The Industrial Project Method in French Industry and in French Schools

The introduction of technology education courses for all French pupils in middle schools was strongly linked to a project called IPM. It is based pm the idea of an industrial project method (IPM) whereby an enterprise puts a new industrial project onto the market. The main idea in IPM is to provide a teaching method by which teachers organize classroom time. The link between the two was so evident that it became the fundamental reference for technology education in France. However, the same evidence hides some real difficulties in formalizing the knowledge and concepts to be brought to bear in a technology education class. The aim of this paper is to present two surveys of the practical implementation of IPM. The first looks at how companies proceed when they decide to put a new product onto the market. The second analyses how teachers organize their teaching using this procedure. Based on the outcomes of the surveys, we will present some references for technology education and discuss its impact on school organization. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Procyclicality,Bank Lending,and the Macroeconomic Implications of a Revised Basel Accord

Bank regulators are in the process of implementing revised regulatory capital standards. However, the macroeconomic effects of a revised Basel Accord are uncertain. Examining the various channels through which the revised Accord may influence economic output suggests that making the buffer stock of capital positively related to the business cycle is necessary to reduce procyclicality. This can be accomplished by bank regulators using either enhanced supervisory powers or increased financial disclosure.     

The Conditions Promoting Compromise in the Workplace

A previous article developed a framework to understand workplace co‐operation. We now elaborate on the key structuring conditions (technology, product markets and institutional regulation) generating different patterns and illustrate from field research how these different workplace regimes develop. Conditions generating positive and sustainable outcomes for both capital and labour are feasible but rare; stronger ‘beneficial constraints’ are needed if they are to be made more frequent. This article provides an alternative to current interpretations of labour–management co‐operation in the industrial relations literature.     

Developing an effective project: Planning and team building combined

In this article, the process of developing the project plan and the project planning and control (PP&C) is analyzed and compared to the process of developing the project team to identify opportunities for integrating these actions to produce more successful projects. Results of structured research across some 137 different organizations and representing a wide range of approaches to establishing projects are reported. The results of this cross‐organizational research strongly support the proposed integration of project planning, PP&C development, and project team building. A recommended process for accomplishing this integration is proposed.     

An Application of Unit Root Tests with a Structural Break to Risk-Based Capital and Bank Portfolio Composition

During the 1990s, the composition of commercial bank portfolios in general and bank holdings of business loans and government securities in particular exhibited unusual behavior. One possible explanation for these unusual changes was the implementation by U.S. bank regulators of the risk-based capital standards. This paper examines the issue of nonstationarity in bank holdings of commercial loans and government securities by considering whether a trend specification with structural break model is consistent with the implementation of the risk-based capital standards.     

Economics and Management Theory: New Developments in France

Management theory, initially mostly concerned with establishing a set of normative principles aiming to train practicing managers, has developed a substantial body of theory and several original strands of research. It has traditionally drawn its inspiration largely from economic theory, but has integrated elements of sociology, law and social psychology, among other disciplines. In France, a set of relevant recent and innovative approaches come from recent developments in economic theory gathered generally under the label of 'economics of conventions. 'The paper attempts to characterize the main features of the'economics of conventions' and the ways in which it is relevant and provides fruitful new approaches to management theory.     

REGIONAL SPECIALIZATION,URBAN HIERARCHY,AND COMMUTING COSTS*

We consider an economic geography model of a new genre: All firms and workers are mobile and their agglomeration within a city generates costs through competition on a housing market. In the case of two sectors, contrasted patterns arise. When one good is perfectly mobile, the corresponding industry is partially dispersed whereas the other is agglomerated, thus showing regional specialization. When one sector supplies a nontradeable consumption good, this sector is more agglomerated than the other. The corresponding equilibrium involves an urban hierarchy in that a larger array of varieties of the two goods is produced within the same city.