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It has been a decade since blockchain is introduced to the world by Satoshi Nakamoto. Are we ready to adopt the technology and build new things on top of it by now? Would blockchain change how we change things if we could organise ourselves in a trustless system? To answer these questions, we conduct a systematic review of the literature to study all the relevant blockchain research from our colleagues. We identify three factors that could provide the required conditions for blockchain to be adopted more readily among industries and societies as a means to establish trust: a legal framework, deep understanding, and evidence-based benefit. We further discuss the implication of blockchain to our understanding of innovation, and the opportunities and challenges we are facing today with too many initiatives and ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry 4.0(I4.0) or the fourth industrial revolution is a strategy that relies on digital and ubiquitous connectivity enabled by various technologies to transform processes, products, and services through real-time and decentralized decision-making, allowing systems to transition from surveillance to autonomy in collaboration with humans. resulting in the emergence of 'Industry 4.0' The term '4.0' has been applied to a variety of fields, including Quality 4.0, Agriculture 4.0, Agribusiness 4.0, Service 4.0, Logistics 4.0, Health 4.0, and so on, all of which represent the impact of Industry 4.0 on these terms. Quality 4.0(Q 4.0) is a new term that refers to a new and improved approach to quality management, it how we can use the DATA obtained by 4.0 and use it correctly with the quality methodology, the objective of this paper is to explain industry 4.0 as well as quality 4.0 and presented the various quality 4.0 relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding the ‘right’ balance between centralization and decentralization in organizational processes, governance, and IT can be difficult. To navigate this tension field, organizations need to find (de)centralization equilibria that are often dynamic and depend on organizational strategy and context. However, little is known about how organizations should respond once an old equilibrium is punctuated or breaks down. In this paper, we thus conduct an inductive multiple-case study to investigate how organizations sustain and transition between (de)centralization equilibria. We synthesize our insights into a process model that paints the transition as an iterative recalibration process subject to centralization and decentralization tensions. Often, this process will require local and temporary compromises. Our work contributes a muchneeded process perspective to the IS literature on (de)centralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crowdwork is a novel form of digitally mediated work arrangement that is managed and organized through online labor platforms. This paper focuses on the governance of platforms that facilitate creative work--that is, complex work tasks that require high-level skill and creative workers. Crowdwork platform governance faces numerous challenges as a result of technology mediation, scalable and distributed workers, and temporary work arrangements. Creative crowdwork platforms, such as Topcoder, typically require additional governance structures to manage complex tasks. However, we know relatively little about creative crowdwork platform governance, as most existing studies focus on routine work platforms, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk. Accordingly, this paper explores how incumbent and insurgent creative crowdwork platforms are governed under centralized and decentralized modes. We conducted a comparative case study based on the analysis of two different cases: Topcoder, a successful commercial platform with a largely centralized governance structure, and CanYa, an emerging innovative platform based on blockchain technology with more decentralized governance. We identified and classified different governance elements related to work control and work coordination. In addition, we explored the characteristics of creative crowdwork platform governance with different degrees of centralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban architecture can be used to assert thru supremacy via symbolic capital and symbolic domination. In turn, the architecture becomes a product of the future and of social change that is leading to both recognition of symbolic dominance and a field of power contestation. However, despite can generate positive effects, the reassertion of power practice in the architecture does not always occur smoothly and peacefully. The implementation of the power such as progressive societal and legislative agendas is also possible, in common with the rhetoric of unity in pluralism. This becomes a symbol of production of a group with its own set of preferences and is also mostly used to an increasingly broad distribution of power ruling regime. In this situation, the representation of the architecture can lose its aesthetic autonomy and becomes an effective medium in structuring and representing the power in the framework of everyday life. This paper is written based on a qualitative approach by collecting and structuring field data through several methods such as observation, fieldwork study, interviews, and group discussion. Through this paper, it is used to show how the practice of power has been connecting to urban architecture in Pekanbaru city. This connection became a key role in reinvigorating the existing field of privileged practices. This can be found Malay architecture has been appointed the main reference for urban architecture that must be applied on built forms of the city. From this case, urban architecture becomes a designated agent that is regulated and directed by whoever holds the power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by blockchain technology, decentralized platform-based business models emerged that challenge current conceptualizations of platform governance. While researchers developed first conceptualizations of decentralized platform governance, hitherto, there does not exist a comprehensive framework capable of determining decentralized forms of governance. To develop such a framework, we ask, „What determines platform governance, and how can we capture gradients of decentralization?