Decision-making in investment in overseas R&D

According to the literature, multinational firms are motivated to locate R&D activity overseas for mainly three reasons, namely: to adapt to local markets; access lower cost R&D capacity; or access unique research capability. Ireland at the beginning of the century appeared, from this finding, badly placed to attract R&D in foreign direct investment (FDI), as it had by global comparisons neither a large domestic market, a low cost economy nor a strong R&D profile. In spite of this, Ireland has succeeded in attracting significant investment in R&D projects. The cases of investment in Ireland analysed here reveal that the nature of the decision-making process itself has been a decisive factor in the outcome, and that less quantifiable factors such as cultural closeness, history, and personal relationships have played a stronger role in the outcome than would be expected from the literature.     

Local Political Marketing in the Context of the Conservative Party

Local political marketing can be defined as marketing related strategy, activities, and tactics implemented by a political party in a local geographic constituency, in order to attempt to maximize aggregate potential voter satisfaction, and therefore maximize total number of votes and electoral support in the constituency. Through 12 in-depth interviews with Local Constituency Party representatives from the Conservative Party, the study found that local political marketing was acknowledged by a majority of respondents although this was not unequivocal, and was frequently conflated with campaigning. Local political marketing was associated with: visual identity, language/messages, values, image, communication devices, awareness raising, data management and targeting, and simplification. The support from higher levels of the party in local political marketing was varied across constituencies. There was evidence of growing coordination/influence by higher levels of the party in local political marketing. However, this tended to be in seats judged as ‘winnable’.     

The servicescape: The social dimensions of place

Abstract

Place should not be viewed solely as a physical space that people inhabit or, within a servicescape context, patronise because the experiences consumers have in place are very much shaped by its occupants. Marketing literature, though, has tended to focus on the physicality of place, or the stimulus–response aspects of place, whereas in other disciplines such as geography, place has been viewed in terms of its temporal, spatial, natural, and social dimensions. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of how women's non-commercial relationships shaped their patronage decisions. Since this study was interested in why consumers make repeat retail visits, qualitative methods were used. As the findings revealed, one's need for social connectedness and desire to feel like an insider were sometimes more important than the products available and/or the servicescape's attributes.     

Addressing international mobility confusion – developing definitions and differentiations for self-initiated and assigned expatriates as well as migrants

The literature on international human resource management indicates a growing array of different forms of international work experiences such as assigned and self-initiated expatriation. However, the criteria for demarcation of these different forms and the term ‘migrant’ are often unclear which leads to an unfortunate lack of comparability of research and a potential confusion for readers. Based on the sociological, psychological and economics literature, this article reviews and synthesizes the existing definitions of the three terms in the current research. A qualitative content analysis and the Rubicon model [Heckhausen, H., and Gollwitzer, P.M. (1987), ‘Thought Contents and Cognitive Functioning in Motivational Versus Volitional States of Mind’, Motivation and Emotion, 1, 101–120.] are used as a theoretical base to structure the findings. The paper creates a criteria-based definition and differentiation of terms and then develops a typology of four different types of expatriates: assigned expatriates, inter-self-initiated expatriates, intra-self-initiated expatriates and drawn expatriates. Implications for management as well as for future research are outlined.     

Mixed methods studies in entrepreneurship research: Applications and contributions

Mixed methods research is becoming an increasingly popular approach in several fields. However, its application in the field of entrepreneurship has not been studied. The authors reviewed the use of mixed methods research in three entrepreneurship journals and two leading generalistic journals that publish entrepreneurship research, examining the main purposes and designs. A total of 955 articles were reviewed and 81 mixed methods studies were identified. The analysis of these articles revealed opportunities associated with the application of this approach. Mixed methods may help to improve entrepreneurship research addressing challenges emphasized in earlier studies. Suggestions on why and how to use mixed methods research are offered, and recommendations are provided to guide future mixed methods studies to advance our understanding of the entrepreneurial phenomenon.     

一台环形防喷器壳体内部缺陷的安全评价检测

利用声发射检测技术能够实时动态检测的特点,在额定工作载荷下监测环形防喷器壳体内部缺陷的动态变化,初步进行缺陷的安全评级判断。结合金属材料缺陷表面磁场变化的特征,采用金属磁记忆检测技术对防喷器壳体内部缺陷进行快速检测;最后,对应力集中区域使用超声波检测方法对缺陷进行定量、定性检测。确保防喷器缺陷的定性定量检测与分析,作为油田防喷器壳体内部缺陷的安全评价检测工艺,具有一定的借鉴价值。     

Kids on board: methodological challenges,concerns and clarifications when including young children's voices in tourism research

A knowledge gap exists concerning the dearth of children's voices in tourism research. One of the main reasons for this is attributed to the methodological challenges that confront researchers when interacting with child respondents. Based on a recent study conducted with young children between the ages of 5 and 6 years, this article discusses five methodological issues to contemplate prior to conducting research with children. This article raises important considerations for children's developmental phase, the use of appropriate props and prompts during data collection, and the positionality and pre-requisites of the researcher when designing methodologies for research with children.     

基于fsQCA方法的江西省跨境电商发展政策研究

随着生产全球化的发展及跨国公司的全球性扩张,从跨境电商"9710"新模式开单到跨境电商国际快递补贴政策的印发,中国跨境电商飞速发展。结合中国跨境电商发展实际,选择货物进出口总额、人才量、货运承受能力、技术支持、电子商务企业数量、一般公共预算支出、地区生产能力等7个指标,以中国31个省域为研究对象,采用模糊集定性比较分析(fsQCA)方法,探究跨境电商发展各个指标之间相互作用的逻辑关系。研究发现,存在3条不同的因素组态促进地区跨境电商发展,核心指标是货物进出口总额和电子商务企业数量。因此,依据3条不同政策路径的边缘因素作用,将促进跨境电商发展的路径分为距离导向型、经济导向型和政府全面引导型,并说明各路径适应地区的特点。最后为促进江西省跨境电商进一步发展提出相应建议。     

长江禁捕补偿政策满意度影响因素及提升策略研究:模糊集定性比较分析

目的 长江禁捕补偿政策的实施是我国贯彻“生态优先,绿色发展”理念的重要举措,探究退捕渔民对禁捕补偿政策满意度影响因素有利于政策主观绩效的提升。方法 文章以在全国率先实施禁捕补偿政策的贵州赤水河流域和湖北洪湖流域的退捕渔民为研究对象,运用模糊集定性比较分析方法（fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, fsQCA）探究禁捕补偿政策满意度的影响因素。结果 （1）政策认同和生计结果的缺失分别为解释禁捕补偿政策高满意度和低满意度的必要条件。（2）存在引致高禁捕补偿政策满意度的两种条件组态,其中补贴时效和信息掌握是影响禁捕补偿政策满意度的关键因素,在提高禁捕政策满意度中发挥核心作用;（3）存在4种引致低禁捕补偿政策满意度的条件组态,补贴时效和信息掌握的缺失在各自组态中均发挥了核心作用,使补贴时效和信息掌握的重要性得到进一步验证。（4）根据条件因素的可控性,加强政策的宣传力度和提高补偿资金发放时效是有效提升禁捕补偿政策满意度的最佳策略。结论 多重条件间并发协同效应的存在揭示禁捕补偿政策满意度影响因素的复杂性,对政策宣传和补偿资金发放工作“两手抓”是提高禁捕补偿政策满意度的必然选择。