Removing environmental market failure through support mechanisms: insights from green start-ups in the British,French and German energy sectors

Small Business Economics - Environmentally relevant market failure, related to the lack of value attached to environmentally beneficial economic activity, constrains environmental entrepreneurship...     

Paying for undergraduate business education: Recent trends in tuition,income, institution choice,and debt

In 1999–2000, business students borrowed substantially less to pay for their educations than nonbusiness students. By 2011–2012 this difference had disappeared. The authors describe changes in tuition, grants, incomes, and choice of institution type (public, private not-for-profit, or private for-profit) to help explain this observation. They find that an important determinant of whether a student will take debt and how much that student will take is the type of institution the student attended. The authors also find that business students were less likely to borrow than liberal arts and humanities majors in the earlier period, but not in the later period.     

新技术为会议推波助澜

在过去6年中,会议技术行业一直不断发展。包括计算机技术在内的应用于会议活动的新技术,无论是信息的索引还是处理,其发展速度每年都在成倍地增长。人们正处于会议技术高速发展的时期,这个行业未来的发展趋势将会越来越趋于成熟和快速。可以想见在10～15年以后,这个行业的变化将与现在有巨大的差别。这是会议技术行业的最显著的发展趋势...     

Strategies of biotechnology companies

To identfy the R&D and marketing strategies adopted by by biotechnology firms in the UK, a survey was conducted spanning a range of biotechnology firm size, product, organizational arrangemens. and prior experiences with advanced technology. This was done using a comprehensive questionnaire similar to that used in a comparable investigation in the USA. Twenty-three firms active principally engaged in speciality chemicals human diagnostics and agricultural products.The information from the questionnaires was used to analyse the company strategies under three man headings. These were technology acquisitation,marketing and R&D. Companies were charecterized into three clusters within each of these headings. The means of appropriation for different strategies were then examined although the significance of the results was undermined by the small size. Finally, the relationship between R&D and marketing strategies within the same firms was investigated.     

Britain at the crossroads: the single currency

The concept of the single currency, to be adopted by the majority of the members of the European Union, is difficult for the general public to understand because of the lack of coherence of the objectives of its advocates (bureaucrats, ex-bureaucrats, academics, labour leaders, multinational business, and politicians). The general economic arguments for the single currency do not add up. Europe is not an 'optimal currency area.' A one-size-fits-all monetary policy will impose great strains. It is not necessary for Britain to participate in this enterprise. Britain does not need the euro, any more than Canada needs the US dollar. The ideal role for Britain is to be at the margin of Europe as the interface between Europe and North America     

The needs of R&D professionals in their first and second managerial appointments: are they being met?

This study sets out to examine the practices of research professionals who are undertaking a research management role for the first or second time. Most of these managers are in their late twenties to middle thirties and are usually employed as team leaders.
R&D personnel early in their managerial career are served badly by the innovation literature. Much of this literature focuses on describing the behaviour of the participants rather than providing information with the potential to contribute to their managerial practice. A major objective of this study is to provide some messages for academics and others of how they may contribute better to the managerial function of first and second time R&D managers in the 21st century.     

Segmentation and market structure when both consumer and situational characteristics are explanatory

This article addresses the problem of exploring data for useful segments (and subsequently, market structure) in markets in which demand is a function of both consumer and situational characteristics. Current exploratory segmentation methods use either persons or situations as the unit of analysis, but not both. Yet choice and needs are frequently an unknown function of both personal characteristics and situational characteristics. Under these conditions of unknown strength of sources of influence, it may be advantageous to explore data. To allow the fruitful use of data exploration, we propose the use of a unit of analysis we call the person-in-situation, sampling of these units from their population, segmentation of these units with respect to choices, and the post-hoc exploration of such segments for regularities in individual and situational characteristics.     

The role of process plant contractors in transferring technology

Process plant contractors implement and bring to fruition the capital investment programmes in such sectors as chemicals and metals. In undertaking a contract they perform all or a number of the following: plant design and engineering, supply of process technology, procurement of equipment, supervision of construction, plant commissioning, and the arrangement of project finance. Specific characteristics of the industry are the variety of functions undertaken by the contractor and operation on a worldwide basis.
The nature and extent of contractor involvement in transferring technology is determined by a complex interaction of a number of economic and technological factors. The source of technology may be 'in-house', a long term licence agreement, or some specific arrangement to meet a particular enquiry. The paper illustrates the various means for technology transfer drawing on examples from the experience of one contractor.     

Carcinoid of the intrahepatic ducts

Carcinoid tumors of the biliary tree are rare. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an intrahepatic ductal carcinoid and the thirteenth reported case of biliary carcinoid. The radiographic appearance is variable. A brief review of the previously described cases is presented.