scholarly journals Challenges facing procurement professionals in developing economies: Unlocking value through professional international purchasing

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Tukuta ◽  
Fanny Saruchera
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
Unethical Behaviour ◽  
Government Institutions ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Back Office

Background: Until recently, procurement was seen as a necessity only. In fact, in many developing economies the profession is still being treated as a ‘back-office’ function. However, not much has been done to explore and address challenges facing procurement professionals in developing economies.Objectives: The purpose of this article was to examine the critical role played by the procurement function in business and to reveal the challenges faced by procurement professionals in developing economies as well as to suggest solutions to these challenges.Method: A sequential literary analysis was used, complemented by cross-country qualitative data gathered from one hundred diverse procurement practitioners from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. These were primarily participants in a series of procurement workshops run by the researchers from January to June 2014.Results: Findings suggested that limited recognition, increasing unethical behaviour, poor supplier service delivery, poor regulatory environment, varying supplier standards and poor corporate governance are the main challenges faced by the procurement profession in these countries.Conclusion: The study’s findings imply that there is limited understanding regarding the role procurement plays in both government and non-government institutions in developing economies. The article suggests solutions which procurement professionals and organisations can implement in order to unlock the potential value in the procurement function.

scholarly journals How Can National Competitiveness of Less Developed Countries be Enhanced? : A Case Study of Laos

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Phoxai Inthaboualy
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Less Developed Countries ◽  
Global Integration ◽  
Factor Endowments ◽  
National Competitiveness ◽  
The Government

<p>The current literature focuses primarily on the national competitiveness of developed or developing economies. However, minimal research exists on understanding the national competitiveness of less developed countries (LDCs) whose strengths in factor endowments, government institutions and the extent of global integration are not the same as those of developed or developing countries. This study aims to fill this research gap by exploring factors contributing to the competitiveness of Laos. Laos is a small, poor and land-locked country in Southeast Asia with rich natural resources. To achieve the study objectives, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior government officials, industrial representatives, professors and NGOs in Laos. The findings suggest three key factors are critical for enhancing Lao competitiveness: factor endowments, the role of government, and global integration. Laos‘ factor endowments include hydropower, mining, agriculture, garment and textile industries, and services. Laos is interacting more with the global economy as it gets set to embrace membership of the World Trade Organisation after approximately 15 years of membership of ASEAN. The government is playing a critical role by developing Lao factor endowments and developing policies required for global integration. However, the country faces challenges of value addition to the existing natural resources, developing and leveraging human capital, and further improvement in rules and regulations.</p>

scholarly journals How Can National Competitiveness of Less Developed Countries be Enhanced? : A Case Study of Laos

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Phoxai Inthaboualy
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Less Developed Countries ◽  
Global Integration ◽  
Factor Endowments ◽  
National Competitiveness ◽  
The Government

<p>The current literature focuses primarily on the national competitiveness of developed or developing economies. However, minimal research exists on understanding the national competitiveness of less developed countries (LDCs) whose strengths in factor endowments, government institutions and the extent of global integration are not the same as those of developed or developing countries. This study aims to fill this research gap by exploring factors contributing to the competitiveness of Laos. Laos is a small, poor and land-locked country in Southeast Asia with rich natural resources. To achieve the study objectives, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior government officials, industrial representatives, professors and NGOs in Laos. The findings suggest three key factors are critical for enhancing Lao competitiveness: factor endowments, the role of government, and global integration. Laos‘ factor endowments include hydropower, mining, agriculture, garment and textile industries, and services. Laos is interacting more with the global economy as it gets set to embrace membership of the World Trade Organisation after approximately 15 years of membership of ASEAN. The government is playing a critical role by developing Lao factor endowments and developing policies required for global integration. However, the country faces challenges of value addition to the existing natural resources, developing and leveraging human capital, and further improvement in rules and regulations.</p>

A Multimethod Study of Enterprise Social Media Implementation and Use

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hillol Bala ◽  
Anne P. Massey ◽  
Christine J. Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Fortune 500 ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
It Adoption ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Enterprise Social Media ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Paradoxical Finding

Enterprise social media (ESM) are web-based platforms dedicated to corporate-based communication and collaboration. Although the practitioner literature and industry reports have suggested the potential value of ESM for organizations, there has been limited research that focuses on employees' reactions to ESM implementation and their post-implementation use behaviors. The authors conducted a mixed methods study of a large-scale ESM implementation in a Fortune 500 manufacturing company and found that widely used IT adoption models and determinants failed to explain employees' ESM use. To help explain this paradoxical finding, the authors leveraged their qualitative data and found several major challenges, both internal and external, that the company faced during ESM implementation. Their findings have a number of generalizable lessons for practice as well as implications for research.

scholarly journals Potential impact of traffic densification on rail freight transport cost in Sub-Saharan Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anneke de Bod ◽  
Jan Hendrik Havenga ◽  
W.J. Pienaar
Keyword(s):  
Cost Reduction ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Transport Cost ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Significant Cost Reduction ◽  
Ssa Countries

