The business of food production has undergone significant revolutions through the innovations of the Industrial Revolution, a division of labor, genetically modified crops, the growth of sustainability, and use of farming robots, computers, and drones.An invasive business, economic, and public policy phenomenon that is driving technology integration in the food and agriculture industry is technological determinism.Technological determinism is the continuous integration of technologies to enhance society and existing processes and practices with little regard to institutional and organizational cultural implications.Without a doubt, technological determinism is a significant contributor for advancing the business and policy uses of technology in farming and agricultural practices.This paper uses relevant food security public policy literature to discuss the benefits and cyber risks to technology-driven food production approaches.
Bosnia and Herzegovina intends to become a member of the EU, and then to join the EMU. A key issue for B&H is to achieve a higher level of competitiveness to increase potential benefits and reduce the potential costs of membership in the single eurozone market. The subject of this paper is an analysis of economic policy measures to increase the competitiveness of the B&H economy for the monetary union and the introduction of the euro. Due to the currency board rules, fiscal policy and tax reform have a relatively high importance in creating greater competitiveness. B&H cannot apply nominal devaluation, but real depreciation has to be achieved by measures of structural reforms of internal adjustment. Internal adjustment, i.e. deflation as a way of real depreciation and creating greater competitiveness, should be implemented through fiscal consolidation and tax reform. A simple, efficient and relatively more competitive tax system is the basis for the faster economic development of the B&H economy towards EU. The aim of this paper is to propose the direction of economic policy, especially fiscal consolidation and tax reforms to adopt B&H's economy for potentially higher benefits and lower costs, up to the final entry into the EU and EMU. JEL CLASSIFICATIONS: H20
This study uses an innovation systems approach to identify constraints in technology diffusion in machine tools in India. Until early 1980s, government was a significant producer of conventional machine tools. But, with adoption of Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machine tool technology from early 1980s, the innovation system for CNC machine tools shows considerable changes. A review of successful catching-up in East Asian countries helps to identify distinctive features of industrial, technological and institutional structures that supported technology diffusion in these countries. The innovation systems framework shows that while the main actors and institutions are present, their roles are constrained by weak links. Strengthening interconnections in the innovation system requires policy initiatives that will eliminate regulatory and infrastructural constraints, foster supplier networks, build producer-user interface, strengthen industry-academia links and promote spatial cluster dynamics. Such policy measures can also contribute to growth of manufacturing sector and ensure success of the Make in India program. JEL CLASSIFICATIONS: L61, O30, O33
The contribution of innovation to economic growth and development and the "hard" antecedents of innovation performance are well known.What is less known is the impact of the "soft" factors, in particular, socio-cultural forces on the patterns of technological innovation.In this study we evaluate the effects of various types of cultural diversities -ethnic, religious, language and values -on innovation performance of a country.We use well-known measures of ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity within a country as well as a purpose-built values diversity measure to evaluate the impact of innovation performance.Using a sample of 61 countries, we find that cultural diversities influence the inputs of innovation.Greater ethnic diversity within a country has a negative impact on innovation performance while values diversity has a positive effect.Our findings have important policy implications, particularly on immigration policies.
The marketing activities of cities increasingly rely on information providing applications available for smartphones, which supplement and support the information system of cities and its use.Our study aims to explore and identify application functions accessible for mobile phones that are the most essential for consumers, and to make proposals on how to optimise functions available in applications by adjusting them to consumers' needs.Customizing of applications (e.g.local governments, destination managers) are always grappling with a shortage of resources, which is a problem that the measures outlined in this study for defining optimal functions for mobile applications offer an effective solution to, thereby helping to enrich and update contents made available to locals and tourists, and to improve the quality of online services and those available on smart phones.The basic assumption of our study was that different generations of consumers manifest different consumer behaviours in this field, and therefore we analysed data from our primary research with this in mind.We introduce our results in a breakdown by generations and functions.
This paper examines the impact of government expenditure on the economic growth of Nigeria using a disaggregated data set over a seventeen years period from 1999 to 2016.Using ex post facto research method in a multivariate regression methodology, the paper sheds light on how government expenditure influences economic growth in Nigeria.Contrary to a priori expectation the result shows that only expenditure on health has a significant and positive effect on economic growth while the other disaggregated composites show largely positive but insignificant effect on economic growth in Nigeria within the study period.
