National economic competitiveness is a major concern to governments, firms, and individuals in an increasingly globalised world. Culture is known affect economic competitiveness, but there is little existing research that links Hofstede’s cultural dimensions with the Human Capital Indicators in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. U-blox is an international firm with offices around the world. The firm has grown through acquisitions and has become a key player in the wireless communication and positioning semiconductors business. The chosen topic will study the cultural aspects of a selected group of u-blox subsidiaries. The values in a workplace are in fact influenced by culture and by their human capital. Using Hofstede’s dimensions to analyse the cultural factors, it is possible to study the international context of the human capital in each subsidiary by using reliable international indicators provided in the Global Competitiveness Index.

Rail transport refers to the transportation of various commodities, goods and services traded as cargo and freight within South Africa and out of South Africa for export to the other Southern African communities (SADC region), the rest of Africa and other continents of the world. It also refers to the imports into South Africa from the regions mentioned. Competitiveness relates to a country or company’s available resources and supporting policies and regulations in place which allow them to compete and do business locally, internationally and globally while improving the country’s economy and the company’s profitability. There are different criteria that can be used to determine the level of competitiveness, depending on each company or country’s capabilities. In the past years, the progress and development of the South African rail industry has been neglected and this has resulted in the rail transportation not being used. Railway line maintenance has become a challenge and service delivery is below customer expectations. Road transport has better availability and reliability, which has led companies to prefer road transport for freight. The main objective of this study is to reach a detailed understanding of the views of freight rail transport consumers and the impact of rail transport on the economic competitiveness of South Africa. Another important objective is to present the study in a format that is easily understandable. The approach adopted for this study is quantitative and uses a survey research questionnaire which was distributed to freight rail transport customers and providers. The data collected from the questionnaire was submitted to a statistical consultant service at North-West University. The statistical consultant analysed the data using the SPSS statistics computer programme to arrive at the results presented in this study. The overall findings from this study are that companies that use roads to transport freight do so because of the unavailability and unreliability of the freight rail transport provider Transnet Freight Rail and that these companies opt for road transport because they use a ‘just in time’ (JIT) system whereby a small quantity of stock is transported continuously which Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) does not accommodate. These factors have resulted in TFR’s poor service delivery. Therefore, a market demand strategy has been initiated by TFR to improve the performance of the company. It is important to note here that freight rail transport should concentrate on improving service delivery and not only on increasing capacity. The research participants indicated that the TFR objective to move freight back to rail could be accomplished. This will lessen the burden and damage to South African roads and reduce traffic congestion and accidents caused by trucks on the roads. It will also increase employment opportunities and the country’s economic competitiveness while reducing transport costs. All these aspects will make a significant impact on the economy of the country. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Rail transport refers to the transportation of various commodities, goods and services traded as cargo and freight within South Africa and out of South Africa for export to the other Southern African communities (SADC region), the rest of Africa and other continents of the world. It also refers to the imports into South Africa from the regions mentioned. Competitiveness relates to a country or company’s available resources and supporting policies and regulations in place which allow them to compete and do business locally, internationally and globally while improving the country’s economy and the company’s profitability. There are different criteria that can be used to determine the level of competitiveness, depending on each company or country’s capabilities. In the past years, the progress and development of the South African rail industry has been neglected and this has resulted in the rail transportation not being used. Railway line maintenance has become a challenge and service delivery is below customer expectations. Road transport has better availability and reliability, which has led companies to prefer road transport for freight. The main objective of this study is to reach a detailed understanding of the views of freight rail transport consumers and the impact of rail transport on the economic competitiveness of South Africa. Another important objective is to present the study in a format that is easily understandable. The approach adopted for this study is quantitative and uses a survey research questionnaire which was distributed to freight rail transport customers and providers. The data collected from the questionnaire was submitted to a statistical consultant service at North-West University. The statistical consultant analysed the data using the SPSS statistics computer programme to arrive at the results presented in this study. The overall findings from this study are that companies that use roads to transport freight do so because of the unavailability and unreliability of the freight rail transport provider Transnet Freight Rail and that these companies opt for road transport because they use a ‘just in time’ (JIT) system whereby a small quantity of stock is transported continuously which Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) does not accommodate. These factors have resulted in TFR’s poor service delivery. Therefore, a market demand strategy has been initiated by TFR to improve the performance of the company. It is important to note here that freight rail transport should concentrate on improving service delivery and not only on increasing capacity. The research participants indicated that the TFR objective to move freight back to rail could be accomplished. This will lessen the burden and damage to South African roads and reduce traffic congestion and accidents caused by trucks on the roads. It will also increase employment opportunities and the country’s economic competitiveness while reducing transport costs. All these aspects will make a significant impact on the economy of the country. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Las mypes constituyen un sector muy importante en el desarrollo de la economía del país por lo cual en la presente investigación se planteó como objetivo determinar el nivel de competitividad que tienen las mypes exportadoras de la región Lambayeque. Para lo cual se empleó un enfoque cuantitativo, de tipo básica, de nivel descriptivo y diseño no experimental, corte transversal, para lo cual se tuvo una población de 110 mypes y un muestreo tipo juicio de 49 mypes agroexportadoras de la región Lambayeque, empleándose como instrumento el mapa de competitividad proporcionado por el BID, y se obtuvo en los resultados que las empresas en estudio poseen un nivel muy bajo con un 53.1%, seguido de un nivel bajo con un 38.8%. Concluyendo así que, pese a la importancia del sector, este se ve afectado y no ha logrado incrementar su crecimiento en el mercado puesto que presenta diversas deficiencias. / The mypes constitute a very important sector in the development of the country's economy, which is why in the present investigation the objective was to determine the level of competitiveness that the exporting mypes of the Lambayeque region have. For which a quantitative, basic type, descriptive level and non-experimental design, cross-sectional approach was used, for which a population of 110 mypes and a type of proven trial of 49 agro-exporting mypes from the Lambayeque region were used, using As an instrument, the competitiveness map provided by the IDB, and it was obtained in the results that the companies under study have a very low level with 53.1%, followed by a low level with 38.8%. Thus, concluding that despite the importance of the sector, it is affected and has not been able to increase its growth in the market since it presents various deficiencies.

