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Just 25 years ago, Europe was engaged in a process of democratization and integration. The EU, with an expanded number of member-states, became a symbol of a democratic, peaceful and prosperous Union. However, recent years have seen the reversal of democratization in many of the countries that went through political transition in the 1990s. Even in established democracies, growing authoritarian tendencies have been apparent in the rise of populism and political polarisation and questions over the rule of law.Focusing on threats to Swedish liberal democracy in a time of autocratization to explore wider crises democracy is currently facing around the globe, Problems in Paradise? explores eight interactive sub-societies crucial for a dynamic and persistent liberal democracy: the political, the judicial, the bureaucratic, the economic, the educational, the media, the civil, and the international.Fully embracing the wide range of challenges liberal democracy has faced in recent years, this book offers a deepened understanding of contemporary changes and challenges to liberal democracy.

This fifth edition of Looking for Information is redesigned to reflect the breadth of research across information behaviour studies, with a new streamlined, six-chapter structure, presenting a refreshed look at people’s information needs and seeking practices, while also embracing contemporary concepts such as information use, creation, and embodiment.This edition retains its core purpose by highlighting essential aspects of research on people’s information behaviours, including detailed examples from more than 1200 research publications. The authors present historic works (including those focused on people’s occupations) alongside contemporary research addressing the situations and contexts that shape people’s experiences. Studies using innovative methodological or theoretical approaches, and those reflecting ongoing shifts towards interdisciplinarity are also featured.The authors carefully balance quick access to summaries and highlights, alongside long-form narratives, while retaining the content and focus that readers of Looking for Information have come to expect. Each chapter serves as a stand-alone piece of writing, with its own reference list and Must-Read recommendations, facilitating e-reading and inclusion on course syllabi. All these features will enhance readers’ experiences of this new edition.

This book is a comprehensive overview of the theoretical discussion of one of most important conceptions in sociology at the end of 20th century - the theory of social systems.  The spotlight of this book falls on the work of Niklas Luhmann and his holistic approach. Current modern society is, for Luhmann, a functionally differentiated society, which means that a number of specialized societal sub-systems (politics, economics, religion, law, science, art etc) have formed. Each system is based on its own type of communication led by its own generalized communicative media. Luhmann controversially depicts modern society as a plurality of many societal subsystems operating without a top and without a coordinating and managing centre. This book weighs the strong and weak features of the systemic approach in sociology and discusses ways to rethink it.

Railways are frequently promoted as one of the most sustainable modes of transport. However, their impact will in practice be significantly affected by the ways in which they are designed, constructed, and used. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the issues involved in planning, engineering and operating sustainable railway systems. It introduces and examines a wide range of aspects of railway systems and their interrelationships with other human and natural systems. For each of these aspects it considers the key factors that affect the sustainability of the railway.Students, academic researchers and those in rail industry or related fields who are interested in railways or in transport sustainability more generally will find this to be an invaluable guide. It will be particularly helpful to those who are either relatively new to the railway context, or who have a detailed knowledge of one aspect of railways but are seeking to acquire a more holistic understanding of railway systems.

This book is an investigation of the Swedish microchipping phenomenon and seeks to explain why, despite its many negative connotations in an international context, microchipping is relatively popular in Sweden. The author maps out the movement, examines its key drivers, and delves further to discover why Swedes generally have a high trust in technology, and show little resistance to testing it. The Swedish case is studied from the three main themes of surveillance, science fiction and transhumanism, and is built around interviews with Swedes who have embraced the technology. The arguments for and against microchipping are contextualised culturally and explained against a background of the long established Swedish relationship with advanced technology, and with their unique level of trust in the government. The book will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students in digital culture related disciplines.

FIDIC 2017 Contracts Companion - Revised (3 volume set) is a guide for anyone involved in preparing, administering, or contributing to the FIDIC suite of contracts, 2017 edition. Intended as a companion for both the first-time and also more experienced user, the books provide an accessible guide to the 21 clauses of the 2017 FIDIC Conditions of Contract, and include separate guides to the Conditions of Contract for Construction (Red Book); Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build (Yellow Book) and the Conditions of Contract for EPC/Turnkey Projects (Silver Book). Drawing on the author’s 30 years’ experience with the FIDIC Conditions of Contract, FIDIC 2017 Contracts Companion - Revised (3 volume set) will be an invaluable companion for all users of the FIDIC conditions of contract.