“. To answer this question, we use a structured literature review to develop a framework encompassing three governance types: centralized, decentralized, and autonomous platform governance. Subsequently, we work out five components based on which the respective governance types are defined, thereby allowing a fine granular analysis of platform governance. We assert that the developed platform governance framework will assist researchers to determine divergent types of platform governance. Thereby, this paper delivers a deeper understanding and a basis for discussion on how decentralized governance may, or should look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have long pointed at the importance of personal relations in the process of purchasing management consultants. In recent years, however, large organizations have increasingly introduced more formalistic procedures for how management consultants are to be purchased, curtailing the discretion of the individual manager. Based on the study of six multinational organizations and their procedures for purchasing management consultants, this paper identifies 3 purchasing strategies for management consultants: 1) An ad-hoc strategy representing a decentralized purchasing of consultants, in which each manager has full freedom to choose his favorite consultant 2) an organized decentralization strategy in which preferred suppliers are identified as the basis for managers' choice and 3) an expert strategy representing a highly centralized purchasing of management consultants with organizational experts responsible for the identification and contracting of management consultants. The three different strategies and their implementation as well as their potential consequences are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper continues the process of laying the groundwork for a new comprehensive academic theory on Cyber Macht (Cyber Power). In this particular paper, the authors will focus on trying to determine the metrics of cyber operations, ie how does one measure success? The ability to measure and validate success is always a crucial metric in the performance of a task, and in this case the conduct of IO campaigns is no different. The researchers for this paper will analyse two approaches for the development of metrics in a Cyber environment: A top-down approach with a strong feedback mechanism, one that allows actors to learn lessons from their actions and to apply changes to the system as deemed appropriate. A more decentralised methodology, which embraced any and all IO standards. This bottom-up view utilises a more liberal process for collecting metrics that attempts to bring together disparate activities into a collective force. This paper will analyse the efforts of various IO initiatives by both sides, and attempt to determine the key factors of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For supporting the conceptualization and the management of enterprise models in a decentralized manner, this paper introduces an approach based on model versioning and blockchain technologies. The main contribution is twofold, consisting of a., the creation of models for inter-organizational business processes in a decentralized environment, and b., means for tracking process instances using meta-data at run time. Models for business processes, workflows, and instance states are collaboratively created as part of a decentralized architecture. Based on this approach, a hierarchical versioning and modeling approach is employed in order to create and manage public and private models in a transactional fashion. For forming relationships among decentralized participants, semi-formal models linked to a blockchain are suggested. The approach is evaluated with a supply chain use case and demonstrated in an implemented modeling tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirement engineering process aims to provide a requirements specification document that defines the system to be developed. In this paper, we focus our work on the negotiation phase for the requirements engineering process in cooperative information systems (CIS). The negotiation includes the discussion of requirements conflicts and the search of a compromise approved by all stakeholders. In order to improve this phase we propose a new negotiation approach, which overcomes the following problems: requirements could be in conflicts, and the existing conflicts cannot be explicitly well expressed i.e. conflicts are often unknown. The principal quality of CIS is to interoperate physical sites by respecting their autonomy in this perspective, the paradigm multi-agents proposes concepts particularly interesting for the development of CIS: such as the dynamic organization, autonomy of control, decentralization, the interaction which includes: cooperation, coordination, and negotiation. In this paper, we detail the different phases of our approach with their models and finally we validate this approach by a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction of organizational setting with cognitive schemas provides the content for analyzing futures prices as outcome of organizational sensemaking instead of a priori inputs of markets. It defines the process by which information is transformed into an ontologically stable category of price. Reconstructing this sensemaking is a crucial task, since the settlement of prices for futures markets has significant organizational and economic consequences. And the recent emergence of electronic trading as an alternative to traditional ways of trading makes this issue more vivid. Futures exchanges have historically relied on a trading technology known as "open outcry," where traders gather in a central physical location to buy and sell futures contracts on a range of physical and financial commodities. The organizational practices of open outcry produces prices deeply embedded in the interactions among these traders. Since the early 1990s, the technology of futures trading has been challenged by the introduction of electronic trading platforms. Automated trading systems shift the point of exchange from a centralized physical location to a decentralized network of terminals, located in investment banks and smaller boutique trading firms. With the elimination of the exchange trading floor and transformation of trading technology, the schemas and organizational settings that supported the creation of prices in open outcry have required renegotiation. This paper uses participant observation and interview data gathered on the trading floors of open outcry and electronic exchanges to investigate how sensemaking leads to the production of futures market prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect that the transfer of fiscal competences from the central to the regional governments has on economic growth. We use a panel of budget data from 17 Spanish regions to identify the major episodes of fiscal decentralization occurred in Spain during the 1984-2013 period. The analysis is based on the data of the Comunidades