An Integrated System to Acquire Knowledge and Support Decisions in Complex Innovation Design Processes

A system that integrates tools from different disciplines, ranging from cognitive and social psychology to multicriteria analysis and mathematical programming, is introduced to cope with the complexities and uncertainties that generate criticality in the organization innovation processes. An intelligent combined use of tools can facilitate the integration of unstructured or semistructured information resources and support individuals or groups of stakeholders in a complex environment, in order to structure a problem situation, to agree on a “problem focus” and to make commitments on a set of possible actions. The purpose of this article is to examine the potentiality of this system, above all in terms of knowledge acquisition, fusion, and use in various organizational contexts, and to describe an application in relation to an industrial project, in order to support the conceptual phase of the design process.     

Prevention of drowning in home pools – lessons from Australia

As an affluent and warm weather country, Australia faced an epidemic of drowning in children under five as the popularity of home pools increased in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In one state child drowning rose by 6.62 per 100,000 in the five years from 1968. Variation across jurisdictions in actions to regulate domestic pools has resulted in Australia representing an unfortunate natural experiment in interventions to prevent child drowning in pools. Mechanisms adopted by various authorities were analysed in detail to identify factors that contributed to success and failure in regulating domestic pools. Despite early identification of the problem and development of what were later demonstrated to be effective interventions, best practice solutions were not established in any jurisdiction until 2002, 25 years after identification of the problem. Key failures in intervention were found to be: failure to act in a timely way, flawed regulation, blockage of timely action and repeal of effective state regulation under political pressure, and blockage of effective standards. Lessons are identified as: inherent weaknesses in the standard setting process, failure of interventions to address major risk categories, failure to act before the hazard grew, failure to consider lesser interventions for tactical reasons, failure to pay attention to advocates, and the need for continuing effort. The paper argues that analysis of the identification of the problem, development of interventions and implementation of mechanisms of prevention illustrate where systemic changes are required and indicate lessons that should be applied in developing and implementing future interventions.     

An Application of MACRAME to Support Communication and Decisions in a Multi-Unit Project

Researchers from the Politecnico di Torino working in different fields and a start-up company from the internal incubator decided to join together in a collective project to produce an innovative light aircraft that would utilize hydrogen as fuel. Several decisions have had to be made, above all in relation to the hydrogen fuel cells that have to be used (dimensions, number, supplier,...) and to the electric propulsion engine that has to be combined with the cells as there was no engine on the market with the adequate characteristics. The consequences of these decisions (and of others, in relation to the electronic devices and the automatic control systems), in terms of times, costs and risks, have had to be analysed in the project context, where units with different expertise and language were involved. The paper proposes a methodological approach to identify and face uncertainties and complexities pertaining to this multi-unit project through a shared vision of the problems and a structured and evolving problem formulation that has been developed to support communication, coordination and decision-making. It explains how some tools have been integrated in this application and used to elaborate and represent alternative decisions, to collectively evaluate and choose and to create a communication space for the project.     

Perceived usefulness of innovative technology in retailing: Consumers׳ and retailers׳ point of view

Technology has always played important role in retailing. On one hand, technology enables retailers to improve their services to customers, to improve their management operations and reduce their cost as well. On the other hand, technology brings some benefits to consumers related to short lines at checkouts, higher speed in providing services in the store, no pricing errors, loyalty card programmes, etc. The main purpose of the paper is to discuss the benefits and limitations of technology in retailing in general. For the purpose of getting better insight into the importance of new technological solutions for retailers and consumers, different areas of technology in retailing have been explored in the selected retail context of the Republic of Croatia. The findings of the two-phase study, including a qualitative and a quantitative approach, suggest that innovative technology help consumers to make their shopping decisions, while better understanding of consumer goals and related stored information in turn would help retailers to develop successful retail strategy.     

品牌延伸战略中营销两因素的影响及分析

为了能更好为企业制定品牌延伸战略服务,增加企业实现企业的品牌延伸的成功率,本文尝试选取营销环节中的营销渠道和产品价格两个因素作为突破口,针对营销渠道指出:产品线内的品牌延伸可共享企业的已有的渠道资源,针对产品价格指出,可以依据企业具体情况,采取价格向上延伸和价格向下延伸的策略。     