FIDIC Yellow Book is a practical guide for anyone involved in preparing, administering, or contributing to the FIDIC suite of contracts, 2017 edition. This revised edition covers a number of recent developments including the 2022 amendments, further examples drawn from experience with the 2017 contracts, impacts of COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine, as well as guidance on use of FIDIC Contracts where a project uses Building Information Modelling.Designed as a companion for both the first-time and also more experienced user the book presents an accessible guide to the 21 clauses of the 2017 FIDIC Conditions of Contract, using the Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build (Yellow Book) as a basis. Opening chapters provide an introduction to the entire FIDIC suite of contracts. Part 2 provides a clause-by-clause introduction to each of the Clauses and Sub-Clauses in the Yellow Book, and explain how they are interlinked. A final section includes a concise practical guide to the use of the FIDIC Conditions, and a summary of special provisions discussed in Part 2.Drawing on the author’s 35 years’ experience with the FIDIC Conditions of Contract, this accessible guide to the FIDIC Yellow Book provides an ideal introduction for first time users of the FIDIC conditions of contract and will also serve as a very useful handbook and practical commentary for more experienced users.

The problem of the Terror lies at the heart of any reflection upon the French Revolution and its implications for modern political culture. Contemporaries sought to grasp its meaning immediately after the fact as they struggled to explain an experience which seemed to defy the Revolution's fundamental assumption: that rational human intentions could erase the arbitrariness of history and institute a transparent social order. Since then, historians and philosophers have not ceased to ponder what Benjamin Constant called "that inexplicable delirium known as the reign of the Terror. "For some, the Terror deviated from the rights of man only to preserve them: it was a system of revolutionary government dictated by circumstances that threatened the very existence of the infant French Republic. For others, it revealed a dynamic inherent in the Revolution from the start: a dynamic unleashed by the very effort to refashion society in the light of human reason. For still others, it was a symptom of the fact that the promised transformation of society was still incomplete - and a model for any future revolution that would complete it. This volume has been designed to bring together contributions by representatives of a wide range of historiographical approaches to the French Revolution. It seeks, in the wake of the heated historical debates of recent years, to reopen old questions and to formulate new ones, to suggest how the problem of understanding the Terror is being approached, or might be approached, two hundred years after the event. In a century more than ever aware of the fragility of the boundaries between citizenship and victimization, the topic retains its challenge for historical comprehension - and its profound relevance to the enduring question of the nature and conditions of democracy. Now volume 4 is published. Drawing clear inspiration from the earlier highly acclaimed volumes, Professor Baker has now edited a supplementary volume. It has as its aim to advance, by focusing more precisely on the period of the Terror, the explanation of the nature and implications of the political culture of the French Revolution the early volumes initiated.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set an ambitious agenda for global problem-solving and create a framework to achieve it through the power of partnerships. Goal 17 points to the central importance of partnerships, networks, and multi-stakeholder collaborations for bringing together a broad range of actors to accomplish the first 16 goals. Only through such partnerships can the distributed knowledge, resources and capacity of government agencies, private enterprises, political activists, local communities, and international NGOs be effectively combined to produce the major breakthroughs in sustainability that the SDGs envision.Co-Creation for Sustainability sets out a strategy of partnership, with an emphasis on how global goals can be translated into local action. Co-creation brings multiple parties together—including citizens—to collaboratively engage in innovative problem-solving. The book explains this strategy and describes how to foster the conditions necessary for its success. It details how leaders can spur co-creation and manage and overcome its practical challenges.Written to inspire public and private changemakers to find fundamental solutions to the pressing challenges that confront our social and natural environment, Co-creation for Sustainability: The UN SDGs and the Power of Partnerships provides intellectual resources and practical advice relevant for those who aspire to harness the talents, energy and perspectives of different sectors to build the momentum we need to realize a sustainable future.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the range of themes which make up the field of Historical Sociology. Jiří Šubrt systematically discusses the main problems of societal development, long term process and changes in the key areas of social life. These include not only temporalized sociology, evolutionary theory, civilizational analysis, societal systems, structures and functions, but also modernization and revolution, risk, crisis, catastrophe and collapse, wars, conflicts and violence, nations, nationalism and collective memory. This study does not ignore the fundamental dichotomy underlying the discipline, which is between individualism and holism. At the heart of this book lies the human individual as related to social and historical development. The key question is who or what is responsible for the process of human history: society or the individual? The author concludes by offering an approach which may help in resolving this dilemma.