Pastarąjį dešimtmetį kilusios problemos dėl ekonomikos raidos bei mokesčių vaidmens šiuolaikinėje ekonomikoje skatino diskusijas apie fiskalinės politikos poveikį konkurencingumui. Tyrimai stokoja vertinimo argumentacijos, dauguma vertinimų grindžiamos tik BVP kitimo tendencijomis, kurios nerodo socialinių pokyčių. Mokslinė problema: kaip įvertinti mokesčių naštos ir ekonomikos konkurencingumo sąveiką socialinės aplinkos kontekste? Mokesčių naštos poveikio ekonomikos konkurencingumui vertinimas socialinės aplinkos kontekste modelis sudarytas, vadovaujantis teorinėmis, istorinėmis ir praktinėmis mokesčių kitimo ir įtakos ekonomikos, konkurencingumo, socialinio aplinkos lygio raidai bei valstybės dalyvavimo ekonominėje veikloje vertinimui ir yra argumentuotas instrumentas, tinkamas vertinti mokesčių vaidmenį ekonomikos konkurencingumo formavime socialinės aplinkos kontekste. Atlikti mokesčių naštos lygio ekonomikos aplinkos pokyčiams tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad mokesčiai yra svarbi ekonomikos vystymosi aplinkybė, kuri šiuolaikinėje aplinkoje turi būti vertinama plačiau, ne tik valstybės dalyvavimo ekonomikoje lygio aspektu. Mokestinės naštos poveikį aktualu įvertinti ekonominio potencialo, konkurencingumo, socialinės aplinkos lygio ir viešųjų išlaidų poreikio kontekste. Kompleksinis mokesčių vertinimas leidžia atskleisti mokesčių naštos poveikį ne tik ekonomikos pokyčiams, bet parodo ir mokestinių pajamų perskirstymo vaidmenį ekonomikos konkurencingumo ir socialinės aplinkos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Over the last decade, problems with the economic development and role of taxation in the modern economy, encouraged debate on fiscal policy impact on competitiveness. Studies lack reasoning, most estimates are based only on the GDP change trends, which do not reflect social changes. The scientific problem: how to assess the interaction of tax burden and economic competitiveness in the context of social environment? The model “Assessment of the tax burden impact on competitiveness of economy in context of the social environment” was created in accordance with the theoretical, historical and practical taxation changes and their impact on assessment of economy, competitiveness, social environment development level and state participation in economic activities. The model is reasoned assessment tool, suitable for evaluation of the role of taxation in the formation of economic competitiveness in social environment context. Results of the performed study of tax burden impact on economic environment changes show that taxes are an important factor in economic development, which in today's environment must be regarded as more, than just a level of state involvement in the economy. It is relevant to assess impact of tax burden in the context of economic potential, competitiveness, social environment level and public expenditure need. Complex assessment of taxes allows not only to reveal the impact of tax burden on changes in the economy, but also shows the role of tax revenue... [to full text]

