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Investigates the determinants, decision process, and performance of mode of entry substitution patterns used by multinational firms. Based on past research, two paths (incremental and non‐incremental/zigzag) for adopting entry modes in foreign product markets were conceptualized. Responses primarily via mail survey from executives of 77 Canadian and 108 US manufacturing firms verified usage of the conceptualized paths. Further, it was found that executives do preconceptualize their substitution pattern and that such preconceptualization is useful in strategic planning. Also, the executives identified choice variables critical to each pattern choice and some significant path discriminators. Finally, executives are satisfied with the performance of their chosen substitution paths.

Integrates perspectives across operations, marketing, human resources, and organizational theory in a conceptualization of the theoretical relationships between customer competency and marketing and operations practices in service firms. Suggests service firm strategies to leverage customer competency by managing process variation in an industry through service firm co‐operation when altering process structure does not support or achieve a differentiated market position for individual firms; by using market segmentation on the basis of customer productcore competency to develop new service offerings; by balancing the mix of customers at different competency levels with the firm’s productive capacity; and by optimizing socialization of four types of new customers: “Virgin Newcomers”, “Virtual Newcomers”, “Value Switchers” and “Vagabond Switchers” who have different levels of experience with competing firms and expectations for competency fit with new firms.

Time analysis and institution analysis as well as journal analysis allow the study to show literature distribution in this research area. Research hotspots and trending among different times are revealed by network-structural properties and network-temporal property. The study aims to shed light on international cluster research progress on strategic niche management (SNM).

Using searched literature data on SNM from 1991 to 2018 from the database of Web of Science (WOS), the article maps the citation network and completes the citation analysis based on bibliometric citation analysis.

These eight research streams reveal the development of SNM from theoretical description to target-oriented study and finally diversification analysis.

The paper identifies eight continuous research streams in SNM: sustainable transition, dynamical diversity, complexity, social-technical system, social innovation, social-cognitive evolution, emerging market and policy mix.

The patterns used by international firms to substitute modes of entry in foreign product markets could be incremental in the chain from exporting to investment (incremental pattern) or could be haphazard and unpredictable (non‐incremental pattern). This study develops models representing the substitution patterns then tests them using data on exporting, licensing and investments flows of U.S. manufacturing firms to Western Europe during the 1980–88 period. The findings suggest that U.S. manufacturing firms at the aggregate level used the non‐incremental pattern.

To meet the rapidly increasing demand for medical treatment during the outbreak of COVID-19, Huoshengshan and Leishenshan Hospital are rapidly built (9–12 days) in Wuhan. These two urgent emergency projects are unprecedented. In general, substantial literature suggests that the possibility of shortening a schedule by more than a quarter of its original duration is implausible. By contrast, the two projects had successfully compressed the schedules from months and years to about ten days. This study aims to investigate how this was done and provide references for future projects.

The study uses qualitative case study techniques to analyze the project practices in two urgent emergency projects. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and archival research. During interviews, interviewees were asked to describe the project practices adopted to overcome the challenges and freely share their experiences and knowledge.

The results illustrate that a high degree of schedule compression is achievable through tactful crashing, substitution and overlapping applications. The successful practices heavily rely on the high capacity of participants and necessary organization, management and technology innovations, such as three-level matrix organizational structure, reverse design method, site partition, mock-up room first strategies and prefabricated construction technology. For instance, the reverse design method is one of the most significant innovations to project simplification and accelerate and worthy of promotion for future emergency projects.

The empirical findings are significant as they evoke new thinking and direction for addressing the main challenges of sharp schedule compression and provide valuable references for future emergency projects, including selecting high-capacity contractors and replacing the conventional design methods with reverse design.

Substantial studies indicate that the maximum degree of schedule compression is highly unlikely to exceed 25%, but this study suggests that sharp compression is possible. Although with flaws in its beauty (i.e. compressing schedule at the expense of construction cost and quality), it is also a breakthrough. It provides the building block for future research in this fertile and unexplored area.

For a delta wing it is not sufficient to consider spanwise bending and chordwise rotation only. Chordwise bending must be added. It is therefore necessary to calculate the aerodynamic coefficients accordingly. The theory of Lawrence and Gerber dealing with aerodynamic coefficients of oscillating delta wings in incompressible flow is extended to give the coefficients at any station of the wing. It is shown that for practical reasons the assumption is made that induction may be neglected. This means that the coefficients are theoretically only correct for a rigid wing in pitching and plunging. However they will be used for a flexible wing with spanwise bending, chordwise bending and rotation. For the oscillating delta wing with subsonic leading edges in supersonic flow the theory of Watkins and Berman will be discussed. Here again the original report is extended to give the coefficients at any station of the wing. The calculation of the natural modes of vibration of the wing, based on the methods of Scanlan and Rosenbaum, is presented for completeness. Finally it is shown how the coefficients and the modes may be combined to give the aerodynamic forces. As an appendix the differences between the British and the American techniques for calculating the aerodynamic coefficients are discussed.