Increasing technological sophistication in many countries and the resulting larger world trade has indicated a need to pay greater attention to the international aspects of user interfaces. Many American companies are approaching a situation where half of their sales are outside the United States, and companies in smaller countries often have a much larger proportion of their sales outside their own country. This means that software sales will increasingly depend on their international usability and not just their domestic usability. Seen from a user's perspective more than half of the world's software users will be using interfaces which were originally designed in a foreign country. Usability for this large market of users will depend upon increased awareness of the issues involved in designing user interfaces for international use. As the European community aims to establish the so-called Single Market by the end of 1992, international software will become even more important in that part of the world. And as if it wasn't hard enough to design user interfaces for use in Europe, there are a further set of problems connected with user interfaces for Asia. Both of these issues are examined in depth. This is the first publication of its kind to appear on the topic of international user interfaces, and presents both general guidelines and a number of detailed case studies on the many aspects entailed. The book will be of considerable interest to project managers, lecturers, students, developers of basic software and user interface designers.

Today’s global enterprises increasingly involve collaborative work by teams of experts operating across different professions, organizations, and industries. Extreme Teaming provides new insights into the world of complex, cross industry projects and the ways they must be managed. Leading experts Amy Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey analyze contemporary cases that expose the complex demands of cross-boundary collaboration on management, and inform our understanding of teams. Containing powerful insights and practical guidelines that allow managers to bridge professional divides and organizational boundaries in order to work together effectively, this is a new exploration of the challenges involved in today’s global enterprises. The authors demonstrate that the work done in the modern organization is less and less about looking inward and creating strong teams inside the company, and more about teaming across boundaries – that often are in flux. Extreme Teaming is a must-read book for all courses related to leading open innovation; teamwork and collaboration; project management; and cross-boundary work.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.Complex coordination across time, space, and cultures involves a great deal of uncertainty. This uncertainty may be accepted and handled with judgment and pragmatism, but more often in contemporary modern society, it is treated as a technical problem to be ‘solved’. This is a book about the paradoxical implications of the quest for certainty in interorganizational relations in the complex field of development aid.Authors Alexius and Vähämäki scrutinize questions related to the concept Obsessive Measurement Disorder, i.e. what causes an increase in control mechanisms, and how and when can this prove counterproductive? They further investigate the question on why performance management - and measurement requirements seem in some instances to hinder, and in others to support the implementation of aid projects and programs.Drawing on 80 original interviews with aid bureaucrats working at different levels and in different organizations, including public agencies, companies, non-government organisations, and universities all involved in development aid projects financed fully, or in part, by the Swedish taxpayer, they identify coping mechanisms and responses that may help to prevent the extremes of obsessive measurement disorder, and foster instead pragmatic, constructive organizing and learning that benefits not only aid organizations and their employees, but also - and more fundamentally - the societies in need.

Perspectives on Social Problems

How should we understand the ideological foundations of a state that is simultaneously socialist, market‑driven, digitally empowered, and globally influential? Toward a ‘Constitutional’ Socialist State offers a bold, multidimensional exploration of China’s contemporary political evolution, revealing how competing legacies - revolutionary Marxism, constitutionalist aspirations, nationalist rhetoric, and rapid technological transformation - shape its current path.Bringing together insights from political philosophy, economics, digital governance, and history, the book traces the evolving tensions between early Communist ideals and today’s institutional realities. Rather than offering a closed or definitive model, it approaches these themes with an open and multidimensional analytical framework that reflects the complexity of the subject, inviting readers to grapple with ideas still taking shape. Engaging with themes of international relations, social imperialis, Marxist economic thought and the relationship between digital technology and the State, the author advances the provocative concept of constitutional socialism, arguing that safeguarding basic rights is essential to long‑term political legitimacy. At its core is the provocative idea of constitutional socialism - the argument that China’s long‑term legitimacy hinges on protecting fundamental rights.Wide‑ranging, incisive, and rigorously argued, this work provides scholars, practitioners, and globally engaged readers with a fresh conceptual toolkit for assessing China’s future trajectory. At a time when the world watches China with growing urgency, this book offers a rare intellectual lens on the ideological debates and structural dilemmas that will shape the century ahead.