Atskleidus kaimo vietovių ekonominio konkurencingumo ir vietos gyventojų verslumo ryšį ir išnagrinėjus vietos gyventojų verslumo plėtojimo svarba siekiant stiprinti kaimo vietovių ekonominį konkurencingumą pateiktos vietos gyventojų verslumo plėtojimo galimybės ir geroji patirtis. / Disclosed in the rural areas of economic competitiveness and entrepreneurship in local access and examined the development of local entrepreneurship is key to strengthening the economic competitiveness of rural areas. Submitted by local entrepreneurial development opportunities and best practices.

This thesis begins with the hypothesis that the role of ideas in urban and global development is understudied and understated in comparison to studies that privilege economic and political analyses. The thesis generates two related models that seek to provide a comprehensive means of analyzing both the political economic constraints of development as well as the ideational limits that are overlooked by conventional models. The political economic model adapts constructivist principles to explain the structural limits on urban development that emerge from the contemporary global political economy. The second model draws on previous work done in the field of policy diffusion to posit four relational ways in which ideas are adapted and localized. The thesis argues that political economy analyses provide a comprehensive but mostly macro-level analysis and often fail to adequately understand individual thinking outside of the rational actor model. The ideational adaptation model corrects for this, providing a detailed micro-level analysis that is founded on the political economic framework. Together, the two models provide a comprehensive understanding of the ideational limits and political economic constraints at work in any given development scenario. In order to demonstrate the utility of the combined models (termed combined conceptual approach), the thesis applies the models to four different applications. Three examples are historical secondary source examples (educational philosophy, international business councils, and water sanitation) related to the history of Shanghai and China, and the impact of foreigners on their development vision, strategies, and practice. One application is a case study of Shanghai’s Expo 2010, which uses original data established through high-level interviews with Expo participants. The use of the combined conceptual approach shows how the interpersonal and inter-institutional adaptation and localization of ideas affect the way we understand the concept of legitimate best practice in urban development. The combined conceptual approach highlights the role that human thought, emotions, and psychology play in urban development. It links political economic activity to constructed bonds of trust, learning, the mentality of competition, and soft forms of coercive power (hegemonic ideas, leadership, and conditionality). Finally, the most important contribution of the combined conceptual approach is that it allows for an analysis of both the macro- and micro-levels of development in a relational and holistic fashion.

This thesis begins with the hypothesis that the role of ideas in urban and global development is understudied and understated in comparison to studies that privilege economic and political analyses. The thesis generates two related models that seek to provide a comprehensive means of analyzing both the political economic constraints of development as well as the ideational limits that are overlooked by conventional models. The political economic model adapts constructivist principles to explain the structural limits on urban development that emerge from the contemporary global political economy. The second model draws on previous work done in the field of policy diffusion to posit four relational ways in which ideas are adapted and localized. The thesis argues that political economy analyses provide a comprehensive but mostly macro-level analysis and often fail to adequately understand individual thinking outside of the rational actor model. The ideational adaptation model corrects for this, providing a detailed micro-level analysis that is founded on the political economic framework. Together, the two models provide a comprehensive understanding of the ideational limits and political economic constraints at work in any given development scenario. In order to demonstrate the utility of the combined models (termed combined conceptual approach), the thesis applies the models to four different applications. Three examples are historical secondary source examples (educational philosophy, international business councils, and water sanitation) related to the history of Shanghai and China, and the impact of foreigners on their development vision, strategies, and practice. One application is a case study of Shanghai’s Expo 2010, which uses original data established through high-level interviews with Expo participants. The use of the combined conceptual approach shows how the interpersonal and inter-institutional adaptation and localization of ideas affect the way we understand the concept of legitimate best practice in urban development. The combined conceptual approach highlights the role that human thought, emotions, and psychology play in urban development. It links political economic activity to constructed bonds of trust, learning, the mentality of competition, and soft forms of coercive power (hegemonic ideas, leadership, and conditionality). Finally, the most important contribution of the combined conceptual approach is that it allows for an analysis of both the macro- and micro-levels of development in a relational and holistic fashion.

