been chosen as the object of work. The article presents an interactive tool for the education of children with ASD created by audio, video, and computer technologies and assesses its potential impact. The experimental research and its results are presented. This study aims to evaluate an interactive instrument developed for the education of such children. Following the objectives of ensuring the interactivity of the process, provoking all the perceptions of the subject, and developing the subject's ability to respond to the environment, a personalized audiovisual environment was created. For interactivity, the virtual program EyeCon, Webcam and camcorders, video projector, and speaker system were used. The study was conducted with one subject and a case study method was used. The impact of the instrument was established based on a survey of the parents of the child and the findings of childcare experts. The results of the study demonstrated the positive benefits for this child such as increased eye-to-hand coordination, concentration duration, improved communication, and emotional expression. The results obtained show that such interactive multi-sensory environments in special and general education schools can be a supplemental tool for traditional methods.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 2992-2995

The transportation and distribution (T&D) of nascent informal sectors, it is important to have a good performance in operations. In order to achieve high performance, it is necessary to know which operational factors are critical for success and which are less important. Only then can management focus attention on those factors that have a strong effect on performance. In The India a large project has been carried out to find these critical operational success factors. The progress in techniques and management principles improves the moving load, delivery speed, service quality, operation costs, the usage of facilities and energy saving. Transportation takes a crucial part in the manipulation of logistic. The objective of study is the impact on GDP from logistics savings. To measure efficiency gains of drivers in logistics savings, to study the effect of efficiency gains on nominal GDP. The study is case study method adopted based on secondary data and it is concluded that the GDP impact on efficiency gains of transportation and distribution of nascent informal sectors in India exhibited that customers’ final bill remains same; Transport company’s profits go up and customer takes away all the savings


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Dobija ◽  
Anna Maria Górska ◽  
Anna Pikos

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of how internal organisational processes change in response to external demands, by investigating the changes undertaken by two Polish business schools (b-schools) in anticipation of and in response to the demands of accreditation agencies (AAs) and other powerful stakeholders. Specifically, it examines the internal research-related performance measurement (PM) system and changes in the use of performance information (PI). Design/methodology/approach The case study method is adopted, using data from publicly available documents and interviews with the faculty and management at the two schools. The data are interpreted and analysed using the neo-institutional theory. Findings Powerful stakeholders are the primary reason for changes in PM systems and the manner in which PI is used. Specifically, AAs reflect an additional layer in the PM system, allowing for a downward cascading PI effect. This also leads to a wider use of PI across different organisational levels. Research limitations/implications This study focusses on two case studies in a region still undergoing transition. Thus, this analysis could be reinforced through additional cases, different data collection methods and cross-country and between-country comparative analyses. Originality/value The changes in PM systems and particularly the use of PI are discussed in the context of Polish higher education (HE) and, more broadly, the entire Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Moreover, the consideration of two b-school cases facilitates a comparative analysis of the differences in PM systems and the use of PI in the context of stakeholders’ PI needs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Zhao Xu ◽  
Yumin Niu ◽  
Yangze Liang ◽  
Zhigang Li ◽  
Atoev Iftikhor

Tajikistan has formulated the strategy to rejuvenate the country through hydropower. The Rogun hydropower plant (HPP) is designed as the highest hydropower station, while its sustainability is also questioned due to a lack of comprehensive sustainability evaluation. Considering that the external environment of Rogun HPP is complex and changeable, its sustainable performance will be fragile and inconstant. To comprehensively assess the sustainable performance, an integrated evaluation framework, covering the current and dynamic sustainable performance, is urgently established. Therefore, this paper firstly explored the hydropower sustainability assessment indicators which can conform to Tajikistan’s situations and further examined the current sustainable performance of Rogun HPP. The case study found that Rogun HPP’s current financial viability, involuntary resettlement, the measures to prevent corruption, and information disclosure were seriously deficient. The SWOT analysis indicated the external factors, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, improving business environment, and easing geopolitical disputes, can eliminate weaknesses and improve the sustainable performance of Rogun HPP. At the same time, tight fiscal allocations and economic downturns will have negative influences on the sustainable performance. The integrated evaluation tool established in this paper can not only evaluate the current sustainable performance but also consider the impact of external factors on sustainable performance from a dynamic perspective. This paper contributes to the current knowledge system by establishing the hydropower sustainability assessment system which is suitable for Tajikistan’s conditions. Moreover, the results are informative for the decision-makers to have a better understanding of Rogun HPP’s current strengths and weaknesses, valuable opportunities, and potential threats.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document