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1 – 10 of 87This article is principally a case study establishingthe existence of an internal labour market inBritish Rail, and its significance for the long‐termwage structure…
Abstract
This article is principally a case study establishing the existence of an internal labour market in British Rail, and its significance for the long‐term wage structure. Drawing on the work of Doeringer and Piore it outlines the advantages that internal labour markets would be expected to offer both employers and employees, and the implications which these have for the process of wage determination. It briefly reviews previous case studies supporting the importance of the role of comparisons, both internal and external, in wage bargaining; and then turns to the study of British Rail. Finding the characteristics expected of an internal labour market, it then establishes that the wage structure of the industry has demonstrated a considerable degree of stability over the period 1950‐85, despite considerable changes in relative productivities. This degree of consistency is regarded as being difficult to reconcile with the dominance of market forces in wage determination.
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According to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Ernst & Young, 2010), the Brazilian middle class is represented by approximately 100…
Abstract
Purpose
According to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Ernst & Young, 2010), the Brazilian middle class is represented by approximately 100 million people. Moreover, according to the Brazilian Association of Importers and Manufactures of Motor Vehicle Companies (ABEIFA, 2015), Brazil was ranked fourth in the world in the ranking of major automobile consumers. This is undoubtedly a highly attractive market for world producers in this sector. However, the Brazilian automobile market has some specific features that require a very prudent operation. This case aims to investigate how those idiosyncrasies were approached by the Chinese car manufacturer JAC Motors, which in addition to not having previous experience in that market, also presented a negative country of origin image.
Methodology/approach
We rely on a case study method to better understand how the executives of this Chinese firm approached the Brazilian market.
Findings
Pulling and pushing factors are the basis of the adaptation process followed by the car manufacturer to better serve the identified idiosyncrasies. It was not only China that pushed JAC Motors to go abroad, but also Brazil that attracted (pulled) the car manufacturer’s investment. Additionally, there is evidence of pushing factors on the side of JAC’s strategy and pulling factors on the side of a Brazilian partner.
Research limitations/implications
Internationalisation decision-making processes often result from a combination of factors which gain a specific ‘momentum’ that result in an extraordinary occasion that provides a unique opportunity to invest abroad.
Originality/value
The uniqueness of the opportunity to invest abroad is the result of the alignment of pulling and pushing factors, in the country, the company and at the decision-making level.
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Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the…
Abstract
Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. The range of applications of FEMs in this area is wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore aims to give the reader an encyclopaedic view on the subject. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains 2,025 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the analysis of beams, columns, rods, bars, cables, discs, blades, shafts, membranes, plates and shells that were published in 1992‐1995.
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P. Kevin Carwile and Valerie Hollis
Focuses on the infiltration of the US stock market by organised crime in the shape of La Cosa Nostra (LCN). Defines what organised crime is and goes on to the history of…
Abstract
Focuses on the infiltration of the US stock market by organised crime in the shape of La Cosa Nostra (LCN). Defines what organised crime is and goes on to the history of Cosa Nostra, its reasons for tackling Wall Street and how it does this, analysing two specific cases of infiltration: Mob Stocks and Operation Uptick. Describes the various sectors of the securities market involved: the over‐the‐counter market, penny stocks, and chop stocks. Shows how LCN has invaded securities schemes, including trading scams and brokerage scams; its techniques include protection rackets, hidden ownership, and “pump and dump” schemes, but violence remains as the last resort. Assesses the scope of the corruption and whether organised crime is really a threat to the stock market.
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Richard O. Mason, Ian I. Mitroff and Vincent P. Barabba
Consider the plight of the contemporary manager: the forces affecting corporate planning today stem from a wide variety of external sources—public interest groups…
Abstract
Consider the plight of the contemporary manager: the forces affecting corporate planning today stem from a wide variety of external sources—public interest groups, changing customer demands, foreign nations, government agencies, and many more. Consequently, the problems that managers and planners must solve are increasingly complex. They are, in addition, ill‐structured and have many highly interrelated dimensions, each of which expresses a wide range of differing values, beliefs and knowledge. Compared with well structured problems—proving geometric theorems or solving Sunday supplement puzzles are examples—ill‐structured problems have no sure fire solutions. One can't tell whether the planning methods used and the solutions obtained fit the problem best or not.
