O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar e compreender a influência e capacidade das organizações internacionais para apoiar e fortalecer o processo de integração regional sulamericano, tomando como modelo deste enfoque a Organização do Tratado de Cooperação Amazônica (OTCA). Este objetivo deriva do fato de que a proposta inicial da Comunidade Sul‐americana de Nações (CSN) expunha que o processo de integração seria alcançado a partir da convergência gradual entre a Comunidade Andina de Nações (CAN) e o Mercosul, somando o Chile, a Guiana e o Suriname. Com esta idéia pretendia‐se aproveitar ao máximo os avanços e esforços de integração feitos pelo Mercosul e pela CAN e também beneficiar‐se da capacidade técnica e institucional, assim como das experiências de outras organizações existentes na região. Poderia levantar‐se uma série de suposições válidas a respeito do lento avanço da integração, mas nesta dissertação assume‐se que não se sabe qual é a capacidade e o potencial das organizações sul‐americanas e latino‐americanas para encaminhar o processo de integração. Por este motivo, argumenta‐se que para conhecer aquelas potencialidades das organizações regionais é necessário primeiro saber como estão estruturados seus sistemas políticos, como funcionam e quais são os diversos elementos que atuam e intervêm nestes sistemas. Para isso, apresenta‐se a análise do sistema político da OTCA. A pesquisa permite demonstrar que existe um enorme potencial ainda por explorar, nas organizações internacionais para apoiar e fortalecer o processo da integração sulamericana e latino‐americana, não só pela adequação da OTCA ao modelo utilizado, mas porque esse recurso metodológico permitiu determinar que o organismo, por suas características, tem o potencial indicado, e que agindo em conjunto com outras organizações regionais possui a capacidade de dar dinamismo e eficiência ao processo. / The purpose of the following dissertation is the analysis and understanding of the capacity and influence of international organizations to support and strengthen the South‐ American integration process, by using the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) as a model for this approach. This aim derives from the fact that the original proposal of the South American Community of Nations (CSN) suggested that the process of integration should be reached through the gradual convergence between the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and Mercosur (Southern Common Market), adding Chile, Guyana and Surinam. This would allow them to benefit to the maximum from the advances and strengths that Mercosur and CAN already have in the process of integration, as well as the technical and institutional capacity and the expertise of other organizations in the region. A number of assumptions could be raised in relation to the slow progress of integration in South America; however, in this dissertation it is assumed that the capacity or potential of South and Latin American organizations to develop integration remains unknown. Therefore, it is argued that, in order to get to know these potentials it is essential to identify the structure of their political systems, how these systems work and the different elements that act and intervene in them. For that reason, an analysis of ACTOʹs political system is specifically included. This research has allowed the demonstration of the existence of an enormous potential, still to be explored, in the international organizations, to support and strengthen the South American and Latin American integration process, not merely because the ACTO adapts to the used model, but moreover because this methodological resource allowed to determine that such organization, because of its features, has the indicated potential, and acting together with other regional organizations, posses the capacity to make the process more dynamic and efficient. / La presente disertación tiene por objetivo analizar y comprender la influencia y capacidad de las organizaciones internacionales para apoyar y fortalecer el proceso de integración sudamericano, tomando como modelo de este planteamiento a la Organización de Tratado de Cooperación Amazónica (OTCA). Este objetivo se deriva del hecho de que la propuesta inicial de la Comunidad Sudamericana de Naciones (CSN) planteaba que el proceso de integración sería alcanzado a partir de la convergencia gradual entre la Comunidad Andina de Naciones (CAN) y el Mercosur, sumando a Chile, Guyana y Surinam. Con esta idea se pretendía aprovechar al máximo los avances y esfuerzos de integración hechos por el Mercosur y la CAN y también beneficiarse de la capacidad técnica e institucional y de las experiencias de otras organizaciones existentes en la región. Podrían ser levantadas una serie suposiciones válidas con respecto al lento avance de la integración pero en esta disertación se asume que no se sabe cuál es la capacidad o el potencial de las organizaciones sudamericanas y latinoamericanas para encaminar el proceso de integración. Por este motivo, se argumenta que para conocer dichas potencialidades de las organizaciones regionales es necesario saber primero cómo están estructurados sus sistemas políticos, cómo éstos funcionan y cuáles son los diversos elementos que actúan e intervienen en estos sistemas. Para ello, específicamente se presenta el análisis del sistema político de la OTCA. La investigación ha permitido demostrar que existe un enorme potencial, aún por explotar, en las organizaciones internacionales para apoyar y fortalecer el proceso de integración sudamericana y latinoamericana, no tanto por la adecuación de la OTCA al modelo utilizado, sino porque ese recurso metodológico permitió determinar que dicho organismo, por sus características intrínsecas, tiene el potencial indicado, y que actuando en conjunto con otras organizaciones regionales posee la capacidad de imprimir dinamismo y eficacia al proceso.

