Learning from openness: The dynamics of breadth in external innovation linkages

We explore how openness in terms of external linkages generates learning effects, which enable firms to generate more innovation outputs from any given breadth of external linkages. Openness to external knowledge sources, whether through search activity or linkages to external partners in new product development, involves a process of interaction and information processing. Such activities are likely to be subject to a learning process, as firms learn which knowledge sources and collaborative linkages are most useful to their particular needs, and which partnerships are most effective in delivering innovation performance. Using panel data from Irish manufacturing plants, we find evidence of such learning effects: establishments with substantial experience of external collaborations in previous periods derive more innovation output from openness in the current period. © 2013 The Authors. Strategic Management Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

‘If You Build It,They Will Come’: Governing property-led rural regeneration in Ireland

This article examines the governance of rural regeneration in the Republic of Ireland, through the case of the Rural Renewal Scheme (RRS), which provided fiscal incentives to subsidise the construction and renovation of housing and business premises in a declining rural region. It reveals that the RRS has been successful in achieving two of its key objectives – stemming population decline and increasing housing output. It has also contributed to significant employment generation, albeit mainly in construction, which is unlikely to be sustainable over the longer term. However, the RRS was incompatible with sustainable rural development of its target region because it has resulted in significant negative unintended impacts, most notably excess housing output, which in turn has contributed to high vacancy rates. These impacts are linked to over centralised programme design and implementation, a particular pro development ethos among rural local authorities and poor linkages between the RRS and wider rural and regional development policies. Thus, this case raises questions about the authenticity of multi-level rural governance which has been widely reported in rural development and planning academic discourse internationally and in Ireland, and about the appropriateness of property-led regeneration interventions to the rural context.     

A comparative study of the export problems of small computer software exporters in Finland, Ireland and Norway

This paper presents the findings of an empirical study into the export problems of small computer software firms in Finland, Ireland and Norway. The study suggests that finance-related problems present exporters with the greatest difficulties and that these problems often intensify with increased international exposure. It also reveals that marketing-related factors tend to decline as firms become more active in export markets. The paper concludes that export policy-makers should seek to address these problems by improvements in training—particularly, in the area of export finance—and by providing a better financial infrastructure, in order to improve the international capabilities of small software firms.     

Euro Stories: The Irish Experience of Currency Change

This paper presents an overview of an interview study carried out in the Republic of Ireland approximately 1 year after the introduction of the euro in January 2002 and also compares the Irish experience to that of the other initial Eurozone countries. The new currency seems to have been rather more positively received in Ireland than elsewhere. Irish adults had a generally more positive attitude towards the new currency and seemed to have adapted to it rather well. Nevertheless, they shared some common experiences and problems with citizens of other countries, such as the perception that the introduction of the euro raised inflation more than it actually did, confusion of notes and coins and the use of coping strategies involving price conversion to the former currency. The implications of the Irish experience for policy are discussed.     

Pictures and prose: exploring the impact of literary and film tourism

While literary tourism has a long history traceable back to the seventeenth century, the considerable growth of interest and popularity in literary tourism research among academics and the tourism industry has been recognised only since the mid-1990s [Hebert, D. T. (1996). Artistic and literary places in France as tourist attractions. Tourism Management, 17(2), 77–85]; [Squire, S. J. (1993). Valuing countryside: Re?ections on Beatrix Potter tourism. Area, 24, 5–10]; [Squire, S. J. (1994). The cultural values of literary tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 21, 103–120]. With this in mind, this paper aims to investigate how tourism stakeholders can take advantage of the positive promotional impacts that a book and film linkage can have on specific destinations. It also examines how tourism patterns and trends in these destinations have been subsequently influenced and transformed. Within an exploratory case study mode, special emphasis will be placed on two international case studies (Ireland and Indonesia – in particular Bali) which have been associated with internationally recognised books and their subsequent blockbuster films. The findings suggest that both literary and film tourism have a positive effect on these destinations due to an increased growth in their tourism arrivals once the location was referred to in a book and afterwards used as the setting in the related film. This paper will add to the current knowledge base on film and literary tourism and create an awareness of the strength of this form of tourism for international tourism destinations.     

