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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, European policies toward post-Gaddafi Libya had been criticized for their ineffectiveness and structural deficiencies. When in early March the European Union (EU) became the epicenter of contagion, the credibility of its security and foreign policy further eroded. Although the coronavirus emergency had the potential to spur European countries toward renewed solidarity and greater coordination, what emerged instead was a tendency to turn inward, forcing uncoordinated national responses to the crisis. This transformation risks speeding up some dynamics already underway, such as contracting European political support for external assistance programs—especially regarding the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)—in the face of the pandemic's domestic socioeconomic consequences. Indeed, in the medium and long terms, the political dynamics and mechanisms of alliance that have governed the international system to date risk being among COVID-19's victims. In particular, this could have serious repercussions in crises such as the six-year devastating civil war raging in Libya, where Europe has already been called upon to intervene to stabilize the country

This conceptual article draws on structuration theory and social identity theory to isolate firm-internal institutionalization processes as antecedents and drivers of corporate political strategizing. Path dependencies in corporate routines and actors' knowledgeability about these path dependencies are singled out as primary factors structuring strategic decision making within the firm. The concepts of path dependency and knowledgeability, respectively, refer to the institutional and cognitive dimension of corporate political strategizing. These two dimensions come together in actors' identities. Identities on their turn shape managers' recognition of policy issues and the interpretation of issue salience relative to corporate interests. Thus, the article argues that institutional features of competitive environments precipitate in processes of identity building and preference formation and are reproduced through organizational routines and practices within the firm. © 2006 Sage Publications.

China has been assuming a prominent position in the world economy and one of the most attractive destinations for FDI. However, the popular press often points to institutional voids and difficulties that foreign firms face in operation. How foreign firms strategize in China, therefore, becomes a very important question to both academics and practitioners. This book offers an institutional perspective. Based on a detailed analysis of ownership choice and political activities of foreign firms, the book shows that the interaction between institutions and foreign firms accounts much for strategic decisions. In the context of China, it is local institutions, such as local governments and local business societies, which play a substantial role in shaping the behaviour of foreign firms. As a response, foreign firms must "think local", appreciating the role of local institutions and fitting their behaviour to local circumstances within China. Doing so through a process of learning by doing ex post entry is costly. Therefore, foreign firms need to build up capabilities to manage formal and informal institutions effectively at the local level. From a theoretical perspective, the findings in this book contribute significantly to international business and strategy research into transition economies by contextualizing the existing theories and adding a local perspective.

The global health environment is becoming increasingly complex. Social, demographic and epidemiological transformations fed by globali - zation, urbanization and ageing populations pose challenges of a magnitude that was not anticipated three decades ago. In addition, recent global health security threats such as the Ebola virus disease or Zika virus outbreak, and the growing mismatch between the low performance of health systems and the rising expectations of societies, are increasingly becoming a cause for political concern. This often leads to countries prioritizing, or re-prioritizing, efforts towards strengthening health systems, moving towards universal health coverage (UHC) and implementing the idea of health in all policies. Countries recognize that these calls for efficiently strengthening health systems and improving health security must be translated into robust, realistic, comprehensive, coherent and well balanced health policies, strategies and plans. In the post-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era, they also recognize that in pluralist, mixed, public-private health systems, these policies, strategies and plans have to relate to the entire health sector and cannot be limited anymore to "command-and-control" plans for the public sector. Functional health systems that deliver high quality services to the population are the main priority for governments. Achieving this requires permanent, well-structured and dynamic processes, with a true consensus between the demand and supply of services, as well as between governments, services providers and the population. A solid, evidence-informed policy dialogue is the only real way to achieve this in the 21st century. Furthermore, it is now widely understood that national health policies, strategies and plans (NHPSPs) extend much beyond "health care", i.e. clinical personal services, and cover the broad public health agenda, including disaster preparedness, risk management and the Inter - national Health Regulations, encompassing action on the social determinants of health and the interaction between the health sector and other sectors in society. In the face of both these gradual and acute changes over the past decade, NHPSPs, and more importantly the process of developing the NHPSP, need to be adapted and given a different focus. This handbook attempts to address that need. In the context of the Paris, Accra and Busan principles of effective development cooperation, it is also widely recognized that in countries that receive significant external aid, NHPSPs are increasingly seen as crucial for making aid more effective. It is recognized that, during the MDGs era, plans or policies did not always fulfill their promises; this was often because of design deficiencies or implementation failures. It was common to observe that national plans were not inclusive, not comprehensive enough, often imbalanced and incoherent with the wide variety of health problems to be tackled. Often, there was a disconnect between national plans and the broader national development policies or policy frameworks, health financing strategies and macroeconomic policies. ; Peer reviewed

