The philosophy of strategy

The recent increase in philosophy of science articles in strategic management reflects researchers' rising concerns with understanding and securing the field's intellectual foundations. This article argues for a proactive approach to the philosophy of strategy, and for the rejection of conventional, ‘off‐the‐shelf’ philosophies that neither contemplated, nor can assimilate, the epistemological messiness and action‐connectedness of strategic management. The article responds to Rodolphe Durand's critique, revisits the logic of competitive advantage, and makes the case for a pragmatist philosophy of strategy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interactive entertainment: the challenge to broadcast media

Recent developments in microelectronics, especially personal microcomputers and video discs, make possible new forms of interactive entertainment that differ significantly from the current broadcast forms. Through a detailed examination of some new forms of entertainment now possible, this article discusses possible directions for commercial entertainment and some implications of these developments.     

知识经济对会计的影响和挑战

本文阐述了知识经济对会计目标、会计假设、会计平衡等式、会计概念和范畴、会计确认和计量、会计处理程序和方法、财务报告、会计职能、会计手段以及会计人员素质等10个方面的影响和挑战.     

The challenge of BPR to the information systems profession

This article explores the relevance of ideas emerging from business process re-engineering (BPR) for the information systems profession. The marginal role of this profession in conceiving and leading organizational change is examined. Against this background, current interest in BPR is seen as reasserting the challenge of incorporating an active engagement with organizational design into professional practices.     

The multi-channel challenge: A dynamic capability approach

The maturing of e-commerce, the diffusion of call centres into the B2B space and purchaser demands on price and service are leading to rapid change in the route to market in many B2B sectors, with shifting combinations of channels being offered to the customer in the search for advantage. In this situation managers can no longer rely on the channel resources that they have assembled to provide their extant competitive position. Instead they must be able to combine resources in new ways, gain additional resources and dispose of superfluous resources, and to do this repeatedly and rapidly if they are to compete successfully. The term ‘dynamic capabilities’ has emerged in the strategic management literature for these activities. Using four case studies and the analytic induction approach to data analysis, we identify seven dynamic capabilities for channel transformation.     

繁荣哲学社会科学,深化高职院校“两课“教学改革

随着我国高等教育的发展和教育体制的不断改革,高等职业教育已经成为培养社会主义建设者的重要渠道."两课"即马克思主义理论课和思想品德课,作为必修课,肩负着繁荣哲学、社会科学的重任,同时,在培养合格的社会主义高等职业人才,帮助学生树立正确的世界观、人生观、价值观等方面担负着重要的作用.因此,深化高等职业院校的"两课"教育教学改革,不仅是社会发展的需要,也是社会主义现代化建设对职业人才的需要.     

Learning to plan and planning to learn: resolving the planning school/learning school debate

This paper resolves the long‐standing debate between the two dominant process schools in strategy. Analysis of the planning practices of 656 firms shows that formal planning and incrementalism both form part of ‘good’ strategic planning, especially in unstable environments. Environment neither moderates the need for formal planning nor the direction of the planning/performance relationship, but does moderate firm planning capabilities and planning flexibility. In unstable environments planning capabilities are far better developed and formal plans more amenable to change. The planning/performance relationship is, however, moderated by planning duration: at least four years of formal planning are required before external performance associations are noted. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The food security challenge

The article first describes current market conditions and the nature of the food security challenge they present. Second, the article considers the kinds of food security measures which have been or could be taken with respect to improving LDC operations in commercial grain markets, using reserves to achieve supply and price stabilization objectives and making food aid a more effective instrument for food security.     

The challenge of optical fibres

Optical fibre technology can supply enormous bandwidth to meet the demands of the ever expanding telecommunications services. It has been said that they are the biggest competitors to satellites. This article outlines the history of optical fibres and how they work, and compares the benefits of both optical fibres and satellites for the communications market of the future. Geostationary satellites offer a global interconnectivity from both mobile and fixed points. Optical fibres offer heavy routing of both voice and data messages, freedom from interference, and cost advantages. The authors conclude that both will survive.     

新世纪对包装教育的挑战—试论发展我国包装工程教育的几个问题

包装工业是国民经济增长最快的行业之一，1997年我国包装工业的产值在全国38个举足轻重的行业排序中已位居第14位，在发展国家，包装工业是国家经济的重要组成部分并形成支柱产业（例如，美国包装工业的产值居各经济部门的第5位），为了适应国民经济和包装工业对包装人才的需求，包学已经形成一个独立的应用技术学科，并得到人们的共 ，本文在简要回顾国内外包装教育发展历史的基础上，对比了中外包装教育的现状，并提出了未来包装教育要解决的一些重要问题，供有关领导和专家们参考。     

UV油墨带给印版的挑战

现在的柔性印刷质量越来越高，UV油墨所占的比例也越来越大，从纸盒到不干胶标签都离不开它的参与，与其它墨汁相比，UV油墨可以通过墨量调节，在介质上印刷出色彩更艳丽，实地更紧密的作品。     

Technological and geographic heterogeneity in broadband markets: The challenge for regulation

