THE PATIENT AS CONSUMER: THE ADVERTISING OF PHARMACEUTICALS DIRECTLY TO CONSUMERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED

The pharmaceutical industry, with few exceptions, is not permitted to advertise its products directly to consumers (DTCA). It is the author's opinion that DTCA should be allowed and encouraged and that it is only a matter of time before this happens. Support for this view comes from reviewing the substantial amount of research undertaken in this controversial area of health policy.     

Takeover activity in Australia: endogenous and exogenous influences

The present paper analyses the population of takeover bids for listed Australian companies using quarterly data over a 25-year period to re-examine the predictability of takeover activity and to determine if there is a flow on impact on macroeconomic variables. We examine whether takeover activity: (i) is endogenous; that is, determined by own activity; (ii) is jointly determined by macroeconomic and capital market variables; and (iii) has an exogenous spillover impact across the economy. We find that stock prices and takeover activity share a long-term common trend, the relative success of takeover bids is independent of sharemarket activity, and conclude that aggregate takeover activity is driven by fundamental economic factors rather than by speculative activity.     

Managing service innovation: the need for selectivity rather than 'best practice'

In this paper we contrast the notions of best practice and configurations contingent on environmental conditions. The analysis draws upon our study of 38 UK and 70 US service firms. Four system configurations are identified, and the results provide an opportunity for updating the typologies of services, and suggest that practices and performance are multi-dimensional.     

The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard – linking sustainability management to business strategy

The Balanced Scorecard of Kaplan and Norton is a management tool that supports the successful implementation of corporate strategies. It has been discussed and considered widely in both practice and research. By linking operational and non‐financial corporate activities with causal chains to the firm's long‐term strategy, the Balanced Scorecard supports the alignment and management of all corporate activities according to their strategic relevance. The Balanced Scorecard makes it possible to take into account non‐monetary strategic success factors that significantly impact the economic success of a business. The Balanced Scorecard is thus a promising starting‐point to also incorporate environmental and social aspects into the main management system of a firm. Sustainability management with the Balanced Scorecard helps to overcome the shortcomings of conventional approaches to environmental and social management systems by integrating the three pillars of sustainability into a single and overarching strategic management tool. After a brief discussion of the different possible forms of a Sustainability Balanced Scorecard the article takes a closer look at the process and steps of formulating a Sustainability Balanced Scorecard for a business unit. Before doing so, the basic conventional approach of the Balanced Scorecard and its suitability for sustainability management will be outlined in brief. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Great Lakes Beginning-of-Month Water Levels and Monthly Rates of Change of Storage

Time series of beginning-of-month water levels and rates of change of lake storage were determined for each of the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair for 1941-1975 period. The Thiessen polygon procedure was used to compute the beginning-of-month levels because it provides more representative over-all lake levels than straight averaging and requires minimum subjectivity. The effect of crustal movement on the rate of change of lake storage was investigated and found to be negligible. A gage density analysis showed good agreement between various size gage networks with the maximum deviation between networks decreasing with increasing gage density. Thiessen polygon weighting factors are presented for the current gage networks to enable future extension of the time series.     

Relative Accuracy of Connecting Channel Discharge Data with Application to Great Lakes Studies

The flows in the Great Lakes connecting channels are a major component in the water balance of the Great Lakes Basin. The increased emphasis on Great Lakes water quality and quantity requires an assessment of the accuracy of both measured and computed connecting channel discharge data. In this study, the standard error of typical discharge measurements was found to be approximately 3 to 5 percent, depending upon the number of panels used in the cross section. Mesurement sets were found to have a practical limit of about 25 measurements. The standard error of a set of measurements was found to be on the order of 1 percent. The procedure used to compute the published flows of the Niagara River was found to have an apparent bias of about 2 percent on the high side. It is recommended that the published Niagara River flows be adjusted prior to use in detailed water balance studies.