This paper aims to investigate how effectuation and causation logic influences portfolio formation among entrepreneurs.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how effectuation and causation logic influences portfolio formation among entrepreneurs.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used was a case study with 15 participants.
Findings
There is evidence of effectuation reasoning during the preliminary and early stages of venture and portfolio development. Portfolio entrepreneurs tend to adopt causation logic as ventures and portfolios mature.
Research limitations/implications
The study is exploratory and looks at cases of successful portfolio entrepreneurs only.
Practical implications
The findings will allow researchers and business mentors to provide more specific advice for other entrepreneurs such as nascent and novices, and potentially reduce the incidence of business failure.
Originality/value
The paper provides an understanding of how business portfolios develop from an entrepreneur's perspective.
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Borchibond 145 is a new water‐based silicate binder from Borchers AG, formulated for use as a resin, or with other resins, in waterborne paint systems.
SCIENTISTS and sociologists have for some time been gravely disquieted about the impact which modern technology is making upon society; a disquiet which has recently been…
Abstract
SCIENTISTS and sociologists have for some time been gravely disquieted about the impact which modern technology is making upon society; a disquiet which has recently been percolating through wider sections of all communities. Man has always recognized, since the first machine usurped the place of the human hand as the tool of production, that progress does good but brings harm in its wake, although it is not as quickly appreciated.
Hanan AbdelKhalik Abouelfarag and Rasha Qutb
This research seeks to empirically examine the impact of government expenditure on the unemployment rate in Egypt during the period of 1980–2017. In addition, it examines…
Abstract
Purpose
This research seeks to empirically examine the impact of government expenditure on the unemployment rate in Egypt during the period of 1980–2017. In addition, it examines whether the distinction between discretionary and nondiscretionary items of government expenditure have a different effect on unemployment.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs the Johansen cointegration test to ensure the long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables, then the vector error correction model (VECM) to explore the dynamic short and long-run effects.
Findings
The empirical results of this research reveal that increasing government expenditure causes an increase in the unemployment rate in the long-run. Both discretionary expenditures and nondiscretionary expenditures increase the growth of unemployment by approximately the same coefficient. The worsening impact of discretionary expenditures on unemployment is highly attributed to the compensation of employees and the government subsidies. Investment expenditure has an insignificant effect because of its minor percentage in government expenses.
Practical implications
Redirecting the unnecessary expenditures toward labor-intensive public investments is recommended, in addition to reducing domestic and foreign debts. The government has to work hard to increase the economic growth rate, as it has a vital role in reducing unemployment.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first attempts to analyze the effect of government expenditure on the unemployment rate in Egypt. Moreover, this research distinguishes between the effects related to discretionary and nondiscretionary items of government expenditure.
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Rohit Singh, Shwetank Avikal, Rashmi Rashmi and Mangey Ram
In today's era of a digital world, mobile phones have now become an essential part in everyday life. The selection of the best mobile phone among the available…
Abstract
Purpose
In today's era of a digital world, mobile phones have now become an essential part in everyday life. The selection of the best mobile phone among the available alternatives is a complex decision making it a problem for the customers. Mobile phone manufactures are facing a lot of problems for launching/introducing a mobile phone according to the requirement of customers and it depends on a number of criteria/attributes such as: technical specifications, price, brand etc.
Design/methodology/approach
In the presented work, the above-discussed problem has been considered as a Multi-Criteria Decision Making MCDM problem and an approach based on Kano model with Fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS has been proposed to solve the problem. The Kano model has been used for identifying the different Kano categories of all the features through a customer survey. Fuzzy AHP has been applied to achieve the weights of each feature in order to introduce a best mobile phone for the customers. TOPSIS has been used for ranking of alternatives.
Findings
main features with different other sub-features have been selected for the study. Different features have been considered as categories and their Kano categories have been found out. The importance of these features has also been calculated by Fuzzy-AHP in terms of their evaluated weights. Different mobile phones have been ranked by TOPSIS according to their features calculated by Fuzzy-AHP. The proposed approach seems effective for identifying/classifying different attributes/features of mobile phones according to customer's requirements.
Originality/value
Here, different features of a mobile phone have been considered for designing a suitable mobile phone. Thus, this work can help a designer to design and select a suitable feature for a customer-oriented mobile phone.
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