Economic Sociology


Book Description

This insightful key resource presents the clearest, most comprehensive and wide ranging account of economic sociology to date. Hass presents a critical and sophisticated yet approachable analysis of economic behaviour and phenomena. He makes the insights, claims, and logic of economic sociology interactive and accessible to students, while exposing the realities of today’s complex economic world and the challenges of studying economies and societies. This introductory text: provides a sophisticated yet approachable analysis of economic behaviour and phenomena explores economic structures and change from a global perspective-by using comparisons and data from the United States, Europe, East Asia, Latin America, and post-socialist countries shows how domestic and international economic forces work over time to shape modern economies takes a critical perspective of both economic sociology and economics to establish useful insights presents historical narratives showing the development of today’s economic structures and institutions addresses important economic issues directly impacting on students’ lives—from the more visible (economic inequality and organizations) to the less visible (international economic trends, public policy, post-socialism). Incorporating illustrations, case studies, a glossary, chapter notes, and a comprehensive bibliography, this student-friendly text also puts forward suggestions for further project work by showing the reader areas that require further investigation.




Making the Sustainable University


Book Description

This book documents strategies for universities engaging sustainability challenges through the education of global citizens on topics such as climate change, habitat alteration, species loss, resource depletion and contamination, food access and sovereignty, economic equity, and energy use. Different disciplines and operational units often have disparate ideas in mind when they work toward advancing sustainability. For example, some disciplines focus on environmental challenges (identifying impacts to ecosystems, mitigation and remediation strategies), some on greening of industrial and commercial practices while others address social equity—often there is little effort to connect these pieces especially while considering economic impacts. This book examines how Florida Gulf Coast University has attempted to infuse sustainability across curricula and operations as an integrated concept and our successes and shortcomings are instructional for sustainability practitioners on college campuses and other industries in a wide audience.




Trials and Tribulations in the Implementation of Pre-Commercial Procurement in Europe


Book Description

This book aims to advance the understanding of pre-commercial procurement (PCP) as innovation policy instrument and as means to fulfil public needs. To this end, it places PCP within its political and legal context and elucidates its origins and its economic rationale. Based on this analysis, it suggests a clear conceptualization of PCP and a clear delineation from other innovation policy instruments. Subsequently, the book assesses the value and achievements of the more established type of PCP policy programmes, and draws lessons for improvement. In this context, it raises awareness of the remaining obstacles to its wide and effective implementation and suggests appropriate solutions ranging from policy guidance to law interpretation and legislative reform. The text makes use of illustrative practical examples of policy-making and project implementation in various public programmes of R&D procurement. This is a highly relevant book for academics and practitioners in the field of public procurement. Ramona Apostol is Senior Procurement Adviser at Corvers Procurement Services B.V. in the Netherlands. She holds a Ph.D. in Law from Leiden University, the Netherlands. She has been involved in a wide range of procurement projects related to the implementation of R&D and innovation procurement and regularly acts as independent expert for the European Commission on this topic.




Marketing


Book Description

To maximise this publications core strengths, the authors have included revised concepts, features, and examples throughout to maintain timely coverage of current marketing trends and strategies.




Rethinking the Post Soviet Experience


Book Description

In this unique contribution to economic sociology, Jeffrey Hass examines the impact of culture, norms and political authority on Russia's post-socialist transition. The interactions and contradictions of moral economies and market relations are examined, exploring the often overlooked social dimension to market-building in Russia.




Women and the Birth of Russian Capitalism


Book Description

Little has been known, acknowledged, or studied about the shuttle trade, one of the major manifestations of new Russian life of the 1990s. The term itself seems to suggest something of a rather small scale. Indeed, the amount of each transaction in this trade was miniscule. Individual peddlers traveled to near-abroad with their bulging bags and brought back home for resale only as many goods as they could personally carry in their enormous suitcases. The phenomenon hidden behind the term "shuttle trade" was by no means insignificant or small in scale. By the mid-1990s, it constituted the backbone of Russian consumer trade and was a substantial source of revenue. The primary participants in the shuttle trade were women, and in this enlightening study Mukhina assesses the reasons why women were attracted to this business, the range of the personal experiences of female shuttle traders, and the social impact of women's involvement in this sort of economic activity. By analyzing the social and gendered dimensions of the shuttle trade, the reader can begin to understand more broadly how gender shaped the "transition" period associated with the end of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Moreover, the difficulties that these women faced highlight the gap between the rhetoric of free market economy and the actual market practices. These women-traders had to create and shape the physical market (an open-air space) for their goods without the basic legislative and other provisions of market economies. The shuttle trade became an avenue of female suffering but also of survival and even empowerment during the time that most Russians now call "the wild 1990s."




Defining Your Market


Book Description

Visionary companies build markets today to be market leaders tomorrow. This book provides the blueprint. Defining Your Market: Winning Strategies for High-Tech, Industrial, and Service Firms contains research, case studies, and literature reviews on market definition to help marketers, managers, researchers, and strategic planners formulate profitable marketing strategies. Timely and practical, this book offers a research-based methodology for defining markets that will help your company determine relevant markets and make it the most competitive business in the industry. Although market definition is the foundation for formulating business strategies and is critical to corporate performance, marketers and top management often rely on intuition or incomplete analyses when targeting markets. This text discusses the marketing methods used by leading companies and executive and provides you with the knowledge to create strategies that will work for your company. Defining Your Market examines the topics that will help your company become more successful now and into the next century, including: customer and competitive-driven market definitions the five core dimensions of market definition-- customer needs, customer groups, technology, products, and competition managerial implications related to strategic planning, formulating the marketing mix, integrating marketing and technology, and global strategy strategies for businesses for redefining markets and successfully competing in the 21st century the impact company size has on marketing strategies how to avoid the dangers of creating a market definition that is too narrow and limiting or one that is too broad and overlooks profitable niches in the market Each chapter of Defining Your Market features exercises that will help you understand new concepts and allows you to put these methods to immediate and profitable use. You will be able to learn about the tools and techniques that work for Andersen Consulting, Dell, General Electric, Intel, Merck, and Microsoft, and dozens of leading business marketers.Defining Your Market provides you with strategies that will help you define and redefine the most relevant and profitable markets for a successful and competitive business.




Power, Culture, and Economic Change in Russia


Book Description

Advancing cutting-edge sociological theory and using unique data on everyday economic life, this book examines the centrality of power, culture, and practice in Russian post-socialist change - and provides a framework for addressing general economic change. The book is aimed to faculty and students in sociology, political science, economics, and area studies.