International Consultants Research Articles

How to Work in International Consulting: An Experience Report from a UNESCO Consultant

Abstract The Brazilian public administration provides a plethora of opportunities for international consultants through vacancies in prestigious global institutions such as UNESCO, UN Women, and UNICEF, among others. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the opportunities available to lawyers and law graduates to work as international consultants, drawing on the author’s experience at UNESCO. Often, these opportunities remain unexplored due to a general unawareness among professionals. Hence, this article endeavours to share a novel experience and act as a guide for those interested in pursuing a career in international consultancy. To conduct this research, descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the calls for applications published in 2023 by 12 global institutions. This analysis identified the demands and professional qualifications sought for consultancy positions. The findings indicated a notable demand for legal professionals with specializations or experience in international law, human rights, environmental law, public management, and public policies. Furthermore, English emerged as the most commonly required language, with French, Spanish, and Portuguese also being significant. The opportunities often featured flexibility regarding the professionals’ location, with many roles allowing for remote or hybrid work arrangements. The study further underscored the critical importance for professionals to develop technical-scientific skills and to view themselves as entrepreneurs to effectively operate within this international context.

Finding Common Ground a comparison between coastal nature-based solutions in the Netherlands and British Columbia, Canada

Many coastal communities worldwide are facing challenges caused by increasing sea levels. However, urban development, population growth and industrialisation in low-lying delta regions persists. This includes the Netherlands and British Columbia, Canada. Both regions explore new and innovative flood risk and adaptation strategies by initiating nature-based solutions (NBS) pilot projects and integrating research and community initiatives. The aim of this paper is to learn from the experiences with these NBS pilots and support practitioners with insights and knowledge about the prospectives and implementation process of NBS. Our study takes a bird's eye view by diving into four NBS case study projects that try to enhance flood defence and quality of life while considering ecosystems and community values simultaneously. To better understand current initiatives on NBS, we first describe the historical trajectories of flood risk management and climate adaptation policy in both countries. Then we analyse two urban and two suburban case studies to identify and compare enablers and barriers that surround the implementation of NBS. We use the Pilot Paradox as a framework to reflect on the enablers and barriers, and to formulate recommendations for barriers that are common ground. We found that upscaling of the pilots forms an important challenge in both countries. We also found that Canada is interested in exchanging technical knowledge, experiences, and insights with other countries through the involvement of international researchers, consultants, and students in projects. Such collaboration between countries, communities, practitioners, and academics could accelerate the development of innovative climate adaptation strategies worldwide.

The Current Role of Western Development Actors as Knowledge and Policy Providers: The Making of Good Governance of Natural Gas Resources in Tanzania

The creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge are crucial for achieving sustainable development and have been at the heart of international development efforts since World War II. In conventional international development cooperation, the Global North is portrayed as the provider of knowledge and material assistance, with the South often perceived as a more passive receiver. This approach perpetuates hierarchical knowledge-power relations, as what is considered the ‘best practices’ are usually based on experiences, ideologies, and ideals from the North. This paper critically examines the current role of Western development actors as providers of knowledge and policy, specifically in the formulation of good governance for natural gas resources in Tanzania. Following significant offshore natural gas discoveries between 2010–2015, Tanzania has garnered the attention of international energy companies, foreign donors, technical advisors, and consultants, all offering guidance and capacity-building expertise to ready the country for production. Drawing on interviews with key actors supported by secondary sources, this analysis depicts how hierarchical knowledge relations persist, but also highlights the contested and evolving nature of what constitutes good governance of natural gas resources. The paper underscores how context matters in petroleum resource governance and, more broadly, the necessity for contextualising knowledge in international development cooperation.