Diferentemente das abordagens estadocêntricas clássicas que valorizam processos decisórios top-down, os recentes estudos sobre a atuação da sociedade civil internacional têm desempenhado importante papel nos enfoques que valorizam as dinâmicas de cooperação bottom-up. Dentre elas, a abordagem gramsciana parte da perspectiva de que a sociedade civil internacional é portadora de projetos hegemônicos alternativos, sendo o lócus onde se concentrariam as forças potencialmente transformadoras da ordem estabelecida. Assim, ao partir da perspectiva gramsciana, o analista depara-se com o potencial que a sociedade civil possui de transformação da realidade. Nela encontram-se os movimentos sociais que, através de sua atuação nas arenas internacionais de negociação, buscam resistir à hegemonia da globalização neoliberal. Dessa maneira, por meio de sua atuação em escala global, os movimentos sociais de resistência procuram expandir sua esfera de consenso em relação a seus projetos alternativos de desenvolvimento. Nesse sentido, este trabalho objetiva demonstrar como se dá a abordagem dos movimentos sociais de resistência nas Relações Internacionais a partir de sua introdução na categoria analítica de \"contra-hegemonia\", tendo por referencial teórico alguns dos conceitos de Gramsci e a tradução destes conceitos para a área das Relações Internacionais realizada por Robert Cox. Dentre os movimentos sociais de resistência que atuam em escala global, encontra-se a Via Campesina. Atuando junto à Organização das Nações Unidas para Agricultura e Alimentação (FAO), a Via Campesina tem projetado um discurso alternativo, consubstanciado pelo conceito de Soberania Alimentar, ao discurso capitalista enredado nas políticas agrícolas internacionais. Assim, objetiva-se apresentar alguns resultados da análise dessa interação, enfocando a problemática da modificação genética dos recursos fitogenéticos e o contraponto estabelecido pela Via Campesina à concepção de Segurança Alimentar sustentada pela FAO. Tendo em vista que a ação política internacional dos movimentos sociais vem sendo objeto de consideração da literatura científica de Relações Internacionais, o propósito é desenvolver uma leitura interdisciplinar do assunto, de modo a problematizar quais as possibilidades e limitações da área de Relações Internacionais em analisar o tema. Para tanto, privilegia-se esta análise a partir da perspectiva da Teoria Crítica, buscando abordar como a sociedade civil, traduzida de termos gramscianos, possui a capacidade de influenciar a hierarquia da política internacional intergovernamental por meio de sua atuação transnacional direcionada ao questionamento da manutenção e reprodução da ordem social capitalista. / Unlike the classical state-centric approaches which value top-down decision-making processes, recent studies about the performance of international civil society have played an important role on the approaches that value bottom-up cooperation dynamics. Among them, the Gramscian approach departs from the perspective that international civil society is the bearer of alternative hegemonic projects, being the locus where potential forces that can change the established order are concentrated. Thus, from the Gramscian perspective, the analyst faces the potential that civil society has to transform the reality. Included in this concept, are social movements that, through its action in the international negotiation arenas, seek to resist to the hegemony of the neoliberal globalization. There for, through its action on a global scale, the resistance social movements seek to expand their sphere of consensus regarding their alternative projects of development. In this sense, this paper aims to demonstrate how is the approach of the resistance social movements in International Relations by their introduction in the analytical category of \"counter-hegemony\", and by taking some of the Gramsci\'s theoretical concepts and its translation to the field of International Relations executed by Robert Cox. Among the resistance social movements that act on a global scale, it is located La Vía Campesina. Acting within Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), La Vía Campesina has designed an alternative discourse, embodied by the concept of Food Sovereignty, to the capitalist discourse existent in international agriculture policies. Thus, it is aimed to present some results of the analysis of this interaction, focusing on the genetic modification of plant genetic resources issue and on the counterpoint provided by La Vía Campesina to actual concept of Food Security supported by FAO. Given that the international political action of the resistance social movements has been subject of consideration of the scientific literature in International Relations, the purpose is to develop an interdisciplinary reading of the thematic, in order to discuss the possibilities and limitations of International Relations in analyzing the theme. Therefore, the focus is the analysis from the Critical Theory perspective, seeking to address how civil society, translated from Gramscian terms, has the capacity to influence the international intergovernmental political hierarchy through its transnational activity driven to questioning the maintenance and reproduction of the capitalist social order.

