Client, User and Architect Interactions in Construction: Implications for Analysing Innovative Outcomes from User-Producer Interactions in Projects

Three case studies of user/client-architect interaction, and their implications for an understanding of the design and innovation process in capital goods projects, are considered in this paper. The studies presented include a major 'City Challenge'-funded social housing development programme in the UK, a housing co-operative-driven workplace and housing scheme associated with the same programme and a new building for the business school of a major UK university. Reflecting upon existing literature on user-producer relationships, the paper draws two key conclusions from the case studies that add to this literature. The first points to the need to account for the broader strategic motivations of agents within projects. Two of the case studies describe how innovation driven by the architects involved exceeded the original requirements of the client, and in so doing reveal architects to be oriented toward non-project specific goals. The second conclusion focuses on the user/client and points to the importance of a strong and coherent 'customer vision' in 'enabling' the client to determine project outcomes more fully. Following from these conclusions, it is argued that an analysis of client/ user-producer interactions needs to account more fully for the effects of longer-term strategic planning by agents.     

Client,User and Architect Interactions in Construction: Implications for Analysing Innovative Outcomes from User-Producer Interactions in Projects

Three case studies of user/client-architect interaction, and their implications for an understanding of the design and innovation process in capital goods projects, are considered in this paper. The studies presented include a major 'City Challenge'-funded social housing development programme in the UK, a housing co-operative-driven workplace and housing scheme associated with the same programme and a new building for the business school of a major UK university. Reflecting upon existing literature on user-producer relationships, the paper draws two key conclusions from the case studies that add to this literature. The first points to the need to account for the broader strategic motivations of agents within projects. Two of the case studies describe how innovation driven by the architects involved exceeded the original requirements of the client, and in so doing reveal architects to be oriented toward non-project specific goals. The second conclusion focuses on the user/client and points to the importance of a strong and coherent 'customer vision' in 'enabling' the client to determine project outcomes more fully. Following from these conclusions, it is argued that an analysis of client/ user-producer interactions needs to account more fully for the effects of longer-term strategic planning by agents.     

The Political Economy of Brexit and the Future of British Capitalism First Symposium

The political economy of Brexit generates new challenges for the UK’s national business model and for European capitalism more broadly. Two symposia examine the implications of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in key economic policy areas. These symposia contribute to two main bodies of academic literature: the political economy literature on varieties of capitalism, with a specific focus on the UK, and the political economy literature on key economic policy areas of the EU. This short introduction to the first symposium first outlines the key features of the British variety of capitalism and highlight the main questions raised by Brexit in that respect. It then summarises the main findings of the papers of the first symposium and tease out some common themes.     

Framing biomimetics in a strategic orientation perspective (biopreneuring)

This paper discusses how design originally rooted in biology can be translated into applications outside its original domain (biomimetics), and thus become strategically important for commercial organisations. This paper will also discuss how concepts from organisation and management theory can help conceptualise opportunity exploration and exploitation of bio-inspired designs to commercial applications (biopreneuring). Until now, research on biomimetics has primarily focused on translating design from biology to technology, leaving the application of biomimetics for business purposes somewhat overlooked. This paper fills some of that void. Business orientation literature is applied to identify some of the key strategic aspects associated with commercial translations. In closing, this paper briefly sketches out some key implications for business research and for affected decision-makers.     

英国从科技创新的视角评价战略性产业的做法及其启示

针对如何识别战略性产业这一理论与实践难题,通过实地访谈和文献调研的方法,深入分析了英国产业战略布局过程,了解到,英国在完整的战略性产业识别工作中,科技创新思想的引领作用主要体现在3个关键环节:通过创新能力与技术储备情况,考察产业基础;通过社会与技术因素驱动的未来需求,判断产业潜力;判断创新相关市场失灵问题的程度,确定政府干预的必要性。据此得出结论:在国民经济发展的整体规划中,科技创新的视角可对识别和评价战略性产业产生决定性作用。除理论意义外,以科技创新视角确立产业规划的英国经验亦可资我国产业政策实践借鉴。     