Fissures in the marketing strategies of South Asian restaurants in Edinburgh

This exploratory study sought to investigate South Asian restaurants in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK in order to obtain a preliminary identification of marketing gaps compromising their future profitability. The aims of the study were to expose and understand the relative importance attached by owners and managers of South Asian restaurants in Edinburgh to the different elements of the marketing mix. South Asian restaurants form a small but important sector of the restaurant in market in towns throughout the UK and are characteristically of disproportionate financial and social importance to the communities who run them. South Asian restaurants in Edinburgh, as in most towns in the UK, are run primarily by the Bangladeshi community and are under increasing pressure as the variety of restaurants operating in the sector increases. The results of the study make evident that any initiatives taken to support South Asian restaurants should include awareness‐raising actions. Building awareness, which is perceived to be currently partially understood, of the importance of studying markets, customers and competitors is essential before any advice is given on how to accomplish these monitoring tasks. Equally, a fundamental priority is to encourage self‐critical and proactive approaches to business, thus increasing the capacity to identify possible problems and implement correcting measures.     

Leveraging the Diaspora for Africa’s Economic Development

ABSTRACT

African countries need to engage their diasporas in industrialized countries to provide much needed human, social, and financial capital to help with their economic development. For Africa’s economies to successfully transition from their current state of commodity-dominated production to high value-added production, governments in the continent must design and implement strategies to harness their grossly underutilized diaspora in developed countries. For the most part, the diaspora’s contribution to development has been viewed only in terms of remittances that go primarily to support families. In this paper, we provide a broad overview of some of the diaspora friendly policies that can help engage the African diaspora in the economic development of their respective countries of origin (COOs). Governments in the COOs need to move beyond seeing the diaspora as simply a source for remittances, and engage them in a meaningful way to provide them with a sustainable competitive advantage in the global battle for talent. There needs to be a move beyond simple calls to patriotism, and into engagement that leads to a mutually beneficial relationship between the diaspora and its COO. We conclude by pointing out some of the steps that can be taken in this regard to engage with the diaspora in a mutually beneficial relationship.     

‘The Aesthetic’ and Its Relationship to Business Ethics: Philosophical Underpinnings and Implications for Future Research

The article clarifies the way in which ‘the aesthetic’ is conceptualised in relation to business ethics in order to assess its potential to inform theory building and developmental practices within the business ethics field. A systematic review of relevant literature is undertaken which identifies three ontologically based accounts of the relationship between the aesthetic and business ethics: ‘positive’ ones (in which ‘the good is equated with ‘the beautiful’), ‘negative’ accounts (in which aesthetic craving is seen to foster ethical malfeasance) and ‘Postmodern’ renderings (in which the aesthetic and the ethical are seen to be ideologically informed). Five epistemologically based approaches are also made explicit: those in which the aesthetic is thought to develop enhanced perceptual discernment, those in which the aesthetic catalyses emotional sensitivity, those in which the aesthetic contributes to imaginative capacity, those in which the aesthetic prompts integrative apprehension and those in which the aesthetic is seen to foster critical reflexivity. The review reveals two key findings: firstly, the dearth of empirically based research to substantiate claims made about the aesthetic’s ability to foster ethical capabilities, which leads to proposals for further research; secondly, the analysis indicates the significance of critical reflexivity both in resolving the apparent dichotomy between ontologically based perspectives asserting the aesthetic’s ability to lead to ethically sound or egregious behaviour, and in underpinning the capacities of perceptual discernment, emotional connectivity, imagination and integrative apprehension which epistemologically based approaches assert the aesthetic can foster.     

Market entry decisions in China

Since the inception of the open‐door policy, in 1978, China has acted as a magnet for firms wishing to locate there to gain access to the billion plus consumers. However, the scramble to establish a presence in the country has led firms to make a number of hasty decisions, to revise their plans, and in some cases, to withdraw from the market. Research in the PRC, primarily in Shanghai, among leading international consumer goods firms has revealed a variety of shortcomings in our practical understanding of the internationalization process and the theoretical underpinning of the market entry decisions that emerge. It has also yielded insights into how adaptation to the advancing PRC business environment may be successfully effected. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Impact of hypermarkets on consumption and distribution in rural areas: case study of Ubon Ratchathani in northeastern Thailand

Hypermarkets in East Asian countries have reached a turning point in their life cycle, where local expansion has become essential for further development. Unfortunately, existing studies on retail internationalisation have paid little attention to rural development. To address this gap, this study evaluates the impacts of hypermarkets on local consumption and distribution in Ubon Ratchathani, a regional city in northeast of Thailand. Results of the study showed that hypermarkets have succeeded in converting high-income level consumers in Ubon into customers. However, because Ubon does not have a sizeable middle-class population, hypermarkets have reached out to tourists and the local low-income groups. Second, although hypermarkets are direct and strong competitors to small domestic retailers, the domestic retailers in Ubon managed to survive better than expected. This could be due to the fact that hypermarkets are largely inaccessible to the poor, despite their low price policies, comfortable store layout and engaging entertainment options. Third, hypermarkets have not greatly influenced the distribution of agricultural products in Ubon. They continue to depend on traditional middlemen, who also act as educators to farmers and collect farming products efficiently. The findings of this study suggest that if hypermarkets want to expand further in rural areas, they need to attract new customers and introduce changes in the existing distribution network to capture the traditional advantage enjoyed by local domestic retailers, especially with regard to agricultural produce.     

