英国建筑安全管理实践之研究与借鉴

建筑业由于其特殊性质,在世界各国都是高危行业之一。当今我国建筑业的安全形势仍然十分严峻,因此发展我国建筑安全管理具有很大的实际意义。安全管理在本质上都有其相似性,借鉴和学习发达国家的经验和成功做法是提高我国建筑业安全管理水平的有效途径。英国是世界上建筑安全状况最好的国家之一,本文在分析英国建筑安全管理机构对建筑安全的管理以及行业协会对建筑安全管理作用的基础上,借鉴其安全管理机构及行业协会在建筑安全管理方面的成功经验,探索适合我国国情的安全管理思路,并对我国建筑安全管理模式和发展提出了相应的建议。     

Relationships in the purchasing of business to business professional services: The role of personal relationships

There has been a shift from transactional to relational exchange and relationship marketing both in the business to business and professional services contexts. This paper seeks to explore the manner in which personal relationships affect the process and outcomes of purchasing of professional business services. Specifically, it focuses on the role of the professional service providers as boundary spanners in the formation of personal relationships. These personal relationships constitute the underlying basis of long-term relationships between the purchasing and provider organizations in such complex service settings. The findings of this study demonstrate that the manner in which the boundary spanners cultivate relationships support the concept of relationship specific tasks. It extends this conception by use of the data to outline the chronological process over time Understanding the roles, function, and ultimately importance, of these relationships facilitates the identification and development of appropriate strategies to manage these relationships.     

The determinants of corporate divestment in the UK

It has been widely suggested that since the early 1980s many diversified firms narrowed the scope of their activities by refocusing on their core businesses, primarily through divestment activity. This study examines the extent and determinants of divestment across a large sample of UK firms over the period 1985–1989. Divestment is analysed using both a proportions and count data (Poisson and negative binomial regressions) approach. The results confirm that corporate divestment is not merely a reflection of managerial idiosyncrasies or mean reversion behaviour in the activities undertaken, but is a purposeful response to exogenous change in a manner broadly consistent with both the agency theoretic and strategic views of the firm.     

The Purpose and Process of Science: Contrasting Understandings in UK Research Establishments

This paper is based on an ESRC-funded study into scientists' perceptions of management. Changes in the organisation, purpose and process of science were heralded with the publication of the White Paper (Cm2250 1993). However, to date there has been little empirical work into how research scientists understand such issues. Our research, based on qualitative interviews conducted with scientist/managers in seven government-funded research establishments, found that scientists' notions of scientific purpose varied, not just according to the nature of their work, but also evolved as careers progressed and the contexts within which they worked changed (in particular as the need to generate income through commissioned work has increased). The data also reveal a diversity in scientists' understanding of the relationship between discovery and applied science. Of central importance to R&D managers is the extent to which these scientists saw their aspirations as achievable within the changing context of public sector science. From the data we generate an Ideal Type model of approaches that may be taken to reconcile the imperatives of applied and fundamental research and develop an understanding of the key role of senior management in creating an effective interface with external stakeholders and the development of culture and vision within the laboratory that will enable effective synergy.     

Tensions and ties in social media networks: Towards a model of understanding business relationship development and business performance enhancement through the use of LinkedIn

The era of social media networks has created significant opportunities for business relationship development yet there exists a paucity of research in this area. To address this, this paper identifies four key tensions within the current literature: relational versus transactional exchanges, emergent versus strategic social media network development, the pace of social media network formation versus the development of trust, and the notions of sharing and reciprocity versus competitive advantage. This study draws on the principles of netnography, incorporating data from 554 LinkedIn group interactions and 12 interviews with professionals in one global industry to provide insight into business relationship development stemming from one social media network. Significant contributions to theoretical and practical knowledge are made through the recognition of tensions in the literature, the application of the notion of Granovetter's ties to a contemporary context and the novel use of netnography. Furthermore, the resultant model conceptualises the use of social media networking in building networks and relationships which lead to new business and enhance business performance.     