The Virtuous Manager: A Vision for Leadership in Business

This article seeks to contribute to a vision for leadership in business based on a recovery of virtue. The vision for leadership articulated here draws principally on the writings of the classical philosopher Aristotle and of the contemporary philosopher Josef Pieper. Without discounting the ever-increasing complexity of modern business, this essay will attempt to reconstruct Aristotle’s emphasis on virtue and moral character, and argues for the philosopher’s relevance to modern management and corporate leadership. The paper concludes that the message of virtue is a message of hope and attempts to find plain language to articulate its value to those engaged in business or concerned with the formulation of government policy. Gabriel Flynn teaches at Mater Dei Institute, Dublin City University in Dublin. He holds higher degrees in moral and systematic theology. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford. He is editor of Leadership and Values for Business: European and American Perspectives (New York/Berlin: Springer, forthcoming 2007). He has contributed scholarly articles to Louvain Studies, Concilium, New Blackfriars and elsewhere.     

Evolving national park models: The emergence of an economic imperative and its effect on the contested nature of the ‘national’ park concept in Northern Ireland

National park models have evolved in tandem with the emergence of a multifunctional countryside. Sustainable development has been added to the traditional twin aims of conservation and recreation. This is typified by recent national park designations, such as the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. A proposed Mournes national park in Northern Ireland has evolved a stage further with a model of national park to deliver national economic goals envisaged by government. This seeks to commodify the natural landscape. This paper compares Cairngorm and Mourne stakeholders’ views on the principal features of both models: park aims, management structures and planning functions. While Cairngorm stakeholders were largely positive from the outset, the model of national park introduced is not without criticism. Conversely, Mourne stakeholders have adopted an anti-national park stance. Nevertheless, the model of national park proposed possessing a strong economic imperative, an absence of the Sandford Principle as a means to manage likely conflicts, and lacking any planning powers in its own right, may still be insufficient to bring about widespread support for a Mourne national park. Such a model is also likely to accelerate the degradation of the Mourne landscape. Competing national identities (British and Irish) provide an additional dimension to the national park debate in Northern Ireland. Deep ideological cleavages are capable of derailing the introduction of a national park irrespective of the model proposed. In Northern Ireland the national park debate is not only about reconciling environmental and economic interests but also political and ethno-national differences.     

Peripheral location equals localized labour? Multinationals and the internationalization of training and development in Ireland

The paper examines the impact of MNC internationalization on the training and development of employees, drawing on the findings of a survey of training and work organization among high-tech MNCs operating in Ireland. The survey illustrates clearly that the internationalization of training and development spans a wide occupational spectrum and that it is not solely a feature of a distinct international management cadre. While the literature identifies international managers as the main groups benefiting from international training and development, the findings question the extent to which non-managerial labour can be viewed as primarily local and national in outlook and skill formation. Further, the level of both short-term and longer-term training mobility reflect a wider set of business attributes of multinationals in Ireland.     

The determinants of retailers' margin related bargaining power: evidence from the Irish food manufacturing industry

This paper investigates the determinants of retailers' margin related bargaining power in the context of food retailer-manufacturer relationships. The study is based on an empirical analysis of 97 trading relationships between Irish food manufacturers and their Irish and British retail customers. It complements earlier research, focused mainly on structural characteristics of the industries, by integrating product and relationship characteristics into the analysis. Using measures based on manufacturers' perceptions, the study finds that retailers' margin related power over food manufacturers is positively related to the importance of economies of scale in manufacturing, retail concentration and own brand penetration of the market. The results also show that retailers' margin related power increases as product shelf-life increases and as manufacturers' specific investments increase.     

Debt crisis and 10-year sovereign yields in Ireland and in Portugal

We assess the determinants of the 10-year sovereign yield for the period 2000–2015, in Portugal and in Ireland. Results show that the long-term Portuguese sovereign yield increased with the rise of the 10-year Bund yield and during the Securities Markets Programme, but decreased due to financial integration. Additionally, during the period of the economic and financial adjustment programme, there was evidence of additional rises (decreases) due to increases (decreases) in the 3-month Euribor rate, and the level of public debt. EU/IMF funding reduced sovereign yield.