A critical review of the Iranian National Olympic Committee's performance in designing the opening parade costumes: signs of inefficiency and damage to the national identity

This research aims to evaluate and critique the performance of the Iranian National Olympic Committee in designing the costumes for the Olympic opening parade. The study seeks to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these designs and compare them with successful global examples to help improve future designs. A review method was used to achieve this goal. This method involved examining previous research related to the design of Olympic uniforms and the criticisms they received. The analysis included public and media critiques, athlete surveys, and an examination of the characteristics of successful international designs.The findings indicate that Iran's Olympic uniforms have struggled to make a positive impact internationally due to weaknesses in aligning with global standards, a lack of attention to cultural symbols, and inadequate use of modern technologies. Compared to successful global designs, these uniforms have faced challenges in representing national identity and effectively communicating with audiences. The study concludes that to improve future designs, the Iranian National Olympic Committee should focus on enhancing collaboration with cultural and social experts, using international consultants to align with global standards, and establishing continuous evaluation processes to identify and address weaknesses. Additionally, developing specialized teams and providing training for designers are recommended to improve design quality and elevate national prestige on the international stage.

Strategi Pengembangan Bisnis Ekspor Bumbu Makanan Olahan dengan Menggunakan Analisis Business Model Canvas (BMC) dan SWOT pada CV Restu Mande

This research was conducted to determine the appropriate CV Restu Mande business strategy design using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis and the Business Model Canvas (BMC) in achieving export targets. The method used in this research is a descriptive qualitative method. Data collection carried out in this research was interviews with the leadership of CV Restu Mande, observation both directly and indirectly, and documentation. The SWOT analysis carried out in this research produces a SWOT matrix as a recommendation for CV Restu Mande's business strategy. The results of the SWOT analysis, SWOT matrix, and proposed new Business Model Canvas at CV Restu Mande are that in the customer segments section, target consumers are added in the form of Indonesian communities abroad, in the channels section, websites, international e-commerce and overseas retail need to be added, in the customer relationship section, rewards need to be added for resellers, dropshippers and loyal customers, in the key resources section we need to add production facilities, in the key activities section we need to add more interesting and detailed marketing activities, in the key partnership section we need to add agent collaboration. or distributors, loyal customers, production partners, and international trade consultants or experts, and in the cost structure section it is necessary to focus on investment in production facilities.

Experience Sharing in Participating in the Environmental Safety Consultation Program—Tainan Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare

<p>本文分享財團法人醫院評鑑暨醫療品質策進會推動「環境安全諮詢計畫」，由兩位國內專家輔導委員及一位國外ACHSI輔導委員以緊急應變計畫、建築與設備、管理機制三大方面進入輔導過程，本文大致分享以國內醫療機構面臨機構建築設備老舊維護困難，在既有建築物空間規劃設計上，防災及疏散因應措施相較薄弱，如何以合宜的因應措施及編列合理改善預算，提升環境安全及災害應變能力，保障人員安全與健康，維持醫療正常營運及財產損害控管。</p> <p> </p><p>This manuscript shares the experience of participating in the “Environmental Safety Consultation Program” promoted by the Joint Commission of Taiwan. The program was guided by two domestic expert advisors and one international advisor from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards International, focusing on three major aspects: emergency response plans, architecture and facilities, and management mechanisms. This manuscript broadly discusses how healthcare institutions in Taiwan, facing challenges with the maintenance of outdated buildings and facilities, and weak disaster prevention and evacuation measures due to existing architectural and spatial planning, can implement suitable response measures and allocate reasonable budgets for improvements. The goals are to enhance environmental safety and disaster response capabilities, ensure the safety and health of personnel, maintain normal medical operations, and manage property damage.</p> <p> </p>

Intrapreneurs, high performers, or hybrid stars? How individual entrepreneurial orientation affects employee performance

Recently, scholars have extended the concept of entrepreneurial orientation to the individual level. Yet, how individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) contributes to employee performance is not well understood. Building on role theory, we develop a novel typology of employee performance that distinguishes between employee behavior aimed at achieving in-role performance and employee engagement in intrapreneurial activities. To test how IEO affects the different performance prototypes of this typology, we collected survey and archival data on IEO, entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), employee in-role performance, and engagement in intrapreneurship in a Dutch subsidiary of an international consultancy firm. Our results show that IEO is positively associated with in-role performance and intrapreneurship. ESE is also positively associated with in-role performance and intrapreneurship, albeit indirectly via IEO. These results mark an initial step in unraveling the impact of IEO on employee and firm performance, as well as why different outcomes occur as a result of IEO.

