New Technologies and International Locational Choice for Research and Development Units: Evidence from Europe

This study examines the factors governing the decision to locate new research and development facilities at locations distant from company headquarters. The 20 firms surveyed are German, Swiss, Dutch, Japanese and Finnish multinationals. Development laboratories, it was found, followed the established pattern of being located away from headquarters only when distant markets attain a critical size. For research laboratories, however, the decisive factor in all cases is a desire to tap into the expertise developing in 'centres of competence' such as the American Northeast in biotechnology. This factor only operates when the new technology is otherwise unfamiliar to the investing company. This factor overrides the conventional wish to minimize the costs of internal and external communications.     

Does strategy matter? An analysis of generic strategies and performance in business service firms

How relevant is strategy formulation to performance? The empirical study reported here matches samples of business service firms in Scotland and the South-East of England and classifies them into Porter's generic strategy groups. Differences in performance are then tested using a variety of performance measures. The evidence provides support for the notion of a link between strategy and performance.     

Corporate giving: A look at the arts

The private sector is being asked to take up the slack of government cutbacks. This article reviews the development of corporate giving. The arts are identified as an area that needs a defined rationale to justify corporate contributions. A historical review of private support of the arts is presented. International and national support levels are examined. Pragmatic and idealistic reasons for needing the arts are listed. Strategies are suggested to aid business implement successful support programs. A model for corporate images for corporate giving to the arts is also presented. Bette Ann Stead is Professor of Marketing at the College of Business Administration of the University of Houston. Previously she was Assistant Professor at Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas. She is the editor of Women in Management,Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1985) and wrote several articles in the Library Quarterly, Business Horizons, Academy of Management Journal, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management,and Vital Speeches of the Day.     

Developing and using a customer profile data bank

This article proposes the implementation of a customer profile system to aid the industrial marketer in: making daily sales decisions involving the firm's customers; the development of the vendor's “buyer mix”; and the production of marketing analysis reports used by the firm. The components of the customer profile are presented and the procedures by which these elements can be incorporated into the firm's decision making are explained. Working examples are also provided to reinforce the concepts. Unfortunately the names of the actual corporations had to be deleted or changed for reasons of confidentiality.     

Counselling to resolve a clash of cognitive styles

A conflict concerning perceived effectiveness arose within a small specialised department between the departmental managers and their senior analyst. Through self-referral and by referral from the managers, the analyst approached the author for counselling. Data concerning the cognitive styles of the departmental members were gathered using the Kirton Innovation-Adaption Inventory (KAI). Additional data on the analyst were gathered using the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator. The KAI data was fed back to the members of the department along with an explanation of the theory underlying the instrument. They discussed the problem and their new perceptions in an attempt to develop a solution. The author acted to manage the process and keep the aims of their discussion in focus. Additionally, individual counselling with the analyst was carried out, using the other psychometric data and data derived through discussions of the problem. The analyst subscribed to look for an alternative career as a means of escaping from his situation since the pressures on the Company were reducing the possibilities of operational change within his department. The problems of counselling in this situation and the pitfalls of the approach are discussed, along with the benefits derived. The conclusions give new perspectives useful to future counselling situations.     

Impacts of COVID-19 on Women and/or Caregivers in Accounting Academia at Canadian Postsecondary Institutions and Suggestions Moving Forward: A Commentary*

This commentary provides insights on the issues faced by women and/or caregivers in accounting academia at Canadian postsecondary institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Personal reflections from 23 contributors across Canada were compiled and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results show that COVID-19 has adversely impacted research, teaching, and other areas of work and life for this demographic. Research stopped or slowed, lower productivity was experienced, concerns over academic integrity increased, interactions with students decreased, academics left the profession, mental health was adversely impacted, and academics lost dedicated work time. In addition, the contributors provide suggestions to address these issues moving forward to help equity-seeking groups. Suggestions include support from postsecondary institutions at all levels, additional funding, adjustments to tenure and promotion criteria, and the option for a reduced workload.     

Key research themes on governance and sustainable urban mobility

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the governance of sustainable urban development and in particular assesses the role of policy instruments to promote soft forms of governance associated with persuasion and coordination. These instruments are critically examined in terms of how they might help to promote greater policy integration and more sustainable development. Five types of strategies for promoting more sustainable transport policies are discussed: (1) policy indicators and targets, (2) benchmarking, (3) policy transfer and best practices, (4) policy experimentation/innovation, and (5) visioning/envisioning. The article is divided into four main parts. First, it presents an overview of recent trends in the governance of urban transport. Second, it examines the notion of policy integration, a central theme in discussions about sustainable transport and governance. Third, it considers how selected types of policy instruments might contribute to policy integration and sustainable urban development. Fourth, alongside the conclusions, suggestions are made for new research related to policy instruments and soft forms of governance in relation to urban transport.     

NSPCC: Marketing the “solution” not the “problem”

In private sector companies, marketing philosophy and their accompanying portfolio of tools and techniques have long had a strong and shaping role in the creation of a market‐led corporate strategy. This is because in most cases there is an obvious and direct link in the economic transaction which takes place, between the consumers of the product and the suppliers of the product. In such a relationship, consumer preference and consumer sovereignty are meaningful and explanatory concepts. In contrast, in the Charitable Sector, the situation arises where a consumer receives a product or service which is supplied by a charity, but paid for by a third party, which may be a private sector organisation, a public sector organisation or a private individual. This arrangement has often meant that charities have only selectively applied those marketing techniques which are primarily concerned with attracting income from funders to the organisation. Thus a marketing philosophy and all that it implies for the development of an interactive and consumer responsive marketing system, has not been significantly developed.

This paper will argue through use of the illustrative example of the NSPCC (National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children), that charitable organisations can enjoy substantial benefits through the wider application of marketing principles to their activities.

It will show through its narrow emphasis upon its relationship with the funders, that the NSPCC has created a brand image based upon the problems encountered by the NSPCC, rather than upon the “solutions “ to those problems. This has had the further consequence that the resource allocation and resource attraction systems within the NSPCC has remained separate. A simple model is presented which facilitates examination of this relationship.

It will be suggested that this dichotomy within the NSPCC can be bridged through the Introduction of a marketing orientation which will enhance understanding of the relationship between the NSPCC and its funders, and which above all will provide the stimulus to the creation of a communication system between the funders and the children who are beneficiaries of the NSPCC activity.     

FROM EXPERIENCE: Disruptive Innovation and the Need for Disruptive Intellectual Asset Strategy

Disruption has become a popular business term, yet it is often used so loosely as to convey almost nothing of substance. Here a largely neglected factor is addressed: the role of intellectual assets in securing opportunities for or averting threats from disruptive innovations. While the literature explains why the decision-making systems in large established companies cause difficulty in responding effectively to disruptive innovation the generation of intellectual assets (e.g., patents, publications, trademarks) typically is not subject to the same cultural and structural barriers. Though it may be difficult to convince a business to invest millions in pursuit of a speculative disruptive innovation, it is much easier for a small team to gain support in pursuing low-cost intellectual assets in the name of mitigating potential threats. A two-pronged approach is proposed that builds on the authors' experience at Kimberly-Clark Corporation in dealing with disruptive threats and opportunities. The approach calls for generation of intellectual assets, often using small proactive teams, to (1) protect an existing business by reducing competitive risks from disruptive innovation, including the risk of new products with disruptive potential and the risk of associated competitive patents that might limit one's response; and (2) prepare for future new and disruptive business opportunities that could be protected or strengthened by the intellectual assets generated. Kimberly-Clark's growing experience with this approach suggests that it may be a valuable component of one's strategy for innovation and protection of the business.