Land-use change in the ‘edgelands’: Policies and pressures in London's rural–urban fringe

Green Belt policies have helped to create chaotic landscapes at the rural–urban interfaces of the United Kingdom's largest cities. Their prime functions, to control urban sprawl and preserve an encircling green girdle to separate the urban from the open countryside, have created ‘edgelands’ that have been remarkably dynamic despite relatively strong controls on certain types of development. A detailed case study of one part of London's Metropolitan Green Belt, drawing upon analysis of planning registers, reveals long-term trends in land-use change linked to the development controls operated within the context of the Green Belt and the adjacent built-up area. This paper also outlines the history of the Green Belt policy in the United Kingdom (UK) and discusses recently proposed policy changes that have provoked ongoing debate about this form of control on urban sprawl and its consequences for the land use of Green Belts and the edgelands.     

Family Vs. Non-Family Business Owners’ Commitment to Their Town: A Multigroup Invariance Analysis

This study examines differences between family-owned and non-family-owned small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) operating in regional tourism destinations. The research focuses on SMTE owners' commitment to stay in the town in which they are embedded. Based on samples of family (N?=?157) and non-family (N?=?141) businesses in regional South Australia, was used to test the construct validity of SMTE owners' “commitment to stay”. Multigroup invariance was used to test the factorial equivalence of scores from the commitment model across family and non-family businesses. Results support the validity of the “commitment to stay” CFA model. Multigroup invariance analysis suggests family business owners have a greater commitment to staying in their town. These results contribute to our understanding of the unique objectives and behaviours of family businesses in tourism as well as present important implications to destination managers aiming to support sustainable entrepreneurial development.     

How European retailers view American imported products: Results of a product image survey

With the dimensions of international trade widening each year, and the oil generated U.S. balance of payments deficit unacceptably high, the need for American firms to export their products to overseas markets has never been greater. Formulation of a successful export marketing strategy for the European Community can be greatly assisted by gaining some insight into how the consumers and businessmen in the various European member nations view American products. With this in mind, a total of 163 retail store managers in Britain and France were asked to rate products “made in the U.S.A.” on each of 13 product image dimensions, and to “vote” for which of the 3 countries offered the products of greatest value in 6 different consumer product categories. The results offer some useful insights for U.S. firms seeking to tap the potential consumer markets in Britain and France.     

The Political Economy of Chinese-Style Privatization: Motives and Constraints

The paper examines how the privatization of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can be successfully triggered and completed. By identifying the motives of local government leaders and the constraints that face them during transition, we conclude that: first, whether local governments are motivated to privatize their SOEs, depends on if the ownership transfer is expected to stimulate sufficiently high growth of local tax revenues without sacrificing the bureaucrats private control benefits. Second, a specific privatization program can succeed only if it manages to satisfy the managerial cooperation constraint, the workers compensation constraint, and the bank-debt-servicing constraint. The motives-cum-constraints political economy approach offers an important explanation for the pace and scope of the ongoing Chinese-style privatization.     

Dimensions and characteristics of time perceptions and perspectives among older consumers

The study of the impact of time as a variable in consumer behavior goes back to at least the early seventies. It has been studied from both objective and subjective perspectives. The purpose of this article is to further explain the impact of subjective time perceptions on consumer behavior, with a focus on the elderly as a subgroup. Several frameworks for understanding time perceptions are discussed and coupled with various theories of aging to present, explain, and hypothesize age-related differences in time perceptions and the behavioral consequences of these differences. The article concludes with an integration of these time frameworks into the five-stage consumer decision-making process, and some suggested impacts on the marketing mix. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Determinants of Israeli Judicial Discretion in Issuing Injunctions against Strikers

The study examines all cases (1990–7) in Israel in which employers petitioned the labour court to issue an injunction against striking workers, and identifies how judges use their discretion in deciding the petition. The findings indicate that, judicial rhetoric to the contrary, the labour court limits its considerations almost solely to the parties' formal compliance with the legal rule. The implications of these findings for the relationship of the legal and industrial relations systems are discussed, particularly with reference to the dual task of labour law: to govern the industrial relations system, and to facilitate its autonomy.     

Systèmes De Gestion Des Ressources Humaines Et Performance Organisationnelle

Résumé ** :  La gestion des ressources humaines et son effet sur la performance de la firme représentent encore de nos jours une zone d'indétermination. Plusieurs théories tentent d'ailleurs d'expliquer cette importante relation. C'est l'approche configurationnelle des ressources humaines qui servira de filtre théorique à cette recherche. Validant cette approche auprès de 46 entreprises financières canadiennes, nous avons démontré, en partie du moins, la robustesse de cette approche stratégique de gestion des ressources humaines. Il ne fait aucun doute qu'une telle approche représente une alternative stratégique intéressante, capable d'accroître l'efficacité de nos firmes dans ce monde économique impitoyable et mondialisé.