International companies gathered at the agency summit

The "2024 International Partners Summit", which was organized for the first time by Üsküdar University Department of International Relations, was held with the participation of more than 100 international education consultants

Agricultural reform in Ukraine: the history and present

The purpose of the research is to reveal the process of implementing the agrarian reform in Ukraine as a natural stage of the development of the country's agriculture during the last 100 years. The existing problems in Ukrainian agriculture were considered and it was established that these problems have their roots in the past, in the 20s of the 20th century, when the natural development of agriculture was interrupted, Ukraine became part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), private ownership of agricultural land and private farms were liquidated, collective and state agricultural enterprises were created instead. The paper analyzes the initial stage of agrarian reform in Ukraine at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries after gaining state independence, and it is concluded that agrarian transformations in the country took place quite completely, in comparison with the countries of Eastern Europe. One of the reasons for this state of affairs was the low efficiency of the management of this process on the part of the state authorities responsible for the reform, particularly land reform as a key factor in all agrarian transformations. Only after the beginning of the wide implementation of land reform and reforming of collective agricultural enterprises in the early 2000s, a rapid increase in the volume and efficiency of agricultural production began. The long-term moratorium on the sale and purchase of agricultural land (more than 30 years) was based on political, not economic, reasons. In the analysis of the prospects for the development of domestic agriculture in the period after the agrarian reform, modern comprehensive programs of strategic directions for increasing the efficiency of the industry and rural areas were used, in the development of which the author was involved. These state programs, namely the "Unified comprehensive strategy and action plan for the development of agriculture and rural areas in Ukraine for 2015-2020" and the "National Economic Strategy 2030" conclude with the main task of creating a competitive, export-oriented agriculture and the production of competitive food products in accordance with international safety and quality standards in the context of the European integration of Ukraine. The research methodology is based on the use of publications by Ukrainian and foreign researchers devoted to the analysis of economic transformation in Ukraine and other countries of the former socialist camp, as well as scientific developments by authors, in particular, as a member of teams of international experts and consultants on the development and implementation of agrarian reform in Ukraine. Further directions of research, which were covered in the article, should be aimed at the development of integration processes in the market structure of the European Union, adaptation of the national agrarian policy to the Common EU policy. This is to provide an opportunity to increase the welfare of agricultural workers, the efficiency and productivity of the domestic agrarian industry.

Three-Tiered Communities of Practice and Professional Development Model

Many global studies indicate academicians in higher education institutions are alone in their development journey. When the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia had set in motion Higher Education 4.0, focus was on academicians’ Professional Development (PD), to adapt Learning and Teaching 4.0. This is a qualitative case study on a Malaysian private higher educational institution that fostered PD by creating organizational Communities of Practice (CoP). Focus group discussions with fourteen experienced academicians who were actively involved in many CoPs, revealed in-depth knowledge on the workings of CoPs. The results were further reviewed by two subject matter experts in CoP, a Malaysian professor from an esteemed national university and an international consultant on group mentoring for organizational development. The study found CoPs benefitted the academicians to improve and sustain technologically advanced pedagogical methods and other academic duties towards Education 4.0. Additionally, organizational development was evident because of the CoPs, as these academicians’ won awards at exhibitions, produced more publications, improved the overall standards of teaching and classroom management. This study revealed organizational CoPs have three levels of workings to be nurtured for its efficiency and sustainability, the individual CoP members, the CoP and the organization where its embedded, thus the development of the Three-Tiered CoP and PD model.

International Educational Consultancies and Students Migration from Nepal

An increasing number of Nepali students are going abroad each year for further studies. The recent trend is more of going for further studies at the undergraduate level rather than the previous patterns of going for graduate and postgraduate research degrees. These students often take the support of educational consultancies to facilitate their recruitment for international education. Along with this, there is a parallel increment of international educational consultancies in motivating and facilitating students to go abroad for further studies. In essence, these students who take the help of such brokering agencies often go on a “student visa”. Ethnographic information acquired from the field study conducted in Kathmandu Valley is the fundamental basis of the development of this article. Interviews and observations were the main techniques through which information was collated which were later on thematically analyzed to reach the conclusions of this study. These agencies have devised various strategies to recruit and convince students about the value and significance of international education. This article also highlights that these educational consulting firms are thriving in Nepal in a liberal economic context vis-à[1]vis the unhindered power of the globalization process.