Entering into interorganizational collaborations is one approach to handling the complex challenges faced by the public sector (Eriksson et al., 2020; Poister et al., 2013; Roberts, 2000; Torfing, 2019). Such collaborations often take the form of governance networks (Torfing, 2012). While attention has been paid to aspects such as network governance (Klijn, 2008; Sørensen & Torfing, 2017, 2009), structure, management (Provan & Kenis, 2008), democratic legitimacy (Klijn & Skelcher, 2007; Sørensen & Torfing, 2005), and efficiency (Provan & Kenis, 2008; Wang, 2016), little has been written on how the participants in a governance network conduct strategic work. Therefore, this thesis aims to explore how strategy is conceptualized and enacted within the context of municipal governance networks. This study leans on the strategy-as-practice (SAP) perspective (Golsorkhi et al., 2015; Jarzabkowski et al., 2016; Reckwitz, 2002; Whittington, 1996) to explore the empirical context of a governance network (Torfing, 2012) tasked with helping the participating municipalities with digital transformation. Within the SAP perspective, strategy refers to the consequential activities performed to move an organization in a certain direction, whereas strategizing refers to how these activities are produced (Golsorkhi et al., 2015; Jarzabkowski et al., 2007; Jarzabkowski et al., 2021; Jarzabkowski & Spee, 2009). In addition, the concepts of open strategy (Hautz et al., 2017; Seidl et al., 2019; Whittington et al., 2011) and interorganizational strategizing (De Gooyert et al., 2019) are used to inform the strategy work conducted, augmented by literature on organizational motivations (De Gooyert et al., 2019; Hautz et al., 2019; Seidl et al., 2019), the enticement of individuals (Brabham, 2010; Dahlander et al., 2019; Dahlander & Piezunka, 2014; Seltzer & Mahmoudi, 2013), democratic legitimacy (Mosley & Wong, 2020; Papadopoulos & Warin, 2007; Scharpf, 1999; Schmidt, 2012), organizational legitimacy (Deephouse et al., 2017; Suchman, 1995), and strategy implementation (Friesl et al., 2020; Weiser et al., 2020) to discern empirical nuances. A pragmatic research paradigm (Kaushik & Walsh, 2019; Morgan, 2014; Pansiri, 2005; Powell, 2001) is adopted in an effort to identify real-world challenges faced when enacting strategy in a governance network, as identified – either directly or indirectly – by the stakeholders themselves. A case study with an abductive approach (Blaikie, 2009; Dubois & Gadde, 2002; Gerring, 2004; Yin, 2003) is conducted on the governance network Digi Rogaland. Additionally, data are collected from three of the participating municipalities to explore how they relate to the network and work to enact the network strategy. Qualitative methods are used, and the empirical material consists of interviews, observations, and documents. Analysis is conducted through a reflexive process (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2018; Alvesson & Kärreman, 2007). The findings first identify a desire and need to entice municipalities to participate in interorganizational strategizing (Article 1). This is achieved using financial, structural, and nonfinancial mechanisms to promote adherence and lock the participants into the network, thus allowing for standardizations across municipal borders. Second, the analysis identifies a legitimacy gap between stakeholders directly involved in the network and those only indirectly affected (Article 2). Directly involved stakeholders view the network as a necessity, whereas indirectly affected stakeholders are mainly indifferent or, in some cases, opposed to participation. Third, challenges in enacting a network strategy are identified, which require balancing acts (Article 3). These are ambiguously balanced against clarity in strategy conceptualization, the use of coercion against voluntary participation, the choice of concentrating or distributing decision-making power, and the selection of a top-down or bottom-up approach to coordination. The overarching analysis reveals that, when viewed from the SAP perspective, the network strategy is not enacted in the sense that no consequential activities for moving in the strategic direction of the network can be identified within the municipalities. This study finds that strategizing mainly occurs within the network, while strategizing to bridge between the network and municipalities is left to the municipalities themselves. However, this strategizing is not achieved. Possible explanations include a lack of legitimacy, limited inclusion and transparency with a top-down perspective on strategy, and different organizational interests and capabilities. This thesis contributes to theoretical and empirical knowledge by identifying strategic practices with a top-down perspective – an approach that does not conform with the ideals of openness and collaboration in governance networks. The analysis indicates the need to engage in multi-tranche strategizing in order to enact strategy in the participating municipal organizations. To sufficiently enact a strategy, strategizing is necessary not only in the network and municipal tranches but also in the interplay between these sets of stakeholders. Furthermore, the analysis identifies differences in underlying assumptions in the applied theoretical frameworks, including differences in legitimacy, participation, and transparency. Suggested avenues of future research include empirical studies of open strategy principles applied in public organizations, such as the selection of participants, the distribution of decision-making power, and the dissemination of information.