STRATEGIC DIAGNOSIS OF SPANISH FARMING COOPERATIVE CREDIT SECTIONS: A SWOT ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT 1 : Farming cooperative credit sections are financial instruments set up within a cooperative and at its service. They are key funding tools in rural areas and have been developed all over Spain although more intensely in some areas than others. The aim of this paper is to carry out a strategic diagnosis of the Spanish credit section using a SWOT Analysis to discover its set of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as a proposal for strategic actions to be followed. In order to do so an empirical study using personalized surveys and interviews has been undertaken among the managers or persons in charge of the credit sections over the first half of 2008. The study demonstrates that they are efficient entities for their clients (cooperative members). Their main strengths are focussed on their clients, although they show significant weaknesses in organizational, business and technological capacities, which require an effort to provide them with more professional management. Legal constraints are the main threat at present, although uncertainty in the agricultural sector affects their survival.     

The changing pattern of SME's innovativeness through business model globalization

Globalization has forced small and medium enterprises to change business models with new innovative capabilities. However, it is not clear what those old and new business models are let alone capabilities. Challenging this, we suggest a way of identifying principal types of those business models, and of finding evolving paths of SME's business models with the changing pattern of innovativeness. Based on a survey result of 400 Korean SMEs, four principal types of business models are identified and characterized by distinctive innovativeness. Also, through interviews and additional surveys on 30 globalized SMEs, the four evolving paths of SME's BMs are explored. For small and medium enterprises, our research can be used not only as a strategic reference, but also as a policy tool to design government-funded supporting programs.     

Engineering Consultancy: An Assessment of IT-enabled International Delivery of Services

The delivery of engineering consultancy services in global markets has been dominated by a small group of firms located in Europe and the US. Like many other service industries, engineering consultants have depended on the movement of highly qualified people and establishment of local affiliates for rendering their services in overseas markets. However, the diffusion of new information technology (IT) and the use of advanced telecommunications have changed the patterns of production and delivery of engineering design services. This paper examines the role of IT in changing modes of internationalization in the sector, focussing in particular on the potential for IT-enabled delivery that would provide an increased tradability of services. It is argued that new technologies have led to integration of project work and new sources of competitiveness in major firms, but that the emerging capacity to deliver services in arms-length transactions across national borders does not appear to have been significantly exploited. Nevertheless, IT-enabled delivery of engineering consultancy services opens up possibilities for business process reengineering that may provide some firms new competitive advantages in global markets and lead to further integration of design and construction in partnerships or project consortia, or in the strengthening of design-build approaches in project execution.     

对艺术设计教育存在问题的思考及对策

当前我国高等艺术设计教育事业发展迅猛。全国千余所大学中开设艺术设计专业的院校已有近600所,艺术设计类专业被列为社会发展急需的专业,艺术设计教育又一个春天已经来临。在繁荣面前我们必须保持冷静,要看到这其中存在的诸多问题,必须根据艺术设计市场发展的需求,努力探索艺术设计教育规律,创新教育教学方法,培养出符合社会发展需要的艺术设计专门人才。     

Rainwater harvesting in the UK: Socio-technical theory and practice

There is currently a window of opportunity in the UK, with respect to promoting sustainable water management (SWM). Periods of alternating drought and flooding have brought water management issues to the fore of UK media coverage and policy development. Unchallenged reliance on the historic legacy of piped infrastructure is declining, as its resilience and adaptability in the face of climate change become increasingly questioned. Despite its prevalence in other countries and a recent surge in sales, rainwater harvesting (RWH) has yet to transition from niche to mainstream in the UK. This paper provides an overview of the development of a strategic framework for enabling RWH to transition from novel to mainstream, informed by a number of evidence bases and devised using insight gained through the application of a number of theories. Identified strategic areas for action include (i) Technical Relevance (product development); (ii) Social Receptivity (capacity building) and (ii) Institutional Commitment (support services).     