On Behalf of Digital Innovation: A Replication Study on International and National Executive Search Consultancy Firms

On Behalf of Digital Innovation: A Replication Study on International and National Executive Search Consultancy Firms

JERUSALEM, A HOLY AND CREATIVE CITY: Advisory Practices and the Grounding of Urban Mobilities within the Context of Ethnic Conflict

AbstractThis article assesses how the agency of international advisors can provide policy recommendations that, instead of introducing urban policy initiatives for multicultural encounters, sharpen political and spatial segregation within the context of ethnic conflict. The article explores the variegated nature of neoliberalization and argues that the adoption of strategic planning and creativity discourses enables the development of a sophisticated political rationale for governing ethnic diversity. The analysis focuses on a range of advisory practices—including the role played by Michael Porter at the Harvard Business School and Richard Florida at the Creative Class Group in advising former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat—in order to understand the dynamics of grounding imaginaries concerning a neoliberal role for the state and the depoliticization of the public sphere in a disputed city. By surveying official policy documents, journalistic interviews and two reports submitted by Porter and Florida to Barkat, the author examines how the branding of Jerusalem as a creative city involved managerial practices that classified the city's diverse population according to categories of creative and non‐creative labor rather than political subjects. The adoption of such discourses facilitated a novel approach for enhancing the state‐building ethno‐nationalistic project while at the same time reproducing the dynamics of occupation and annexation.

External influences over Senegalese health financing policy: delaying universal health coverage?

Senegal has long sought solutions to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). However, in a context dependent on international aid, the country faces multiple external pressures to choose policy instruments. In this commentary, we propose an analysis of this influence. The empirical material comes from our involvement in analysing health reforms for 20 years and from many interviews and observations. While studies have shown that community-based health insurance (CBHI) was not an appropriate solution for UHC, some international actors have influenced their continued application. Another global partner proposed an alternative (professional and departmental CBHI), which was counteracted and delayed. These issues of powers and influences of international and national consultants, established in a neo-liberal approach to health, have lost at least a decade from UHC in Senegal. The alternative now appears to be acquired and is scaling up at the country level, witnessing a change in the current policy paradigm.

“The Situation Will Most Likely Turn Ugly”: Corporate Counter-Insurgency and Sexual Violence at a Canadian-Owned Mine in Guatemala

This paper offers a window into the terrain of corporate influence over violence in the mining industry. The research draws on over 300 pages of internal communications and other corpo-rate documents, which were produced by Vancouver-based Skye Resources and released pub-licly as an affidavit in a civil court case in Ontario, Canada. The documents demonstrate the roles of mining company executives and their collaborators in coordinating events that led to the gang rape of eleven Maya Q’eqchi’ women in Guatemala during a 2007 land eviction. Ana-lyzing the documents through a framework of corporate counter-insurgency (co-COIN), the pa-per explores the importance of international consultants and local elite networks in co-COIN campaigns. The case study explored in this paper contributes to the theorization of public-pri-vate repressive forces within co-COIN. The research also offers a visual tool to map actors in other instances of mining violence, which is intended for use by both academic researchers and anti-mining social movements.

Preventing Risks of Infections and Medication Errors in IV therapy (PRIME): a patient safety initiative.

Two major avoidable reasons for adverse events in hospital are medication errors and intravenous therapy-induced infections or complications. Training for clinical staff and compliance to patient safety principles could address these. Joint Commission International (JCI) consultants created a standardised, 6-month training programme for clinical staff in hospitals. Twenty-one tertiary care hospitals from across south-east Asia took part. JCI trained the clinical consultants, who trained hospital safety champions, who trained nursing staff. Compliance and knowledge were assessed, and monthly audits were conducted. There was an overall increase of 29% in compliance with parameters around medication preparation and vascular access device management. The programme improved safe practice around preparing medications management and managing vascular access devices. The approach could be employed as a continuous quality improvement initiative for the prevention of medication errors and infusion-associated complications.

