MyCItyLInks is a fortnightly tabloid associating neighborhoods of Bhubaneswar & Cuttack (Odisha). Only not many days after the launch of this tabloid, Prelude Advanced started a teaser fight to make a demeaner of riddle around the inhabitants about what afterward is set to start in the city. As this was the first English tabloid of Odisha, they felt the necessity to uncover it on social media stages in a rather fascinating & engrossing way. Keep reading…
Case Study about Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry
Abstract:~ There are some industries whose strategic innovations are easier and faster to replicate because the products are mostly commodities, one of such industries is the fast-moving consumer goods industry (FMCG). In the fast-moving consumer goods industry, companies face a very difficult, if not almost impossible, task developing a competitive advantage based on differentiation or low cost strategies. The main reason is that competitors match or, even overtake innovations and costs reductions in a very short period. A case study illustrates the competitive dynamics of a market segment of this industry using a behavioral model (Morecroft, Lane, and Viita, 1991). The model captures the management team understanding of the competitive dynamics of the industry.
The case study is based on the strategic launch of a new product aimed to establish a competitive gap between a company and its competitors. The detailed case study was undertaken with a global multi-business firm with interests in consumer goods industries. The case study consists of two parts: a qualitative characterization of the strategic problem facing the company, and a behavioral model that replicates the managerial decision-making processes followed to develop the market for its new product. The modeling team consisted of two system dynamicists and a manager of the company. The management team consisted of senior managers from Marketing, Sales and Manufacturing, who were responsible for thedevelopment of the new product market. Keep reading…
Summary: The Joint Commissioning Unit of Bristol’s Children and Young People’s (CYP) Partnership has worked in collaboration with a local third sector infrastructure agency, Voscur, to develop and deliver training on outcome-based commissioning for third sector providers. This reflects training undertaken by commissioners themselves, as the CYP Partnership introduces an outcome-based approach to delivery of the Children’s Trust priorities. Other joint work between the Council and the third sector in Bristol has lead to: the revision and re-launch of the local Compact; fresh consultation on the funding and commissioning sections of this agreement, including steps toward a shared approach to full cost recovery; and improvements to the Council’s e-procurement system. It is too early to say what the impact of this work will be but it is already enhancing constructive dialogue between third sector providers and commissioners.
Background: Bristol City Council, like many local authorities, has a whole range of funding arrangements with a wide variety of voluntary and community organisations (VCOs). With the introduction of the Children’s Trust model, Bristol partners were keen to develop an outcome-based approach to commissioning which would also make financial relationships more transparent and systematic in future. The Joint Commissioning Unit, set up to deliver this new approach, brought in the Centre for Public Innovation to deliver training to CYP commissioners on outcome-based commissioning. There was a clear recognition that the new approach would only work if the provider market also had access to training. Voscur, which is one of five local infrastructure organisations in Bristol’s ChangeUp consortium, was identified as the agency best placed to work with the Joint Commissioning Unit to develop and deliver this provider training. Although initially intended for all providers, 95% of participants to date have been from the vluntary and community sector (VCS). Keep reading…
A Study of the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme
Abstract: This article critically analyses the FISP to interrogate the claims that it could be the model for the rest of Africa to emulate in a bid to revive the fledging agricultural sector after years of neglect. A critical analysis reveals that the FISP is a qualified and not an absolute success as propagated in the calls for it to serve as a model for implementing smart subsidy across the continent. It further shows how the FISP has been exploited in terms of design, implementation and management to achieve political dividends while guaranteeing food security since its launch in the 2005/06 growing season. The main argument of this article is that challenging the absolute success narrative of the FISP is critical because it would enable African countries to adapt it to the uniqueness of their domestic political, economic and social realities.
Introduction: This paper draws extensively from fieldwork conducted between August and December 2010. The main aim of the fieldwork was to critically analyze the widely acclaimed Malawi’s success story in showing the rest of Africa how to implement smart subsidy as a way of kick-starting the fledging agricultural sector after decades of sheer neglect. Malawi has become a regular feature in global policy discussions about food security and the possibility of a uniquely African green revolution following the tremendous success of the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP). The FISP has been implemented since the 2005/06growing season and during this period; Malawi has successfully produced enough maize to meet its national food requirements estimated at 2.1 million metric tonnes per year. Keep reading..
A Study about Influence of Convergence: Newsroom Work
Abstract:~ Media General attracted considerable industry attention in the United States when it opened the Tampa News Center and placed the operations of The Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV, and the Tampa Bay Online service under the same roof. To understand the meaning of this media convergence experiment, the changes in the newsroom culture, and the type of job skills necessary in a convergent newsroom, we analyzed relevant trade press accounts and conducted in-depth interviews with 12 staff members of the News Center. Respondents viewed media convergence and its impact in the newsroom primarily as a tool to produce either combined or additional newsgathering resources. The interviewed journalists felt that they now concentrate more on multimedia storytelling and have increased their level of knowledge of the other two platforms.