Autonomas' Budget Series from the General Secretary for Local and Regional Coordination (Secretaria General de Coordinacion Local y Autonomica). The database offers yearly consolidated series of 9 income categories and 9 expenditure categories from 1984 to 2013 for every Spanish region and we will focus on 3 series: direct taxation income, indirect taxation income and spending. The last series is a composite of expenditure on public wages and public consumption. Spain offers a unique example of fiscal decentralization due to historical reasons. The dictatorship that ruled the country for almost forty years until 1975 imposed a very centralized fiscal system on a very heterogeneous country. One of the main pillars of the Spanish transition to democracy involved transferring autonomy back to the regions. Some regions with stronger regional identities moved quickly to approve their regional Constitutions (Estatutos de Autonomia) and started the transfer of prerogatives right away, while other regions lagged behind and only received these prerogatives after nationwide agreements. The heterogeneity on the timeline and its predominantly political nature offers a natural experiment on fiscal decentralization that we exploit to measure its impact on economic growth. The paper explores the exogenity of this process and concludes that the process of decentralization can hardly be considered to be the consequence of underlying economic conditions in the regions. We employ a narrative approach similar to Romer and Romer (2010) and conclude that fiscal decentralization only has a positive effect on growth when decision power is also transferred to the regions. We find economically large and statistically significant positive effects from the decentralization of direct taxation, and, to a much lesser extent, from indirect taxation and government spending on regional GDP growth. Part of the positive effect on output growth can be attributed to a reduction in income tax rates, and is likely to be attributed to tax competition between regions. The findings of this paper offer support to standard theories of fiscal federalism like the Leviathan hypothesis or the principles of the second generation fiscal federalism, which emphasizes the importance of fiscal incentives for promoting local economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A decentralized energy system is a relatively new approach in the power industry. Decentralized energy systems provide promising opportunities for deploying renewable energy sources locally available as well as for expanding access to clean energy services to remote communities. The electricity system of the future must produce and distribute electricity that is reliable and affordable. To accomplish these goals, both the electricity grid and the existing regulatory system must be smarter. In this paper, the major issues and challenges in distributed systems for smart grid are discussed and future trends are presented. The smart grid technologies and distributed generation systems are explored. A general overview of the comparison of the traditional grid and smart grid is also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study will aid in successfully adopting Blockchain Technology (BCT) and its applications in financial systems. The research aims to explain the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and impediments or barriers that may arise with BCT adoption in financial services. To develop the theoretical framework, the identified CSFs and barriers were grouped and analyzed along different dimensions (i.e., Technological, Organizational, Operational, Environment & Economic). Smart Contracts, Peer-to-Peer Networks (P2P), Trust, and Security, are identified as CSFs in the technical realm. At the same time, Scalability, Fake Identity Threat, and Interoperability are impediments to BCT adoption. Under the organizational dimension, Trust Mechanism and Informational Access are highlighted as CSFs, whereas Lack of Management Support and Commitment are hurdles to BCT deployment. Decentralization and Energy-Intensiveness are identified as CSF and impediments to BCT adoption along the operational dimension. Under the economic dimension, financial trust, Fintech disruptions, and Cost-Cutting Measures are identified as CSFs. At the same time, High Transaction Prices have been determined as barriers to BCT adoption. Finally, Disintermediation and the Absence of Regulations and Laws are identified as CSFs and hurdles to adopting BCT, respectively, along the environmental dimension. The developed theoretical model presented in the paper provides a practical roadmap for successful BCT adoption in financial services in Indian settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the evolutionary convergence of the entertainment and information services industries into an interdependent community of organizations linked through a variety of interfirm arrangements ranging from informal contact to contracts, joint ventures, and mergers. As the paper suggest, both centralization and decentralization are taking place as firms respond to technological opportunities and threats in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information Technology has emerged as an integral part of globalization, where it is not only used in e-commerce, e-business and R&D but is also a crucial part of complex data mining used in developing digital currencies and valuating them. These currencies have become popular in the last decade and people around the world have started investing in them, blindly. Even after having high volatility, decentralization and complexity in price determination using cryptograpgy, digital currency has been attracted by many investors who may be trapped by investor biases.. The current paper focuses on exploring the behavioral biases on investment decision making of digital currency/crypto currency by employing qualitative measures and interviewing Pakistani individuals who have purchased crypto currency. It is established from the results that due to complexity of price determination and profit attractiveness, investors become a victim of biases and heuristics when they are investing in digital currencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic identification (eID) solutions constitute a critical element in digitalised society. As such, eID has been studied from a variety of perspectives, yet most, if not all existing solutions that have been studied rely on a centralised approach. With the introduction of decentralised technologies such as the blockchain, new avenues for designing eID solutions become feasible. In order to accelerate the creation of blockchain-based eID solutions and their study, this paper offers