This thesis begins with the hypothesis that the role of ideas in urban and global development is understudied and understated in comparison to studies that privilege economic and political analyses. The thesis generates two related models that seek to provide a comprehensive means of analyzing both the political economic constraints of development as well as the ideational limits that are overlooked by conventional models. The political economic model adapts constructivist principles to explain the structural limits on urban development that emerge from the contemporary global political economy. The second model draws on previous work done in the field of policy diffusion to posit four relational ways in which ideas are adapted and localized. The thesis argues that political economy analyses provide a comprehensive but mostly macro-level analysis and often fail to adequately understand individual thinking outside of the rational actor model. The ideational adaptation model corrects for this, providing a detailed micro-level analysis that is founded on the political economic framework. Together, the two models provide a comprehensive understanding of the ideational limits and political economic constraints at work in any given development scenario. In order to demonstrate the utility of the combined models (termed combined conceptual approach), the thesis applies the models to four different applications. Three examples are historical secondary source examples (educational philosophy, international business councils, and water sanitation) related to the history of Shanghai and China, and the impact of foreigners on their development vision, strategies, and practice. One application is a case study of Shanghai’s Expo 2010, which uses original data established through high-level interviews with Expo participants. The use of the combined conceptual approach shows how the interpersonal and inter-institutional adaptation and localization of ideas affect the way we understand the concept of legitimate best practice in urban development. The combined conceptual approach highlights the role that human thought, emotions, and psychology play in urban development. It links political economic activity to constructed bonds of trust, learning, the mentality of competition, and soft forms of coercive power (hegemonic ideas, leadership, and conditionality). Finally, the most important contribution of the combined conceptual approach is that it allows for an analysis of both the macro- and micro-levels of development in a relational and holistic fashion.

This thesis begins with the hypothesis that the role of ideas in urban and global development is understudied and understated in comparison to studies that privilege economic and political analyses. The thesis generates two related models that seek to provide a comprehensive means of analyzing both the political economic constraints of development as well as the ideational limits that are overlooked by conventional models. The political economic model adapts constructivist principles to explain the structural limits on urban development that emerge from the contemporary global political economy. The second model draws on previous work done in the field of policy diffusion to posit four relational ways in which ideas are adapted and localized. The thesis argues that political economy analyses provide a comprehensive but mostly macro-level analysis and often fail to adequately understand individual thinking outside of the rational actor model. The ideational adaptation model corrects for this, providing a detailed micro-level analysis that is founded on the political economic framework. Together, the two models provide a comprehensive understanding of the ideational limits and political economic constraints at work in any given development scenario. In order to demonstrate the utility of the combined models (termed combined conceptual approach), the thesis applies the models to four different applications. Three examples are historical secondary source examples (educational philosophy, international business councils, and water sanitation) related to the history of Shanghai and China, and the impact of foreigners on their development vision, strategies, and practice. One application is a case study of Shanghai’s Expo 2010, which uses original data established through high-level interviews with Expo participants. The use of the combined conceptual approach shows how the interpersonal and inter-institutional adaptation and localization of ideas affect the way we understand the concept of legitimate best practice in urban development. The combined conceptual approach highlights the role that human thought, emotions, and psychology play in urban development. It links political economic activity to constructed bonds of trust, learning, the mentality of competition, and soft forms of coercive power (hegemonic ideas, leadership, and conditionality). Finally, the most important contribution of the combined conceptual approach is that it allows for an analysis of both the macro- and micro-levels of development in a relational and holistic fashion.