The network structure of big business in Taiwan

This paper takes a network approach to understanding ownership patterns and director interlocks in Taiwan. In particular, this paper analyzes ties among Taiwan’s top 200 publicly listed companies in 1990 and 2000. The speed of change in Taiwan’s economic organization during the period has been striking. Not only have the identities of many of Taiwan’s largest firms changed, there seems to have been a substantial pruning and thinning of director ties over time and also a substantial transformation of the ownership network. What continuity remains appears to be largely a consequence of business group membership, and the strength of those ties appears to be considerable. Overall, this research finds that Taiwan’s financial sector has been quite central to the island’s big business network, that business groups are an extremely important category for understanding patterns of ownership ties, and that most director interlocks in Taiwan appear to cross industry boundaries rather than occur within them.     

The role of proximity in business model design: Making business models work for those at the bottom of the pyramid

This paper explores the role of proximity in designing business models that work for those at the BoP. BoP markets represent an extreme setting where actors struggle to access and organise limited resources and develop appropriate socio-economic-political practices. Drawing on Boschma's (2005) concept of proximity, we analyse three historical cases of business at the BoP to uncover the spatial-temporal dimensions of business model design in practice. Findings suggest that 1) business model design practices iteratively structure connections with markets and open up new spaces for market activity. This means that business models are necessarily understood as plastic and continuously in-the-making; 2) by taking into account the stability and change of proximity dimensions and the dynamics between them as they relate to business activities, managers are better equipped to identity opportunities that create, shape and connect with markets; and 3) the spatial-temporal dynamic of the business model proximities framework reveals that some proximities strengthen others through time, with negative and positive consequences.     

The personal touch of business relationship: A study of the determinants and impact of business friendship

Business friendship refers to the integration of “business” dealings and personal “friendship” that permeates many markets. As relationship marketing and customer relationship management become increasingly prevalent practices, business friendship as a fundamental element embedded in business relationships needs to be better understood. This paper studies how business friendship is formed and its impact on key marketing outcomes. We propose that business friendship is driven by three factors spanning business and personal domains—congeniality, rule adherence and business reputation. Our empirical analysis is based on survey and actual sales data from 263 client firms of a leading provider of business intelligence and strategic planning services. The results show the three factors contribute significantly to business friendship. We find that business friendship between the client and the supplier significantly impacts the sales to the client, and this impact is further moderated by how the two parties share responsibilities in achieving common goals. In addition, we show that business friendship induces one party to accommodate and cooperate with the other (i.e., compliance), and to engage in positive word-of-mouth. The framework and findings shed lights on how companies may influence (and be influenced by) business friendship as they increasingly emphasize long-term business relationships.     

The political economy of satellite business

Satellite communications systems are the outcome of the fusion of big governments, high technology and big business, whose needs they meet. As a major growth sector they are becoming extremely important in economic terms. But satellite communications raise wider issues of the relationships between rich and poor countries and within rich countries. They will crucially influence the location of economic activity and the future prospects for countries in terms of access to information, decision making and income. The article discusses these questions and suggests how Europe might improve its position. It also argues that participation in public policy on satellite communications should be opened to a wider range of parties.     

中国商业银行的投资银行业务发展研究

随着国际顶级投资银行在中国大展拳脚和国际资本在中国的复兴,投资银行在中国日益受到关注。作为金融业的一个细分产业,投资银行与商业银行、保险、信托等细分行业一起,成为近现代金融产业的重要支柱,是资本市场的灵魂。现代投资银行能在融资证券化、资产证券化的现代经济运行中充分发挥资金中介的作用,成为金融市场上最具创新与活力的机构。同时,在国际金融市场上,投资银行业务也得到了极大的发展,成为国际资本市场跨国兼并交易中的一杆大旗。在这样的大背景下,在中国金融市场对外开放承诺的压力下,中国商业银行面临着发展投资银行业务的机遇和挑战。     

The business model in entrepreneurial marketing: A communication perspective on business angels' opportunity interpretation

