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This review of O.R. work in the fields of finance and investment indicates the considerable scope both for the standard tools of the trade, such as mathematical programming, and for the more general scientific approach which the author believes is characteristic of the best O.R. work. The use of scientific models of the system under study enables the investigator to compare alternative policies, to try out possible systems without the need to experiment in the real life situation—a particular merit of simulation techniques—and to search for optimum solutions.

This paper aims to investigate the shifting boundaries between two experiential categories – home and work – for office workers. The boundaries are both spatial and temporal, and the paper seeks to analyse how certain kinds of mobile technology are being used in such a way as to make these boundaries increasingly permeable.

The research involved both the collection of quantitative data using a survey tool, and the gathering of qualitative data through in‐depth interviews.

The paper finds that the mobile technology discussed enables work extension – the ability to work outside the office, outside “normal” office hours. This provides flexibility with respect to the timing and location of work, and makes it easier to accommodate both work and family. But at the same time, of course, it also increases expectations: managers and colleagues alike expect staff to be almost always available to do work, which makes it easier for work to encroach on family time, and also leads to a greater workload. The ability to perform work extension is, then, a dual‐edged sword.

The paper provides both managers and non‐managers with insight into the effects of providing mobile technology to office workers, and suggests some mechanisms to mitigate negative effects.

The paper explores the impact of mobile technologies on non‐mobile office staff.

Many organizations are introducing computer‐based communication and information systems to improve the efficiency and productivity of their personnel. Unfortunately, there exist no suitable schemes which these organizations can use to specify who needs what products or services. Neither is there any standardized methodology for evaluating the appropriateness of the new systems and their impact on the individual users and organizations. The Centre for the Evaluation of Communication—Information Technologies (CECIT) at the University of Waterloo is engaged in research on office automation. Its objectives are to develop suitable methodologies for the specification and evaluation of office automation services. This paper reports on an initial study of the communication—information requirements of white collar workers. The study took place in the summer and fall of 1980. One hundred and fourteen managers and fifty secretarial and clerical workers from four different organizations were involved in the study. Perceived use of various office support services, preliminary and subsequent detailed descriptions of individuals' tasks, and actual communication behaviour were the main focus of our data gathering. Preliminary findings suggest that cognition‐oriented tasks like human relations, planning, decision making and evaluating predominate the work of managers. Significant opportunities exist at the management level for the application of integrated decision‐support and communication systems. However, given the complexity and the lack of routine in the tasks performed by most managers, the development and introduction of office automation services geared for such a target are going to be slow in coming.

We consider how the commercialization of social ventures may result from their founders’ personal experiences of commercial organizing. Building on theories of individual imprinting, we theorize that the commercialization of social ventures is influenced by two types of commercial experience: parental imprinting from the commercial work experience of a founder’s parents, and work imprinting from a founder’s professional experience within for-profit organizations. We find support for our theory based on analysis of a novel dataset of over 2,000 nascent social ventures and their founders. We further find that the marginal effects of additional work imprinting from a founder’s commercial experience decline with the longevity of this experience. We discuss implications of our findings for literatures on social ventures, imprinting, and hybrid organizations.

China’s economy is transforming at a brisk pace. A partially dismantled command economy and introduction of competition have fueled consumer demand for a greater selection of innovative new products in the retail market. The challenge for retail buyers is to adjust their procurement processes to respond to consumer needs in an efficient and effective manner. This study examines factors influencing buyer‐supplier relationships in a transition economy. We present a model to explain the factors driving retail buyer dependence on suppliers. We find that retailer evaluation of supplier credibility mediates the relationship between retailer perceptions of a supplier ability to add value to its business and the ability to achieve its desired goals. In part, this is due to the supplier’s market orientation. Interestingly, guanxi ties have no impact on the retailer perceptions of the supplier credibility, but have a positive affect on retailer dependence on its supplier partners.

E‐Teaching as the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is of growing importance for educational theory and practice. Many universities and other higher education institutions use ICT to support teaching. However, there are contradicting opinions about the value and outcome of e‐teaching. This paper starts with a review of the literature on e‐teaching and uses this as a basis for distilling success factors for e‐teaching. It then discusses the case study of an e‐voting system used for giving student feedback and marking student presentations. The case study is critically discussed in the light of the success factors developed earlier. The conclusion is that e‐teaching, in order to be successful, should be embedded in the organisational and individual teaching philosophy.

The paper aims to introduce the manner in which management and organization theory have viewed space and time as significant resources and to put forward a number of more contemporary views as to how space and time is both managed and experienced.

The paper adopts a postmodern approach in assembling what it regards as “fragments” from a variety of disciplinary discourses on space and time. Each fragment presents, putatively, a different voice, theme or motif which are intended to help the reader better understand the trajectories contained in the other papers in the volume.

The paper finds that conceptions of space and time are fundamental to the manner in which organizations are managed and organized and are a symbolic order inter‐related to themes of power and control. The manner in which we experience space and time is open to manipulation and specifically a form compression that displaces critical reflection and may make individuals prone to external locus of control. The manner in which time and space are linked to the suppression of human agency and the imperatives of capitalism cannot be overestimated and require reflexive consideration.

The paper, and the volume as a whole, recognises time and space as social constructions and thus open to “reconstruction”. Space and time are not simple a priori categories that are fixed, immutable absolutes and knowable entities. The recognition of the intersubjective “nature” of space and time is shown to help us better appreciate the different manner in which space and time is experienced and the manner in which space and time are used in the management of change.