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Cape Town, South Africa, 7 Sept. 2016 – 8 Sept. 2016. Theme: Sustainable economies in the information economy. Purpose: To share the quality academic papers presented at the International Conference on Business and Management Dynamics (ICBMD) held from 7 to 8 September 2016 at African Pride Crystal Hotel and Spa in Cape Town. As grey literature, the proceedings are the contributions made by researchers at the conference and are considered the written record of the work that was presented to fellow conference delegates. Methodology: The methodology used varies from researcher to researcher but are suitable for the studies conducted. Thus, on the one hand, studies that were subjective in nature used the interpretive paradigm, where the qualitative approach adopted made used of the interview method to collect data. On the other hand, studies that were objectively inclined adopted the positivist philosophy and used survey questionnaires to collect data. However, there were some academic papers which used mixed methodology because of the nature of the study. Whatever methodology used adhered to the ethos of the philosophies underpinning the methodology. Contribution made to scholarship: The articles come from individual researchers and each article in the proceedings is unique. Mostly, there is no general argument leading from one contribution to the next. However, it is interesting to note that in the area of economic performance it was evident that real exchange rate and net foreign direct investment contribute more towards innovations in economic growth. With regard to human capital development, papers presented evidence that there exists a definite need to explore the phenomenon of personal branding as limited scientific academic research has been done within the field of personal branding or on elements of the topic. Thus, the outcome argues that personal branding has an influence on leadership style which in turn impacts on organisational performance and related hygiene factors. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that current methods or strategies for enforcing institutionalisation of knowledge sharing within an organisation have not been successful, and, as such, new strategies are needed to reinforce efforts to nurture and invigorate the institutionalisation of knowledge sharing within an organisation. With regard to technology and big data impact on organisational performance, it was evident that system performance, memory consumption and CPU utilisation can be used as criteria to compare and evaluate big data technologies to improve organisational performance. Most of the articles’ contribution reemphasised technology education and training as a means of digitising business and improving effectiveness. Target audience: The target readership is academic researchers and business leaders who require access to the latest developments in the fields of economics, information management, business, education, development studies, social sciences and technology. It is also for policymakers and other stakeholders who need a better understanding of the impact of new developments on existing policies and regulations for their review or amendment.

Business & management --- Business and Management Sciences --- Sustainable economies --- Finance --- Agritourism --- Big data --- Knowledge sharing --- Six Sigma --- South Africa

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This toolkit, commissioned by infoDev, a global partnership program within the World Bank, provides guidance on how to develop business analytics, measuring and learning from the performance and effects of mobile application labs (mLabs) and mobile social networking hubs (mHubs). It was made for managers of tech hubs. Dozens of tech hubs have emerged over the last few years across the globe. Managers of these innovation and entrepreneurship enablers grapple with problems that infoDev has experience with. This toolkit takes lessons that infoDev has gathered from its own tech hub pilots, mLabs and mHubs, and apply them to tech hubs in general. The toolkit is especially useful for current and future mLab and mHub managers. mLabs and mHubs are tech hubs established through grants administered by the infoDev Digital Entrepreneurship Program. infoDev is committed to supporting the analytical capacities of mLabs and mHubs. This toolkit is part of that agenda. It will help grantees to improve local implementation while setting a common framework on how to collaborate with infoDev on business analytics and performance measurements. The third target audience is mobile innovation specialists at other World Bank units and other development organizations, who design impact and measurement frameworks for tech hubs. Given the recent rise in numbers of tech hubs, international development organizations are exploring if and how they can be employed to achieve socio-economic development impact goals. In particular, tech hubs' flexibility and diverse potential effects have sparked interest but have also caused problems for specific and concrete analysis and projection of hubs' effects and impact. This toolkit addresses this complication. All elements of the toolkit that speak of infoDev's role in facilitating and coordinating with mLabs or mHubs on business analytics processes can be seen as use cases with potential for replication and adaptation by practitioners and decision makers of other development organizations, including relevant units of the World Bank.