When the telecommunications industry was liberalised in Europe and North America in the 1980s and 1990s, it inherited a legacy of monopoly providers whose footprint was national or multi-regional in its character. The regulatory framework, particularly that adopted in EU member states, reflected this pattern of relatively homogeneous deployment achieved, in part, by decades of cross-subsidised pricing and universal service goals. Perhaps because of this legacy, telecommunications regulators have often adopted the presumption that relevant markets are national in character, unless proven otherwise Although geographically-variegated regulatory remedies have been permitted (even in the face of allegedly national relevant markets) and adopted in many member states, many regulators have never done so, and overly cautious thresholds for permitting geographically based forbearance suggest a continued bias towards presuming national markets and remedies. We find that this presumption of uniformity and the tendency to aggregate geographic markets together is not supported by first principles of antitrust analysis, although there may have been strong practical reasons to apply this presumption in the past circumstances of the telecommunications and broadband industries.On the ground, however, there has arguably never been as much heterogeneity across geographies and across technological solutions that provide effective ultra-fast broadband speeds. Both technological (i.e., product market) and geographic heterogeneity are likely to increase with the advent of mobile 5G networks. With their deployment, a cautious regulatory stance towards geographic variation and a cautious regulatory stance towards inter-technology or inter-modal competition may result in regulation that could exceed what is required to ensure effective competition and could instead distort the incentives to enter of facilities-based actors. This may also result in higher-cost and inefficient investment. A more geographically varied and technologically agnostic regulatory framework may satisfy the principle of proportionate and focused regulation—with the possibility that the locus of regulation shifts from the access network to bottleneck facilities such as fibre, ducts and poles.This discussion is especially germane when one considers the highly speculative nature of forecasts and projections about future demand, and the competing claims of proponents of 5G and fibre. While there is some scepticism about the performance of mobile networks, we note that pure mobile and fixed 5G services may have synergies in deployment, and that the idea of competing with residential broadband services is a core strategy of very influential large-scale industry actors. In terms of a future research agenda, regulatory decisions could benefit from much more research into the relationship between domestic and global bandwidth constraints and their influence on development of software and application, as well as much more quantitative research by academics on the drivers of bandwidth demand. The risks associated with promoting investment that results in large-scale wasted resources should also be central to the regulatory agenda.     

The food security challenge for southern Africa

This paper considers food security aims and instruments against a background of changed circumstances internationally and regionally. The international changes discussed are: a sharper focus on achieving macro-economic stabilization, which inter alia has led to closer scrutiny of what the public sector should be financing, and a decline in funding for agriculture; a reduced role for governments in commercial-type activities; the shift towards greater integration of world markets; and changing prospects for international aid flows. Regionally, southern Africa is moving away from a past of conflict and inward-looking economies, towards greater cooperation and trade, and less interventionist economic management.The commendable SADC food security strategy paper of June 1997 is considered, and its implications drawn out. The main messages are that (a) household food insecurity results from poverty, (b) national food insecurity results from faltering development and weak external trade performance, and (c) future strategies must therefore lie with greater efficiency in the use of resources and with patterns of development which are most effective in creating employment and incomes. Arguably there is therefore no case for a food security agenda that is separate from broad-based development aimed at poverty alleviation. This understanding of food security is at variance with some of the policies and development programmes in the region. Promotion of self-sufficiency in grains, specific food-security instruments, and controls over and interventions in markets may all be counter to improving food security for the region if they hinder policy and institutional reforms called for by the wider development agenda.The main roles for governments in promoting food security are discussed in terms of creating an enabling environment for development, correcting for market failures, and targeted measures to achieve social objectives. Food security needs both an urban and a rural focus, and involves all economic sectors. For rural areas, governments' roles may usefully be defined in terms of supporting household strategies aimed at raising and stabilizing incomes through livelihood diversification, intensification of farming, and migration.Two priority policy areas which are central to achieving food security objectives are discussed at some length: trade policy and the promotion of smallholder farming. The roles of government in these areas are discussed in the light of economic theory and past experiences in the region. A vision for a future trade regime is outlined, and strategic interventions by governments are identified. The challenge for governments in supporting smallholder farming is, first, to define with greater rigour than in the past the priority uses for public funds, and, second, to find much more efficient ways of delivering services than in the past. It will otherwise be difficult to make a case for reversing the decline in public funding for the sector.The paper ends with brief discussions of the roles for aid and for SADC in promoting food security, and with a question of whether a new initiative is needed to strengthen trade policy skills in the region.     

Testing management theories: critical realist philosophy and research methods

This study identifies the practical and philosophical difficulties associated with testing strategic management and organization theories. Working from a critical realist perspective, we affirm the importance of falsification and verification efforts for progress in theory development. We advocate a four‐step approach for advancing theory testing that prioritizes identifying and testing for the presence and effects of hypothesized causal mechanisms, rather than solely focusing on correlational methods to jointly test the set of effects composing a theoretical system. Going beyond prior critical realist writings, we provide practical guidance for deploying established research methods to test management theories. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marketing a business school to industry

Universities are typically production oriented in their approach to customers. However, a marketing approach can be adopted to orient research and development, to aid in the development of the educational services provided, and to direct their promotion and their pricing policies. The application of the principles of organizational marketing by a graduate school of business to its short courses for managers had major impacts throughout the school.