Introduction:~ When Media General’s Tampa News Center opened its doors with fanfare in March 2000, it stimulated considerable interest and trepidation among media professionals, but also a sense of uncertainty. On the one hand, some in management felt that this type of cross-platform consolidation was inevitable in the highly competitive news business and could herald a new model for newsrooms across the country (e.g., Steinberg and Sorkin, 2003; Thelen, 2002). Others in the profession, however, were more skeptical and expressed concern about the impact of this convergence experiment on the culture of the newsroom and employment opportunities (e.g., Sanders, 2003; Strupp, 2000). Three years after the launch of this unique initiative, it is time to revisit how some employees at the Tampa News Center construct the meaning of media convergence and how they perceive it has affected their work environment and skills development. keep reading…
The Responsible Investment (RI) industry is a continually growing and changing field that encompasses institutional investors, asset managers and financial service providers. Since the launch of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2006, a number of innovations, initiatives and events have moved the industry significantly forward. The Principles now represent more than 800 signatories and over $20 trillion in assets under management.
The RI field has made progress on many fronts: tools for accessing information about environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues are increasingly available, and publicly available data around corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability practices is continually expanding; institutional investment strategies focusing on ESG-themed investments or integrating ESG factors into the investment decision-making process are common across many traditional and alternative asset lasses; and, finally, research into the relationship between financial performance and ESG factors, both academic and applied, continues to improve in quantity and quality. Keep reading…
Executive Summary: Impact Assessment Study of Socio-Economic Development Programmes in Himachal Pradesh, sponsored by the Planning Commission, Government of India has been conducted by Asia pacific Socio-Economic Research Institute, New Delhi from December 1999 to February 2000. 2. For socio-economic development of the country – a cherished goal before the planners since the launch of the First Five Year Plan – development strategy has undergone important adaptations in successive Plans reflecting both changing conditions and fresh experiences.
‘Trickle Down Theory’ of the first two decades of planned development was replaced by direct interventionist policy for target oriented groups. Expansion of employment opportunities was found necessary for poverty alleviation and effective utilization of human resources for economic and social development. Keep reading..
Case Study aboout Harvesting for the future – Bokamoso ESOP
In October 2006, AngloGold Ashanti Limited, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity, UASA and Izingwe Holdings (Pty) Limited (Izingwe Holdings) jointly announced the launch of an employee share ownership plan (ESOP), together with a black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction. These transactions will result in 1.9% of AngloGold Ashanti’s share capital – worth some R1.8 billion – being transferred into the hands of non-managerial employees and a BEE consortium. Shareholders voted in favour of the transactions at a general meeting in December 2006. Managerial employees currently participate in a share participation scheme.
AngloGold Ashanti CEO Bobby Godsell says that this transaction is intended both to align employee rewards more closely with the company’s share price, and simultaneously to give effect to the undertakings made to the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) at the time the company gained its mineral rights conversions in August 2005. The company undertook to establish an ESOP and a BEE transaction equivalent to at least 6% of the value of the company’s South African operations. The establishment of the ESOP involved an in-depth process of consultation between AngloGold Ashanti and the three representative unions making the process adopted unusual in the South African context. These consultations lasted for almost a year and were marked by attempts to reach consensus on all material issues, a goal which the parties believe was achieved. Keep reading…
Introduction: Aid for Trade (AfT) has increased in importance since its launch in 2005 and has become a key component of international aid. Aid for Trade has been devised as a facility to advance the integration of developing countries into the world economy, to assist least developed countries (LDC) in achieving greater selfreliance, and to enhance the capacity of the developing world to reach the human development objectives of the Millennium Development Goals. The steady growth of AfT disbursements over the last years, which at present represent over 25 percent of all official development assistance (ODA) flows, explains the deep interest of all stakeholders within the development community to evaluate the effectiveness of AfT initiatives and programmes.
The survey presented in this paper has been conducted in preparation for the Third Global Review of AfT, to be held in July 2011, which will focus on assessing the impact of AfT on economic growth, trade creation and poverty reduction. The AfT work programme for 2011 also aims to ensure greater involvement of the private sector, which is the principal concern of this study. Keep reading…
Case Study about Community Participation in Road Maintenance
Introduction: The Western Uganda Road Maintenance Capacity Building Project (WURMCBP), under the Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications (MoWHC), began in May 1996 and is expected to run for over 4½ years. The project has a goal of promoting economic development and reducing poverty in Western Uganda. To achieve this the project’s purpose is to establish an improved and responsive system for the sustainable maintenance of 1,157 km of rehabilitated gravel roads. This involves the rehabilitation of 974km of selected gravel roads in six districts of Western Uganda, these being Bundibugyo, Hoima, Kabarole, Kibale, Masindi and Mubende.
Community Participation Component: The community participation component of the WURMCBP is a new and innovative approach to community participation at this level of the road sector. The project is seen as a pilot for new community participation methods working on an informed trial and error basis, with milestones for review at each phase. The initial approach was developed during the inception phase when a local consultant was employed to assess community views on road improvements, maintenance requirements, design features and opportunities for community labour and materials contributions. After this study a project launch workshop was held at Hoima in 1996. Keep reading..
