Focusing on Shanghai Port, this in-depth study explores how government support can make port organizations more competitive. This study shall implement qualitative analysis based on in-depth interviews with key industry and government leaders to break down the complicated actions taken by the government and how they have changed the operational and strategic skills of the port industry. Seven factors were found in our study to be the most crucial support factors: Financial, regulatory, infrastructure growth, talent, market, policy, and organizational support. In their ways, each of these groups undermines the ability of port businesses to compete. For instance, finance can make ports more competitive in aspects such as tax cuts, lower interest rates, innovation and R&D funds, financing programs, venture capital funds, and putting up R&D sites. Supporting regulations makes sure that there is fair competition and smooth operations. This is done by protecting intellectual property, keeping the market going smoothly, improving the business environment, and monitoring market regulations. Building new infrastructure, such as innovation and updated buildings, enables the smooth running of the port businesses and minimizes wastage of time; thus, more time is spent on production. Supporting talent, the market, and policy all work together to make the human capital, international cooperation, and strategic regulatory framework that a company needs to stay ahead in the long run. It is clear from organizational support how important collaborative networks are for making ports more competitive. These networks, for instance, can be of assistance in helping schools and businesses work together, create new technologies, and find ways for companies and colleges to study together. This study examines these support systems to determine where the government should step in and how the systems can be made better to make ports more competitive. In terms of practical contribution, this in-depth study helps policymakers and port workers plan for the future. This study shows a fair way for the government to support the port business, which changes with its needs and stays competitive in the world of trade.

The convergence of multifaceted global challenges encompassing the rise of populism, Brexit, the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has catalyzed a profound reassessment of international trade policies. This article critically examines the intricate linkages between these challenges and their profound implications for the contemporary international trading system. Traditionally, globalization debates in the 1990s underscored the social and environmental dimensions of trade, yet the current landscape reveals an undeniable entwining of societal implications with trade policies. This article delves into the interconnectedness of these global challenges with trade, evaluating how each phenomenon influences and reshapes policy discourse. In particular, the rise of populism and its attendant protectionist sentiments have engendered a reevaluation of trade relationships and multilateral agreements. The seismic geopolitical event of Brexit has disrupted regional trade dynamics, signaling a paradigm shift in established trade blocs. Simultaneously, the imperatives of addressing the escalating climate crisis have spotlighted the necessity for trade policies to align with environmental sustainability goals. The COVID-19 pandemic, acting as a disruptor on a global scale, has accentuated vulnerabilities within supply chains, emphasizing the need for resilience and adaptability in trade frameworks. Additionally, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has introduced geopolitical tensions that further complicate the trade-policy landscape. By critically evaluating these intersecting challenges, this article delineates the evolving nature of trade policies and their inextricable relationship with societal and geopolitical realities. It underscores the imperative for a holistic approach in policy formulation that integrates social, environmental, and geopolitical considerations, acknowledging the integral role of trade policies in addressing contemporary global challenges.

Smallholder cocoa producers often experience low productivity levels, partly due to their weak collaborative advantage (CA). CA enables businesses to optimize outcomes through effective collaboration within value chains. This paper aims at examining the effect of CA pillars (trust building, resource investment, and decision synchronization) on the productivity. This paper uses primary data of 406 samples from smallholder cocoa producers in Indonesia. The data is analyzed by using CDM (Crepon Duguet Mairesse) model that divides the CA process into three stages: effort, output, and productivity. In the first stage, our model shows that having motivation to collaborate positively affects collaborative effort expenditure to develop a CA. In the second stage, the study finds that the three pillars of CA have to some degree contributes to achieving a better access to finance, superior cocoa seeds, and cocoa processing technology for smallholder cocoa producers. In the third stage, acquiring the outputs of CA leads to productivity improvement. The findings underscore the significance of intangible factors in shaping robust Collaborative Advantage (CA) and influencing productivity. This enriches CA theory, which has traditionally focused primarily on tangible factors.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review literature in the area of perceived organizational politics (POPs) and to present a model that explains the positive role of the phenomenon in the workplace. This involves understanding how POPs have evolved from playing a much-publicized destructive role to an emerging constructive one. Design/methodology/approach: An integrative review method was used to review articles on POPs published over the last 13 years (2010–2022). The primary sources of information were several databases, such as ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus. Specific search terms were considered to find relevant articles, leading to 7803 articles (3894 hits on Scopus, 1723 hits on Google Scholar, and 2186 hits on Web of Science). These studies were further examined for their relevance to this study, and 103 articles were identified. The application of exclusion criteria funneled them to 66 studies. The articles, employing quantitative, mixed, and qualitative approaches were coded. The themes were subsequently determined. Findings: The review notes that the POPs literature emphasis is shifting from a negative and dysfunctional approach to one where positive organizational outcomes are possible. The review concludes that POPs have functional consequences too. The phenomenon could illuminate favorable workplace outcomes if viewed as an enhancer rather than a hindrance. POPs should be viewed as a phenomenon that for all purposes is essentially neutral. It is individuals who label the otherwise neutral construct as negative (negative POPs) or positive (positive POPs). Practical implications: The paper reveals how antecedents help organizational members label politics as positive. Perceived organizational politics is largely a neutral construct until the perceiver decides to label it otherwise. A positive perception of politics is significant in predicting important employee outcomes such as motivation, employee satisfaction, and job performance. Management needs to invest in antecedents and moderators to help employees label the construct as positive rather than negative. Originality/value: The study is an original review of the positive POPs literature to identify the significant antecedents, moderators, and work outcomes, vital to organizational success.

Currently there is a great acceptance in medicine and dentistry that clinical practice should be “evidence-based” as much as possible. That is why multiple works have been published aimed at decreasing radiation doses in the different types of imaging modalities used in dentistry, since the greater effect of radiation, especially in children, forces us to take necessary measures to rationalize its use, especially with Cone Beam computed tomography (CBCT), the method that provides the highest doses in dentistry. This review was written using such an approach with the purpose of rationalizing the radiation dose in our patients. In order to formulate recommendations that contribute to the optimization of the use of ionizing radiation in dentistry, the SEDENTEXCT project team compiled and analyzed relevant publications in the literature, guidelines that have demonstrated their efficiency in the past, thus helping to see with different perspectives the dose received by patients, and with this, it is recommended taking into account this document so as to prescribe more adequately the complementary examinations that we use on a daily basis.

By reviewing US state-level panel data on infrastructure spending and on per capita income inequality from 1950 to 2010, this paper sets out to test whether an empirical link exists between infrastructure and inequality. Panel regressions with fixed effects show that an increase in the growth rate of spending on highways and higher education in a given decade correlates negatively with Gini indices at the end of the decade, thus suggesting a causal effect from growth in infrastructure spending to a reduction in inequality through better access to education and opportunities for employment. More significantly, this relationship is more pronounced with inequality at the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. In addition, infrastructure expenditures on highways are shown to be more effective at reducing inequality. By carrying out a counterfactual experiment, the results show that those US states with a significantly higher bottom Gini coefficient in 2010 had underinvested in infrastructure during the previous decade. From a policy-making perspective, new innovations in finance for infrastructure investments are developed, for the US, other industrially advanced countries and also for developing economies.