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5943 results in Economics: general interest

Page 51 of 298

A Textbook of Cultural Economics
  • 2nd edition
  • Ruth Towse
  • Published online:
    26 July 2019
    Print publication:
    15 August 2019
  • Now in its second edition, A Textbook of Cultural Economics is an established resource for many courses, including economics of the arts, the cultural and media industries, and the digital creative economy. Authored by Ruth Towse, a widely recognised expert in cultural economics, the book offers a comprehensive, up-to-date overview and analysis of the field in the digital era. Written in an accessible style, and with suggestions for further reading, it covers a range of topics, from the more traditional arts to the creative industries (such as music, film, games, broadcasting, and publishing), as well as the economics of artists' labour, markets and copyright. This second edition considers the creative economy up to the present, emphasising the role of digitisation across the creative industries. It will appeal to students taking courses in the economics of art and culture, and can also be used in courses on arts management and cultural policy.
Evolutionary Economics

Evolutionary Economics
  • Its Nature and Future
  • Geoffrey M. Hodgson
  • Published online:
    15 July 2019
    Print publication:
    17 October 2019
  • This Element examines the historical emergence of evolutionary economics, its development into a strong research theme after 1980, and how it has hosted a diverse set of approaches. Its focus on complexity, economic dynamics and bounded rationality is underlined. Its core ideas are compared with those of mainstream economics. But while evolutionary economics has inspired research in a number of areas in business studies and social science, these have become specialized and fragmented. Evolutionary economics lacks a sufficiently-developed core theory that might promote greater conversation across these fields. A possible unifying framework is generalized Darwinism. Stronger links could also be made with other areas of evolutionary research, such as with evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary psychology. As evolutionary economics has migrated from departments of economics to business schools, institutes of innovation studies and elsewhere, it also needs to address the problem of its lack of a single disciplinary location within academia.

  • Chapter 10 - Strategies for Supporting an Evolving Business

  • from PART THREE - BUILDING TALENT AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 178-195

  • Summary

    “Every single social and global issue of our day is an opportunity in disguise.”

    PETER DRUCKER

    I have probably impressed upon you by now that creating a sustainable business model requires a shared commitment within an organization to have social and economic interests simultaneously guide the business. The role of talent development is to help shape the dialog, develop early advocates, capture new knowledge, and anchor the best practices in a new business culture. To use an analogy, you are creating a new building from the ground up, while standing in the framework of the old one.

    I learned some of the most important concepts about talent and sustainability from two dissimilar organizations: the United Nations and Galaxy Entertainment. At face value, these organizations don't have much in common, but both operate in talent-constrained environments. When I joined the UN in 2002 as chief learning officer of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), all open positions in the Learning Resources Center were filled prior to my arrival. The reasoning was that a full complement of staff would allow me to hit the ground running. Coming from the private sector, my feeling was the opposite. Leave the positions open until I have the chance to assess our talent requirements. The problem as I saw it was that if you hired first and then created your strategy, it was unlikely that the resources would match.

    Working within the UN system was always of matter of working with a highly diverse set of talent and structured work rules. Although the structure initially felt constraining, I understood fairly quickly that most people joined the UN because they wanted to make a difference. I had a team of people from Peru, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, India, Taiwan, Argentina, the US, and another half dozen countries in my New York office alone. In addition, my 156 learning managers represented almost as many countries and cultures. Essentially, I was the outsider joining a community that was purpose driven. The successful talent strategy was about discovering each person's ability, redesigning services to match capabilities, encouraging a shared sense of purpose, and developing partnerships to fill capability gaps. Going in a direction contrary to the system was a losing proposition. Success was about removing barriers and finding new doors to open and unlocking potential.

  • Chapter 7 - Anchoring Sustainability into the DNA of Your Business

  • from PART TWO - LEADING THE SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA
  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 112-130

  • Summary

    “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence— it is to act with yesterday's logic.”