Entrepreneurial marketing has emerged as a recent perspective within the marketing field, taking the challenges and characteristics of small firms and founding teams into account. Specifically, in the early stages of entrepreneurial marketing, besides potential customers a variety of other stakeholders tend to be in the center of attention. Among these stakeholders, business angels as early-stage investors represent a vital target group. In this paper, we aim to shed light on entrepreneurial marketing in the early phases of new venture creation, in which entrepreneurial firms have an inherent need to market the value of a business opportunity toward potential investors. In particular, we contribute to the literature by introducing the business model as a narrative device for the marketing of early-stage new ventures toward potential business angels. In this regard, the business model is suggested as playing a critical role through making the inherent economic value of a technology explicit. Building on narrative theory, we investigate the role that the business model plays in the decision-making process of 17 business angels. Based on our findings, we propose a model that links the business model to a business angel's interpretation of an investment opportunity and discuss implications for theory and practice.     

The survival and non survival of micro firms in the UK

This paper examines a combination of firm characteristics, characteristics of the owner and finance/strategy variables to explain the survival/non-survival of micro enterprises in the UK between 1985 and 1994. The theoretical underpinning of the paper derives from Frank who articulates the notion of entrepreneurial talent. The measures of ‘talent’ used in the paper do not adequately explain survival/non-survival.     

基于信息获取的纺织电子商务

21世纪企业界进化的一大步就是建立一种新型的企业:充分利用计算机化空间的革命,这是一种灵活的、虚拟的、全球化的、计算机控制下的企业。进入21世纪,我国纺织企业再不涉足电子商务已很困难。全球纺织品市场竞争日益激烈。我国加入WTO的步伐在加快,享受低关税、减少非关税壁垒、配额累进增长率的实施,将会扩大出口,抓紧提高我国纺织技术水平的同时,若不能     

Assessment of hidden and future customer needs in Finnish business‐to‐business companies

The development of new products should be based on the needs expected to exist even several years ahead – at the moment of market introduction and during the whole lifecycle of the product. To develop successful new products in the toughening business environment, companies should be able to surpass customers' expectations and to assess emerging customer needs proactively. Early, thorough understanding of the customer's real needs, including the assessment of hidden and future customer needs and requirements, plays a very important role in the successful development of new products.
The purpose of our paper is to study the assessment of new (hidden and future) customer needs for product development in Finnish business‐to‐business companies. We have carried out a survey in 93 Finnish business‐to‐business companies and SBUs to study their common problems in the assessment of unrecognized customer needs and potentially effective ways in clarifying new customer needs and dealing with important problems. On the basis of the results, we propose several possible ways to facilitate the assessment of unrecognized customer needs.     

The many futures of Asian business groups

What does the future hold for Asian business groups? This paper discusses three rival hypotheses whose predictions for the future of Asian business groups differ from the predictions of the prevailing institutional voids hypothesis. The latter is a two stage model that posits that business groups first emerge to solve market failures for affiliated firms. Subsequently government initiates the construction of a “soft market infrastructure” that plug institutional voids and so weakens the rationale for group affiliation. Groups should then unravel and dissolve. Yet, business groups remain important in Asian countries that have attained high levels of market development, which casts doubt on the institutional voids hypothesis. In this paper I review three alternative hypotheses of business group development—life cycle, state-led industrialization, and crony capitalism perspectives. A synthesis of these rival hypotheses suggests that Asian business groups are likely to persist in many possible future scenarios.     

The sites and practices of business models

This paper examines the concept of business models. Drawing on the business model literature, we first identify technology, market offering and network architecture as the three core elements of business models. The theoretical routes of each element are then examined through the associated literatures: technology and innovation studies, industrial marketing, operations strategy, and evolutionary economics. Multiple dimensions of each element are identified and the resultant framework is used to explore developments within the recorded music market across three centuries.Through changes in the recorded music market since the 1870s, we explore how business models emerged, took on multiple sites and evolved through their practice over time. We look at how interlinking business models become spread out across the business network as different network actors play their part. The recorded music market generates important insights into how business models are created, developed and practiced. We suggest that firms, business networks and markets form embedded systems within which multiple overlapping business models can be considered as constituent parts. In this way, the business model is understood as having agency to shape action; but in turn actions (of others in the business network as well as within the firms themselves) also shape the business model.