Global Cities in Process of World Economy Net-Working and Transnationalization

Cities play a key role in the modem global economy. They became full-fledged （together with states, multinational corporations, and international economic organizations） subjects of international economy relationships; concentrated financial and commodity markets, enormous productive and innovative potential of humanity. The main reasons of transformation of economic importance of cities are their advantages in comparison with State economic systems. Labor and capital in urban economy systems are more mobile and productive; cities are more predisposed to create and commercialize innovations. Moreover, cities are easier to connect with international markets and world trade, which are able to reduce transport costs, to increase own investment attractiveness, and to rapidly form new types of business activities and forms of manufacturing organization. This study analyzes a current system of global cities, an intensity of inter-cities relationships, a potential of global urban system transformations in a future.     

Issues on Future of Offshoring and Global Sourcing

In recent years, outsourcing strategies have undergone a profound evolution, moving from being a pure make or buy tactical decision to becoming part of strategy. By tradition, firms originally considered outsourcing as a solution to short-term problems, such as a sudden or unexpected increase in demand, an interruption in plant or equipment functioning, or the launch of a new product. Today firms consider outsourcing as a network of stable agreements with specialized suppliers as part of a long-term strategic perspective. The tendency is to attain offshoring and global sourcing. However, researchers are unanimous in recognizing that there are many obstacles to adopting a long-term outsourcing and offshoring strategies. They have also been heavily criticized by governments （the U.S. and Europe in particular） as recognized as a cause of further weakening national economies. Recently, some studies and research found that the large multinational corporations, mainly in the United States, are moving their production back or considering it such a strategic decision in the near future. So what is the future for offshoring and global sourcing？     

International Trade,Entrepreneurship, and Monopolistic Competition： German Hidden Champions and Global Markets

The Chicago School of Monetarism dominates the debate on the competition models. In the last decades, the pendulum has swung back towards the German historical school of economics by List, Schnmpeter, Gutenberg, and Simon. The new trade theory by Paul Krugman is the standard in analysis of economies of scale and product differentiation in intra-industry trade. Chamberlin＇s product differentiation concept and monopolistic competition theory are included in Krugman＇s theory. Diversity matters in B2B-business in global markets. About 100,000 multinational corporations （MNCs） dominate the international trade of commodities worldwide but they need partners as suppliers of complementary products, services, and technologies, German hidden champions （HCs） that consist of over 1,300 mid-sized firms （Mittelstand） have revolutionizes the managerial economics. In terms of Peter Drucker, striving for leadership is the greatest gamble. Their success rate has been about 90% as Hermann Simon has reported. Their success recipe is the humble choice of markets segments, mainly B2B-industries, to make good business in any kind of goods and articles, not to follow trends or hit lists. The dilemma in EU-27-countries is that only Germany has succeeded to develop its own management doctrine initiated by Friedrich List and modified by Joseph Schumpeter. List argued that economic policy had to be adapted to the needs of specific nations to create the national system of innovation. Germany is the most diversified country worldwide. German small and medium-sized firms （Mittelstand） are globally oriented. Germany＇s family business is the unbelievable success story. Alfred Chandler has been a highly influential business writer. Because of Chandler＇s view, the personal capitalism was generally thought to be the old-fashioned model in comparison to the stock market capitalism. The Germany case is the strong evidence on the fact that Chandler＇s famous conclusion may be wrong. The family-ownership is perhaps the most sus     

Reforming the Financial Health Care System： The Case of the Republic of Albania

The Albanian health care system is currently in a period of deep transformation as well as the country is reflecting the future reforms after the turbulent development of the most recent years. The admission of Albania among future members of the European Union requires also an innovation in the health care system in order to build a model more compliant with the European performance and standards. These innovations are required also in the managerial approach to the health care and in its financing system. The aim of this paper is to analyze the actual financing model of the Albanian health care sector while highlighting the possible future managerial development. First of all, this article presents a history review of the Albanian health-care system, analyzing the current governance model. The goal of this approach is to describe the starting point of the reform paths for the future policy makers. Afterwards the research underlines the transition from a financing model based on historical public expenditure to a system based on the performance as one of the main innovation in the managerial approach to the health care. The introduction of management thinking will then allow developing a cost-based financing model, an accounting system in the teaching hospital and, finally, a financing system able to pay for services provided by private health care entities. The article then offers also a contribution to policy makers in order to define the ＂paths＂ of the Albanian health care system in the next years.     

