Since the 1980s, the world has experienced an unprecedented push towards economic, political, social, cultural, financial and technological integration. This integration is a key element of the process of globalization. Much of this revolves around the tensions and conflicts inherent in globalization with emphasis on political economy but at the expense of the human factor (HF), which places people at the centre of all discussions about globalization. This volume brings the HF into the debate and examines to what extent this hitherto marginalized concept holds the key to providing a holistic understanding and contestation of globalization. The volume develops a distinct concept or framework of the human factor; examines the role and significance in global change from an interdisciplinary perspective; analyzes the extent and significance in contemporary globalization discourse; and provokes further debate about the unresolved disputes surrounding globalization. The account will help readers navigate the 'minefields' of the globalization debate.

Analyzing global successes and failures, this work argues for the centrality of human factor development to sustainable economic development. The author argues that it is the integrating core of every development programme, without which no nation can develop, however plentiful the other resources.

The author charts an ethical roadmap for successful management in the 21st century. The information age is about knowledge, ideas and creativity which result in a dizzying array of external forces including globalization, new technologies and competition. The author argues that leadership and the human factor are being overlooked and that unless companies can convince employees and customers that they are going in the right direction then they will have no chance to survive.

Focusing on the development agenda of selected developed and developing countries, the contributors in this volume show that the varying degrees of success or failure in the programs of different countries are due to the way they deal with human factor development. Each essay clearly shows that a nation cannot achieve development if it continuously fails to develop its own national human factor. The contributors maintain that what different parts of the world, particularly Southeast Asia, call a development miracle is not a miracle at all. Countries such as Japan and Singapore have experienced significant development in recent decades because their programs have focused intently on building the human factor. Countries such as Mexico, Nigeria, Bolivia, and India, on the other hand, are struggling to develop because their ongoing development programs do not address the human factor. Nations that aspire to achieve sustained human-centered development in the 21st century should focus on human factor development now.

Following on from his earlier volume, Globalization and the Human Factor, Senyo Adjibolosoo focuses attention on the prospects for establishing civil society through the development of a positive human factor. As civil society can neither be brought into existence by factors such as stringent legislation, economic development, political manoeuvring and violent civil disobedience, nor by chance, these orthodox procedures have proved to be nothing more than unproductive quick-fix solutions. This study examines how previous social engineering programmes failed because of the preoccupation with the symptoms of severe human factor decay (HFD). The necessary conditions for a successful evolution of a principle–centred civil society is the availability of a positive human factor, without which no group of people can achieve and sustain civil liberties, human rights or the rule of law. Provocative and challenging, this book illustrates how positive human factor is essential to not only developing but also industrialized countries.

Change management and organizational development is unthinkable without people. Human beings form its core as both subjects and objects of change. This volume attempts to cut through to the core of change management, to the people that stand at its heart and focuses on their intrinsic role in change management and organizational development. Topics covered in this volume encompass the human element within organizational change, how this impacts roles, dynamics of team interaction and affects the workplace in teaching and learning settings. It also addresses resistance to institutional and organizational change and the central role that agile management plays in this process.

Following on from his earlier volume, Globalization and the Human Factor, Senyo Adjibolosoo focuses attention on the prospects for establishing civil society through the development of a positive human factor. As civil society can neither be brought into existence by factors such as stringent legislation, economic development, political manoeuvring and violent civil disobedience, nor by chance, these orthodox procedures have proved to be nothing more than unproductive quick-fix solutions. This study examines how previous social engineering programmes failed because of the preoccupation with the symptoms of severe human factor decay (HFD). The necessary conditions for a successful evolution of a principle-centred civil society is the availability of a positive human factor, without which no group of people can achieve and sustain civil liberties, human rights or the rule of law. Provocative and challenging, this book illustrates how positive human factor is essential to not only developing but also industrialized countries.