Issues in front‐end decision making on projects

The importance of the front‐end decision‐making phase in projects is being increasingly recognized—the need to “do the right project” is on a par with “doing the project right.” This area is underrepresented in the literature, but there are a number of key themes that run throughout, identifying key issues or difficulties during this stage. This article looks at some of these themes and includes: the need for alignment between organizational strategy and the project concept; dealing with complexity, in particular the systemicity and interrelatedness within project decisions; consideration of the ambiguity implicit in all major projects; taking into account psychological and political biases within estimation of benefits and costs; consideration of the social geography and politics within decision‐making groups; and preparation for the turbulence within the project environment, including the maintenance of strategic alignment.     

Human genetic technology: exploring the links between science and innovation

This paper reports on a study of the extremely strong linkage between human genetic technology (HGT), as represented by patents in the field of human molecular and cell technology, and the underlying research science base, a represented by the references cited on these patents. The study procedures provide a useful demonstration for tracking how specific funding agencies' support for fundamental research wends its my into the intellectual property system, and leads to the development of economically and industrially important technologies. Specifically, a set of 1105 US patents in the field of human molecular and cell technology grantd batween 1988 and 1992 was identified, and the references cited on the front page of these patent traced through to the specific cited research papers and patents. The study used a novel scheave to classify the patents, and to capture the links between patents and papers, including the nationality If the, patent inventors, and the institutional origin and funding acknowledgement in the cited papers, HGT was shown to be the most heavily science-linked area of patented technology; HGT patents cited scientific papers as prior art six times as often as they cited US patents as prior art. Furthermore, the scienlific papers cited as prior art were of a fundamental nature (i.e, not applied science), providing , new evidence of the role of curiosity-driven research in feeding the innovation process. In addition, the local science base, particularly in the UK; was shown to be of significant importance in national patending activities, although the UK share of world HGT patents was not as high as would have been expected, given the intensity of scientific research on this topic in the UK.     

The demand for urban water by customer class

Reduced-form wage and employment equations derived from a bargaining model are estimated using the two-step method proposed by Engle and Granger (1987 Econometrica, 55, 251-276). Wages and employment arinfluenced by varriables which determine profits on the one hand, and the utility of the union on the other hand. In addition, bargaining power appears to matter. Union strength was discovered to have a positive effect on both wages and employment in the manufacturing industry. The a positive effect on both wages and employment in the manufacturing industry. The two-step method made it possible to evaluate both the long-run elasticities and shortrun adjustment. Step response functions indicate that adjustment is not particularly slow in general. This papers to be true for wages but especially for employment. Hence, if the actual real-wage-employment combination is considered inappropriate, it is not primarily due to ‘too slow’ adjustment. Rather, it implies that the equilibrium is inappropriate.     

From annual ritual to daily routine: continuous performance management and its consequences for employment security

Management control in the workplace ultimately rests on the power to dismiss employees who are deemed to be underperforming. This article examines a more recent trend away from annual appraisal and towards continual monitoring and review. Based on a study of specialist proprietary performance management (PM) software packages and interviews with the consultants who market them, the contention is that these developments are driven by the need to control dismissal. In the case of the UK, we argue that the adoption of PM systems needs to be understood as a means of ‘retiring’ older workers who might otherwise remain in employment. The systems studied here draw on a range of data, allowing managers considerable discretion in how this evidence is used. Specifically, by dispensing with explicit ranking methods, these systems suggest a new employer confidence in the use of subjective evidence.     

Entrepreneurship and Social Capital: Examining the Association in Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods

Spatial approaches to examining entrepreneurship have increasingly built on theories of social capital. However, the nature and extent of local social capital in less successful deprived communities remains under researched and inadequately understood. This article examines the association between social capital and entrepreneurship in a deprived urban neighbourhood in the city of Leeds, UK as a means of contributing to an improved theoretical understanding of how space moderates this association. It is found that social capital has a strong association with patterns of entrepreneurship in deprived urban neighbourhoods, with the potential impacts being both positive and negative. The forms of social capital are found to differ from that found in more affluent localities, with a prevalence of bonding social capital as the key facilitator of entrepreneurship, which may help in the early stages of venture development, but which over time may become a constraint. Also, a lack of the bridging social capital associated with entrepreneurial success is found within the locality. From a policy perspective, it is recommended that policymakers responsible for entrepreneurship in deprived urban neighbourhoods should seek to enhance initiatives for developing social capital which incorporate local businesses, residents and local government agencies.     

Clustering and compatibility between tourism attractions

Cumulative attraction or compatibility is a powerful factor in locational decisions of retail outlets, but it has received little attention in the tourism literature. Existing studies largely ignore the impact of spatial and thematic clustering on compatibility between tourism businesses. This research questions whether and how spatial and thematic clustering are related to tourist movements between visitor attractions. The study in Cornwall, England, is based on in‐depth interviews with tourist attraction managers and key informants, complemented by a survey of 435 tourists. It provides insights into the relationship between the nature of the tourism product, spatial clustering and tourism behaviour. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equilibrium Bitcoin Pricing

We offer a general equilibrium analysis of cryptocurrency pricing. The fundamental value of the cryptocurrency is its stream of net transactional benefits, which depend on its future prices. This implies that, in addition to fundamentals, equilibrium prices reflect sunspots. This in turn implies multiple equilibria and extrinsic volatility, that is, cryptocurrency prices fluctuate even when fundamentals are constant. To match our model to the data, we construct indices measuring the net transactional benefits of Bitcoin. In our calibration, part of the variations in Bitcoin returns reflects changes in net transactional benefits, but a larger share reflects extrinsic volatility.