捷克研发创新理事会活动情况概述

捷克研究、发展和创新理事会是捷克政府科技创新管理领域专家咨询机构,在捷克研发创新体系中发挥着核心作用。本文介绍了理事会职能、人员组成、工作机制,以及近期为推动创新开展的重点工作,为深入了解捷克研发创新政策和战略、重点发展领域,以及专家咨询机制在创新发展中的作用提供了有益借鉴。     

Multivariate Markov Switching Common Factor Models for the UK

We estimate a model that incorporates two key features of business cycles, comovement among economic variables and switching between regimes of boom and slump, to quarterly UK data for the last four decades. A common factor, interpreted as a composite indicator of coincident variables, and estimates of turning points from one regime to the other, are extracted from the data by using the Kalman filter and maximum likelihood estimation. Both comovement and regime switching are found to be important features of the UK business cycle. The composite indicator produces a sensible representation of the cycle and the estimated turning points agree fairly well with independently determined chronologies. These estimates are sharper than those produced by a univariate Markov switching model of GDP alone. A fairly typical stylized fact of business cycles is confirmed by this model – recessions are steeper and shorter than recoveries.     

战略性新兴产业载体分类研究

从载体的内涵和战略性新兴产业的特性入手,从不同维度对战略性新兴产业的载体进行了分类归纳,将之划分为软载体和硬载体、一般载体和特殊载体、基本载体和高级载体、形成载体和发展载体,逐步揭示这些产业载体的功能特性、配置方式和建设思路.指出：战略性新兴产业的载体培育中最关键的是要抓住战略性新兴产业的特性;执行载体、知识生产载体和企业生产载体是最基础的载体,创新过程载体的建设和优化是最终目标.     

Diffusion of forest biorefineries in Scandinavia and North America

Biomass-based energy has become a major focus of attention from a variety of directions due to the global challenges of meeting our energy needs. Bioenergy and bio-products are also currently being explored intensively in the forest cluster, as many elements that have in the past guaranteed success have largely disappeared. As the bioenergy and biorefining economies are evolving, there is a need for realistic estimates regarding the factors which affect the diffusion of forest biorefineries. This paper outlines global and national drivers for forest biorefineries in Scandinavia and North America. It explores the financial, political, technological, and ecological and raw-material related factors, as well as business competencies, challenges and changes in the business environment. This study is based on data from an expert opinion survey and comments from the experts about the survey results yielded by a Delphi method. According to our results, key factors for the development of forest biorefineries are very similar in both studied areas. There needs to be support from the macro-scale environment particularly from governments, but also the involved industries themselves need to be active. Diffusion factors in the macro-scale business environment are better understood when compared to more industry-specific strategic factors. Both studied areas seem to have potential for success in the biorefinery business. However, a more realistic identification of national strengths as well as continuous development of competencies – while avoiding an overly optimistic attitude – is crucial.     

Financial Globalization,Social Exclusion and Financial Crisis

This paper suggests one set of mechanisms that ties financial globalization processes to local dynamics of financial inclusion or exclusion. Specifically, this paper explores the worldwide reconsideration of financial firms’ strategies that has accompanied financial globalization. It is shown that the neoliberal and asymmetric‐information approaches to credit markets and financial crises in developing economies overlook these dimensions of financial globalization because of their tendency to focus on representative credit markets. Banks’ strategic shift has led to the global homogenization and stratification of financial practices—and this in turn has been a key driver of processes of financial exclusion. Financial exclusion then involves bifurcation within financial markets, so that different markets serve different portions of the household and business population. This analysis suggests a reconstruction of Minsky’s microfoundational model of the origins of financial fragility and crisis, which shifts from Minsky’s emphasis on a representative borrower–lender relationship to a situation of borrower–lender relationships in bifurcated markets.     