В настоящее время одним из важнейших стратегических направлений региональной политики является обеспечение пространственного развития субъектов Российской Федерации. Актуальность темы исследования обусловлена возрастающим уровнем пространственной дифференциации регионов, которая выступает барьером для развития единого экономического, социального, политического, культурного, институционального, информационного пространства Российской Федерации и может привести к стагнации экономики, дестабилизации целостности территории, национальной и экономической безопасности страны. Целью данного исследования является анализ положений первого варианта Концепции Стратегии пространственного развития Российской Федерации на период до 2030 г. В статье были рассмотрены теоретические и методологические основы пространственного развития, этапы развития стратегического планирования в России; изучены документы стратегического планирования; проанализированы проблемы и основные направления совершенствования системы стратегического управления пространственным развитием Российской Федерации. По результатам авторами сделан вывод о необходимости разработки концептуально полной системы понятий, используемых в Концепции Стратегии пространственного развития Российской Федерации на период до 2030 г., и учета дополнительных показателей, отражающих реализацию стратегии пространственного развития, таких как уровень коррупции, размер теневой экономики, индекс конкурентоспособности, индекс устойчивого развития, уровень инвестиционного потенциала и инвестиционных рисков и др. ; Nowadays, one of the most important strategies of regional policy is ensuring spatial development of the Russian Federation's subjects. The chosen topic appears to be extremely relevant because of the increasing level of spatial differentiation of the regions. Such differentiation is viewed as a barrier to the development of uniform economic, social, political, cultural, institutional, and information Russia's space and can lead to economic stagnation, destabilization of territory integrity, national and economic security of the country. The aim of this research is to analyze the provisions of the first version of the Concept of the Russian Federation Spatial Development Strategy for the period till 2030. The authors considered theoretical and methodological basics of the spatial development, stages of development of strategic planning in Russia; studied the documents of strategic planning; analyzed the problems and main ways to improve the strategic management system of Russia's spatial development. The authors conclude that there is a need to develop a full system of the concepts used in the Concept and to take into account the additional indicators reflecting the implementation of the spatial development strategy such as corruption level, size of shadow economy, competitiveness index, sustainable development index, level of investment potential, and investment risks, etc.

