Political factors. The Board considers the political environment when taking decisions involving Organisational priorities and governance. The Shareholder Compact informs the relationship between Vaal Central Water and the shareholder, and a healthy relationship exists between the parties. The Provincial Government and Vaal Central Water continue to nurture well-established working relationships.
Political factors. As a country-specific political variable, we use the Polity IV democracy index to measure whether a country’s political regime is autocratic (low score on the index) or democratic (high score on the index). This variable capture the power of the government and politicians (e.g., Xxxxxxx et al., 2004; Xxxxxxxx et al., 2016). The difference in the Polity IV democracy index between the country of local partners and the country of foreign partners (“Polity IV Democracy Differences”) is used in the country-pair empirical analysis. Further, we employ the World Bank’s six governance indicators (e.g., Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxxx and Xxxxxx, 2014) to assess the institutional environment, considering accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality rule of law, and corruption control. We take the average value of these six indicators and calculate the difference between countries (“Institutional Differences”). Moreover, we consider foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions as they reflect the government intervention in the foreign investment in a local market (Xxxx and Xxxxxx, 2013). To measure the restrictions on foreign ownership in the local partner’s country, we obtain ownership restriction scores (“Foreign Ownership Restrictions”) from Economic Freedom of the World to evaluate whether foreign ownership of companies in the local partner’s country is rare.21
Political factors. The Board considers the political environment when taking decisions involving Organisational priorities and governance. The Shareholder Compact informs the relationship between Vaal Central Water and the shareholder, and a healthy relationship exists between the parties. The Provincial Government and Vaal Central Water continue to nurture well-established working relationships. Vaal Central Water is striving to be self-sustainable and viable. The Entity does not depend on any subsidies. Sustainability is under threat as there has been a decline in water demand due to water restrictions on non-payment by Municipalities, which has soared. The management of cost drivers is pertinent as to ensure viability. The impact of financial and macro-economic conditions on the institution is observed and managed within required parameters. Population growth, urbanisation, increasing unemployment, poverty and age distribution of communities in the service areas impact on water demand and is recognised accordingly in CAPEX planning. Vaal Central Water is involved in community projects in its area of supply. A number of schools are beneficiaries in sanitation, health and hygiene projects. An annual event which commemorates the World Toilet Day is hosted where Learners promote hygiene and health. The top three schools that have maintained cleanliness and adhered to hygiene standards are awarded prizes. Continuous education on water conservation is a priority. Technology is central to Organisational effectiveness and efficiency and overall optimization of processes. Vaal Central Water keeps abreast of changes in technology with regards to ICT and Plant Optimisation opportunities in the water industry which covers Plant Automation, smart metering and telemetry. Newly introduced water treatment technology is improving performance, efficiency and convenience, reducing expenses and dependence on Labour in operating water treatment plants. Advances in information and communication technology has given rise to cyber security risks, requiring institutions to strengthen its security measures LQ OLQH ZLWK EHVW SUDFWLFHV WR SUHYHQW LQemWsHUFHSWLR to theft, modification and leakage of information. Focus will be placed on people, processes and technology to complement one another to create an effective defense from cyber-attacks. User education and training on information system security will be increased to establish a security conscious culture. The Entity managed to conduct virtual m...
Political factors. The presence of policies, guidelines and legal agreements like health service agreement between Local government and private not for profit may affect the implementation of Services agreements.
Political factors. This section contains questions on political factors, and in general students showed to find a positive connection between them and the fostering of forms of extremism; for example, 75% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that aggressive political messages in media ease the radicalisation of opinions. 20% remained neutral, and 5% somewhat disagreed. Moreover, 67% of students somewhat or strongly agreed that political indifference towards the needs of communities influences antisocial behaviours. 25% of participants remained neutral, and 8% somewhat disagreed. Furthermore, 69% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that the anxiety caused by an instable political situation may lead to societal conflicts. 24% remained neutral and only 7% somewhat or strongly disagreed. Lastly, 72% of students strongly or somewhat agreed that the political division into “us vs them” lead to prioritise one’s own group and to deny the value of other groups. 16% remained neutral and only 12% somewhat or strongly disagreed. This section appears to present some of the highest positive responses; this shows that students believe that political discourses and messages are important factors that can either prevent or xxxxxx forms of extremism, radicalisation and polarisation.
Political factors. This set of questions aimed at investigating the perceived correlation between political factors and extremist radicalisation. The answers provided by students highlight that politics and unsteady political situations are considered as a fundamental driver of conflict within society, individual radicalisation and, in some cases, extremism. 77% respondents believe that aggressive political messages in the media promote hate speech. For about 88% of the respondents, politicians' indifference to people's needs encourages anti-social, even extreme, behaviours. Moreover, for 83% of the respondents, anxiety due to an unstable political situation leads to conflicts in society. Therefore, broadly speaking, the answers of the students highlight a general distrust towards institutionalised politics and Italian political establishment.
