For Love or Money? Fairtrade Business Models in the UK Supermarket Sector

This article analyzes the distribution of benefits from Fair Trade between producing and consuming countries. Fair Trade and conventional coffee production and trade were examined in Nicaragua in 2005–2006 and 2008. Consumption of the respective coffees was assessed in Finland in 2006–2009. The results indicate that consumers paid considerably more for Fair Trade-certified coffee than for the other alternatives available. Although Fair Trade provided price premiums to producer organizations, a larger share of the retail prices remained in the consuming country relative to conventional coffee trade. Paradoxically, along with the certified farmers and cooperatives, Fair Trade empowers roasters and retailers.     

MBA Student Opinion about the Teaching of Business Ethics: Preference for Inclusion and Perceived Benefit

Data about whether business ethics should be taught generally,whether it was included in the current class the students were taking, and how beneficialthat inclusion was are analyzed in relation to two general questions about the qualityof the course. The database is from a large U.S. MBA program in an institution thatis committed to integrating business ethics throughout the curriculum. Thegraduate students felt strongly that ethics should be taught in business classes. All five itemsunder study were significantly correlated with one another and a factor analysisidentified two major factors. Significant effects were found in student opiniondepending on whether the course was elective or core as well as the discipline of theclass. Areas for future research were suggested.     

Knowledge diversity as a moderator: inter-firm relationships,R&D investment and absorptive capacity

The study examines how knowledge diversity moderates the effects of R&;D investment, strategic alliances, and acquisitions on firm performance using a sample of 2404 firm-year data from US technology firms. Results confirm that the main effect of knowledge diversity on firm growth is not significant and it indeed plays a role of a moderator. The theory of absorptive capacity provides a good explanation that for firms with high knowledge diversity, strategic alliances and acquisitions are more effective while for firms with low knowledge diversity, internal R&;D investment is more effective. These findings point to an important research direct that the characteristics of a firm's knowledge portfolio play a critical role in determining the effectiveness of knowledge sourcing as well as interfirm partnership strategies.     

Converging technologies at the nanoscale: The making of a new world?

The design of artefacts commonly involves the convergence of many technologies and this remains true for artefacts being created at the nanoscale. However, since 2000 the phrase 'converging technologies' has acquired a special interpretation related to the convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science (acronym NBIC) for the improvement of 'human performance', raising the visibility of what has colloquially been called 'nanotechnology'. Exaggerated forecasts soon followed for the value of innovatory markets for nano-artefacts or artefacts highly dependent on the various emergent nanoscale technologies. Many of these activities have resulted from a creative collision between chemistry and biology, and engineering and physics, especially where the latter have been related to micromechanical devices and electronics. The outcome has been rising expectations that the field, now designated as converging technologies, may be the beginnings of a 'new world' within a notional time horizon of 2030. The paper considers the possibility, feasibility and desirability of nanoscale artefacts (nano-artefacts) in contributing to a 'new world'. By distinguishing between nano-artefacts and nanotechnology, some of the more unrealistic expectations surrounding the possibilities can be discouraged, facilitating investment decisions by business and informed debate by stakeholders regarding the future development and diffusion of nano-artefacts. The paper concludes that nano-artefacts are likely to have pervasive, radical effects by 2030, particularly in the fields that underpin life on the planet, including energy and food and the possibility of improving human performance. However, the effects are unlikely to be on the scale seen in the industrial revolution.     

半导体固定设备市场2008年出现高峰

对所有主流固定设备市场的预测认为,形势依然乐观。基于今年平稳至12％的增长预测,半导体固定设备市场产业分析师们对2006年和以后一个较短时期的固定设备前景谨慎乐观。