Constructing the culinary consumer: transformative and reflective processes in Italian cookbooks

This paper explores how culinary texts operate in both performative and transformative senses in relation to wider societal norms of gender and cultural capital. As such, the paper explores changes to the way in which the culinary consumer is presented in British Italian cookbooks from 1954 to 2005. Across the period, we see a shift in the gendered representation of the culinary subject, from a housewife in the period 1954–1974, to a working mother from 1975 to 1986, and most recently as male or female cook from 1987 to 2005. We also see shifts in representation of cultural capital in these same periods from learning new cooking skills, to adapting existing cooking skills to displaying skills in shopping and product selection. In charting these changing discourses, we find that whilst reflecting wider culinary culture, these cookbooks also act in a transformative sense to promote (and indeed require) specific enactments of gender and cultural capital.     

The Effects of Offshoring to China: Reallocation,Employment and Productivity in Taiwan

We examine the extent to which outward FDI from Taiwan to mainland China has contributed to the rising unemployment rate in Taiwan. Further, it examines whether outward FDI has contributed to productivity growth in Taiwan, and the importance of linkages between sectors in determining these effects. We provide strong evidence that Taiwanese firms have increased their investments in China, and that this has lead to a reduction in employment in such sectors at home. Further, we show that these effects are also translated up the supply chain, such that outward FDI also leads to a reduction in employment upstream in the supply chain.     

文化差异对国际贸易的影响

世界贸易中文化差异的存在已影响到国际间的贸易活动,这体现在文化构成要素的各个层面,尤其是意识形态层面即政治、法律、艺术、道德、哲学、宗教等方面。文章认为,面对文化差异对贸易的影响,为进一步推进世界贸易的自由发展,必须采取有效措施,扶持发展中国家特别是最贫穷国家的经济发展;促使贸易环境法制化、规范化;建立国际性文化交流组织与文化交流中心,进行多层次、多形式的文化展示与交流;在国际贸易策略的制定上注意与当地文化的融合;进行多种方式的文化融合与培训,培养推进文化融合的跨文化管理人才。     

对高校后勤社会化改革的回顾与思考

成都理工大学后勤社会化改革取得了极大成绩。成绩的取得主要源于后勤工作坚持走改革创新之路,不断推进后勤社会化;坚持走持续发展之路,不断提高后勤凝聚力;坚持走服务至上之路,不断巩固后勤社会化改革新成果。当然在后勤社会化改革中也存在一些不足,为此我校后勤工作应进一步理顺甲乙方及大后勤管理职能,加强外聘员工聘用的过程管理、改进后勤服务实体的自主创新能力等。     

North–South trade liberalization and returns to skill in the south: The case of Mexico

This study examines the effect of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), an instance of North–South trade liberalization, on returns to skill in Mexico. Mexico is abundant in low-skill workers relative to the US and Canada, and so, by the Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson trade model, NAFTA ought to have raised the relative earnings of low-skill workers, that is, lowered returns to skill in Mexico. Analysis of Mexican labour micro-data yields the finding that while returns to skill in industries producing tradeables have risen, ceteris paribus, since Mexico embarked upon trade liberalization by joining the GATT in 1986, this rise was less pronounced by 1999 in industries liberalized relatively rapidly by NAFTA, launched in 1994, than in industries liberalized relatively slowly by this phased trade treaty. This is considered evidence of NAFTA holding back rise in returns to skill, since it is plausible such a dampening would have been more marked in industries more rapidly exposed to trade with Mexico's skill abundant northern neighbours. Hence, this study suggests trade with developed nations may lower returns to skill in developing nations.     