Influence of Heat Gains in Building on Pumping Energy Consumption in Boiler Plant

Heat production for space-heating and domestic hot water production is a major part of the energy consumption sector in many countries. In towns in Central and Western Europe, there are centralised district heating systems based on fossil fuels： coal, oil, and gas. In Poland a significant number of heating plants use coal boilers. As a heat source for district heating system, the combined heat-power （CHP） plant or the heating plant equipped with the coal boilers （WR, WRp type） are used. The heating plants cause atmospheric air pollution in the country, continent and on a global scale. One of the goals in contemporary economy is to decrease heat consumption and heat production. Heat consumption may be limited by thermo-modernization and designing the new buildings according to the new thermal standards, as a building of low energy consumption or zero-energetic （passive） building. Minimisation of heat production is attainable by increase of heating plants efficiency. The topic of this article is an analysis of the possibilities of minimisation of pumping energy consumption in coal boiler plant cooperating with the medium sized district heating system. A specific feature of the paper is a research study of heat gains in buildings influence on total pumping energy consumption in boiler plant. A research topic of author＇s is optimisation of energy consumption in HVAC systems, especially in district heating networks, heating plants, and district heating substations. In Europe model of district heating substation changes according to the contemporary thermal standard of buildings and domestic hot water consumption trends. A set of author＇s articles concerns the theoretical modelling for minimisation of energy consumption in heating plants.     

Design Patterns and Object-Oriented Models of a Civil Biometric Service System

The number of background and security checks in civil applications has increased dramatically in recent years. Most of those civil applications use the local and federal law enforcement agencies＇ databases. Because of the unpredictable civil application requirements and the development of new technologies, the biometric industry is apposite to use the design patterns and object-oriented analysis in developing and managing such dynamic and complex systems. This article presents the use of the design patterns as a common way to organize objects to make practical design decisions helping to generate flexible, manageable, and agile biometric software architectures. First, a conceptual model is presented modeling an Electronic Fingerprint Service （EFS） for civil applications based on object-oriented design. Then the model is demonstrated by applying design patterns and shows that the system can gain the flexibility and agility to expend and adapt to new biometric technologies and applications in an Electronic Biometric Service （EBS） system. Two cases are used to demonstrate the proposed method. This analysis and design interaction leads to the application of the design patterns by reusing the object created in the EFS model. The two case studies demonstrate how design patterns applied to the EBS model and show they can achieve flexibility and object reusability （agility） while maintaining the integrity and security of the main system model.     

Does Corporate Social Responsibility Really Make a Difference？ An Explorative Analysis for Chinese Companies

Many studies have been performed to assess the impacts of corporate social responsibility （CSR） on the financial performance of companies. There are, however, very few studies that analyze how CSR policies and instruments affect the realization of social and environmental CSR goals, such as the reduction of workplace accidents or CO2 emissions. Therefore, it remains uncertain to what extent CSR really contributes to sustainable development and whether it can serve as an alternative to government regulation to internalize external effects from market operation. The present study provides an explorative empirical analysis that aims to fill this gap. We employ regression analysis on a sample of 109 Chinese companies. The estimation results show that having a code of conduct stimtdates the implementation of other organizational CSR instruments, but CSR implementation only partly affects the realization of CSR goals. Having codes of conduct without implementing CSR does not have a significant impact on societal welfare.     

Cost Effectiveness Analyses Models in the Defence System in Republic Bulgaria

The thesis resulting from the research on the ＂costs-effects＂ relation is the principle of economic efficiency of defence capabilities. At first glance, the arguments in this direction are well-known and popular in crisis situations of various nature, including the current financial and economic crisis in the country, and the question about the cost of public welfare-security and defence is debatable. This cost is manifested through the defence capabilities of a country. In the new security environment, the compilation of a national defence strategy is a priority of the Defence Ministry, which has more and more limited resources. This means that they should be treated as an economic activity. An economic activity is considered as any purposeful activity, allocating and combining scarce resources among alternatives, making it possible to maximize the outcomes and minimize costs. The ratio between the costs and benefits of a given resource or combination of resources to achieve a pre-defined objective is pushed to the forefront and the rationalization of management decisions is based on it. This necessitates a cost effectiveness analysis, hence the evaluation of the outcomes （benefits） is manifested in the ＂cost-effect （benefit）＂ analysis. Defence as a product has the basic features of any commodity or service, i.e. it is designed for exchange, is useful, and meets certain needs. But due to the fact that it meets very specific needs （,preservation of the territorial integrity of the country and improving its national security）, it is distinguished by certain features which may be summarized as follows： collectivity of production and consumption of defence as a product necessary to the public, expressed by its consumption indivisibility; lack of market valuation of the price of defence as a product upon its consumption （as a monetary expression of its value）; the usefulness of defence as a product is reflected in its capacity to meet the system＇s needs for security and defence, which dete     

Possibility of the Implementation of the Principle of Sustainable Development in the Sphere of Coal Processing

High-sulphur coals processing generates a great number of pollutant substances in atmosphere. This study was undertaken to obtain more definite information about the composition of sulphur coal extracts, i.e., on the quality and quantity of dormant Volatile Organic Emissions （VOCs）. Analysis of the liquid products was carried out by different protocols of extraction, adsorption chromatography, and GC/MS identification. It should be pointed out that the basic components of coal extracts are polyaromatic hydrocarbons, sulfur-containing compounds and phenols act as a basic factor of environment pollution with carcinogenic products. The complex treatment of these components will permit not only to obtain some valuable chemical products, but also to improve the ecology in the industrial regions.     