a comparison of two traditional eID initiatives in Finland and Sweden and one blockchain-based eID initiative in Taiwan. Based on this comparison, we derive insights in the form of design choices for a blockchain-based eID initiative. The findings show that the repertoire for design choices in eID solutions is expanded by the application of the blockchain. These findings are used as a foundation for discussing the design of blockchain-based eID solutions and the need for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the decentralization framework held currently by local authorities of Ukraine, stimulate regional development should be carried out in order to meet the society’ interests on the basis of the natural, demographic, historical and economic preconditions. It is also necessary to consider not only the limited natural resources but also the possibility of conservation and restoration of the environment. The research aim is to the reasoning that the region's development directions should be based on determining its sustainability. The study should determine the socio-economic development of Ukrainian regions with considering sustainability. Next step is to identify the influence of the economic, ecological, social and institutional components on the sustainable development in Ukrainian regions. For future determination, the priority directions of development in the Odessa region need to show of assessment of socio-economic and sustainable development in this region. The paper presented an assessment of the sustainable development of the Ukrainian regions, which is based on determining the sustainable development index and its components (components of quality and safety of life, indices of social and institutional, ecological, economic dimensions). There are the results of monitoring socio-economic development of Ukrainian regions with their ranking by directions "Rational Environmental Use and Quality of the Environment" and "Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency", which are based on data on emissions of pollutants into the air, the volume of consumed fuel and energy resources, the introduction of energy-saving light sources in external lighting and other indicators. The article obtained a conclusion that the regional development should be based on the factors of sustainability. Priorities of regional development require the estimation of the current socio-economic level of the region and the index of sustainable development of the regions. The greatest impact on the regional sustainable development in Ukraine have the ecological and social and institutional components. Odessa region is characterized by an extensive type of economic development now. But the achievement of sustainable development at the regional level is possible by ecologizing the economic activity in a region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workshops on business model generation lead to collaborative work phases and discussions on business models. Therefore, tools such as the Business Model Canvas are used, typically filled with sticky notes. Generated content needs to be digitized in a time-consuming manual follow-up as part of the documentation and basis for a further use of the results in the company. In addition, there are challenges, such as decentralized work and digital workshop formats. Augmented Reality offers a way to reduce the digitization effort and enables decentralized work. In this research, the potentials of the use of AR technology in workshops on business model generation is investigated. Therefore, functions are implemented and evaluated in a demonstrator that reduces digitization effort and enable distributed work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 21st century has seen important changes in the strategies of multinational corporations (MNCs), especially as they have become adept at configuring their value chains to extract benefits from their diversified structures. This has raised very important issues relating to the mechanisms by which they can be controlled. The problem of MNC control in the current scenario is intensified by an important paradox: while most empirical research suggests that diversified firms need decentralized control systems, some studies also contend that singular strategies need to be developed to exploit synergies in the homogenizing world market. In this paper, we attempt to resolve this paradox by studying contingencies such as level of centralization, reward systems, transfer pricing, and the geographic and technological contiguities within MNCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viet Nam's state faces the formidable task of crafting coherent and effective national health policies in the context of rapid but spatially-uneven economic change and administrative reforms that have rapidly devolved authority over health services provision to local service-providers. Focusing on the implementation and outcomes of two government decrees on "Financial Responsibility and Autonomy", this paper deploys sociological theory to explore the process of decentralization in Viet Nam and its implications with respect to the functions and performance of Viet Nam's public hospitals, particularly in light of the government's stated goal to improve the efficiency, quality, and equity of its health system. International organizations have promoted decentralization as a way of 'solving' bureaucratic pathologies of central planning. But in a range of developing countries, rapid health sector decentralization of the sort underway in Viet Nam has fueled inequalities of access to health services, transforming nominally public hospitals into profit-centers. Decentralization in Viet Nam's health sector is viewed as instance of a globalizing institution and its local dynamics are investigated from a political economy perspective. The paper will present results from ongoing research in sixteen hospitals in 12 different cities, provinces, and districts and interpret their theoretical significance. