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The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical analysis that examines joint bids that unite multiple cities or nations in a bid for hosting international large-scale sport events from the perspective of strategic alliances.

Using previous strategic alliance research and examples of joint sport event bids, this study discusses how joint event bids can be understood as strategic alliances.

Motivations of bidders and driving forces behind the formation of joint bids are identified and analyzed. By integrating theories used in the area of strategic alliances, this study provides an agenda for moving research on joint bids forward as the practice continues to expand.

As a conceptual paper, the findings of this study can be a starting point for future research not only on joint bids but also on inter-organizational relationships in the context of sport event bidding.

The aim is to examine the importance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see in different network partners regarding successful tendering in public procurement, and whether this perception predicts the number of joint bids and wins.

The data were collected by an electronic questionnaire which was sent to the registered users of the leading electronic platform for public procurement in Finland. The data were analysed with statistical methods.

The findings suggest that a favourable perception of the importance of horizontal networks in public procurement is associated with a larger number of joint bids and better success in joint bidding. However, the results do not establish a positive correlation between vertical networks and consortium bidding.

The data were collected from a single EU country. Since the criteria for bidding consortia may vary between countries, different results might have been achieved from other countries.

SMEs should be encouraged to form bidding consortia and acquire related experience. Policymakers should minimise barriers to consortium bidding, e.g. by offering more information. They should also assess the merits of joint bidding because they rarely encourage SMEs to bid as a consortium.

Consortium bidding is a way of enhancing SMEs’ possibilities to participate in public tender contests, even in large contracts.

While consortium bidding has been recognised to enhance SMEs’ possibilities of participating in public procurement, there is limited research into how SMEs’ network collaborations relate to bidding as a consortium.

Construction contract auctions are characterized by (1) a heavy emphasis on the lowest bid as it is that which usually determines the winner of the auction, (2) anticipated high outliers because of the presence of non‐competitive bids, (3) very small samples, and (4) uncertainty of the appropriate underlying density function model of the bids. This paper describes a method for simultaneously identifying outliers and density function by systematically identifying and removing candidate (high) outliers and examining the composite goodness‐of‐fit of the resulting reduced samples with censored normal and lognormal density function. The special importance of the lowest bid value in this context is utilized in the goodness‐of‐fit test by the probability of the lowest bid recorded for each auction as a lowest order statistic. Six different identification strategies are tested empirically by application, both independently and in pooled form, to eight sets of auction data gathered from around the world. The results indicate the most conservative identification strategy to be a multiple of the auction standard deviation assuming a lognormal composite density. Surprisingly, the normal density alternative was the second most conservative solution. The method is also used to evaluate some methods used in practice and to identify potential improvements.

The case provides an insight on the provisions of the IND AS 115 (largely converging with IFRS 15), financial impact of alternative accounting practices and dynamics of a revenue recognition decision. MBA students can use the knowledge derived from the case at their workplace when they encounter accounting of “revenue from a contract with customers”.

Saifudin Rehman, one of the promoter of Suprajeet Corporation (SUC) had been engaged in electrical installation contract business. The firm had been doing well in the field of small contracts and was having steady growth. People in the firm were also quite acquainted with the kind of contracts they were doing. However, Saifudin always wanted to get into a big contract business. For getting into big installation contracts, the corporation needed more working capital and needed to satisfy the criteria of having a high amount of turnover in the preceding year. The case will be looked into from the perspective of accounting procedure to see the possibility of increasing the revenue by changing the method of accounting in relation to revenue recognition. The case provided the opportunity to evaluate the benefits and the costs involved in changing the accounting method in SUC.

Commerce Graduates and MBA I.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

In highly competitive industries such as the construction sector, companies with limited capabilities struggle to maintain their current standing, let alone acquire more market share. Before they are able to address their shortcomings, these companies need to pinpoint where their performance stands when it comes to market demand. Furthermore, competitiveness is strongly linked with companies' ability to win tenders and deliver the associated construction projects. Tenders are, therefore, a mechanism that reflects the strengths and weaknesses of construction firms and can be deemed an indicator of competitiveness. This paper aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increase their presence in the construction sector by suggesting a systematic approach to evaluate their competitiveness.

Participation requirements were extracted from 11 calls for tenders and organized into categories using a qualitative content analysis. These requirements along with winning assets deduced from the literature constitute the basis of the tool. The qualitative evaluation of the difficulty in satisfying requirements or acquiring assets was transformed into unified, quantifiable scores by means of fuzzy numbers.

A total of 233 requirements were found and classified in 3 main categories. In addition, a list of 54 assets organized into five categories was compiled. The entire methodology led to a five-step assessment tool whose output can be depicted on the proposed competitiveness readiness matrix (CRM).

This study contributes to the limited number of articles discussing the contractor's side in the tendering process. Furthermore, it combines three theoretical perspectives (i.e. resource-based view, relational view, and industry structure perspective), which are scarcely applied in the construction management field. Consideration of the calls for tenders when developing solutions is also a unique aspect of this research when compared to previous studies.

