Strategic Innovation, Foresight and the Deployment of Project Portfolio Management under Mid-Range Planning Conditions in Medium-Sized Firms

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ability of a firm to innovate and absorb its innovative developments by borrowing concepts and models from project portfolio management (PPM). Using past research and the existing literature, it evaluates the potential to apply PPM to the medium-term strategic planning efforts of small- and medium-sized firms. The implementation of strategic innovation requires organizations to develop both a dynamic culture and flexible internal systems that yield to major external changes in their industry as well as internal resource changes. Such changes could include supply or value chain adjustments, changes in consumer behavior, re-allocation of internal resources or the responses of competitors. This paper examines the planning and implementation of project portfolio management tools in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (50–250 employees) with a mid-range (2–4 years) planning horizon that are required to innovate in a strategic context to remain competitive or to take advantage of new opportunities. It relates strategic foresight to the ability of the firm to adjust tactically, including in the utilization and development of internal tools, processes, systems and culture. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the potential for PPM methodologies and models to support decision making in a strategic context in SMEs, an area that is under-represented in the research on strategy. It also relates this foresight with strategic innovation and draws parallels between the strategic management planning process and the use of project portfolio management models. It argues that strategic innovation is closely tied with the ability not just to innovate but to absorb this innovation within the organizational processes and build organizational maturity. It also examines the potential use of project portfolio management models to aid strategic innovation. The use of PPM models in support of strategic innovation may contribute to the sustainability of SMEs as businesses and to the potential to identify new business models that enhance the sustainability of a firm’s competitive advantage, particularly in mid-term.

Conceptual Model Based on Normative Multi-Agent System for Supply Chain Integration of Brazilian Gypsum LPA

The Brazilian gypsum has one of the highest levels of recognized mineral qualities in the world. Companies that operate in this sector support major economy-driving industries such as civil construction, architecture, medicine, and agriculture and are an input for the manufacture of paints, phosphors, and insecticides, among others. Most of the companies that constitute this sector are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which require supply chain solutions to maintain competition in market share. Supply chain integration as a collaborative solution has become a necessary strategy for enhancing SMEs decision-making capability. This study proposes a conceptual model based on a normative multi-agent system approach that offers a dynamic view about supply chain integration for managers and other stakeholders. From this contribution, it is possible to obtain constant information flow among stakeholders and build an effective strategic context for SMEs in the Brazilian Gypsum Local Productive Arrangement (LPA).

Campaigning on the Ability to Govern: A Study of Strategic References to Competence Made by Political Parties in Europe

One of the sources of the incumbent advantage over the challenger in a two-candidate election is the possibility of referring to accomplishments in office. Incumbents exploit this resource in their campaigning rhetoric by putting greater emphasis on competence than challengers do. However, this tendency has not been tested outside two-party systems yet. In multiparty settings, the outgoing government, often formed by a coalition of parties, faces multiple opposition forces. This can change the strategic context of the competition, so the generalizations made in two-party systems may not be adequate. Using the Comparative Campaign Dynamics Dataset, I demonstrate that the tendency to put more emphasis on competence does not apply to government parties in multiparty elections in Europe. However, parties with better positions in the pre-electoral polls are more likely to emphasize traits associated with the ability to govern efficiently during the campaign.

Exploring strategic perspectives on the Special Constabulary

This article explores senior and strategic perspectives on the volunteer Special Constabulary in England and Wales, based on 38 interviews with senior police leaders. The strategic context and leadership of Special Constabularies represents an overlooked element of police leadership, given the scale and potential of volunteer officers to impact upon policing delivery and reform. The paper identifies tension between a traditional strategic paradigm that frames bounded expectations of the role of Special Constables, emphasising differences between them and their paid counterparts, and considerations of police reform which prompt different thinking in respect of practice, identity and integration of volunteer officers.

The European Union and Peacebuilding

This chapter looks at the European Union’s peacebuilding approach. The chapter argues that the EU has moved from a hyperliberal idealist approach based on conditionality, social learning, and passive enforcement to building peace and reconstructing states to a more bottom-up principled pragmatism centered around supporting states’ and societies’ resilience and integrating the EU’s capabilities and instruments to leverage greater and above all more coherent impact. To trace this journey, this chapter will briefly recount what the EU’s approach to peacebuilding looked like in the 1990s and 2000s, notably in the Union’s surrounding regions, and what it is now transforming into, largely as a result of the changed strategic context both in Europe and in the wider world.

New Climate Activism between Politics and Law: Analyzing the Strategy of the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz

Since 2016, a group of senior women organized in the association KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz have been trying to legally force the Swiss government to take stronger climate protection measures. Parallel to the pursuit of a climate lawsuit, the KlimaSeniorinnen have developed into a growing social movement that is present in the media and participates in the public debate on climate change. Building on this specific climate litigation case, the present article analyzes the strategy formation of new actors in the field of climate governance. Based on existing concepts of social movement research, the strategy formation of the KlimaSeniorinnen is reconstructed in terms of a strategic actor who pursues certain strategic orientations in given strategic contexts. The empirical analysis of the strategic context (by means of opportunity structures), the strategic orientations (via collective action frames), and the strategic actor (by means of interviews) shows a double strategy. On the one hand, the KlimaSeniorinnen attempt to address a specific legal opportunity structure with an ‘injustice frame,’ which emphasizes human rights and the special vulnerability of older women to intense heat waves. On the other hand, they want to mobilize public support for an ambitious climate policy by additionally promoting a ‘grandchildren frame,’ which articulates altruistic values, such as responsibility towards future generations. Based on this analysis, both practical implications and consequences for future research on a new climate politics, which is increasingly taking shape between and across different arenas, are discussed.

Pakistan-China Nuclear Energy Cooperation Emerging: Trends to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals

This paper analyses the bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan specifically in the arena of nuclear cooperation. While describing the chronological civil nuclear collaboration between the two friendly nations it states that both countries cultivated a natural partnership with each other to further strengthen the bilateral ties. Historical cooperation between China and Pakistan in terms of Nuclear Technology was analyzed in the face of the opposition of international regimes critical to nuclear proliferation. To apply neo-realist paradigm, it is concluded that strategic cooperation in terms of nuclear technology is in the interest of both China and Pakistan for two reasons: Fist to balance their belligerent neighboring country India; second, countering the United States involvement in the region. To fulfill Pakistan’s growing energy requirements, Pakistan, must continue its nuclear cooperation and extend it to the scientific research. This cooperation made Pakistan self-sufficient to meet the energy needs and opened new avenues of opportunities. This paper recommends that the strategic partnership between the two nations is inevitable for maintaining balance of power in the region. This research paper will highlight Sino-Pakistan nuclear cooperation in historical as well as in the context of emerging trends of strategic developments, such as the Indo-US nuclear agreement. The Sino-Pakistani nuclear deals aims to meet Pakistan’s growing energy demand. In strategic context, the Sino-Pakistan cooperation aims to maintain balance of power in the region. Data collection will include both primary and secondary sources.