Are we now entering the era of a new type of economy, with new rules? What we perceive is more than just an addition to today’s economics. By removing the effects of distance, and giving more equal access across nations and classes, networks will effectively reengineer our basic economic equations. Electronic networks can provide access to skills, work and commerce at much lower cost, via electronic markets in jobs, products, services and education. At the same time, they introduce new economic behaviour, as a large enough quantitative change becomes a qualitative change. Electronics and optics enable the networking of human capital, expanding its application and accelerating its enrichment via education. So knowledge‐based operations may slowly replace traditional capital‐based assets. Consequently, the conventional process for the creation of wealth with its prerequisites for capital investment is revised:economic value in traditional fixed assets is replaced by “electronic assets”. At the same time, the network effect pushes the market mechanism to its limits, through a step‐change in breadth of access, reduced costs of entry and pace of trading. National differences and national markets, all the trappings and devices of commercial locality, are challenged. In this first of two articles, the initial conditions and the evidence for change are examined and the emergence of a new form of economy, or “tele‐economy”, is reviewed. Following from this, a view of the form of capitalism driving the economic environment – “electronic capitalism” – is put forward. The second article, to be published in a forthcoming issue of foresight, examines the consequences and conclusions on assets, wealth accumulation, national players and the benefits and dangers of a tele‐economy.

This paper aims to analyse the mainstream and emerging global challenges and trends in the global agriculture sector. The analysis leads to a discussion on the present state of the Russian agroindustry and possible future strategies for adaptation in the context of the rapidly changing global environment.

The design of this study is based on the application of the core methods of Foresight. First, a trend analysis is undertaken using reviews and expert methods. Trends identified are mapped using a social, technological, economic, environmental, political and value (STEEPV) framework to ensure that a broad range of trends are covered, which may be stemming from various factors affecting the agriculture sector. The analysis of the big picture of global trends and challenges, interacting with country-specific structural factors, translates are translated into the opportunities and threats, which will in turn help to develop possible strategies for adaptation.

This study develops two adaptive strategies for the development of the Russian agroindustry that are feasible in different short- and long–term time horizons. The first strategy is considered to be the most likely choice for the period before 2020. It includes radical imports’ substitution (of commodities as well as machinery and high-tech components) for ensuring national food security with inevitable temporary setbacks in efficiency and labour productivity. The second strategy, which becomes feasible after 2020, considers re-integrating Russia into global supply chains and expanding commodities exports (volumes and nomenclature) based on full-scale technological modernization with the use of international capital.

The study design is based on the assumption that Russia’s position as a country, which is highly self-sufficient on basic agricultural products and large exporter of crop commodities and fertilizers, will remain unchanged in the horizon of at least 20 years. However, long-term forecasts should also scrutinize the possibility of radical structural changes. Therefore, future research should concentrate on wild cards that can completely disrupt and transform the Russian agriculture industry and as well as the whole economy.

This paper suggests a number of recommendations on national science and technology policy for the three main industries of the Russian agricultural sector: crop husbandry, animal breeding and food processing (the fisheries sector is excluded from the scope of this paper). In addition, this paper proposes a number of measures towards alleviating the institutional barriers to raise the investment attractiveness of the sector.

The novelty of this paper lies in the originality of the research topic and methodology. The Russian agricultural sector has rarely been studied in the context of global agricultural challenges and threats taken on the highest level of aggregation beyond commodity market analysis or agro-climatic and logistics factors. There are few or no studies that lay out a map of possible long-term strategies of Russian agroindustry adaptive development. The Foresight methodology applied in this study is customized to better fit the practical purposes of the study.

This study aims to the framework of the development of a new sand concrete, essentially manufactured with river/dune sand and recycled plastic aggregates (PAs; 0/3.15 mm). This new concrete may have a great interest, as it can enable us to achieve the best economical, technical and ecological solutions for local construction problems. Given the high abundance of dune sand (DS) and the large quantities of plastic waste, plastic–mineral sand concrete can be a good alternative to the ordinary building materials available on the local market.

A replacement of sand by PAs is made by volume substitution. The plastic percentages laid down are 0%, 25%, 50% and 100%. Indeed, after a general experimental characterization of the studied composites, the investigation mainly concentrated on the study of the effect of the addition of plastic particles on the accelerated carbonation of river sand (RS) concrete and DS concrete, separately.

The density of the composites and consequently their compressive strength are slightly reduced; but their thermal insulation is significantly improved. Their structure seems to be homogeneous, the plastic grains are well distributed in the matrix and the adhesion “plastic–matrix” is good. At small plastic contents, the RS concrete is slightly better. As regards the carbonation results, the PAs significantly contribute to the improvement of the resistance of the composite against carbonation effect. It can be observed that increasing the proportion of plastic particles in sand concrete considerably decreases the thickness of the carbonated concrete.

The studies led on the behavior of plastic concrete, particularly in arid zones, are very limited. Moreover, for sand concrete, there are no similar studies. Therefore, the characterization of such materials is necessary. In addition of thermo-mechanical characterization, this work aims at studying the durability of the material, especially its resistance to carbonation. On the other hand, this work has a significant positive impact on both environment and economy, since it focuses on the recycling of industrial waste, and the valorization of DS, which is available in great quantities in south of Algeria.

The background and an overall review of the implementation of the Rio de Janeiro Rapid Transit System – Metro – with its implications in the structure of the transport system within the metropolitan area and in its urban development is provided. Emphasis is given to the social role played by the Metro lines in terms of reducing the travel costs and travelling time of the working population. As such it is also a major political issue which will affect federal and state governments′ priorities and resources allocation.