This tool may help practitioners navigate the rather elusive tendering process by outlining the necessary elements to participate in and win tenders. It may also allow construction firms to better position themselves in the market with respect to customers' requirements and competitors' performances.

This study provides an approach of both self-assessment and market benchmarking. It assists companies in formulating strategies to become more competitive in general and make better bidding decisions. This is especially interesting because of three aspects: the study is based on a fundamental element of the construction competitiveness concept, i.e. calls for tenders; it offers a mechanism to transform systematically qualitative attributes into quantifiable scores; and it provides a practical and reliable display of the assessment results.

The Internet may well come to provide many members of the public with their best chance of access to public information. This article serves to update readers on two different approaches to assist public libraries to connect to the Internet; the Library Association Millennium Bid and Project EARL (Electronic Access to Resources in Libraries). In the first section of the article, the LA/EARL/UKOLN Public Libraries Networking Adviser reviews the exploratory Library Association Millennium Bid, the response by the Millennium Commission and the subsequent development of the new joint Library Association and Library and Information Commission bid. In the second section, she reviews the accelerating momentum of Project EARL, a consortium of 40% of UK public library authorities, and the establishment of Development/Special Interest Groups. The Millennium Bid and Project EARL seek to provide public access to the resources of the Internet, and to create new resources and services, through the UK public libraries community. Both projects have the potential to impact on public libraries into the next century and to deliver public information into the heart of every UK community.

How does the internationalization of R&D influence the development of dynamic capabilities? Based on the observation that Chinese high‐tech companies internationalize parts of their R&D activities to Western countries before they have established sound domestic R&D capabilities and in opposition to other held beliefs about internationalization drivers this paper aims to investigate the role of global R&D organizational structure in the development of dynamic capabilities.

This research is based on a qualitative case study using data of one Chinese high‐tech firm to develop testable propositions.

The research develops three main propositions: the loss of competitive advantage and relevant capabilities in the domestic market is more important to the internationalization of R&D than an attempt to enter new international markets; in joint development teams with a partner company, a functional R&D team sub‐structure using heavyweight or autonomous teams leads to a higher degree of knowledge exchange in the partner sub‐project organization; R&D projects conducted in organizations with higher formal control lead to a higher degree of learning than R&D projects conducted when control is shared with a partner; R&D projects which rely extensively on external knowledge (with no formal control) produce better outcomes for learning than projects conducted under joint control; R&D projects which rely extensively on external knowledge (with no formal control) produce better outcomes for learning than projects conducted in full control.

As the research is based on data of one single case study there are several inherent limitations regarding validity and reliability which need to be covered by future research.

This paper posits that R&D internationalization has a positive influence on the development of dynamic capabilities.

This paper aims to detail a range of collaborative programmes developed by University College London (UCL) and the London Business School (LBS). These schemes have been developed to exploit synergies between the two institutions with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship within the fields of science and technology.

The paper reports on the organisation and delivery of programmes drawing upon a detailed attendance statistics for UCL participants in the programme between 2,000 and 2006.

Many of the UCL research students who have participated in these programmes are only now reaching the end of their study or research programmes. Thus, it has not, as yet, been possible to complete a longitudinal survey to consider the impact of these programmes on entrepreneurial outcomes. These analyses will be reported in subsequent papers.

Staff and students of both institutions report great enthusiasm for these collaborative activities and the authors are now focussed on their extension beyond the end of the current funding regime. It is believed that the collaborations described may form a model that can be adapted to other partnerships between science and engineering faculties and business schools.

This scheme is original in its focus on support for post‐graduate activities between two proximate yet quite separate world‐class institutions with radically different student intakes, and operational/business models. It is believed that the paper presents a useful model for those seeking to implement similar collaborative programmes.

In the past few years Indian companies witnessed competition from their Chinese counterparts in acquiring overseas petroleum resources. In an attempt to avoid competition with each other the two governments have taken various measures, which finally led to the two countries signing a Memorandum of Understanding for energy cooperation especially for joint overseas bidding for exploration and production. Although the Indian side perceives the cooperation effort as a major breakthrough in avoiding Chinese competition in the overseas energy arena, it appears to be of limited prospects to India in terms of acquiring overseas petroleum assets or exploration and production contracts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the prospects and implication for India in the overseas energy cooperation with China.

The paper analyses the strategy which China is pursuing, in order to maximise its gains and outmanoeuvre India in the overseas energy asset biddings.

The main findings of the paper show that competition would be the prevailing factor in their interaction in overseas energy search.

While there are many potential areas of cooperation between India and China, this paper focuses only on their cooperation to jointly procure energy fields in order to evaluate the likely prospects and implications for India.

This paper is original work based on facts and information regarding energy cooperation between India and China. The paper offers an analysis of India‐China interaction in the overseas energy arena, and the prospects and implications of cooperation to India.

This article examines how bidding decisions are being tackled in practice. It appears very likely that in the future, these decisions will have to be made on a sounder, more structured, quantitative basis. The article suggests a formal, yet mathematically unsophisticated way of handling the bidding problem and considers how such an approach can help the decision maker. Such an approach is a valuable addition to the experience, judgment, intuition and common sense of the bidding strategist.