In their foreign markets, MNCs interact not only with customers and suppliers but also with governments and bureaucrats. The book is an outcome of several years of research on MNCs market activities in developing and industrialized countries. Different from the earlier studies this book addresses how interactions not only with business partners, but also with the vast variety of governmental and legislative organizations, affect local firms and MNCs businesses. Based on the business network theory, the book develops a new model for the exchange relationship between local customers and MNCs and investigates the effect of different political organizations and other business firms. It examines relationship using several dimensions, business, social and political, through multiple cases from a developing country (DC) and industrialized countries. The comparison provides deepened knowledge on strength and longevity of business relationship in these two different business worlds. The outcomes reveal new insights with the claim for general appliance for DCs. The book supports the management of MNCs in their understanding of local firms behavior in such markets and to retain appropriate measure in their globalization efforts. The book also enables governments in DCs to realize consequences of their political actions for both local firms and MNCs and thereby industrialization of the country.

Environmental regulation requires that substantial productive resources be diverted to efforts to improve environmental quality. Economic theory says that, all else being equal, regulation will consequently cause costs to rise with resulting losses in competitive advantage and a general weakening of economic performance as measured by indicators such as national or regional income. Empirical tests of this theory generally fail to find such consequences, however. This book sets out the reasons why empirical research and theory are at odds, suggests alternative formulations of the relationship between environmental regulation and economic performance, and presents related original research using Southern California as a case study of economic performance in the context of increasingly stringent and effective environmental controls promulgated over more than 30 years.

The global COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed education as we know it. Globally, billions of learners at all levels were affected by months of rolling school closures and other severe pandemic restrictions to daily life. Magnifying issues of educational equity, access, and opportunity, this unprecedented global crisis forced Deans, and academic and professional staff in schools of education to make decisions for learning, teaching, research, and engagement in a fast-changing landscape. These decisions reshaped schools of education and the lives and experiences of staff and students in powerful ways.Building a Better Normal captures education scholars’ reflections on the decision-making and impacts of their experiences from 2020 to 2023. Uniquely, the volume brings together Education Deans and scholars from Universitas 21 institutions. Drawing on case studies and narrative reflections, the contributors offer crucial insights that can guide higher education and schools of education on structural and conceptual shifts in approaches to leadership, research, teaching, learning, and student and staff well-being.The COVID-19 pandemic is a generation-defining event that will echo in the actions of teachers and researchers for years, allowing us to redefine the landscape of education for a better normal.

Individualismand holism, the concepts embedded in the title of this book, represent two keytheoretical perspectives that have for many decades steered and shapedsociological thought. For over a century these two interpretative perspectiveshave also divided sociological theory into two camps, accompanied by a band ofscholars trying to bridge this dualism.According toAmerican sociologist Jeffrey C. Alexander, individualist theories derive theirappeal and strength from their underlying assumption that humans make decisionsas individual, free, autonomous, and rationally and morally consistent beings. A related belief is that they are able to express thesequalities in their actions regardless of the situation in society or whateconomic or moral conditions prevail.Holistic, or collectivist, theories, unlikeindividualism, assign primacy to social entities. This perspective is important because itcreates the basic precondition through which entities can become the subject ofdeliberate sociological analysis. However, there is a price for fulfilling thisprecondition. The emphasis it places on the collective, and on larger entities,logically means that the individual will and free human decision-making tendsto be lost from the field of view.This book argues that these twoperspectives, individualist and holistic, form the central dilemma ofsociological thought. It provides anextensive review and critique of contemporary sociological approaches to thisantinomy and examines attempts that have been made to overcome it and unite them. Moreover, the book proposes a new approach tosolving this dilemma via the concept of 'critical reconfigurationism', arguingthat the resolution of this dilemma is vital not just for sociological theorybut also for empirical social research.