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature on decentralized health care (DHC) policy has extensively evaluated its role in effecting rural health care. In this context it has concentrated on factors such as approved patterns of written rules and objectives, administrative delegation of authority and management and planning of tasks. I refer to such a role of DHC as administrative, technical and material one that is easily observable and measurable. My argument is that while it is undoubtedly important to study this role, such a perspective is, however, incomplete in some respects. A major omission has been role of non-material, not directly observable resources. One of the primary aims of the ethnographic study I conducted was hence, to explore the non-material role that DHC might be playing in effecting rural health care. This was thus one of the points of departure of my study. In this context I have explored the relationship between values, interaction and DC policy. Based on preliminary analyses I have argued in this paper that different kinds of values of principal actors who embody the DHC system play a very crucial role in effecting rural health care. Role of values corresponds to the non-material role. I have demonstrated that such effects of values become evident in social interaction among different actors. Additionally, I have argued that DHC also effects’ values by providing a context for emergence and reinterpretations of values. In the final section I have analyzed the reciprocal significance of values and DHC for enriching the understanding of one another. My study has both empirical as well as theoretical significance: (a) It expands the scope of the literature regarding the relationship between value paradigms and policy making by emphasizing the role of values in influencing the functioning as well as "outcomes" of a health care policy in particular (and any policy in general)and not just the enacting of it; (b) As the study brings to light the diffused, not easily observable impact of the health policy, it contributes to the broadening of criteria for assessing impacts of a health policy in particular, and any policy in general; (c) Functioning of DHC policy provides a social context for values to gain resonance. By demonstrating this, it brings home two important points: One, health and health care policies are deeply and intricately related to the context in which they are embedded. Two, health care policies provide a window to the understanding of larger societal processes and enrich their understanding of such processes (d) It speaks to Sociology’s longstanding difficulty in specifying the relationship between values and behavior [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decentralization of production from large vertically-integrated manufacturers to their small and medium sized suppliers has created a new old economy in American manufacturing. This is part of a general trend that has sociologists (among others) noting the spread of network organizational forms, with many of those who once sought to understand the economy by looking at what happens inside large organizations to turn also substantial attention towards changes in the quality of relationships between organizations. In this paper I use on empirical material gathered in interviews with manufacturing firms in the American Upper Midwest to detail how the actors in these firms describe and understand the pressures and constraints placed by the decentralization of production on their relationships to suppliers and customers. I then draw on these descriptions to argue that even theorists attentive to both the possibilities and constraints on new organizational forms nevertheless fail to fully account for systematic contradictions even in generally collaborative network relationships, leading in turn to a partial misdescription of the transition to the new old economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty years of research regarding the linkage between product diversification and performance have not produced consistent results. According to a very influential framework in this area of research, the reason could be that product diversification creates only potential benefits. Realization of these benefits requires the adoption of the appropriate organization form. Only if there is a fit between the diversification strategy and the organization of the diversified firm, the potential benefits are realized and financial performance increases. However, so far only parts of this framework have been empirically tested. For example, a few empirical studies examine the relationships between product diversification, organization structure, and performance, but they leave the benefits of product diversification implicit. In this paper, we develop hypotheses that link product diversification, various instruments for the corporate office to manage the divisions, their joint influence on different types of resource sharing between the divisions, and the consequences for firm performance. Subsequently, we test these hypotheses, using both archival and internal data. The results indicate that the type of resource sharing that is the least difficult to realize, sharing reputation, does not contribute to firm performance. Sharing know-how, the only type of resource sharing that increases firm performance, is the most difficult to create. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of workers' participation in management has been developed in cross-national contexts. Although the literature on the subject is extensive and diverse indeed, very studies have been concerned with assessing the "real" impacts of workers' participation in management on the worker, the organization and society in general. The purpose of the paper is to assess impacts of workers' participation in management from the viewpoint of social planning. Two major questions are discussed: (1) what are some of the research findings in this area and how do they compare in various countries?; and (2) what is the impact of workers' participation in management and social planning? Finally, some conclusions are drawn along with their implication for management, attempting to place the concept of workers' participation in management in the proper perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at identifying and assessing the revenues and costs incurred by various modernization and modernization-development strategies for a power plant in order to optimize the electric and thermal energy are produced and to conduct a sensitivity analysis of the main performance indicators. The Romanian energy system and the energy market have gone a long transition way, from the vertically integrated model, the responsibility for the delivery of the electricity comes exclusively to a state monopoly, to a decentralized system, characterized by the decentralization of production and transport, respectively distribution activities. Romania chose the liberal market model where the relations between the actors in the market - producers and suppliers free to make sales and purchase transactions for electrical energy - are mostly governed by contracts, which may be either bilaterally negotiated or are already regulated. Therefore, the importance of understanding the development trend of the Romanian energy market lies in its economic effects upon the solutions which could be adopted for the evolution of the cogeneration power