Business --- Business Development --- Business Environment --- Business in Development --- Communities --- Competitiveness and Competition Policy --- Decision Making --- E-Business --- Economic Development --- Financial Institutions --- Financial Services --- Identity --- Knowledge --- Knowledge Sharing --- Marketing --- Newsletters --- Organizational Learning --- Private Sector Development --- Software --- Technical Assistance --- Technology Transfer

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This synthesis report details the process, outputs and intermediate outcomes of the Water and Sanitation Program - World Bank (WSP) Technical Assistance (TA) to Service Level Benchmarking, Citizen Voice and Performance Improvement Strategies in Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (UWSS) in India. This technical assistance (TA) sought to strengthen accountability for service outcomes in urban water and sanitation, by providing support for strengthening (i) supply and demand side monitoring processes under national programs, and (ii) integrating use of performance data into decision making by public providers in select states, with specific focus on services to the poor. This TA was a continuation of WSP's past technical assistance to the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on adoption of benchmarking and accountability processes for the urban water supply and sanitation sector. During the period 2008-12, WSP had extended support to MoUD for development of the Handbook on Service Level Benchmarks (SLB), implementation of a national pilot followed by its rollout across the country. This TA was designed to provide follow up support for deepening of these performance monitoring and reporting processes, and activate demand side monitoring mechanisms to strengthen accountability. This TA has contributed to the following outcomes: (a) Demonstrated an innovative approach for ICT-based citizen feedback processes ("SLB Connect") which has been leveraged for conduct of city level ratings under a national urban program, informed preparation of city level service improvement plans, and been integrated in the design of a Bank funded project. (b) Strengthened use of performance data for planning and investment processes in one state including development of a prioritization framework to guide allocations. (c) Supported analytical work and advocacy for strengthening of performance monitoring processes at the national and state levels. Going forward, in the Indian context, it would be important to operationalize the National Performance Monitoring Cell (NPMC) at the earliest, so that it can further strengthen performance monitoring processes in the sector.

Access to Information --- Capacity Building --- City-Wide Infrastructure and Service Delivery --- Customization --- Drinking Water --- E-Business --- E-Government --- Governance --- Knowledge Sharing --- Municipalities --- Private Sector Development --- Public Sector Development --- Software --- Technical Assistance --- Urban Areas --- Urban Development --- Urban Water Supply and Sanitation --- Waste Management --- Water --- Water Law --- Water Supply --- Water Supply and Sanitation --- Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions

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This report summarizes the main findings from the application of performance based incentives linked to progress on a standardized, globally recognized metric - the stepwise laboratory improvement process towards accreditation (SLIPTA) checklist - under the East Africa Public Health Laboratory Networking Project (EAPHLNP) in Rwanda. The lab performance-based financing (PBF) pilot was introduced in the context of a well-established national PBF program dating back to the early 2000s. The flexible nature of the EAPHLNP and the favorable context in Rwanda provided an ideal backdrop to introduce PBF incentive payments to accelerate progress of five project supported labs towards accreditation. The evaluation found improved laboratory performance at all project-supported laboratories in Rwanda as measured by the SLIPTA scores. For the first time, laboratories were bringing in PBF revenues, instilling a culture of continuous quality improvements, and focusing management attention on accreditation. PBF appears to have contributed to an accelerated change, with PBF laboratories experiencing an overall greater increase in SLIPTA scores compared to project-supported laboratories in the other countries. No clear patterns were found in terms of improved test volumes or test accuracy, which were not part of the pilot scheme. While it was difficult to disentangle the effects of different interventions, the evaluation found a system-strengthening value to combining investments in modernizing laboratories, and strengthening human resources with PBF. Relationships between laboratory staff and clinicians improved, with laboratory managers having a greater voice in hospital management and lab staff increasingly valued and respected by clinicians. A spirit of teamwork prevailed at participating sites. Other countries considering PBF mechanisms for public health laboratories need to take into account lessons learned and assess the features which may be relevant to their own contexts. PBF schemes for laboratories need to be viewed as an integral part of a package of interventions that contribute to enhanced performance.

Best Practices --- Capacity Building --- Communications Technology --- Confidentiality --- Data analysis --- Data Collection --- Fund Management --- Grants --- Hardware --- Health --- Health Economics & Finance --- Health Monitoring & Evaluation --- Health Outcomes --- Health Policy --- Health Systems Development & Reform --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Hospitals --- Human Resources --- Infrastructure --- Internet --- Interviews --- Knowledge --- Knowledge Sharing --- Measurement --- Methodology --- Morbidity --- Mortality --- Nurses --- Nutrition --- Physicians --- Prevention --- Public Health --- Qualitative Data --- Quantitative Data --- Research Methods --- Statistical analysis --- Surveys --- Validity --- Waste --- Weight --- Workers