Les espaces européen et francophone, qui se recoupent partiellement, sont marqués par la diversité culturelle de leurs peuples. Pourtant ces derniers se sentent éloignés de l’Europe technocratique et de la Francophonie à la fois méconnue et réduite aux colloques et aux cocktails. L’Union européenne (UE) a instauré une citoyenneté européenne et un certain sentiment d’être européen coexiste avec les identités multiples forgées par le processus de la mondialisation actuelle. Pour sa part, l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), qui n’est pas une organisation d’intégration régionale, n’a pas pu instituer un tel instrument et la question de l’identité francophone se pose toujours avec autant d’acuité. Portées par la solidarité dans une perspective de paix durable, ces deux organisations internationales ont mis en place des outils de rapprochement dans les domaines de l’éducation, de la culture et des médias auxquels les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication apportent un concours appréciable / The European and the Francophone spaces, which partly intersect, are marked with the cultural diversity of their people. Nonetheless these last ones feel far from technocratic Europe and Francophonie which is both unknown and reduced to colloquia and cocktail parties. The European Union (EU) has established a European citizenship and a certain feeling of being European coexists with the many identities made by the process of the current globalization. For its part, the International Organization of Francophonie (IOF), which is not a regional integration organization, could not institute such an instrument and the Francophone identity is still at issue. Leaded by solidarity in a prospect of a long-lasting peace, these two international organizations have created tools of rapprochement in the fields of education, culture and media with the useful support of new information and communication technologies.

African Union (AU) multilateral efforts in governance flounder at the level of implementation and their substantive intervention worth do not accord with the aspirations embodied in adopted normative frameworks and instruments. The research served to uncover the policy and delivery challenges within the overall AU institutional system as a means of providing a perspective on the future of AU governance mechanisms and related intervention modalities. Detailed empirical engagement, through an institutional lens, with norm formation and implementation in accountability, the rule of law and state capacity, and related delivery practices, enabled the extraction of crucial efficacy challenges in the AU institutional system. The exploration, using evidence embodied in documents from the AU governance implementation system, served to confirm that the AU continues to struggle between the imperatives of integration through established shared values and the exercise of state sovereignty. Within the policy-delivery nexus, the research points to the importance of agency by AU institutions and how practices and incentives serve to pervert the aspiration for a multilateral value-adding system in governance. In addition to providing a comprehensive historical macro-overview of AU governance intervention and related implementation modalities, the research served to uncover the implementation ‘black-box’ through a careful and comprehensive study of practices in each of the governance intervention terrains. The institutional focus serves to affirm that answerability for performance in the use of public resource and the structuring of organisations, matter for delivery and the production of substantive regional integration value. The core efficacy challenges at the level of AU multilateral engagements and implementation, such as norm proliferation, the exercise of power and sovereignty, staffing and capacity gaps, point to the need for a substantive and strategic reorientation of the AU governance normative framework and related intervention modalities. As an outcome of the analysis and reflection, a ‘norm graduating model’ is proposed to accommodate contextual realities in AU Member States on the back of historically hard-fought-for shared values in governance. At the level of implementation modalities, efficacy challenges point to the importance of a more tempered and realistic delivery approach. The primary focus in the immediate term should be on building governance through a diffused peer-engagement strategy culminating in norm compliance and full adherence to the provisions of established AU governance instruments over the long-term. / Public Administration and Management / Ph. D. (Public Administration)

The dissertation deals with the management culture of a construction company in connection with the new roles that are introduced in the Czech Republic (CR), especially after it became a member state of the European Union. In the introduction to the dissertation, two hypotheses are proposed. In the following theoretical part, it deals with the first general definition of corporate culture and ethics linked to the quality of work and new roles. In order to understand these difficult times, which are characterized by various types of crises, an analysis of the construction industry is made. Next, a description of the legislative developments in the CR is made and the influence of computer technology in construction management is marginally mentioned. It’s implementing the new technology that has an increasing impact on the organization and quality of work. The ability to use computer technology has in essence become a measure of the level of development of the management culture in the given construction company. The main theoretical part defines the roles in question, including their historical development, origin and the cause of their occurrence in both the CR and the neighboring countries.

No description available.

Within international security governance and crisis management practice, there has been an increase in inter-institutional cooperation and multi-actor security initiatives. While many studies have attempted to shed light on the factors that determine the emergence of these inter-institutional security governance initiatives, many have approached the subject from a liberal-institutionalist perspective, giving only scant attention to the role of hegemons and great powers in these processes. To contribute to closing this gap, this study focuses on the role of hegemonic influence in the emergence and assemblage of inter-institutional (sub)regional security governance arrangements. It specifically focuses on Mali and the Sahel region following the 2012 Malian crisis, tracing the process through which inter-institutional cooperation between the G5S-JF and EUTM Mali became established by laying focus on the role of France as an extra-regional hegemon with a security agenda in the region. The study explores the role of French influence by outlining France’s preferences, actions, and narrations and explaining how they influenced the EU’s decision to operationally support the G5S-JF. The study also highlights the need to investigate how relations between resident powers and extra-regional hegemons shape the emergence, evolution, and decline of international organisations and regional security governance configurations.