plant in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have implemented various policies to reduce carbon emissions. Among the policies available, capand- trade regulations have well been accepted as an effective market-based mechanism to curb carbon emissions. This policy offers the opportunity for firms to share the benefits of low-emission in a carbon trading market by selling and purchasing credits. In this paper, we focus on the cap-and-trade emission reduction policy. Specifically, we study an emission-dependent supply chain consisting of a manufacturer, a supplier and a retailer. In this supply chain, a cap on emission permits for the manufacturer is primarily imposed by the government and additional emissions must be purchased from the emission trading market if the permit needed is larger than the cap. We investigate the effects of the emission cap-and-trade on the supply chain members' decisions for decentralized and centralized supply chain using a Stackelberg game model. In the decentralized supply chain, a product's retail price is higher than in the centralized decision-making mode. Moreover, the price of extra emissions under the decentralized supply chain decrease as the carbon emissions cap increases. Our results show that in the centralized supply chain enterprises obtain higher benefits than in the decentralized supply chain. The outcome of this research can help i) policy-makers to make effective emission reduction policies and ii) manufacturers and retailers to make sustainable operations and supply chain decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of perceived decision-specific characteristics on the processes followed in making Strategic Decisions (SDs). It empirically derives generic decision-specific characteristics (e.g. magnitude of impact, crisis, pressure, familiarity, emergence) and decision-process dimensions (e.g. comprehensiveness, politicization. decentralization). Results support that SDs with different characteristics are handled through different processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand better the challenges of developing a unified system of global cyber governance, a comparative analysis of national cybersecurity strategy and frameworks in 10 countries and the European Union from diverse regions in both the developed and developing world was conducted. In addition, in the course of the research, the author has interviewed various government and private sector experts on national intelligence and cybersecurity and has analyzed relevant documents, data, case studies and government and private industry reports concerning the present and future challenges they face in developing a global governance structure for cybersecurity. Recommendations are proposed based on the commonalities between national laws and policies in an effort to find common ground for the development of bilateral and multilateral cybersecurity agreements and global public private partnerships. Based on empirical research and an analysis of national and international cybersecurity strategies and policies, this paper explores the challenges and benefits of establishing a global legal and policy framework for cyber activity that advances the goals of national intelligence and technological innovation, while enhancing confidence and improving legal certainty in the global electronic marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interdisciplinary approach has as premise the fact that the economic results can detain, near other variables, the cultural values as determinant factors. So, the centralization of the economists only on the economic aspects as productivity, technology, the level of investments or the capital flows can be an incomplete approach for a viable economic theory, unable to produce, in a real way, positive effects on the national economic development. So, the aim of this paper is the grouping of 148 countries according to the average of four public values - legality, transparency, impartiality and public responsibility - and to the level of the stability of the macroeconomic environment from each country. After that, the conclusions are taken bringing into discussion the third variable - the stage of development - as to identify the groups with a specific level of economic development and to investigate if a relation between the public values, the macro-stability and the development stage really exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a global trend of public sector decentralization over the last few decades, justified by the fact that transferring public revenues and expenditures from central to local government level is expected to deliver greater public sector efficiency, higher economic growth rates and better overall macroeconomic performance. In this paper, we empirically investigate if fiscal decentralization enhances or hinders economic growth in Central and European (CEE) member countries of the European Union. Using panel data for the period 1992-2012, we try to determine whether fiscal decentralization, measured as the share of local government revenues/expenditures in general government revenues/expenditures has a positive effect on the GDP per capita growth rate. According to our findings, fiscal decentralization has an adverse effect on the economic growth rate in the CEE countries. This is in line with the argument that in developing countries decentralization could fail to deliver the expected positive impulse on growth if certain economic and institutional preconditions are absent. A negative impact is also found to come from the size of the public sector and inflation. On the other hand, the improvement of the fiscal balance and the openness of the economy have a positive impact on growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of modern states, whether unilateral or federal, are organised on more than one level of government. The process offiscal decentralisation, in Republic of Croatia started in 2001 with new law on local and district (regional) autonomy that has decentralised the fields of education, social and health care. But, the existing model of fiscal decentralisation in Croatia is not effective because is still facing numerous problems in carrying out the decentralisation process, that are visible in too many local units, non-existing measures for fortifying its fiscal capacities, relatively low autonomy in local units decision making process, etc. This paper focuses on problems of fiscal federalism and decentralisation in Croatia. Authors explore the possibility of implementing a new model of fiscal decentralisation which would ensure more efficiency, higher level of decentralisation, geographical division designed according to citizens' needs, better