This co-authored text critically explores the key findings of the Living Life to the Fullest project – a project that has explored the lives, thoughts, hopes and aspirations of disabled young people living with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. Written by disabled young people and academic researchers, the book articulates ethical co-production in social research. The prolific contemporary political and theoretical debates about life, death and the human in an age of global precarity and austerity are explored in this book. Chapters draw upon key themes and co-researchers’ priorities for writing about their lives: for example, the politics and potentials of co-production as a research method/ology; animal and human relationships; aging, time; sexuality and body image; politics, activism and disability arts and culture; and fragility, and death and dying.

Providing a critical look at how it is possible for institutions of higher education to go beyond the institutional constraints that plague the neo-liberal university, the authors of this volume explore the powerful role of transformative university-based research and education.An emerging global network of concerned teachers and researchers who are currently engaged in dialogue with civil society and social movements, seek to construct another possible post-pandemic world built on premises of democracy, justice and peace. The emphasis on transformation points to alternative ways of doing research and education, associated with critical pedagogics and participatory action-research. This approach entails an intentionality to intervene in the debate and actual modus operandi of university research and education. It seeks to replace the existing vertical division of labour between administrators, teachers and students with an alternative collaborative organization of the production and transmission of knowledge, conducted by co-researchers and co-learners.

The call for decolonising curriculum knowledge comes from across public and academic voices and educational organisations. Led by international educationalists across all phases of education, The BERA Guide to Decolonising the Curriculum is a powerful evocation, direction, and call to action for epistemological equity in knowledge production, teaching, and learning.The chapters draw on significant international literature from across the fields of decoloniality, race, gender, history, sociology, and philosophy, and real-world cases, with multiple examples from international academic leaders, academics, and teachers to address concerns about the ideological and political orientation of educational policy discourse bounded by Eurocentric epistemology.Published in partnership between the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and Emerald Publishing, The BERA Guides are short, research-informed yet accessible introductions to key, interdisciplinary topics impacting education research and practice for a broad academic audience.

In an ever-evolving educational landscape, traditional methods face unprecedented challenges. The Impact of ChatGPT on Higher Education takes you on a trailblazing journey into ChatGPT's transformative potential and the ethical considerations in higher education.Authored by experts at the forefront of educational transformation and technology's impact on learning, this book offers invaluable insights for educators, leaders, policymakers, and AI enthusiasts. Dive deep with the authors as they navigate from theory to practice, unravelling power dynamics, social structures, and ChatGPT's profound influence. Real-world examples and a captivating case study from MEF University provide tangible evidence of ChatGPT's impact on education. Explore how ChatGPT raises critical questions about course planning, assessments, teaching, and AI's role in education. The authors illuminate issues related to academic honesty, ethics, bias, misinformation, cost, equity, and data privacy.As AI technologies continue to evolve and impact education, The Impact of ChatGPT on Higher Education provides valuable guidance and insights for educators and researchers seeking to harness the power of ChatGPT in their work.

Government secrecy (GS) is a significant social, political, and policy issue and often presents as a barrier to civic participation, public right-to-know, historical understanding, and institutional accountability. This volume examines GS in a variety of contexts, including comparative examination of government control of information, new definitions, categories, censorship, ethics, and secrecy's relationship with freedom of information and transparency. It investigates GS in terms of its current theoretical descriptions as power over and concealment of information (Bok 1983), a 'tampering of communications' (Friedrich 1972), the 'compulsory withholding of knowledge, reinforced by the prospects of sanctions for disclosure' (Shils), or Georg Simmel's (1906) idea of secrecy creating the 'possibility of a second world'. Following the introduction this book is divided into the following six sections: Government Secrecy: Theoretical Musings; Government Secrecy and the Media; Government Secrecy and Technology; Freedom of Information; Government Secrecy: Current Policy; and Ethics. Articles are sourced from around the world and include some from USA, Mexico, Africa, Israel and Britain.

