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Although most Arab countries remain authoritarian, many have undergone a restructuring of state-society relations. Lower- and middle-class interest groups have lost ground, while big business has benefited in terms of its integration into policy-making and the opening-up of economic sectors that used to be state-dominated. Arab businesses have also started taking on aspects of public service provision in health, media and education that used to be the domain of the state, while also becoming increasingly active in philanthropy. Among the topics addressed by the contributing authors are: the role of business in recent regime change; the political outlook of businessmen; the consequences of economic liberalisation on the composition of business elites in the Middle East; the role of the private sector in orienting government policies; lobbying of government by business interests; and the mechanisms by which governments seek to keep businesses dependent upon them. The Arab Spring is likely to lead to a more pluralistic political order in the Middle East and this makes it all the more important to understand business interests in the region. They are a segment of society that have often been close to the ancien regime, but will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in a future social contract

A new consciousness in business -- A personal experience : the Frederick Chavalit Tsao story -- An organization journey : the IMC story -- Sixteen exemplar companies -- The quantum leadership model -- The science of connectedness -- How the practices elevate our consciousness -- Selecting the practices that are right for you.

Intro -- ADVANCES IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT VOLUME 12 -- ADVANCES IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT VOLUME 12 -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 THE GROWING POPULARITY OF PM WITHIN BUSINESSES: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, GLOBALIZATION AND THE ISSUE OF FLEXIBILITY -- ABSTRACT -- 1. HUMAN NEEDS, PRODUCTION AND PM -- 1.1. Time, Activities and Production: Organizational Considerations -- 1.2. From Pre-Industrialization Artisans to Firms: The Rise of Administrative Sciences -- 1.3. The Eminent Domain of PM among Administrative Sciences -- 2. GLOBALIZATION, FIRMS AND THE VALUE OF PM -- 2.1. The Growing Distance between Resources and Needs: More Administration -- 2.2. The Composition of Firms and PM as a New Component -- 2.3. Firms' Informal Ownership Structure and PM Value for Businesses in Context of Globalization -- 3. IMPORTING PM INTO BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION: SOME ISSUES -- 3.1. Pre-Considerations on the Definition of Projects -- 3.2. Flexibility, Transaction Costs and Contracts -- 3.3 Project Failure Rate and Organizational Performance -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- REFERENCES -- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH -- Chapter 2 THE TWO-WAY LINK BETWEEN SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES MODERATED BY CORPORATE GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- DATA AND METHOD -- Population and Sample -- Earnings Management Measure -- Corporate Social Responsibility Measure -- Corporate Governance System -- Control Variables -- Models of Analyses -- RESULTS -- Descriptive Analysis -- Granger Test of Causality -- Results of Dependency Models -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES -- Chapter 3 DESIGN THINKING, DESIGN MANAGEMENT AND DESIGN CONCEPTS FOR PROMOTING SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE SOLUTIONS -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION

There is a concept known as the information technology paradox – where many senior managers in organisations recognise the worth of an effective information technology (IT) function but few truly understand its potential role and contribution in enhancing business value. Many reasons account for this paradox, which some have described as a "gap" or a poor relationship between the IT function and the rest of the organisation. The prevailing view is that it is not so much a question of technology content as technology context and process that provide the source to this gap. This paper focuses on the nature of this relationship and develops the concept of marketing the information systems/services (IS) function to its internal customers – internal marketing. Fundamentally, the same principles which are used to market solutions to the organisation's external customers can be employed to better segment, target and position the IS solutions to the internal customer base and these issues are explored.

Recent court cases and news reports have focused on the effects of transit construction on business revenue and survival, yet the topic is underexplored in the scholarly literature. This paper examines whether transit construction negatively affected the revenue and survival of businesses along the second segment of the Los Angeles Metro Rail Red Line under Vermont and Hollywood Boulevards. Using National Establishment Time-Series business data, the research shows that business survival was significantly lower among businesses within 400 meters of stations, where cut and cover construction was used. A difference-in-differences technique was employed to determine whether revenue loss was the main mechanism by which businesses were displaced, but revenue loss was not found to be significant. The increased failure rate provides evidence that construction effects of mitigation programs for businesses should be standard practice when building new transit lines. Further research and data collection on business tenure are needed to understand the dynamics of business displacement around transit and to make such programs more effective.

The problems of rent seeking and state captured by business associations have been prominent among the concerns of economic development theory. This paper argues that firms and the state can make possible the building of new institutions that foster improvements in economic performance through arrangements that emphasize goal setting, problem solving, and continual evaluation of progress toward defined goals. The paper reviews key ideas on the learning-centered approach and builds on them to analyze the kinds of government–business relations that contribute to economic development. It uses case study material based on Chile's agro-industry business association FEPACH. It illustrates how innovative state policy coupled with private firms' efforts led to the discovery of group-based coordination that fostered rapid diffusion of new technology and production organization among Chilean enterprises. This work discusses the institutional reshaping of the business association and business–state relations to encourage learning and advance a process of development.