人力资源管理与企业战略的契合研究

企业战略与人力资源管理的契合匹配是企业成功发展的关键,契合性已成为战略性人力资源管理研究的核心。通过对契合研究的回顾,系统概括了国外学者提出的契合分类,并在此基础上对其中具有代表性的横纵向契合类型进行了系统的描述。它包含人力资源管理系统内部和各战略支持系统间的横向契合及人力资源管理与所处环境、战略决策的纵向契合,最后以模型的形式表达了其中各层次的契合关系。     

Diffusion and management of electronic data interchange: barriers and qpportunities in the uk pharmaceutical and healthciare industries

This paper is based on evidence from a survey, conducted during 1992, investigating the adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI) amog neraly 20 furms in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector within the UK. In particular, it focuses on the factors behind the adoption and diffusion of EDI, and the barriers to its uptake and spread. It also analyzes some of the strategic, organizational and managerial issues behind its implementatio and development. The survey highlights the relatively slow rate of adoption of EDI within this sector and key problems that inhibit its uptake. These include issues of costs, standards and the increasingly fragmented nature of purchasing and logistics that results from reorganization within the UK healthcare system.     

Diffusion and management of electronic data interchange: barriers and qpportunities in the uk pharmaceutical and healthciare industries

This paper is based on evidence from a survey, conducted during 1992, investigating the adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI) amog neraly 20 furms in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector within the UK. In particular, it focuses on the factors behind the adoption and diffusion of EDI, and the barriers to its uptake and spread. It also analyzes some of the strategic, organizational and managerial issues behind its implementatio and development. The survey highlights the relatively slow rate of adoption of EDI within this sector and key problems that inhibit its uptake. These include issues of costs, standards and the increasingly fragmented nature of purchasing and logistics that results from reorganization within the UK healthcare system.     

Bound by Gravity or Living in a ‘Post Geography Trading World’?* Expert Knowledge and Affective Spatial Imaginaries in the Construction of the UK’s Post-Brexit Trade Policy

A key battle has been fought within the UK cabinet on the direction of post-Brexit trade policy. The opposing sides have favoured either continued alignment or a ‘hard’ break with the European Union’s (EU’s) regulatory and customs regime, in the latter case to allow the UK to pursue an independent and ambitious trade policy agenda. Contrary to much commentary on ‘post-truth’ politics, both sides have relied on rival forms of expertise to support their claims. I argue for the need to not only re-emphasise the malleability and political nature of expert knowledge, but also appreciate its emotional bases. The Treasury has led the charge in favour of a softer Brexit by drawing on econometric (‘gravity’) models that emphasise the economic costs of looser association with the EU. In contrast to this attempt at technocratic legitimation, the specific legal expertise drawn upon by cabinet advocates of ‘hard’ Brexit has appealed to an emotive political economy of bringing the UK, and its (in this imaginary) overly regulated economy, closer to its ‘kith and kin’ in the Anglosphere, deepening the UK ‘national business model’. I conclude by calling for more explicitly emotive and values-based argumentation in the public debate on the UK’s future trade policy to improve the quality of democratic deliberation.     

平台研究：前沿演进与理论框架——基于CiteSpace Ⅴ知识图谱分析

数字化技术驱动商业社会进入平台经济时代,而平台被认为是企业管理的基础写照，且越来越成为企业转型升维之道和竞争优势之源。利用CiteSpaceV科学计量工具，通过绘制可视化知识图谱，采用计量综述和系统综述相结合的方法，探寻了平台研究的关键文献，展示了研究热点演进轨迹，搭建了平台研究整体理论框架，最后展望了中国情境下的平台研究。研究发现，平台研究主题经历了从技术管理平台产品创新、架构创新，到产业组织经济学的平台定价、双边市场，再到战略管理平台设计、商业模式的演变，并且交叉融合趋势明显。此外，平台理论框架可分为核心特征、理论基础和研究方法三大层次。