Search results for ""Author Andra"

What are credit rating agencies? Many people paying for ratings andratings reports do not fully understand what they are buying andhow these agencies really work. Ratings agencies wield immensepower over the fate of individual corporations, countries, andwhole economies, yet their workings are remarkably opaque. Manyevents over the past decade, such as the Asian crisis and thedemise of certain financial institutions have highlighted some ofthe limitations of ratings agencies, and raised questions as totheir accountability and the level of service they provide. In this comprehensive account of the workings of the ratingagencies,Andrew Fight explains the role played by ratings agencies,how ratings are obtained, the methodologies through whichorganisations are assessed and the wider consequences of thesedecisions.

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Design is increasingly recognized as an important source of competitive advantage and an important element in innovation and new product development. In this third volume of the International Perspectives on Business Innovation and Disruption book series, editors Robert DeFillippi, Alison Rieple and Patrik Wikstrom focus on the role of design innovation in transforming industry practice. With an international cast of scholars and practitioners, this book examines how design innovation impacts the creation of new business models, innovative forms of service delivery, multinational innovation practices, the role of aesthetics and psycho spatial dynamics in fostering innovation and the types of design capabilities found in the most innovative businesses worldwide. Split into five unique sections, many chapters focus upon design thinking and conceptualize design as a user-centered, empathic and participative practice that allows diverse stakeholders to creatively contribute to business innovation.This instructive and insightful volume will be an essential resource for practitioners and managers across all organization types, both in the public and private sector, who wish to transform the ways they do business, as well as for design, management and social science students and scholars.Contributors include: M. Aftab, L. Andrawes, H. Berthold, S. Chillas, H.-P. Daae, T. Fife, A. Garrett, J. Gloppen, J. Jenkins, K. Leigh, B. Lindquister, L.H. Malinin, J. Matthews, A. McMurray, A. Moorthy, M. Mortati, E. Nusem, M. Pironti, P. Pisano, A. Rieple, N. Russell, M. Soila-Wadman, K. Straker, L. Svengren Holm, B. Townley, B. Villari, A. Williams, C. Wrigley, L. Wynn, R. Young

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How music embodies and contributes to historical and contemporary nationalism What does music in Portugal and Spain reveal about the relationship between national and regional identity building? How do various actors use music to advance nationalism? How have state and international heritage regimes contributed to nationalist and regionalist projects? In this collection, contributors explore these and other essential questions from a range of interdisciplinary vantage points. The essays pay particular attention to the role played by the state in deciding what music represents Portuguese or Spanish identity. Case studies examine many aspects of the issue, including local recording networks, so-called national style in popular music, and music’s role in both political protest and heritage regimes. Topics include the ways the Salazar and Franco regimes adapted music to align with their ideological agendas; the twenty-first-century impact of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage program on some of Portugal and Spain's expressive practices; and the tensions that arise between institutions and community in creating and recreating meanings and identity around music. Contributors: Ricardo Andrade, Vera Marques Alves, Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, Cristina Sánchez-Carretero, José Hugo Pires Castro, Paulo Ferreira de Castro, Fernán del Val, Héctor Fouce, Diego García-Peinazo, Leonor Losa, Josep Martí, Eva Moreda Rodríguez, Pedro Russo Moreira, Cristina Cruces Roldán, and Igor Contreras Zubillaga

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