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This article aims to understand the business evolution and sustained survivability of Malaysian based-cosmetic firm, Pesona, for the past 20 years. The article provides constructive reflection in bridging theory and practice using a single case-study method to investigate the experiences and managerial decision rules of the owner of the cosmetic business within a real-life context. The narrative inquiry that we have adopted allows to focus on events, actions, processes, and happenings that matter for business survivability. The findings indicate various types of challenges within the cosmetic industry, faced resiliently by the owner of Pesona, namely sustaining market shares, highly dependable imported raw-materials, market uncertainty, international trade barriers and technology acquisitions. Likewise, marketing strategies and innovations in eliminating barriers and transforming challenges into opportunities are crucial. Along with these, knowledge management, networking and collaboration create the synergy to improve capabilities. More importantly, for micro and small businesses, these strategic capabilities are specifically led by the owners with passion and motivation. This case study is an inspirational asset for start-ups, SMEs and entrepreneurs as it offers valuable insights that can assist in building and sustaining businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are naturally the center of attention when innovation and its geography are discussed. This paper seeks to elucidate the knowledge structures of the city innovation systems of Hong Kong and Singapore, and shed light on the performance of knowledge production, networks, and features in accordance with: (1) patent portfolios and fields of technology; (2) the patent landscape; and (3) the correlation map between fields and entities that produce patents. Findings indicate that private firms dominate the patenting landscape for the selected economies. Scientific activities performed by universities and public research institutions are converging with technological knowledge performed by firms. Hong Kong and Singapore sought to attain a co-evolution process for science-based industrial development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study empirically models technology diffusion and incorporates a more comprehensive framework in understanding the diffusion process of telecommunications technology in Malaysia. We inductively assess the government's conduct in translating the productive rents for upgrading activities. The results show that the proactive role of the government when intervening in market operations has considerably influenced the technology diffusion process. The telecommunications services industry of Malaysia achieved a critical mass of entrepreneurs by first engaging business entrepreneurs in contract services from Malaysian Telecommunications Department, then moved to business diversification at the end of 1970s and is now developing a market platform to furnish its sustainable telecommunications system. We highlight positive general macro-meso views of our case and provide salient normative principles as guides for transformational policy-making. The principles discussed in this paper provide policy lessons, or at least some initial guide, for other developing economies aspiring to follow the path of technology upgrading and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, studies on inclusive development involve mainly the perspective of equitable distribution of economic and societal outputs. This study, however, takes a different approach and analyses the potential roles of regional coordination mechanisms (RCMs), specifically universities and research council's networks within Southeast Asia, in disseminating the innovation-related activities for inclusive development or Innovation for Inclusive Development (IID). The literature on innovation intermediaries within the realm of innovation systems studies was used to establish the framework of the study. The findings indicate that RCMs have a huge potential role to play. However, due to a number of reasons, including lack of funding support, lack of attention and commitment to IID, weak engagement with industry and non-governmental organisations, the implementation of the IID activities was rather poor. As a whole, the study argues that current approaches are not well positioned and it is fragmented preventing the effective use of RCMs despite their potentials for IID efforts. The study attributes this to the systemic failures in the regional coordinating systems. In enhancing the role of RCMs in IID, this study recommends the promotion of IID platform, the leveraging of non-government organisations and industry as well as energising the Southeast Asia engagement in promoting IID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative article explores the potential role of health care social enterprises (SEs) as disruptive innovators in improving the availability, accessibility, and affordability of health care delivery. It focuses on the context and mechanisms that enable SEs to produce positive health outcomes. Findings from an in-depth interview with the representatives of SEs and stakeholders in Malaysia reveal that strategies to balance the elements of social and enterprise (business) are the key for SEs to sustain in the market. This is supported with several inclusive business models such as inclusive employment model, cross-subsidization, and flexible fees payment mechanism, as well as collaborative engagement with multiple stakeholders, expert domains, and social workers. This article also highlights several main challenges in health care SEs, namely financial sustainability, impact measurement, scaling up of project, and political influence. This article ends with a few salient policies that focus on nurturing and strengthening health care SEs.