"Game Theory for Economists" introduces economists to the game-theoretic approach of modelling economic behaviour and interaction, focusing on concepts and ideas from the vast field of game-theoretic models which find commonly used applications in economics. This careful selection of topics allows the reader to concentrate on the parts of the game which are the most relevant for the economist who does not want to become a specialist. Written at a level appropriate for a student or researcher with a solid microeconomic background, the book should provide the reader with skills necessary to formalize economic games and to make them accessible for game theoretic analysis. It offers a concise introduction to game theory which provides economists with the techniques and results necessary to follow the literature in economic theory; helps the reader formalize economic problems; and, concentrates on equilibrium concepts that are most commonly used in economics.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.There is a gap in research on families in the Global South and those that address the issue with a gendered and critical perspective. Considering the Global South and its articulations of power and resistance, this handbook presents chapters on the family in the Global South, acknowledging gender differences and their impact on individuals and societies in those nations and cultures.Exploring the complex intersection among three significant social dynamics – families, the forces of societal transformation, and gender-related matters within the framework of the Global South and acknowledging the ongoing debate surrounding the Global South concept – the chapters illuminate and critically examine some of the debated matters pertaining to shifts in family dynamics from a gendered perspective. Demonstrating that examining changes in living arrangements and family dynamics through a gendered lens is indispensable not only to understand the ongoing socio-cultural processes in the Global South but also to develop social policies and service delivery practices, authors present case studies from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. To what extent do structural and cultural contexts influence gendered family dynamics and living arrangements in various societies of the Global South? In diverse societies of the Global South, how do individuals from intersectional backgrounds navigate the challenges posed by economic and social instabilities? What role does the family play in regulating these transformations?Compelling reading for students, researchers and policymakers from various disciplines, chapters address a rich diversity of the issues relating to the family, social change and gender relations with a critical focus on the countries/cultures/communities that have been significantly underrepresented in the literature.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.Tourism, cultural, and creative industries face increasing pressure to reconcile economic viability with environmental responsibility, social inclusion, and cultural integrity.The book responds to the urgent need for innovative, research-based, and practice-oriented approaches to tackle the vulnerabilities and challenges of today’s business environment. It advances strategies that integrate sustainability into both business and place development, building on the principles of circularity, inclusivity and participation, authenticity, and regeneration. By linking theory and practice, the volume provides a roadmap for transitioning businesses and places toward sustainability, enhancing resilience to external shocks while strengthening their positive impact on communities and the environment.The Entrepreneurial Behaviour series is dedicated to communicating innovative and multi-disciplinary new research that advances theory and practice in Entrepreneurial Behaviour. The series is focused on expanding the scope of Entrepreneurial Behaviour theory and analysis and enriching practice by encouraging multi-theoretical, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary approaches.

Rock Engineering provides a comprehensive explanation of the geological principles and ground investigations involved with the geotechnical design and engineering of underground projects. It offers an internationally applicable, practical guide for engineers and geologists responsible for considering different ground conditions, design and planning for excavation and underground projects. This informative and highly illustrated resource combines theoretical knowledge and practical examples of rock engineering with detailed case studies of tunnelling and hydropower projects. Theories and realities of risks and uncertainties are discussed to provide an understanding of the considerations needed for successfully planning and executing underground projects.This fully updated edition has added focus on rock engineering applications in design, planning and excavation. Special chapters have been added dealing with the practical use of the Eurocode in rock design, the design principles of some special underground projects and three case histories. The ambition is to better cover the complex engineering geological process in rock construction, from ground investigation to execution.Rock Engineering, Second edition:outlines strategies for investigating different ground conditionsdiscusses new technology and methodology for detecting and analysing risks, and ensuring safety, accountability and sustainability is maintainedapplies geological principles in rock engineering to detailed case study examplesexplains the key principles of design of surface and underground structuresevaluates uncertainties in geological ground conditions.Rock Engineering is a valuable reference tool for geotechnical engineers, geologists, consultants, contractors, and advanced students on rock engineering and engineering geology courses.

This tenth volume of papers emanating from the annual International High Technology Small Firms Conference represents a full decade of research and policy relevant papers on innovation and growth problems of New Technology-based Firms (NTBf). Because this series has become the major vehicle for publication among the best international researchers working on the formation and subsequent growth problems of NTBfs, it represents an authoritative voice on NTBf development problems. Topics covered in this volume include strategy, spin offs - their contribution to NTBf growth and the problems they encounter during the traumatic spin off process, the current hot topic of clusters and their role in enhancing NTBf formation and growth, networking and global issues since many NTBfs are truly born global.