Competition,Cooperation and Regulatory Intervention Impacts on Independent School Fees

This paper examines the factors determining fee levels set by independent schools, focusing on the impact of competition, cooperation and regulatory intervention in the sector. Results indicate that, once account is taken of factors such as the extent of local competition between independent schools, the impact of the 2003–2005 Office of Fair Trading investigation into the fee-setting cartel on independent school fees becomes insignificant. Meanwhile, the extent of competition between independent schools has a significant effect on levels of boarding school fees. Results highlight the importance of considering pricing strategies of groups within a cartel.     

Common stock returns in the pre-WWI Berlin Stock Exchange

We provide new evidence on the efficiency of the Berlin Stock Exchange prior to World War I, when it ranked among the top few markets worldwide by market capitalization. Using a new set of monthly stock price data for a random sample of German companies between 1904 and 1910, we estimate a typical three-factor model and find that returns relate positively to risk (beta), but that book-to-market ratios enter as well (negatively). Firm size and earnings/price ratio relate positively but weakly to returns. The results indicate that the Berlin market did not suffer from unusually large pricing anomalies; thus, its performance was not substantially different from modern markets. Also supporting the conclusion of market efficiency, a momentum portfolio earns returns not different from zero, on average.     

Cost effectiveness of adding clostridial collagenase ointment to selective debridement in individuals with stage IV pressure ulcers

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the cost effectiveness (from a payer’s perspective) of adding clostridial collagenase ointment (CCO) to selective debridement compared with selective debridement alone (non-CCO) in the treatment of stage IV pressure ulcers among patients identified from the US Wound Registry.

Methods: A 3-state Markov model was developed to determine costs and outcomes between the CCO and non-CCO groups over a 2-year time horizon. Outcome data were derived from a retrospective clinical study and included the proportion of pressure ulcers that were closed (epithelialized) over 2 years and the time to wound closure. Transition probabilities for the Markov states were estimated from the clinical study. In the Markov model, the clinical outcome is presented as ulcer-free weeks, which represents the time the wound is in the epithelialized state. Costs for each 4-week cycle were based on frequencies of clinic visits, debridement, and CCO application rates from the clinical study. The final model outputs were cumulative costs (in US dollars), clinical outcome (ulcer-free weeks), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) at 2 years.

Results: Compared with the non-CCO group, the CCO group incurred lower costs ($11,151 vs $17,596) and greater benefits (33.9 vs 16.8 ulcer-free weeks), resulting in an economically dominant ICER of ?$375 per ulcer. Thus, for each additional ulcer-free week that can be gained, there is a concurrent cost savings of $375 if CCO treatment is selected. Over a 2-year period, an additional 17.2 ulcer-free weeks can be gained with concurrent cost savings of $6,445 for each patient.

Conclusions: In this Markov model based on real-world data from the US Wound Registry, the addition of CCO to selective debridement in the treatment of pressure ulcers was economically dominant over selective debridement alone, resulting in greater benefit to the patient at lower cost.     

Identifying Success Factors for Rapid Growth in SME E-commerce

With high unemployment rates and major companies downsizing, SME policy has started to move centre stage. The small business job-creation thesis can be traced to David Birch, who placed great emphasis on the job generation process of very rapidly growing businesses he termed Gazelles: "In fact most firms don't grow. Gazelles do. And that is only 3% of all small companies." This paper focuses on the baby gazelles of the Internet economy. It looks at critical success factors that fast growing E-commerce ventures need to take into account in the start-up phase. Based on the results of the EU project KITE, the article demonstrates links between critical success factors, and highlights the competitive advantage deriving from the application of a certain critical success factor. It will compare the critical success factors identified for high growth E-commerce ventures in the start-up phase in KITE with research into the success of high growth companies in general.     

Decentralization in the NHS: Prospects for Workplace Unionism

The substantial changes that are taking place in the organization of the UK public sector are transforming traditional patterns of industrial relations based on centralized and institutionalized collective bargaining. Whether the trade unions can successfully respond to this process will be of prime importance for the future development of industrial relations in the public sector. The paper considers recent evidence of the impact of decentralization on union organization in four hospital units. The research findings suggest that there is a growth in union activity as a result of the process of decentralization, but that the effectiveness of unions is likely to vary considerably between hospitals.     

Dealing with the devil of deviation: managing uncertainty during product development execution

This paper examines deviations in complex product development. Based on an extensive case study, using participant observations, interviews, and data from deviation reports, it illustrates the causes, procedures, management challenges of deviations, and organizational roles devoted to deviation management. Based on the rich data material, it furthermore proposes a typology of deviations developed for a better understanding of this significant empirical phenomenon.     

Firm persistence in technological innovation: the relevance of organizational innovation

Organizational innovation favors technological innovation, but does it also influence persistence in technological innovation? This paper empirically investigates the pattern of technological innovation persistence and tests the potential impact of organizational innovation using firm-level data from three waves of French Community Innovation Surveys. The evidence indicates a positive effect of organizational innovation on persistence in technological innovation, according to the various measures of organizational innovation. Moreover, this impact is more significant for complex innovators, i.e. those who innovate in both products and processes. The results highlight the complexity of managing organizational practices with regard to the technological innovation of firms. They also add to understanding of the drivers of innovation persistence through the focus on an often forgotten dimension of innovation in a broader sense.     

University choice: which attributes matter when you are paying the full price?

This article presents the results from a longitudinal study of students' choice of university in England. Students were surveyed initially when applying for university (Wave One) and then again when they were about to embark on their chosen course (Wave Two). The results from Wave Two demonstrated a high degree of consistency with the Wave One findings: course and university reputation are far more important and fees are relatively unimportant. However, a key result across both waves was that patterns of utility for students with no parental experience of university were significantly different from students whose parents had attended university. The utility associated with different levels of entry qualifications, of fees and of university and course reputation, differed between social groups. The study suggests that the benefits of going to a highly rated university may be undervalued in families that have no direct experience of higher education. In addition, whilst females are more significantly put off by universities with low entry requirements, the qualitative attitudinal statements included in the follow‐up study seem to indicate that so‐called ‘softer’ factors may also influence their choice.     

A research framework for group support systems

Over the last decade, many methodologies and techniques have been devised to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of cooperative working. The efficacy of many of these approaches has not been rigorously assessed, causing doubt about their applicability and helping restrict their use. Additionally, research effort has been dissipated. The need is for a generally agreed framework within which research can be conducted and results determined. This article proposes such a framework, involving the identification of the context, process, and outcome variables which, a priori, are deemed important to understanding, and subsequently predicting, the appropriate forms of intervention in the workings of groups. Six major components have been identified: the organizational environment, the group context, the process context, the group process, the substantive outcomes, and process performance indicators. Within these six components, 16 macrovariables have been identified. Within these macrovariables, 90 variables have been selected that characterize an issue-handling situation and its outcomes. The framework is applicable to a very wide range of group support systems used in many contexts.