东北地区人口流动、居留及落户意愿的影响因素分析

基于2017年全国流动人口动态监测数据,在推拉理论框架下,从个体特征、经济特征和社会融入特征三个维度分析了东北地区人口流动、居留及落户三阶段决策的影响因素。结果表明:东北户籍流动人口以域内流动为主,居留意愿显著高于落户意愿,其中域外流动人口的居留和落户意愿显著高于域内流动人口;户口性质、宅基地权益与人均GDP是影响人口流动决策的主要因素;年轻、已婚、农业户口及高学历人群更倾向于长期居留并落户;承包地可以提高域内居留意愿,但对落户意愿产生抑制;子女随迁是区域外落户的首要考虑因素,参加医疗保险则是区域内落户的主要原因;社会融入特征变量是提升东北流动人口居留意愿的主要因素,经济特征变量与流动人口的落户意愿关系更加密切。     

The internationalization of new and small firms: A resource-based view

This paper seeks to enhance understanding of the internationalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study focuses upon the following issues: Can the characteristics of principal founders, businesses, and the external environment at one point in time be used to `explain' at a later date whether a firm is still an exporter or a nonexporter, whether exporting firms are larger in size than nonexporting firms, whether exporting firms report superior performance than nonexporting firms, and whether exporting firms are more likely to survive than nonexporting firms? To address these questions, this study draws upon a sample of 621 manufacturing, construction, and services businesses located in twelve contrasting environments in Great Britain surveyed first in 1990/91 and then re-interviewed in 1997.A resource-based view is reviewed to identify the range of factors encouraging some owner-managed SMEs to enter export markets. Four categories of human and financial capital are examined: general human capital resources, the principal founder's management know-how, the principal founder's specific industry know-how, and a principal founder's ability to obtain financial resources that can act as a buffer against random shocks. Variables relating to resource availability in the external environment were also collected and considered control variables. Previous studies have highlighted substantial industry differences in the propensity for businesses to enter export markets as well as to survive. The principal industrial activity of each business in 1990/91 was, therefore, considered a control variable.Variables collected during the 1990/91 survey were selected to explain variations in the propensity to export reported by surviving independent firms in 1997. After elimination of missing values, the working sample was reduced to 116 independent firms for this study (86 nonexporters and 30 exporters in 1997). In addition, the 21 variables were selected to explain variations in business size in 1997, profit performance relative to competitors reported in 1997, changes in employment over the 1990/91 to 1997 period, and business survival over the 1990/91 to 1997 period (213 survivors and 395 nonsurvivors).Multivariate statistical analysis confirmed that previous experience of selling goods or services abroad is a key influence encouraging firms to export. Businesses with older principal founders, with more resources, denser information and contact networks, and considerable management know-how are significantly more likely to be exporters. Further, businesses with principal founders that had considerable industry-specific knowledge are markedly more likely to be exporters. Businesses principally engaged in the service sectors and those located in urban areas are significantly less likely to be exporters.A key finding of this study is that the explanatory variables significantly associated with the propensity to export sales abroad are not the same as those significantly associated with selected size and performance measures. The resource-based explanatory variables selected fail to significantly detect employment-growing firms over the 1990/91 to 1997 period. They also fail to significantly distinguish surviving independent firms from nonsurviving firms.Results from this study will provide policy-makers and practitioners with additional insights into the key resource-based factors associated with the decision by new and small independent firms to export sales abroad. Practitioners and policy-makers can focus upon the characteristics of principal founders, businesses, and the external environment to predict the subsequent propensity of an independent firm to be an exporter. Policy-makers and practitioners who want more new and small firms to export outside their local areas may prefer to target their resources and assistance to the relatively smaller proportion of firms that have the business and principal founder profiles that are significantly associated with a firm being an exporter.     

信息不对称下的技术贸易:理论分析和经验检验

迄今发展中国家未能有效地利用国际技术贸易从发达国家获得自己想要的技术。原因在于,由于要素禀赋的不一致,发达国家企业具有策略性传递技术质量信息以获取卖者剩余的倾向;发展中国家的企业则对发达国家企业传递的信息持不信任态度。筛选机制使得我国的技术贸易参与者集中在外资企业、资本密集型的行业和发达地区。我国技术贸易的这种格局在短期内无法有大的改变。     

关于烹饪教学中学生创新思维的培养

随着社会经济的快速发展,社会市场中对人才的要求也在逐渐发生相应的转变,除了专业的技能之外,人们逐渐开始关注人才的创新思维和能力,这也就表示在人才培养的过程中,需要加强培养和提升学生的创新思维。为了适应社会时代的发展与进步,当前在烹饪教学中也逐渐开始重视培养学生的创新思维。基于此,针对在烹饪教学的过程中应该如何培养学生的创新思维进行分析,对学生创新思维的提升以及对创新人才的培养具有重要的意义和作用。