    PETER DRUCKER

    Sustainability is now and will continue to be a major driver of innovation. I believe this fervently, and your interest in reading this book suggests you believe this too. While you might be prepared to take my word for it, this view is also the opinion of change agents at global and local companies and thought leaders around the world. Businesses as diverse as Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Kellogg, and Microsoft have committed to making products that are more respectful of the resources consumed, the employees who make and deliver their products and services, and their customers. This practice is partly driven by government mandate, but also by consumer sentiment. According to research firm Nielsen, “66% of global consumers say they're willing to pay more for sustainable brands—up from 55% in 2014. 73% of global millennials are willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings—up from 50% in 2014.”

    Audrey Choi, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley's Institute for Sustainable Investing; Chris McKnett, managing director and head ESG investing strategist at State Street Global Advisors; Christine Bader, Amazon's former director of social responsibility; and Harish Manwani, Unilever's former chief operating officer, have made similar arguments for sustainable business practices. In fact, more than nine thousand companies and three thousand noncommercial organizations have signed on to the United Nations Global Compact, and thousands of companies now file corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports.

    Yet as we look across the landscape of global commerce, we need to ask how many companies are fully committed to sustainability. In 2015 and 2016, we surveyed talent development professionals and asked, “Do you teach sustainability and social responsibility in your leadership development programs?” The results are shown in Table 7.1.

    As we examined the data, we concluded that no company had integrated sustainability to a significant degree in training and development across all functions. In 2016, companies that responded in the affirmative to our question typically taught a small number of courses on sustainability, with the following being true:

  • • Most had done so only in one leadership program or in briefings about corporate social responsibility.

  • Afterword

  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 237-240

  • Summary

    My great-grandfather Matthew McAteer died long before I was born. Yet he created a legacy for me that endures. He would have lived in Northern Ireland at a time of great transition. His forefathers would have spoken Gaelic, but he lived in a generation where the call of jobs from the United States and England made the English language a necessity. The name McAteer, spoken Mac an tSaoir in Gaelic, means son of a craftsman. For Matthew and several generations of McAteers, the factories, railroads, and construction sites of the United States were a place where the sons of craftsmen could earn upward mobility and the opportunity of a better life. His generation and those that followed deserve credit for unlocking opportunities and creating the innovations that define our life today.

    During Matthew's life, the basic science of global warming was established, and during his son's generation the world experienced a new era of innovation and industrial development unlike any seen before. My father and mother experienced both the advantages of that industrial era and the problems unleashed by new social and economic challenges. They grew up in the Great Depression and survived World War 2. Insightful leaders of the time oversaw the creation of the United Nations and many of the intergovernmental bodies that try to manage the challenges of sustainable development. With each generation we made progress, yet we have left much to be done. Although the UN held its first Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) the year I was born, almost two thirds of the ocean remains nominally regulated with no overall enforcement mechanism for violations. The post–World War 2 era saw the benefits of decolonization, but it also saw an increase in deforestation and ocean dumping, and a weakening of the earth's ozone layer.

    My great-grandfather's personal story and that of the family members that followed are not unlike those lived by many families of immigrants today. They seek a good job, safety and security, and the opportunity to do better. Each generation—Matthew's and the four that followed— inherited a world of greater economic prosperity and knowledge.

  • Chapter 5 - It Always Starts with One Committed Leader

  • from PART TWO - LEADING THE SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA
  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 81-99

  • Summary

    “Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.”

    THEODORE ROOSEVELT

    It is a truism that effecting change starts with a great leader. INSEAD professor Manfred Kets de Vries describes effective leaders as having two key roles. The first is the role of “architect” to design an organization with the right strategy and structure. The second is a “charismatic role” to communicate clarity of purpose and empower others to achieve success.

    If I use a consulting metaphor, a new engagement is often framed with two points: determining a “point of focus,” or where the organization wants to be in the future, and the “point of entry,” the activity that will be our first project. Both are important and indicative of the scale of the challenge, the resources available, and the tolerance for risk. Inevitably, the goal of the consulting engagement is to help drive business transformation (Figure 5.1). The potential scale of the impact on the business and the inherent degree of risk will determine who runs it. It either becomes the direct project of the CEO or a handpicked senior leader deemed capable of driving change. These kinds of assignments are highly developmental and often transformational for personal careers.

