Finance Capital,Food Security Narratives and Australian Agricultural Land

The growing involvement of financial actors in food production has been one of the major recent transformations in the global agri‐food system. This ‘financialization’ of the agri‐food sector has been observed at various levels, from commodity speculation to direct investment in agricultural production, along with farmland itself. While there has been concerted effort to track new landownership and control associated with financial actors, especially in the Global South, there has been less impetus to examine the motives of financial actors' engagement in food production and the narratives upon which such engagement is based. This paper examines the way in which a productivist food (in)security discourse is employed by financial actors to legitimate their actions and to position themselves to win public approval. We analyse two cases of agri‐finance investors in the Australian context engaged in the discourse of food (in)security in relation to their agricultural investments – the Macquarie Group and Hassad Australia.     

Evolving schemes of interpretation: investigating the dual role of architectures in new product development

Should product architectures be considered inputs to – or outputs from – new product development (NPD)? Whereas the mirroring hypothesis suggests the former, NPD stage models suggests the latter. Elaborating on these conflicting propositions, this paper analyses the relationships between product architectures and development processes in NPD projects. The analysis demonstrates how project managers use product architectures to interpret their tasks and devise appropriate responses to perceived challenges. Thus, architectures provide useful linkages between knowledge development and organisational change in R&D organisations.     

The Potential for Tourism in Post-crisis Recovery: Lessons from Malaysia's Experience of the Asian Financial Crisis

The impact of crises on a national economy can be severe and it is essential that recovery is rapid and complete. This article argues that tourism may be an ideal focus for the recovery effort, as it is resilient and has many links into other sectors. Based on data collected from interviews with senior policy makers in Malaysia, the performance of tourism in four key areas is explored in the context of the Malaysian response to the Asian financial crisis. It is concluded that on balance, tourism is worthy of special consideration as a vehicle for post-crisis recovery.     

The role of regional trading blocs in the development and management of tourism: an analysis of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The establishment of regional trading blocs is considered an important aspect of the process of economic and political globalisation. Focusing on the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, this paper considers whether the involvement of regional trading blocs in tourism is desirable and if so, what form future participation might take. Based on the findings from two qualitative studies, examples of best practice are identified and recommendations are made. Greater co‐operation over facilitating tourist movement and crisis management are suggested, but it is concluded that ultimately, the relevance of regional trading blocs in tourism needs further endorsement by the member states. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The emergence of hybrid professional roles: GPs and secondary school teachers in a context of public sector reform

Responding to recent calls for more context and history in studying (semi-)professionals in the public sector, this article examines the emergence of hybrid professional roles along with large-scale reforms of Dutch healthcare and education since 1965. Using a theoretical framework based on public management literature and key professional attributes, the article shows how hybrid role expectations are developed by accumulation rather than replacement of successive reform models. Within a single national context, it also highlights considerable sectoral variation in how reform affects professionals’ roles, suggesting a complex mutual relationship between reform and professions rather than a one-sided policy impact.     

Translating macro-ideas into micro-level practices: The role of social interactions

Translation studies have conceptualized language, editing and meaning in the adoption of new ideas or policies, but left the role of interpersonal relationships largely unexplored. This paper contributes to translation theory by using insights from social exchange theory to analyze the role of social interactions in translation. Our case is the translation of the macro-idea of ‘activation’ in practices of sickness absence management within Dutch and Danish hospitals. The study reveals that the translation of this macro-idea into micro-practices varies along with the local managers’ positive or negative interpretation of social interactions with their sick-listed employees. The findings thus suggest a crucial role for interpersonal relationships in explaining meaning, reciprocity and outcomes of translation. The findings are used to develop a model of how macro-ideas are related to micro-practices via mechanisms of social exchange.     

Integrated solutions from a service-centered perspective: Applicability and limitations in the capital goods industry

Although advanced services, or so called integrated solutions, have increasingly received attention in the literature, no coherent body of literature exists, and the relational dimensions and consequences of integrated solutions are not explored in detail. Based on the emerging literature, we develop a framework identifying four different categories of integrated solutions: rental, maintenance, operational and performance offerings. We also compare and contrast the service- and the goods-centered logics with the logic of integrated solutions, and thereby show how the reciprocal interdependencies increase between customers and suppliers. We explore these interdependencies further in three case studies of firms experimenting with integrated solutions, and identify dependencies related to process knowledge, process optimization, and process operations. The paper shows that rather than moving along a linear continuum from goods to services, firms developing integrated solutions need to balance elements of both goods- and service-logics, as well as manage the increased customer–supplier interdependencies that integrated solutions entail.     

Coordinating supplier involvement in product development projects: a differentiated coordination typology

Supplier involvement in product development has been a widely discussed theme in recent years. Sometimes, one 'best method' for involvement, derived from studies of one particular industrial context, has been suggested. In this article, however, various forms for coordinating such involvement are distinguished, based on a study of six different product development projects. Three main approaches are formulated and discussed: project integration coordination, disconnected sub-project coordination, and ad hoc coordination. Based on the empirical study and the literature, the drivers of different types of supplier coordination are discussed. Several managerial implications are suggested related to the need to differentiate inter-organizational coordination, not only from project to project but also throughout a project. The importance of taking into account short-term, project-based drivers as well as long-term strategic objectives of supplier coordination is also discussed.