The study utilizes regional integration theories like neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism and new regionalism to analyse the formation, structure and transformation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It examines the role of ECOWAS as a sub-regional economic body and its transformation to a political and security body dealing with sub-regional conflict resolution. Though neo-functionalism is generally analysed in reference to European regional integration, the study attempts to draw some lessons from this theory. Also, new regionalism theory is utilized to examine the transformation of ECOWAS from a mere economic body to a security and political entity. Regionalism in West Africa was initially geared towards mere economic cooperation; however, the emergence of ECOWAS on the scene and its subsequent transformation witnessed several changes towards the path of security cooperation. Despite its involvement with the gigantic political and security related activities, a general evaluation of economic integration in West Africa depicts a low level of progress. The poor state of sub-regional economic integration shows that ECOWAS did not complete its regional economic integration agenda before diverting to other sectors of integration. ECOWAS peacekeeping operations have been the dominant topic in sub-regional conflict resolution in West Africa. However, other forms of conflict resolution, including mediation, negotiation, conciliation and arbitration have been severally utilized. Also, in some of the cases, peacekeeping operations have been deployed only after other peaceful efforts have failed. ECOWAS peacekeeping operations are divergent operations with different forms and mandates. Therefore, they are better analysed under the framework of peacekeeping, peace-enforcement and peace-making theories. ECOWAS peacekeeping operations have been a subject of debate by proponents of the principle of non-interference and those of the responsibility to protect. The expediency of military intervention for humanitarian reasons as well as the prevention of genocide, war crimes and catastrophic loss of lives has questioned the principle of non-interference and validated the principle of responsibility to protect. / Political Sciences / D. Litt. et Phil. (International Politics)

Companies in South Africa who have implemented the ISO 14001 environmental management system have claimed that it offered benefits such as an improved environmental performance and a business advantage. However, to date the commercial benefits associated with ISO 14001 in South Africa have not been quantified so the claims of a financial advantage cannot be verified. This study therefore sought to assess the financial benefits accruing to various manufacturing enterprises in Kwa-Zulu Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape provinces of South Africa who have implemented ISO 14001. There was a particular focus on determining the cost savings and return on investment which resulted from the purchase of „environmentally friendlier‟ raw materials; the reduction of process waste (by the reuse, reduction and recycling of waste) as well as the more efficient use of resources such as electricity, water and fuel. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire survey sent to key decision makers in the selected organisations, as well as follow-up in-depth interviews with selected individuals within each organisation. The results of the study showed that the benefits of ISO 14001 certification included improved environmental awareness among employees; enhanced responsibility for environmental concerns by employees; better data management; reduced operational and production costs; and new income streams linked to re-use and recycling initiatives. Consequently it can be said that the long-term financial benefits justify the relatively high cost; the time intensive obligations and the human resource requirements of ISO 14001 certification. That said, it was also found that smaller companies face relatively more financial hurdles in implementing an EMS, and thus, it is recommended that tax incentives for such firms to implement and EMS be considered. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

Cette thèse porte sur le rôle des capacités dynamiques dans le processus d’internationalisation des entreprises chinoises depuis l’entrée de la Chine dans l’Organisation mondiale du commerce en 2001 alors que ces entreprises ne disposaient pas d’avantages concurrentiels préalables clairs par rapport à leurs concurrents occidentaux. L’étude de trois multinationales chinoises – Haier Group, Huawei Technologies et TCL Corporation – est menée dans le cadre théorique des capacités dynamiques (Dynamic Capability View - DCV). Elle vise à identifier la nature et les fondations des capacités dynamiques développées par ces entreprises au cours de leur processus d’internationalisation. Ce processus est caractérisé par la combinaison d'un investissement très significatif en innovation technologique et d’une internationalisation accélérée contribuant conjointement à la création d’un avantage concurrentiel durable. Ces deux dimensions de la stratégie des entreprises bénéficient d'un fort soutien du gouvernement chinois. / This thesis focuses on the role of dynamic capabilities in the internationalization process of Chinese corporations since China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, even though these companies did not have a clear prior competitive advantage over their Western competitors. The study of three Chinese multinational enterprises – the Haier Group, Huawei Technologies and TCL Corporation – is conducted in the framework of the Dynamic-Capability View (DCV). It aims at identifying the nature and the foundations of the dynamic capabilities developed by these corporations during the internationalization process.This process is characterized by the combination of a significant investment in technological innovation and an accelerated internationalization, jointly contributing to creating and sustaining of competitive advantage. These two elements of the corporate strategies benefit from the strong support of the Chinese government.