    Where Change Can Begin: The Demonstration Project

    For many companies, the point of entry for a sustainability leader will be a demonstration project, which is generally an opportunity to test ideas and build both political and social capital within the organization. The choice of a demonstration project as the first step in a transformation process is supported by data. For example, in a 2016 McKinsey survey, more than half of 2400 companies surveyed had made investments in energy-efficient equipment and one-third of those were making use of renewable sources of energy. These types of efficiency goals are often the first attempts at sustainability undertaken by large companies, because they offer a well-understood return on investment. However, that same survey indicated that only 29 percent of companies managed their business portfolio so as to capitalize on trends in sustainability. The takeaway here is that changing your business portfolio carries too much risk to be a starting point. Creating a demonstration project allows you to experiment in a more controlled environment.

  • Chapter 9 - Building Your Talent Plan

  • from PART THREE - BUILDING TALENT AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 157-177

  • Summary

    “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies.”

    LAWRENCE BOSSIDY

    The United Nations is a unique organization, and in many ways it provided me with a range of talent development experiences. One challenge was to assess and prepare potential leadership candidates for the top jobs in country offices, called the resident coordinator or RC and the resident representative or RR. My role was to help the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) prepare a slate of three potential leadership candidates. My recommendations would be passed to the agency head and secretary general for discussion with the foreign ministry of that particularly country. Along the way, my partner colleagues and I needed to make sure that (1) the candidate slates had strong gender diversity; (2) member countries and regions were appropriately represented; and (3) candidates were highly qualified and possessed exceptional language skills. We typically rotated candidates on three- to six-year assignments to keep the positions fresh and avoid any issues of corruption or influence. A great deal of pressure was exerted on resident coordinators, as they were constantly moving into new roles and trying to develop high-performing teams at each new location.

    I recently interviewed a colleague from my time at the UN, Richard Dictus, now serving as RR for UNDP and RC for the UN in Egypt, to discuss the importance of sustainability and talent development. He commented that “Corporations are major actors in sustainability, although engagement with SMEs is not always as strong in emerging economies. The role of the UN is not to tell corporations what to do, but to create ‘moments of realization’ and then to facilitate work on very specific issues with measurable outcomes.” From a talent development perspective, let us consider how Richard would be prepared for this role. His background provides context.

    Richard spent time as deputy director of human resources for UNDP. It is a positive practice for senior leaders to spend time in a staff function, as this helps them gain an appreciation for the challenges and business outcomes associated with key business functions.

  • Chapter 8 - Discovery, Value, and the Sharing of New Knowledge

  • from PART THREE - BUILDING TALENT AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 133-156

  • Summary

    “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.”

    ARIE DE GEUS

    Joe Haberman is managing partner for the Global Education Markets Practice at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. As an observer of education market trends for almost twenty years, he suggests that senior talent development roles have changed:

    The roles today are much more broadly defined. On the corporate side, learning is tied much more into culture change and delivering value though accessibility, social engagement, and knowledge sharing. It's not about training per se, but making the organization more adaptive. In higher education, it's more about outcomes and a tighter orientation between higher education and workforce collaboration. The better corporate environments are all about the value of learning and competitive advantage.

    The purpose of any talent strategy is to support your organization's competitive advantage. The key is to connect investments with a key driver (e.g., improved product quality; productivity or service; enhanced social outcomes; improved efficiency). When executed well, greater and more differentiated investments in talent development result in specific competitive strengths that lead to both a successful business over time and a balanced triple bottom line.

    A talent development plan for a sustainable business looks at how an organization develops, consumes, shares, and transforms knowledge into business outcomes in the context of broader boundaries and both economic and social goals. The key is to look at the organization as well as the broader market as an experience engine. Ask yourself these questions:

  • • Where do I see high-value interactions that provide unique insight?

  • • Can I tap into the performance value of any experience as well as the developmental value?

  • • How do I convert that experience into sharable knowledge and repeatable action?