THE RESULTS OF WORK PROJECT TCP/RER/3604 “CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DUAL-PURPOSE CATTLE BREEDS IN EASTERN EUROPE”

THE RESULTS OF WORK PROJECT TCP/RER/3604 “CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DUAL-PURPOSE CATTLE BREEDS IN EASTERN EUROPE”

Resilience in global supply chains: analysis of responses, recovery actions and strategic changes triggered by major disruptions

PurposeAre major and frequent disruptions transforming global supply chains? This study aims to investigate how multinational companies (MNCs) are responding to the phenomenon of accumulated major disruptions in recent years and plausible new paradigm of unstable conditions and environmental uncertainty from a supply chain resilience (SCRES) perspective.Design/methodology/approachFollowing an inductive interpretivist approach based on interpretive phenomenology, this study gathers insights from ten MNCs supply chain managers and international consultants who participated as key informants via semi-structured interviews, sharing their experience of the phenomenon. Additionally, secondary sources such as press releases, media articles and industry reports were used for data collection.FindingsFindings include five categories of recovery actions, i.e. levelling, rationing, buffering, bridging and boundary redefining, key strategic changes in competitive priorities, internal organisation and coordination structures, and a hierarchy between SCRES characteristics, integrated in an empirically derived conceptual framework connecting these constructs. This contributes to middle-range theories within SCRES body of knowledge. The authors also identify a set of areas for future SCRES research.Practical implicationsFindings can support MNCs’ supply chain professionals in designing and managing resilient global supply chains, based on learnings from the recent highly disruptive environment, particularly, regarding recovery actions and resilience-building strategic changes contributing to agility and robustness in global supply chains.Originality/valueNon-positivist interpretive and inductive works are scarce in SCRES research. By adopting this novel approach for this field, the authors broadened the categorisation of responses used in previous works and identified prominent strategic changes and SCRES characteristics and relations among constructs, thus bringing conceptual clarity to SCRES research within the context of the study.

Did you get my Email?!—Leveraging boundary work tactics to safeguard connectivity boundaries

Being connected to the Internet through various mobile devices is pervasive in our daily professional and private lives. Yet, the way people connect, including when, with whom and through which communication channels differs, manifesting individuals’ idiosyncratic connectivity patterns. In team collaboration, where individuals are dependent on each other’s availability and responsiveness, differences in team members’ connectivity patterns can lead to clashing expectations concerning connectivity. This, in turn, can compromise individuals’ well-being and productivity and threaten team collaboration outcomes. In this paper, we address the question of how to manage connectivity in interdependent teams and align connectivity patterns to facilitate successful collaboration while at the same time safeguarding individuals’ connectivity boundaries. To address this question, we conducted a qualitative case study that involved 39 semi-structured interviews with employees and members of the management board of an international consultancy headquartered in Germany. Building on concepts established in boundary theory, we coined the term “connectivity boundaries” and identified the six boundary work tactics, externalizing, accommodating, adapting, pushing, sacrificing, and enforcing that allow team members to create, maintain, temporarily change, and reclaim their connectivity boundaries and achieve team collaboration success. We developed propositions that highlight which contextual factors and goals are associated with which boundary work tactic.

Tax Socialization For Corporate Taxpayer, Is It Important?

Improving tax revenues remains a significant challenge for many countries, especially in growing the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. A substantial contribution to increasing tax revenue, among others, is obtained from corporate taxpayers. This study aims to give empirical evidence regarding the effect of tax knowledge, perceptions of reduced tax rates, and perceptions of modernization of tax administration on tax compliance among corporate taxpayers. The research method in this study uses quantitative methods with a survey approach. This research intends to study 100 corporate clients from international tax professional consultants. The sampling technique uses convenience sampling. The study finds that tax knowledge, perceptions of reduced tax rates, and perceptions of modernization of tax administration significantly affect tax compliance. The results of this study implicate that tax socialization and education are critical for corporate taxpayers to boost corporate tax compliance.