Many cities are making efforts to develop an urban transformation strategy in order to transition from traditional cities to sustainable ones. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings, especially existing ones, is key to combating climate change. This paper uses a business perspective to analyze and compare three major retro-fitting interventions under implementation in three different European cities, Nantes, Hamburg and Helsinki, to capture the principal needs and challenges and to identify governance recommendations for local authorities onbuilding retrofitting replication and scale-up strategies. The authors analyze the municipal business models of residential building retrofitting interventions, which are very different from those of private companies, through two innovative business tools: the Value Creation Ecosystem (VCE) and the City Model Canvas (CMC).Sustainable development in terms of social inclusion, environmental protection and financial viability is the principal axis of the study. The bottleneck for residential building retrofitting is owner engagement, due to the high up-front cost. The analysis of the three cities' business models has shown interesting ideas for promoting this type of interventions. The development of a costumer customer interface lead by the municipality; theoffering of funding schemes, the promotion of risk-sharing schemes and guaranteed saving, through the implementation of EPC, and the owners' involvement in co-creation strategies using 4 P approaches could all help city governments to increase the ratio of owners willing to participate. These results and the discussion will help public managers to prepare their cities'strategies in terms of business models when they try to implement building retrofitting projects ; Authors would like to acknowledge the direct and timely colla-boration with experts from Nantes Métropole, the Municipality ofHamburg (Bergedorf District) and the Municipality of Helsinki. Authors also would like to recognize the work done by Dr. Jordi Vinaixa and Dr.Krista Timeus. Finally, authors acknowledge the support from the European Union"Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme"under the grant agreements No 731297 and No 691735. ; Peer Reviewed ; Postprint (published version)

International audience ; We are witnessing today a fundamental shift from the collapse of traditional industries to the rise of economies based on intelligence resources and adaptive problem-solving capabilities. Industries are shifting from satisfied introversion to an inescapable extroversion, and discover, with disappointment, that their own perception and sense-making remains for them a mystery. Temptation for rationalization and eagerness to reduce uncertainty by any means provoked a rush to import techniques and methods that showed efficiency in the diplomatic world into their everyday business life. Corporate intelligence units and centralized departments started to pop up in the business world in the mid-80s, with so many failures that executives wonder today if governments themselves have not over-exaggerated the efficiency of their own intelligence efforts. There was-sadly-no reason to anticipate a success in implementing techniques that were created under social and technico-economic conditions that do not exist any more.

A photo essay exploring the how gender identity is deliberately constructed through social positioning within the urban landscape of Hong Kong. Hong Kong has always had a binary identity, which continues through from the postcolonial to the neocolonial. This creates layers of additional complexity around gender identity, which is explored in terms of performativity and authenticity through both the heterosexual fluidity of foreign domestic workers and through homosexual tactics of local men, within a public park in Hong Kong. By rejecting the past through a politics of disappearance, previous boundaries around fluidity, repression, and suppression continue to influence the present in a volatile neocolonial context opening questions around what is an authentic performance of self.

This qualitative study provides empirical knowledge and develops theory about the role of strategic management in Malaysian local government. As the country addresses the grand challenge of economic growth amid enduring national aspirations of moving from developing to fully developed status, the analysis identifies six approaches to strategic management across nine Malaysian local authorities. Rather than presenting a linear story of progression, the six models of strategizing in Malaysia illuminate the governance traditions that co-exist in this setting. The study examines the assumptions about public management that underpin the different approaches and relates these to the country's inheritance of classical public administration and centralized government, the introduction of New Public Management, and the subsequent emergence of features of New Public Governance. It contributes to theory by providing an analysis of the role of strategy in each of the three governance traditions and connects debates about local governance with scholarship on strategic management. It also contributes to the emerging literature on strategizing for grand challenges and the limited repository of such studies located in a public sector context. The article ends by identifying the implications for policy and practice and suggesting areas for further research. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed

The current economic crisis which, at the same time, is social, political and cultural, reveals the impossibility of emerging from the worldwide destabilization produced by globalization without taking into account the centrality of human life as the result of interdependent relationships both in the public sphere and in the private sphere. Such a vision exactly corresponds to what women's transnational movements have tried to take forward in the context of development cooperation over the last three decades. In this article Pomeranzi, drawing on the "Mediterranean approach to the empowerment of women" as well as her own experience, considers the political responsibility of professionals working in development agencies, and suggests that the concepts of women's agency and empowerment could be a useful tool for resolving the intersecting elements of the present development crisis.