  • • How do I move from successful talent development with an individual or a team to scale?

    • The first half of this challenge is to understand how a learning environment can be created to enable the discovery of knowledge for a sustainable business, and the other half is to understand the value of that knowledge and where to make the right investments.

    As discussed earlier, new sustainable business models will necessitate changes in job boundaries and performance values. New knowledge will be required.

  • Chapter 3 - Sustainability and Emerging Business Models

  • from PART ONE - SUSTAINABILITY AND THE EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS
  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 44-61

  • Summary

    “You never change something by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

    BUCKMINSTER FULLER

    With a definition of sustainability in hand that aligns with your business, the next goal is to consider how your business model may change. There are two important considerations: First, how bold is your change in strategy? And second, what capabilities do you have to support that strategy?

    For a bold few, sustainability offers the opportunity to reinvent their business. Early adopters validate the market opportunity and help establish the ground rules that others follow. Market leaders tend to fit into several categories:

  • • First are companies that are already well aligned with sustainability. This includes companies like outdoor apparel company Patagonia that has established itself as a market-leading benefit corporation. Patagonia has long been a champion of environmental and social causes that align well with its core customer base. Many of the early adopters of different models were already aligned with key sustainability values. The new definitions and models gave them the opportunity to codify their value propositions and offered membership in a larger community of like-minded organizations.

  • • Second are companies where the major shareholders, owners, or founders drive change because of their vision and values. W.S. Badger (health and beauty), Tesla (energy and transportation), and Galaxy Entertainment (hotels and casinos) are all examples of companies in which the wishes and support of the founder and majority shareholders have enormous influence.

  • • Third are companies making the economic argument that sustainability is the “land of opportunity.” Some are new startups like NooTrees, a Singapore-based company that makes paper products from sustainable bamboo sources and is tapping into the growing interest in alternative “green” products. Others, like CropEnergies of the Sudzucker Group in Germany, make biofuels that reduce greenhouse gases by substantial amounts over traditional fuel sources. Changing economics in the energy sector in particular have made moves into wind and solar energy a smart bet for investors.

    • To accelerate sustainable change, we need a fourth category of “bold companies”—large and small businesses that make everyday products.

  • Chapter 2 - Connecting Sustainability to Your Life Experience

  • from PART ONE - SUSTAINABILITY AND THE EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS
  • Peter McAteer
  • Book:
    Sustainability Is the New Advantage
    Published by:
    Anthem Press
    Published online:
    29 May 2019
    Print publication:
    30 March 2019, pp 27-43

  • Summary

    “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

    JANE GOODALL

    In 2002, I was recruited to join the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). UNDP was founded in 1965 to “eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities through the sustainable development of nations.” When founded, UNDP was one of only a few global development players, and its mandate was to fund development programs in emerging and post-crisis economies. By 2002, the world had changed and new players like the Gates Foundation and hundreds of large nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were now offering services. I was asked to restructure the training and development and knowledgemanagement functions so that UNDP could operate as a more modern advisory services organization in the business of global development.

    I was not hired for my grip on global poverty, the environment, or post-crisis development challenges, but rather for my experience with organizational learning and knowledge-based organizations. Mark Malloch Brown, then head of UNDP, was attempting to transform the organization from a funding agency to an advisory and professional services firm specializing in development. The United Nations had recently passed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that served as the new development framework. For the first time, most countries in the world agreed to a broad-based and common development agenda with goals, desired outcomes, and time lines.

    To support the MDG effort, we restructured UNDP (leading change was something I was familiar with) to focus on six key practice areas:

  • • sustainable energy and environment;

  • • poverty reduction;

  • • democratic governance;

  • • HIV/AIDS;

  • • information and communication technology (ICT) for development; and

  • • crisis prevention and recovery.

    • The largest of the practice areas was sustainable energy and the environment, which had an investment of over US$10 billion in the decade prior to my joining. All of these practice areas and the original MDGs form the heart of what we now call the “global sustainability agenda.”

    As I started my new job, I tasked myself with building greater foundation knowledge in our core practice areas.

Page 51 of 298