fiscal independence of local units, and higher level of public officials' competence. All of that would surely improve the quality of public goods' provision and would additionally increase the responsibility level of local deputies and citizens' participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new way of formalizing and solving various control problems for the important class of dynamic systems known as DES is suggested. The formalization is based on the original first-order logic calculus of the positively-constructed formulas (PCF). A PCF-based algorithm for checking the co-observability property of a specification language restricting DES behavior is presented. Co-observable languages serve as specifications for the decentralized supervisors, which are necessary to implement group control tasks. The approach is demonstrated on the example of a discrete-event model of an autonomous underwater vehicle, which describes AUV’s high-level operation modes switching while following the leader, in a surveillance mission, performed by the AUV group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposed to use complex network to study knowledge diffusion frequency and centralization respectively of communities of practice and then expatiated on the relationship of among them. Finally, we discussed the result of the study and obtained inspiration, which provided guiding sense for the development of communities of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation of formal power from the central state to sub-national levels has been the prevailing trend since the Second World War in Europe but also present in most other parts of the world. In Sweden, local government and local responsibility for welfare provision has a long history and municipalities enjoy considerable discretion with local politicians being comparatively independent from national government. The transformation in territorial authority and local discretion regarding welfare services in the case of Sweden since the 1980's are the focus of this paper. Central arguments promoting decentralization are outlined as well as motives and objections against a far reaching shift of responsibility from the central to the sub-national level. Until the mid 1990s, decentralisation was the dominating trend in Sweden and shifts of authority pointing in the same direction. Decentralization and increased autonomy in determining municipal organization also made new solutions for public sector steering possible and a multitude of cooperation and agreements between municipalities developed. The most recent development in Sweden however diverge from the dominating international trend, since nations-state driven recentralisation has occurred as an reaction to increasing local variations in service availability and welfare standards. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at historical changes in population, life course, family, and culture of care in Japan. Intergenerational Mutual Care in Japan developed in a context of many factors, including cultural ideals, centralization of the civil state (ritsuyo), and the family unit called the Ie. The ie was a legal and social construct economically defining a household. It created an imperative to carry on the family name by caring for the elderly by providing for an heir. The ie was the product of historical and cultural factors. The establishment of agriculture in Japan led to an increase of population, followed by a new civilization influenced by Confucian principles, which taught respect and caring for the elderly and shaped the development of the ie. By the time of the Tokugawa Period, the traditions of the Ie were codified in service of that regime's struggle against Christianity. However, detailed records of the time show a diversity of population patterns, affected by local customs and worker migration, which also affected the development of society. With the Meiji Restoration, Japan experienced a wave of modernization, which led to the nationalization of the nation and the family. The new regime further entrenched the ie into law, turning the Japanese family into a social unit in service of industry and Japan's imperialism. After World War II, the American occupiers introduced reforms liberating Japanese women from their traditional roles. As women took advantage of new opportunities for their life course, this led to a lessening of the ie's influence on the shape of society that continues to this day. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently decentralization became a key word for development programs that attempt to address demands from indigenous peoples in Latin America but evaluation of the impact of decentralization on indigenous policy is limited. In this paper, I explore how decentralization of the state transforms the state as well as the chemistry between the state and indigenous peoples. I argue that decentralization is one of technologies in neoliberal governmentality, which enables the state to evolve into a multi-layer entity and it provides the state a tool to diversify strategies to manage indigenous struggles while offers some space for indigenous movements to resist. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies a model of national union effectiveness to union organizing. Results indicate organizing success its enhanced by innovation and reduced by centralization of control at the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to provide an orderly description of how an organization's formal structure affects its strategic decision-making process. Literature on structure, the strategic process, and the link between the two is reviewed. Pertinent contributions are then integrated to describe the effect that three dimensions of organization structure have on six characteristics of the strategic decision process. Propositions that emerge from this integration are presented to summarize the Impact of each structural dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Donaldson Brown was the originator of ROI, an architect of General Motor's management structure and one of the conceptualizers of the decentralization with coordinated control concept. He was one of the most influential management and organization theorists in GM. This paper discusses some of his management contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This panel study examines the structure of authority within organizational units or department in terms of the amounts of authority exercised by supervisors, employees, and the unit as a group in making decisions on (1) how work is to be performed, and (2) how exceptional work matters are to be handled. At the technical level in complex organizations these are the main decisions