Publisher's acknowledgements -- Business and management research, reflective diaries and the purpose of this book -- Formulating and clarifying the research topic -- Critically reviewing the literature -- Understanding research philosophy and approaches to theory development -- Formulating the research design -- Negotiating access and research ethics -- Selecting samples -- Utilising secondary data -- Collecting data through observation -- Collecting primary data using research interviews and research diaries -- Collecting primary data using questionnaires -- Analysing data quantitatively -- Analysing data qualitatively -- Writing and presenting your project report -- Bibliography -- Appendices -- Glossary -- Index

Purpose
This special issue of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, entitled "Business, Industrial Marketing and Uncertainty", presents selected extended studies that were presented at the European Academy of Management and Business Economics Conference (AEDEM 2012).


Design/methodology/approach
The main focus of this year was reflected in the slogan: "Creating new opportunities in an uncertain environment". The objective was to show the importance that uncertainty has in our current world, strongly affected by many complexities and modern developments, especially through the new technological advances.


Findings
One fundamental reason that explains the economic crisis is that the government and companies were not well prepared for these critical situations. And the main justification for this is that they did not have enough information. Otherwise, they would have tried any possible strategy to avoid the crisis. Usually, uncertainty is defined as the situation with unknown information in the environment.


Originality/value
From a theoretical perspective, the problem here is that enterprises and governments should assess the information and the uncertainty in a more appropriate way. Usually, they have some studies in this direction, but many times, it is not enough, as it was proved in the last economic crisis.

Cover -- Responsible business, business ethics, and management history in conversation - can history inform corporate responsibility? -- Commerce with a bit of ethics or ethics with a bit of commerce? The conundrum of British consumer co-operation 1863-1990 -- Religion and social network analysis: the discipline of early modern quakers -- Who responds to whom and for what? A grounded theory analysis of social responsibility in the 1857 Frankfurt Bienfaisance Congress -- Moral re-armament: toward a better understanding of the society-corporation relationship before the emergence of "corporate social responsibility".

Formal institutions such as business chambers have been assumed to be a key indicator of the health of state-business relations (SBR). Yet in Africa these organizations have seldom risen to the level of access and influence enjoyed by some of their counterparts elsewhere in the developing world. A number of recent studies of SBR in Africa continue to overstate the importance of business associations (BAs). Yet despite the widespread marginality of BAs in Africa, the receptiveness of African states to leading firms and business interests has increased markedly. While this poses certain risks of increased corruption, collusion and monopoly, the institutional and political environment for doing business has also improved, thereby fostering new opportunities for further business-related growth and business sector development among bona fide firms. Drawing on evidence from Zambia and elsewhere, this paper finds that the benefits provided to individual firms who enjoy state access can, paradoxically, contribute to an improved environment for other private sector actors whose interests are directly represented only in moribund formal associations. Even without strong BAs, when aided by the state, individual firms, and/or international actors, Africa's improved business environment has a salutary impact on growth.

The university's responsibility for peace / Frederick Bird and Lowell Ewert -- What is peace? : a global framework / Lowell Ewert -- Grounding the global vision : the micro-dynamic web of peace / Lowell Ewert -- The many ways people have acted to foster peace : an analytical typology and a set of ethical arguments / Frederick Bird -- Teaching peace to criminal justice students by using a decolonizing pedagogy / Niibikwe Trites, Myeengun Henry, and Judah Oudshoorn -- Abolition & decolonization as pedagogy and practice / Craig Fortier -- How math can help to create peace / Judith Koeller -- Biology and peace / David Rose -- The relevance of systems design engineering for resolving complex conflict and promoting peace / Amanda Garcia and Simone Philpot -- Teaching about peace : honoring experience and values / Mary Lou Klassen -- Fostering peace at the margins : reflections of an anthropologist confronting risk situations in Sub-Saharan Africa / Dennis Willms -- Law and peace / Lowell Ewert -- Working for peace on the job : reflections from a liberal arts prrspective / Frederick Bird -- The interdependence and interconnection of health and peace / Izzeldin Abuelaish -- Planning and peace / Jennifer Ball and Kristen Regier -- In the trenches : integrating peace education within initial teacher preparation / Colleen Willard-Holt and Sara Rose Taylor -- Conclusion / Lowell Ewert and Frederick Bird -- Invitation-challenge / Lowell Ewert and Frederick Bird.