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Developments at all levels between project and policy have a potential impact on human health. Health‐impact assessment (HIA) is a discipline that seeks to assess these impacts to safeguard and enhance human health. There is a growing consensus about the scope, methodology and context for HIA but there are also many unresolved issues. This paper reviews the main trends as they vary between the healthy public policy, environmental assessment and environmental epidemiology communities; and between retrospective and prospective, developed and developing economies and urban/industrial versus rural settings. There are unresolved issues associated with the nature of evidence, the link with economic appraisal, and with the core biophysical and social health determinants. The nature of the evidence used is examined and some resolutions are proposed. The growing number of guidelines testify to a demand by development agencies for HIA, but increased consensus is required to ensure that quality assessments are delivered.

This paper, which is based on experience from a recent, large, social‐marketing intervention to improve reproductive health in Orissa, India, reviews evidence of harmful effects of improper disposal of male condoms, e.g. ingestion by cattle, effects on humans (e.g. rag pickers), length of time to biodegrade, drain blockage, screen‐cleaning and disposal costs to waste‐water treatment systems. Evidence of impact on the aquatic environment, of hormones from oral contraceptive pills excreted in urine was examined. Given the dearth of published and anecdotal data on the subject, it is concluded that further evidence of the magnitude and severity of the problem in Orissa and similar places in less developed countries is required to facilitate planning of mitigation actions that can be incorporated into social marketing of reversible contraceptives.

A central goal of strategic management is to understand why some organizations outperform others. Based on the literature, we test the links among strategic resources, firm’s strategic orientation, and performance using data from 1,201 Spanish small and medium‐sized enterprises. The results can guide managers to invest in the appropriate resources since there is evidence that technology, innovation, quality, and human resource management leads to better company performance. It is also shown how strategic resources varies according to strategic orientation.

Despite the rapid growth and lure of the service sector, entrepreneurs are well advised to consider the numerous competitive challenges encountered when owning and operating a service business. The unique nature of services (i.e. intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability, simultaneity) serves as a backdrop to accentuate the competitive landscapes in the service sector. To frame the analysis and discussion of the competitive environment for service businesses, the article applies Porter’s conceptualization of the five sources of competition – rivalry among existing intra‐industry firms; new entrants; substitutes; suppliers; and buyers. Discusses implications and suggestions for service entrepreneurs throughout the article.

While most extant research focused on different dimensions of the entrepreneurs’ social network such as the size and quality of the network, the focus of this paper is on the extent to which entrepreneurs utilize their personal network with suppliers, competitors, customers, and government officials to support the operations of their ventures. This paper also takes into account the effects of industry level determinants that can influence the relationship between entrepreneurs’ personal network usage and young firms’ performance.

The paper employs confirmatory factor analysis and moderated hierarchical multiple regressions on a sample of 246 young firms in Kuwait.

The results indicate that entrepreneurs' personal network usage is positively associated with young firms' performance. The results also reveal that industry dynamism strengthens this relationship, while in hostile industries the relationship between network usage and young firms' performance becomes weaker.

The present study provides insights into how the extent of utilization of an entrepreneur's personal network affects the firm's performance. Furthermore, by unpacking how industry dynamism and industry hostility influence the entrepreneurs' ability to reap benefits from their personal networks, this paper enriches the research on the role of industry factors in the performance of young firms.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

In 1990/91, survey responses were gathered from 621 independent businesses located in Great Britain. A follow‐on telephone survey was conducted with 150 surviving firms in 1997. This survey gathered information surrounding the propensity of firms to export their goods or services abroad as well as other performance and goal outcomes. Organizational and external environmental variables collected in 1990 are used to explain within a multivariate statistical framework the propensity of a firm to be an exporter in 1997, and the intensity of internationalization activity. Data collected in 1990 is also used to explain variations in several performance variables (i.e. whether exporting was regarded as a path to firm growth; profit performance reported in 1997 relative to competition; and the propensity to report employment growth over the 1990 to 1997 period).