This article highlights the significant cost-reduction opportunities possible through the densification of rail freight traffic, especially over longer distances, and the concomitant implications for increased profitability for railway organisations in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Densification opportunities should also focus on the development of transport corridors throughout the region. SSA countries themselves can play a critical role in unlocking this potential by, inter alia, simplifying regional economic agreements. As with most other initiatives in SSA, unlocking this potential will require efficient cross-country collaboration.

scholarly journals Volatility in Discretionary Public Spending and Economic Growth: A Cross Country Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-68
Author(s):  
Muhsin Ali ◽  
Karim Khan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Potential Control ◽  
Country Analysis ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact

Volatility in discretionary public spending has diverse implications for the overall economic performance of economies. In this study, we examine the impact of volatile non�systematic discretionary public spending on economic growth. By employing cross-country data of 74 developed and developing economies, we find that volatility in non-systematic discretionary public spending has an adverse impact on economic growth. In particular, such impact is severe in the case of less developed economies. Our findings are robust to the problem of endogeneity. In order to ensure the accuracy of the results, we conduct sufficient sensitivity analysis by incorporating a bunch of potential control variables. In most of the cases, the results with regard to the policy volatility remain intact. This suggests that effective spending rules, i.e. permanent numerical limits, should be imposed on budgetary aggregates to restrain governments from the volatile use of discretionary spending. JEL Classification: H3; H5 Keywords: Volatility in Discretionary Public Spending, Economic Growth, Effective Spending Rule

scholarly journals The Role and Challenges of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Smes) in Emerging Economies: An Analysis from Turkey

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hande Karadag
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Major Elements ◽  
Turkish Economy ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
New Jobs

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form a large part of economy. As SME sector has a crucial role in creating new jobs, economic growth and innovation, these economic units are worldwide acknowledged as the key actors of socioeconomic development. In Turkey, significance of SMEs is relatively higher, caused by not only from their huge share in the economy, amounting to 99.9% of all registered enterprises, but also their “backbone” function in the dynamic but turbulent Turkish economy. As Turkey experienced severe economic crises during the recent decades, SMEs became one of the major elements of the growth and development policies of regulatory authorities. This paper aims to address this critical role of small and medium sized companies by investigating factors behind the rising popularity of SME sector in Turkey, while at the same time pinpointing the major adventageous and problematic areas. Turkey is among major emerging economies, therefore the analysis this expected to make a significant contribution to literature about small business sector in developing economies by taking the factors constraining the growth of Turkish SME sector to the spotlight.

scholarly journals Driving improved value for money in the New Zealand public sector

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Len Cook ◽  
Robert Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sector Performance ◽  
Education Science ◽  
Back Office

The new, National-led government is seeking a significant lift in productivity and economic growth. Raising the performance of the public sector is central to achieving such an objective. In our view, improving public sector performance is unlikely if we rely solely on the management tools and approaches introduced some 20 years ago. Nor will periodic budget cuts and reductions in ‘back office’ resources result in the level of improvement desired (Cook and Hughes, 2009). Rather, the focus should be on how the public sector can stimulate innovation and economic transformation through its critical role as the leader of several large, pervasive value chains,  such as health, education, science, justice and social services.

scholarly journals Food and water security in developing economies: impact of the pandemic and possible interventions

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. S32-S38
Author(s):  
Solomon Akinremi Makanjuola ◽  
Cecilia Medupin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Water Quality Data ◽  
Water Issues

Introduction: Pandemics are unexpected and unplanned events that can have serious impact on food and water security especially in countries with weak food and water systems. Objectives: This article discusses factors that could affect food and water security in developing countries and provides possible solutions for mitigating food and water issues that could arise due to pandemics. Methods: Searches were made on Google scholar and using the keywords “food and water security in pandemic” between May and October 2020 and published articles related to developing countries were obtained and reviewed. Results: Factors identified include: weak ‘food routes to consumers’, lockdown and impaired logistics, poor consumer purchasing power, scarcity of water resources, unavailable water quality data and poor wastewater treatment works. Approaches to mitigate impact of these identified factors such as possibilities of harnessing available natural resources such as solar energy and nature-based solutions for freshwater were also discussed. Conclusions: Collaboration between representatives from the local communities, government, and academics/researchers would play a critical role in mitigating these impacts. The outcome of our article may also extend to those working directly with public groups, including those undertaking public engagement with environmental research, government policymakers, research managers and professional membership institutions. Keywords: Food security, water security, pandemic, lockdown, logistics, freshwater.

ENERGY INSECURITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND THE ROLE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY: A CROSS-COUNTRY PANEL ANALYSIS

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIANG XU ◽  
JIAN YU ◽  
DAYONG ZHANG ◽  
QIANG JI
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Price Effects ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Energy Share ◽  
Sustainability Problems

Many countries rely on the international energy market as their main energy supplier, thus leading to issues of insecurity. Energy insecurity can potentially hinder economic growth and cause sustainability problems. This paper builds on cross-country panel data and estimates the relationship between energy insecurity and economic growth. We explore the multi-dimensional feature of energy insecurity through energy dependency, renewable energy share, and price effects. Our results show statistically significant negative impacts on growth due to energy insecurity, but the effects are mostly relevant to developing economies. Moreover, we show that the development renewable energy sector can mitigate the negative effects.

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