Economic Causes and Cures of Social Instability in China

China＇s leaders have often expressed concerns about social instability, viewed as a threat both to the political order and to continued rapid growth. Slower growth might, in turn, further undermine social stability. Using survey data, the present paper examines the economic determinants of social instability. Four main determinants are identified.＇past and expected growth of income, income inequality, economic insecurity and misgovernance. The paper then considers possible policies to reduce social instability, examining each of the determinants in turn.     

The Significance of Costs Calculation in Evaluation of the Value Added

In the article, a problem of importance of proper costs calculation caused by risk factors which emerge in logistic processes is presented. On the basis of literature analysis, there was shown the costs structure of the value chain. The concept of customer value and the concept of enterprise value were extracted. It presents also dependence between actions in internal value chain and generated cash flows. It signalizes also the meaning of risk management influence on the problem of achieving established value added, understood as net income from operational activity by the main enterprises processes. Basis of theoretical modeling using the Gorbatov＇s principle of characterization was discussed. The research material relates to food businesses. The study was conducted on the basis of questionnaires, surveys, and direct conversations with employees. To build the model, the theory of characterization was used. Its essence is in the mutual interpretability model of the test object to the model structure. Mutual interpretability of models is achieved by selection of the proper functioning of the universal laws （expressed in the functional model） and the structural interpretation of the functional model, the one of representative character is Hasse diagrams. The functioning of the model is illustrated experiment research of the study. The results show the great importance of the correct calculation of the cost of risk factors in logistics processes. Not taking into account the actual cost of risk factors may have a significant influence on errors in decision-making, giving an incorrect picture of the financial situation. A false idea of the creation of value-added may consequently result in the deterioration of the conditions of the enterprise market functioning.     

The Attitude of Developed and Developing Countries Towards the Kyoto Protocol and the Case of Turkey

The problem of global climate change is one of the biggest present-day global problems. This problem, which has become a current issue because of the energy crisis that happened in 1970s, as well as growing awareness of environment, have not only changed the notion of development but also led to a transformation of non-renewable energy resources. Due to rapid population growth, the depletion of the non-renewable energy resources and the raising consciousness about global climate change our comprehension of traditional development has yielded to sustainable development, while energy structure and preferences have also changed from non-renewable energy resources to renewable energy resources. As this changed pattern and problem are global, they have removed the borders among governments, required international cooperation and thus, new international actors have stepped in. In this study, the countries are divided into two parts as developed countries and developing countries. As developed countries; USA and EU countries are selected while China and India are selected as developing countries. Also as a developing country, Turkey＇s energy and climate policies, attitude towards the Kyoto Protocol signed within the scope of United Nations and the positive and the negative effects of the Protocol on the country are investigated. In this sense, it has been observed that the question of whether or not the Protocol contributes to the economy of developing countries correlates with whether or not these countries are on the side of the Protocol and it has also been observed that being on the side of the Protocol is not a threat to Turkey＇s development. If applied correctly, the policies that Turkey will pursue within the scope of the Protocol will help the country to reduce foreign energy dependency and cooperate with other countries. A comparative method is used in this paper.     

Developmental Constraints Adversely Affecting New Entrants Into the Construction Industry of the Limpopo Province of South Africa

Although political transformation has occurred in South Africa in April 1994, the pace at which economic transformation has occurred has been slow. A review of the literature has shown that economic transformation has been slowed by an acute shortage of technical skills among Black South Africans working in business, government, and industry. A case in point is the construction industry of Limpopo Province of South Africa in which emerging contractors have failed to compete adequately with well-established contractors in the construction industry due to shortage of technical skills, capital, and lack of access to markets. The study is based on a random sample of 104 emerging contractors operating in the Province of Limpopo. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analyses was used in the study in order to identify and quantify key obstacles to growth and development in emerging contractors. Eigen values estimated from factor analysis showed that the viability of emerging contractors in the construction industry of Limpopo Province was significantly influenced by three factors （lack of entrepreneurial skills, lack of capital, and lack of transparency in the award of construction tenders）. Based on results obtained from multilevel analysis, differences among the five districts of Limpopo Province accounted for 13.18% of the total variation in viability. Differences in entrepreneurial skills between viable and non-viable businesses accounted for 33.49% of total variation. Findings of the study show that entrepreneurial skills are no less important than financial capital for ensuring viability in emerging contractors currently operating in Limpopo Province. The study has also found that the fundamental principles of good governance such as transparency and accountability are not adhered to in the administration and award of government tenders, and that this predicament was working to the detriment of emerging contractors in the province.     

