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The purpose of this research is to show that for the successful development of socio‐technical systems it is essential that various stakeholders are able to integrate their different knowledge and perspectives. A method that supports knowledge integration in the course of introduction and development of socio‐technical systems is the Socio‐technical Walkthrough (STWT). The paper describes the characteristics of the STWT method and the potential to support knowledge integration.

The theoretical approach of the STWT is closely related to the notion of socio‐technical systems. Starting with the historical development of this term, the authors saw the necessity to adopt elements of newer system theory so as to achieve a better understanding of the conditions under which a social system and a technical system can be integrated. Based on two empirical case studies (university library/logistic enterprise goes Web) the authors show empirical evidence, that the STWT is especially suitable when supporting certain kinds of knowledge integration.

The STWT is a method which is flexible and has the ability to integrate different viewpoints, to document the results of this integration, and to promote the development of a socio‐technical system which follows common design principles. Using two empirical case studies, the authors derived a list of categories which characterize the knowledge which should be integrated when a socio‐technical system is developed (e.g. agreements concerning the usage of a software system). Those elements of the STWT method which have a positive effect on knowledge integration are highlighted (e.g. continuously combining communication processes and graphical documentations).

Further research is necessary so as to understand how the exchange of knowledge and its integration takes place during workshops to design sociotechnical systems and how the methods can be improved and become more reliable. There also has to be a better understanding of the effect of different kinds of diagrammatic representations and the ways to refer to the representations during an STWT.

The paper aims to research the mechanics of voluntary export restraints (VERs). It first develops a comprehensive VER research agenda, subsequently covering a 1991 VER between the European Union (EU) and Japan that established “voluntary” quotas on Japanese cars until 1999.

Reflecting gaps in research, an overall VER research agenda is set up. Then, referring to the only source providing ex ante hypotheses on the specific EU/Japan VER, those hypotheses by Preusse are checked against available ex post data at the time of writing in 2002.

First, Japan has not exhausted any of its yearly quotas during and even accepted a cut of quota in some years – an outcome only partly influenced by lower than expected market growth in the relevant period. Then, the competitive power of the Japanese producers appears overestimated, while the European capability to catch up was underestimated. Potential “escape routes” such as transplants and third‐country imports fell short of estimations – providing no particular support for Preusse's efficiency effect hypothesis and competitive effect hypothesis.

Typical research limitations such as data source availability and actor accessibility notwithstanding, it is shown that the product upgrading effect often associated with VERs may happen independently of such agreements.

This first results‐based, hypothesis‐driven exploration of particular VER mechanisms supports the authors’ call for a dual, actor‐driven and multi‐disciplinary VER research approach. It holds promise for the potential avenues for related research.

The current push for small firms to be “wired up to the digital marketplace” is evidenced by the number of initiatives targeting small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to promote this activity. Like other governments worldwide, UK Online’s SME targets (together with the supporting DTI adoption ladder) exemplify the “conventional wisdom” view of a homogeneous small business sector, within which firms take an ordered, sequential progression on the route to Internet technology adoption. This approach is questioned by grounding the official rhetoric in the reality of organisational and operational complexity of this important sector of the UK economy. These initiatives are compared and contrasted with similar models of small firm development, most of which neglected to address the diverse nature of small firm needs. The authors recommend a more discriminant approach, focused upon factors such as firm size, age, managerial structure and information and communications technology adoption stages.