This study examines how leader-member exchange relates to subordinate's innovative work behavior through intrinsic motivation, psychological empowerment, and creative process engagement.On the basis of an interactional approach, this study hypothesized that (a) there is an interaction between leader-member exchange, intrinsic motivation, and psychological empowerment that affects innovative work behavior, such that leader-member exchange has the strongest positive relationship with innovative work behavior when subordinates have high levels of intrinsic motivation and psychological empowerment; and (b) creative process engagement mediates the effect that this threeway interaction between leader-member exchange, intrinsic motivation, and psychological empowerment has on innovative work behavior.Data were collected from 337 employees and their immediate supervisors (137) from automotive industry.First, subordinates completed measures of their leader-member exchange, intrinsic motivation, and psychological empowerment.Then, the supervisors of these employees assessed their subordinates' innovative work behavior.The results supported the hypotheses.We found that leader-member exchange, intrinsic motivation and psychological empowerment interacted to affect employee innovative work behavior in such a way that when intrinsic motivation and psychological empowerment were both high, leader-member exchange had the strongest positive relationship with innovative work behavior and creative process engagement mediated this relationship.This study is the first of its kind to empirically examine the interactional perspective of leader-member exchange on innovative work behavior through psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement.Theoretical and practical implications and future area of research are discussed at the end.
2016 was announced the year of virtual reality without any true breakthrough in its adoption yet. The usage of the technology has not been as widespread as professional predictions forecast, especially in education. The present paper aims to introduce the definitive theoretical frames and research topics of educational VR, casting light upon the methodological connection between educational VR and forms of learning, the aspects of designing educational VR and its present challenges. Recent studies and surveys concerning the adoption and use of educational VR by teachers, instructors and professors will also be discussed in order to offer a more realistic description of the state of educational VR in global and Central European (Hungarian) contexts.
The article focuses on the deconstruction of Radical Buddhism, and counters the predominant vision of Buddhism being about peace and understanding.Moreover, the article dives into the sociopolitical situation of Sri Lanka and Myanmar, and tries to explain the rise of the radical form of this religion.Therefore, based on the research, it can be understood why Radical Buddhism rose to power in countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
There is confusion in literature as to whether consumer behavior models are myths or heuristic devices.Myths are symbolic tales (believed as true, usually sacred) of the distant past, connected to belief systems or rituals, and may serve to direct social action and values while heuristic device is a provisional and plausible creation whose purpose is to discover the solution of a particular problem at hand.On the other hand, models are theoretical construction and simplified presentation of phenomenon.Notwithstanding the semantics in the definition and description of CB models in the literature, the crux of the matter presents two strange bed fellows: myth and heuristic device, and a number of conundrums are raised: Is it really possible to model a complex, dynamic and unpredictable entity like the consumer?Or is it just a scholarly exercise?To what extent, if necessary, can it help marketers achieve precision in understanding and predicting the customer or consumer behavior?This matter has polarized the scholarly community of marketers for decades.This conceptual paper, therefore, seeks to contribute to this discourse by undertaking an archival survey of the extant literature to look at the two sides of the coins, that is, whether CB is a myth or heuristic device.The study concludes that CB models provide a frame of reference for solving consumer problems and helping to point the way for hypothesis needed for CB theory development.This makes it a heuristic device.The implication is that consumer is at the center of all marketing programmes, scholars and practitioners should understand this and apply it successfully incorporating the views, preferences, feelings, motives and innuendoes of the consumer.
Quality of the faculty is one of the most important components of higher education's quality assurance. Turnover among faculty however could undermine the efficiency, productivity and in some occasions, threats the institution's long term survival. Preliminary interviews with human resource personnel of selected private higher institutions revealed a high turnover rate of 18%. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the reason on why faculty resigns their job. In depth interviews were conducted with faculty members from 5 private universities in Malaysia, using purposive sampling. The NVivo 8 software was used to analyze the data thematically. Seven major themes emerged from the analysis including; employer image, availability of external job opportunities, social media bullying, unfair performance measurement, unfair compensation, work over load and job Insecurity. Although some emerging themes could be traced to previous literatures, an emerging theme of social media bullying warrants further scrutiny. The research results could help private universities to strategize how to minimize the high turnover rates while optimizing the levels of faculty retention. Furthermore this research provides some initial insight on the role of social media bullying in turnover literature.