that require frequent discretion or judgment in task performance (Bell, 1957). This paper will report the results of a longitudinal study designed to test some key propositions of Thompson (1967) and others on how task uncertainty, work flow interdependence and unit size cause variations in supervisory, employee and group decision-making within organizational units. Although causation can never be proven empirically, the analyses is based on the requirement that causal factors must temporally proceed effects in order to indicate the possible existence of cause-effect relationships. The practical implications of this research argue against the current trend of prescribing decentralized participants forms of authority structures throughout complex organizations. Instead the findings support Parrow's (1970) contention that in order in design authority structures within organizational units, it is important to find out how a unit conceives its task or its raw materials and how interdependent is its work flow system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden decentralisation of work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic challenges institutionalised work practices, which some companies seek to counter by using people analytics. Narratives around people analytics often portray it as an enabler of remote workers' (self-)organisation. Simultaneously, especially when deployed for performance management, people analytics is considered an enabler of workplace surveillance. Further, algorithmic biases in the systems can perpetuate social injustice and discrimination of marginalised groups, impacting established hierarchies and social structures in the workplace. Our study 1) provides an overview of the status of emerging themes around people analytics, remote working, and leadership, and 2) assesses the impact people analytics has on shifting structures in organisations. We guide our analysis by deploying and extending the Structurational Model of Technology. Our results suggest that people analytics poses vastly different challenges for employees and leaders, and that it can potentially contradict current trends towards flat hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on blockchain has found that the technology is no silver bullet compared to traditional data structures due to limitations regarding decentralization, security, and scalability. These limitations are summarized in the blockchain trilemma, which today represents the greatest barrier to blockchain adoption and applicability. To address these limitations, recent advancements by blockchain businesses have focused on a new cryptographic technique called "Zero-knowledge proofs". While these primitives have been around for some time and despite their potential significance on blockchains, not much is known in information systems research about them and their potential effects. Therefore, we employ a multivocal literature review to explore this new tool and find that although it has the potential to resolve the trilemma, it currently only solves it in certain dimensions, which necessitates further attention and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The making of the Oxford English Dictionary in the nineteenth century brought together thousands of volunteer contributors from around the world. In this paper I situate the making of the OED against the contemporary body of research on "open source" software production and other collaborative forms of large-scale organization facilitated by the Internet. Through an examination of primary source materials and the contextual environment in which the OED arose and eventually sustained itself, this paper offers abstract generalizable insights and an historical view towards explaining why similar organizational forms seem to flourish in the modern day, the advantages and limitations of such forms, and the outlook for their future. Particular attention is drawn to elements of standardization and centralization, corroboration, informal hierarchy and meritocratic boundaries, and particular leadership characteristics. The necessity of these features is considered in light of the diverse, dispersed, and largely unknown or anonymous nature of the body of actors that constitute these projects. This research provides a basis for building a grounded theory of collaborative organization where authority is uncertain, and with applicability to other empirical realms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-organizational collaboration is known as source of innovation. Recently, collaborative innovation processes have gained attention under the term "Open Innovation". As a result of its expected positive effects, several types of cooperation emerged. These range from short-term, project-based cooperation to long-term, institutionalized innovation networks. Literature is rich on theories explaining collaborative innovation and inter-organizational networks, and resulting barriers to innovation that prevent a full use of all partners' resources. However, methods and processes that facilitate innovation in these networks are in need of further investigations We briefly recapitulate theories explaining the formation of innovation networks, eventually deriving central challenges the networks. The challenges were backed by interviews with 49 representatives of 24 organizations active in one such network. Based on additional interviews with 18 representatives of five different innovation cooperations, we present instruments that promise to foster collaborative innovation in the domains human resources, structure, management and financials, and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a country that is in the process of integration into EU structures, reducing the corruption is a good sign for attracting foreign investment and developing the economic environment. The paper estimates the parameters of a simultaneous equation model based on data sets obtained at a sample of employees in public administration. Statistical sample consist in 407 people and the maximum allowable error was estimated at ± 2.5%. For the effective development of the statistical questionnaire we identified major themes of public administration that are directly related to the problem of corruption: managing the institution, the civil service, transparency in the system, the decentralization process, causes and effects of corruption and the quality of the reform in the public administration. Based on the questionnaire we defined primary and secondary variables that have been used to define the model with simultaneous equations. For the variables in the model they have been divided into endogenous and exogenous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]