This monograph is the consequence of a variety of experiences. It reflects an interest in SMEs and entrepreneurship stretching back almost 17 years from the author’s days in the fresh food industry. It reflects knowledge from a series of studies and projects in which the author has been engaged since commencement of an academic career in 1990. In particular, it reflects the findings of a five‐year piece of doctoral research that the author conducted with 57 firms in Ireland and the UK between 1995‐1999. The study seeks to identify the key determinants of SME marketing activity. The research objectives focused on determining a framework of marketing competencies for SMEs, the extent of formal marketing processes practised, and how SME marketing decisions are made. Further research objectives emerged (these were inductive in nature) that focused on determining the extent of the sales orientation in SMEs and on gaining insights into the use and character of the contact networks of the individuals who manage such enterprises. A syncretised qualitative methodology was developed for the study. The research approach was both deductive and inductive. The analytical strategy adopted a range of tools but was predominantly characterised by data reduction through detailed coding and the development of strict frameworks for analysis. The findings identified a spectrum of marketing competencies for SMEs. It existed at three levels – foundation, transitional and operational. It was shown that the sales orientation of SMEs is what determines their marketing character. A core spectrum of SME sales competencies was identified. It showed significant overlap with the marketing competency spectrum. It was concluded that, since the sales orientation determines the marketing competencies, it also shapes the marketing character of SMEs. The sample firms engaged in significant formal marketing practice, most notably marketing planning. Marketing practice and decisions were characterised by significant usage of personal contact networks. Contact networks were also rooted in a strong sales orientation. It was clear that many marketing decisions that are ostensibly operational in character become strategic or eventually effect strategic change in the marketing practices of SMEs. A holistic model of SME marketing was developed. The model is an integrated complex of the elements of SME marketing examined. Whilst the holistic model developed is entrepreneurial in character, it depicts the SME as a much more sophisticated marketing entity than has been suggested in any previous research.

Makes a contribution to the debate surrounding the characteristics of “non‐exporting” (n = 203 firms) and “exporting” (n = 64 firms) new manufacturing and “producer services” small firms in Great Britain. It was appreciated that sample differences may overwhelm the exploratory analysis. Consequently, in order to overcome this potentially distorting influence a “matched pairs” methodology was also utilized. Forty‐two matched pairs of non‐exporting and exporting firms were identified (by age of the business, industry and location type). In total, data were collected on 146 variables covering the firm, the founder and the environment. Dichotomizing between the two types of firms the univariate analysis of the “matched samples” identified statistically significant differences with regard to only 14 variables (10 per cent). Additional multivariate analysis was conducted. Results from a logit regression model of the “matched samples” suggests new firms are “pushed” into “exporting” their sales abroad due to perceived shortages of local resources as well as intense local competition. Discusses the policy implications of the survey findings.

The purpose of this paper is to integrate knowledge inheritance theory with the social capital perspective to explain the initial endowments of spinoffs.

The authors maintain that social capital plays a crucial part, both as a mechanism supporting the generation of intellectual capital prior to a spinoff’s foundation, and as an endowment that complements this capital once the spinoff is founded. Knowledge inheritance remains a fundamental mechanism for the formation of a spinoff’s intellectual capital. Its other endowment, social capital, derives from three types of relationship that future entrepreneurs develop within, through and outside their parent firm, all three of which are crucial to the formation of a spinoff’s intellectual capital.

The first result of the theoretical research is an integrative framework of a spinoff’s endowments. Moreover, the authors apply this framework to address two key research questions in the spinoff literature, i.e. whether spinoffs can differ from their parents in terms of intellectual capital; and why spinoffs tend to co-locate near their parents, in geographical clusters. The integrative approach helps to tackle these questions.

This conceptual paper offers a more comprehensive explanation of the emergence of spinoffs in terms of their initial endowments than the knowledge inheritance theory.