The Relevance of Place-Brand Management in Place-Marketing Strategy

Observers perceive each place through a particular image, not necessarily positive, definable in a distinctive positioning through place-marketing strategies; the relations between the actors of the territory system play an important role, and the place-brand becomes ＂the connector＂ of the relational network in place-marketing management. The aims of this article are to analyze the relations between place identity, place-brand, and place-marketing strategy; to look at case studies of bottom-up strategy as a medium for the long-term empowerment of the place-brand strategy; and to examine the relevance of place-brand positioning and interaction between governance and stakeholders in place-marketing strategy development.     

Economic Cooperation Organization Member Countries＇ Economic Development： The Importance of Assessing Technoparks

Advanced technologies in the world, especially in the last quarter century of rapid change, radical innovation were required to compete in important decisions, triggered by the national network of cooperation structures which is a very significant changes in participates in the regional country or new technology generation and transfer systems to be released; starting from the most basic research on the effect of knowledge production, commercialization, distribution of the total well-being of society is an important dating ＂shining knowledge value chain＂. This important change has become the main formative element of the economies. Recent advances in the knowledge economy and the resulting new strategic theories, knowledge, technology transfer, and increased mobility at the long distances, the concept of regional development is a brand new technological cooperation aims and information focusing on the transformation processes of growth of the economies of developed nations, which is the most important technological innovation in the vision of the economic development advanced plays an important role, evolving processes trigger in all aspects of the right to read most threats and opportunities that might be the best analysis, by passing the appropriate policies for countries in their visions, and entrusted a vital importance. In this context, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Yajikistan, Yurkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in addition to research, technology development and production partner countries＇ and these countries sharing innovation structures with R＆D Center in technoparks and to serve together in the development of the total synergies ＂of the economic cooperation organization＂.     

Competitive Neutrality of the OECD Consensus Myth or Reality

This research paper gives into context ongoing changes in the balance of forces in the international markets caused not only by the crisis and the need to restore market-neutral internationally agreed system for state participation in the support for exports based on real economic criteria. The aim of this research is to demonstrate the changes of the balance of forces in the international markets. This paper presented the statistical data relating to development of GDP, indebtedness or value of exports or imports that the present changes in international markets and open discussion about the topic problem. This article recalled the basic principles of insurance and export financing with state support and also are presented current problems of implementation rules of the CONSENSUS. Due to the fact that state support for exports is an important internationally respected system it is necessary to overcome some doubts and bring to the system real market neutrality. Therefore, we ask whether are respected in practice the agreed principles of international state aid exports and what problems currently international markets and fundamentally different countries are struggling. It can be said that the rules CONSENSUS OECD has contributed to the creation of fair market conditions in international markets, but it can be also monitored over time to some extent being away from the demands of market neutrality. In view of these facts it can be considered as the basis of the current situation primarily to ensure a truly market and competitive neutrality of state support for exports.     

Transaction Costs of Entrepreneurs as a Deterrent of Housing Construction Development in Russia

Nowadays realization process of investment and construction projects is not always effective because of imperfection of institutions regulating construction, high investment risks and, as a consequence, increase transaction costs. The facts of the objective existence of transaction costs in the economy, including housing construction, are researched in the article. We have determined that the transaction costs significantly affect the cost of construction, reduce profit entrepreneurs, and indirectly increase the shortage of housing in Russia. Such parts of modern economics as neoclassical economics and institutional economics are methodological basis of the paper. Logical, economic and legal （institutional）, socio-economic approaches were used during the research of transaction costs function. The authors used the complex of ideas and different methods of sociological and economic analysis that allowed deepening the importance of institutional state regulation of business activity in housing construction area. The classification of transaction costs creation was worked out; this model unlike well-known models considers the most important parts of transaction costs which really exist in business activity of construction companies nowadays; implementation of the model allows calculating and predicting this kind of costs in business. Recently Russian government returns to the questions about efficiency of production （increase of labor productivity, efficiency and profitability of production）, therefore attention to the reduction of transaction costs is going to increase profits and efficiency.     

An Introduction to the Narrative Techniques in the Book of Job

The Book of Job, as one of the most outstanding works of the wisdom literature in the Bible, has also aroused a large number of critics attentson with its dtsunctlve narrative techniques. Through close-reading and criticisim review, the author of this thesis finds that the unique narrative techniques of the Book of Job are manifested in the following three aspects： unique and subde characterization of the characters, ingenious use of focalization and the skillful arrangement of plot stages under the U-shaped narrative pattern.