The present study has been undertaken from the point of view of tourist.An attempt is made to analyse the problems of pilgrimage tourism in Tamil Nadu and concentrates on the various pilgrimages places and attitude of tourists regarding problems of pilgrimage.This study is limited to the temples of Hindu religion in Tamil Nadu.This study also compares the international tourists and domestic tourists regarding pilgrimage tourism in Tamil Nadu.For the purpose of this study, ten pilgrimage tourist places have been selected, by adopting lottery method.For this study, purposive sampling method was used by the researcher for collecting primary data.The survey was conducted among 800 domestic and 300 foreign tourists.The sample tourists were selected from ten pilgrimage places in Tamil Nadu.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) plays a vital role in psychological and social adjustment of individuals.Present study was designed to make analysis of the facet of EQ in the context of differently able employees.The main objectives of this study include measuring EQ level of differently able employees, investigating the role of employees' demographic variations in age, education, experience and income while determining their EQ index.The BarOn Emotional Inventory was used to measure the EQ.It has 133 items and 5 subscales named as Interpersonal skills, Intrapersonal skills, Stress control, Adoptability and General mood and manner.A simple random sample of 50 employees was taken from Government and public sectors.Among them 39 were male and 11 were female, whose age ranged from 25 to 50 years.Findings revealed that younger employees have higher EQ as compared to elder employees.It was also revealed that professionally educated employees have lower emotional intelligence compared to other categories.
The week macro-management of the economy during the 1980s led to the large and persistent macroeconomic imbalances.The widening gap between the revenues and expenditures of the Government caused growing fiscal deficits which had to be met by borrowings at home.The unmanageable balance of payments crisis and the high rate of inflation were those twin crises which were growing in the 1980s and peaked in 1990-91.The Gulf crisis in the late 1990s severely heightened macroeconomic problems.There was also political instability in the country at this stage.All these developments together eroded international confidence in the Indian economy and as a result, this country's credit rating in the international capital market declined steeply.This was the context in which the Government initiated a program of macroeconomic stabilization and structural adjustment with the support of the IMF and the World Bank.The regular budget for 1991-92 took a bold step in the direction of correcting the fiscal imbalance.The purpose of this research is to examine the reasons of the fiscal reforms started by the Government of India and to analyse the effectiveness of fiscal measures initiated by the government as a part of reform process in correcting the fiscal imbalances.
Transfer of B2B commercial transactions to the electronic market is a fact.Moreover, the idea of keeping the whole process -from occurrence of a need to buy, through looking for a supplier, until effecting payment via electronic banking, or even getting access to financing -in one place -an innovative electronic market -became a reality.The aim of this paper is to show financing possibilities for businesses via commercial platforms, taking into account terms and conditions that must be met.Particular emphasis was put on verification of possible implementation of solutions in practice and on analysis of domestic and international B2B platforms offering financing for suppliers.
Mainly two aims are set for this study, the firstly to give insight about the theories of geographic economics and the second is to identify the benefits of the establishment of a logistics center to economy by using a case of setting of a trailer park in the border of East Turkey.It is thought that the first aim is realized, however the lack of statistical data of Turkey on the basis of cities, even regions, constituted a very critical constraint to the analysis for the second aim.The analysis is realized by employing the available substitute data and the results of the analysis did not indicate any significant improvement in the economic indicators of the region.The reasoning of the finding may be the type of logistics establishment.A more comprehensive infrastructural investment is required for considerable decline in transportation costs.
Our paper is devoted to analyze the mediating effects of the access to strategic resources between the relational network of contractors and innovation in the specific case of Tunisian SMEs. The originality of this approach lies in the effort to show that the detention of a relational network is not synonymous with real access to strategic resources and the realization of benefits in terms of innovation. This finding is particularly important for SMEs which lack the means to profit from their own relational fabrics.
The paper is focused on using of currency (foreign exchange) arbitrage. Given the possibility of obtaining financial capital in different currencies, possible doing business with currency exchange office and other services for foreign tourists, the currency arbitrage seems to be one of the opportunities to increase economic efficiency of disposable capital in business subjects. The main goal of this paper is proposal of a new approach to foreign arbitration process with reference to the generally applicable rules in the relationship between exchange rates and places of purchase or sale of foreign currency. On the real example will be then proved this thesis. Partial aim is through mathematical derivation to determine the level of costs, from which the given operation will be profitable.
