Small enterprises as complex adaptive systems: a methodological question?

Complexity science constitutes an emerging post-positivist interdisciplinary field of investigation of dynamical systems in the natural and physical worlds. The central concept of complexity is that interactions between parts of open systems create novel, unpredictable patterns, and that while the history of the system is relevant in understanding its dynamic, the isolation of individual parts of the system (analysis) does not reveal the casual mechanisms in the system. It is suggested that complexity science can inform our methodologies for investigating the social sciences. The paper explores whether complexity science offers ways of theory building that can take account of pluralistic or interdisciplinary research in enterprise dynamics. The authors offer a model of six theorized ontological layers, derived from the canon of research literature within a small enterprise domain, with boundaries at each end. It is suggested that dynamical concepts of agency (adaption, evolution, fitness, interdependence) coupled with the theory of evolutionary autopoietic structures generate a plausible field for the study of enterprise dynamics. A focus on ontological and experimental adequacy is necessary to develop theory within this framework. An appropriate methodology involves iterations between experimental forms of scientific analysis and the grounding of emergent or evolving theories.     

Modeling the act of measurement in the social sciences

Motivated by time-series experimental designs, we develop a model of the act of measurement in the social sciences. Meaningful measurements are represented by operators that obey a non-commutative algebra. Thus, the order in which information is extracted matters. In addition, responses to questions about an attribute depend on whether information about another attribute has previously been extracted. Measurement “forces” the subject to obtain one value of the attribute, the one measured by the observer. An uncertainty principle imposes a fundamental limit on the ability to extract detailed information about two distinct attributes within a short period of time.     

Do New Product Development Managers in Large or High-Market-Share Firms Perceive Marketing-R&D Interface Principles Differently?

In the quest for successful innovation, the importance of the R&Dlmarketing interface is virtually unquestioned. For many organizations, however, effective integration of technical and marketing functions is difficult, if not impossible. Despite seemingly widespread understanding of fundamental new product principles, some companies still manage to gain a larger share of the market than their competitors. This raises the question of whether managers in more successful companies have special insights into R&D'/'marketing interface principles that give them an edge over their competitors. To gain a better understanding of managers' perceptions of new product principles defined in the academic literature, Ted Haggblom, Roger J. Calantone, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto conducted a survey of 687 nonacademic members of the Product Development and Management Association. The basis for the survey was a set of 78 product management principles compiled from a search of more than 500 books and articles from various disciplines. From this survey, 14 of the 78 principles were selected as relevant to the study reported in this article. The principles discussed in this article involve such issues as resistance to change, short-term orientation, communication and trust between marketing and technical people, the effect of centralized decision-making on innovation, the importance of open communication flows, senior management's role in the R&D I marketing interface, and the necessity of a product champion. The primary quesstion addressed in this study is whether managers from successful companies perceive these principles differently from managers of less successful firms. The study provides partial support for the proposition that managers' perceptions of these new product principles depend on their company's success. In other words, the survey results suggest that managers in companies with higher market shares tend to agree more strongly with these principles than their counterparts in less successful firms. The study also explores the relationship between firm size and agreement with these principles of new product success. Specifically, the study assesses whether the perceptions of managers from smaller, more entrepreneurial companies differ from those of managers in larger companies. Although managers from small and large firms may view these principles from different perspectives, there were no statistically significant differences in the perceptions of managers from small and large firms.     

Managing Operational Flexibility in Investment Decisions: The Case of Intel

Significant attention has been paid to how real options analysis can help in valuing operating flexibility when making major capital investment decisions. But there has been far less study of how to manage such flexibility, particularly in cases where a decision to defer, contract, or expand any one investment program affects a range of other programs, including those outside the firm. Such interrelated investments are increasingly common in a "connected" economy where products and technologies are designed across firms and industries.
Based on a field study at Intel, this paper describes and analyzes one set of practices for coordinating such diverse systems of investments. It shows how information about interrelated investments is communicated within and between companies so that coherent changes can be made at the level of an overall system. The authors argue that studies of investment appraisal need to move beyond the predominant focus on valuation to encompass the wider organizational processes by which operational flexibility is exercised in the modern economy.     

Price Dynamics in International Wheat Markets

A vector autoregression model is used to evaluate dynamic relationships among international wheat prices. The effects of freight rates and exchange rates are also considered. Forecast error variance decompositions and impulse response functions are used to investigate price dynamics in six important international wheat markets. The results suggest significant dynamic relationships among prices in different international wheat markets and between the prices and exchange rates and transportation costs.
On s'est servi d'un modéle vectoriel à autorégression pour évaluer les relations dynamiques entre les cours du blé sur le marché international. On a également tenu compte de l'inci-dence des coûts de transport et du taux de change. La décomposition prévue de la variance de l'erreur et les fonctions de réaction ponctuelle ont également permis d'approfondir la dynamique des prix sur six grands marchés internationaux du blé. Les résultats suggérent des relations dynamiques notables entre les prix sur différents marchés internationaux du blé, de meme qu'entre les prix et le taux du change et les coûts de transport.     

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Does the sophistication of use of unemployment insurance evolve with experience?

Abstract The subject of this paper is the repeat use of UI/EI benefits in Canada. The first objective is to investigate empirically the pattern of adjustment that UI users exhibit over a multiple claim horizon. Our secondary objective is to investigate a behavioural channel that might potentially underlie observed adjustment effects, namely, individual learning effects. We estimate an econometric model of how certain features of their claims change as they file subsequent claims. We find strong empirical patterns suggesting that there does appear to be some sort of an adjustment process; beneficiaries tend to approach a desired value for these particular facets of their UI claims. There appears to be some process of growing sophistication of UI use – which some might label ‘gaming the system’– reflecting the adjustment of claims and the concomitant employment patterns to the provisions and rules of the regime. We also uncover evidence in favour of the existence of individual learning effects.