In this paper we examine how the use of space shapes the dynamic between openness and closure in open strategizing. To do this, we draw from research that has defined organizational space as a process that is both a social product and produces social relations. We analyzed the use of space in open strategizing in the Danish TV series and political drama 'Borgen'. In our analysis we focused on three building blocks of space: boundaries, distance, and movement that allowed us to elaborate how the dynamic between openness and closure is shaped. Drawing on our analysis, we revealed three spatial features – physical visibility, strategizing artefacts, discursive designation – that play a role in the dynamic between openness and closure in strategizing. We constructed a conceptual framework that shows how these spatial features, and their different combinations are associated with pivots between openness and closure. Thus, our findings advance prior open strategy research by providing potential explanations of why openness turns to closure, despite the attempts to keep the strategizing process open. We argue that taking space seriously provides a more nuanced understanding to some of the contingencies and possibilities related to the dynamics of openness and closure in strategizing.

International audience This article explores the evolving role of real estate developers in the wider metropolitan region of Manila, the Philippines. We argue that, given the relational nature of these actors, they are a relevant object of analysis for the formulation of "mid-level" theories that take into account both global, macroeconomic trends and local, history-dependent contingencies. As we consider developers' activities and interactions with a wide range of public and private actors, we retrace their gradual empowerment since the beginning of the postcolonial period. As a handful of powerful land-owning families created real estate development companies, urban production quickly became dominated by a strong oligarchy capable of steering urban development outside the realm of public decision-making. Philippine developers subsequently strengthened their capacity by stepping into infrastructure provision, seemingly expanding their autonomy further. More recently, however, we argue that while the role of private sector actors in shaping urban and regional trajectories has scaled up, their activities have been tethered more strongly to a state-sponsored vision of change. Both by reorienting public-private partnerships (PPP) toward its regional plans, and by initiating new forms of public-private partnerships that give it more control, the state is attempting to harness the activity of developers. We characterize this shift as a move from the "privatization of planning" to the "planning of privatization" of urban space.

India is transitioning demographically with a large population of youngsters. To harness this population trend into a "demographic dividend," it is essential to enhance the skill level of our youth. The Government of India (GoI) has taken many proactive measures in this regard. "Skill India Campaign" is one such measure. Though India"s corporate sector has also been contributing to skill training through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, the efforts have been few and far between. The first part of this paper explores the Skill scenario of India, and the role played by both Public and Private sector to address the current skill gap. The second part of the paper suggests a possible solution to address the "skill gap" through a proactive Public-private partnership (PPP) by implementing a remodelled CSR strategy. Government and corporate sector can work together in the skill training arena through CSR and make it a mutually beneficial, sustainable activity to develop India into a "skill capital" of the World. The potential advantages of such a partnership for each player involved are also explored in detail in this part.

In this dissertation I reconsider the temporality of modernity by problematizing the idea of progress through an ethnographic illustration of how competitive pressures between middle class families in Delhi, India, striving for transnational social mobility, serve to redouble caste and patriarchal forms of domination and subordination within the family economy. My research intersects mobility and kinship studies with its theoretical focus on the ways that middle class identity is mobilized strategically in a new economic context of neoliberal development, where gains and losses are a constant destabilizing force. I argue that India has become more specialized in its economic contributions to world capitalism, by playing on cultivated strengths, such as informal labor and the extended family. Taking kinship as a focus of my ethnographic study, the following chapters reach from observations of childhood favoritism, to the power struggles of married couples, to the 'uncles' that smooth over conflicts arising from the state's economic monitoring, to grandparents' transgenerational narratives of the Partition that tore apart the Punjab in 1947-8. The depth of my ethnographic data frees my analysis from the usually obligatory choice between the language of culture and the language of economy, and ties the intimate family lives of the multifarious Delhi middle class to their roles in the world market.