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This article provides a summary of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) work over recent years to address occupational exposure to particulates during the manufacture and use of coating powders. It contends, in particular, that many users of coating powders are not controlling exposure to total inhalable particulate (TIP) (i.e. the total inhalable dust in the air from all sources), and that these control issues would exist even if TGIC (triglycidyl isocyanurate) was not being used. TGIC is a curing agent for polyester coating powders which is classified as a Category 2 mutagen. HSE is raising awareness that control of exposure is generally poor whatever powders are being used.

This paper aims to propose an empirically grounded governance framework based on complex adaptive systems (CAS) principles to facilitate formation of well-connected regional supply chains that foster economic development, adaptability and resilience of mining regions.

This study is an exploratory case study of the South Australian (SA) mining industry that includes 38 semi-structured interviews with the key stakeholders and structural analysis of the regional supply network (RSN).

Findings demonstrate the applicability of the CAS framework as a structured approach to the governance of the mining industry regional supply chains. In particular, the findings exemplify the relationship between RSN governance, its structure and interconnectivity and their combined impact on the adaptability and resilience of mining regions.

The data set analysed in the current study is static. Longitudinal data would permit a deeper insight into the evolution of the RSN structure and connectivity. The validity of the proposed framework could be further strengthened by being applied to other industrial domains and geographical contexts.

The proposed framework offers a novel insight for regional policy-makers striving to create an environment that facilitates the formation of well-integrated regional supply chains in mining regions through more focussed policy and strategies.

The proposed framework is one of the first attempts to offer a holistic structured approach to governance of the regional supply chains based on CAS principles. With the current transformative changes in the global mining industry, policy-makers and supply chain practitioners have an urgent need to embrace CAS and network paradigms to remain competitive in the twenty-first century.

The recent background to the UK market for organic milk is reviewed to establish the background to the Organic Dairy Production: A Sustainable Future for Organic Dairying conference held in March 2002. The presentations given at that conference are critically reviewed. Several of arguably the most important determinants of the sustainable future of organic dairying did not find their full expression at that conference. Issues largely or wholly excluded include: a priori evidence for expecting a higher level of co‐operation among organic than conventional farmers; the distinction between “competitive pricing” and “sustainable pricing”; import penetration and substitution, and post‐conversion subsidies; utilising innovative information technologies to “tell the organic story”; policing organic standards and traceability; and the ownership of the “organic label” and the number of organic standard bodies. The importance of these issues is shown by reference to the current market situation for organic milk in the UK. There is a need for considerable developments in the marketing of organic milk. More distance must be placed between associations that campaign for market growth and an organisation that will need to be appointed to take responsibility for providing reliable and impartial market‐based information.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of innovative performances for science parks as a framework for understanding how effectively human and structural capital (i.e. intellectual assets) are leveraged. The key point is fostering main determinants to investigate and/or make sense of key management activities/factors shaping the evolution and performance of knowledge creating processes.

The study was based on the quantitative and qualitative values, for the period 2000-2011, gathered from a sample of 901 public and private organizations located in the 21 European Union (EU) countries. With regard to the methodology, the hypothesis testing first required an analysis of the correlations between the investigation variables, and then the use of regression analysis to study the relationships between the innovative performance of the research institutions, and the financial, organizational and knowledge characteristics of the science parks investigated.

The empirical research shows that: the allocation of public resources does not influence most of the selected indicators of performance, with the exception of the negative effect seen for the number of patents; the resources provided by venture capitalists have a positive effect on all of the indicators of performance of the science park; the science parks of greater dimensions have better performances; the positive impact of the systemic relationships seems to have an effect that is limited to the increase in the number of contracts stipulated with industry; the number of publications produced by researchers of the science parks seems to have an unclear effect on the innovative performance; and an increase in the number of researchers enhances the innovative performance of the science parks.

It seems appropriate to suggest some research lines that arise from the limits of this work. In particular, it should be stressed that there is a need to enlarge the sample investigated to embrace local innovation systems outside the EU, so as to provide further validation to the empirical results of this research.

This research has some practical implications of notable interest at the level of European policies. Interventions of public policies supporting innovation should not be concentrated on the increase of public funding but on increasing private capital investment.

This paper aims to extend literature about factors explaining the financial, organizational and cognitive performance of science parks in Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to study the human resource management (HRM)–performance linkage by exploring alternative relationships between different HRM practices, categorised as either calculative or collaborative, and employee turnover and organisational and financial outcomes, in Uruguayan multinational companies (MNCs) and domestic companies, to better understand the implications of the Latin American context in this relationship.

The study is performed at the firm level, using data from a representative sample of 274 firms, including both multinationals and locally owned firms in Uruguay, collected through the Cranet 2009 survey. The authors tested the hypotheses of the proposed model using structural equation modelling (SEM) and hierarchical multiple regression analysis.

Empirical results show that collaborative HRM practices are significantly related to lower employee turnover rates, whereas calculative HRM practices are significantly associated with higher organisational and financial outcomes. These findings show the importance of the Latin American context in the relationships between HRM practices and firms’ outcomes.

The use of survey data with single respondents might produce reliability problems. Additionally, the data used are cross-sectional, making it difficult to determine causality.

Managers in MNCs and local firms in the context of developing economies and Latin American cultures must be aware that different types of HRM practices will influence different outputs and impacts on overall outcomes.

The paper examines the extent to which HRM practices have a significant relationship with firm performance. In addition, it identifies the differential effects of calculative and collaborative HRM practices on performance, using data from a Latin American contextual setting rarely examined, in order to determine similarities and differences from results obtained in US and European contexts.

Property investment vehicles are reviewed from a literature perspective drawing upon the experience of real estate investment trusts in the USA and contrasting this with European examples. The primary focus of the paper is upon German funds, using survey evidence to evaluate their structural characteristics. The paper forwards from a theoretical perspective an assessment framework indicating how different types of fund can be matched to product opportunities on the basis of risk, appreciation potential, nature of contract, location and use.

Comments on the changes in attitude of sales personnel now that customers wield more power; customer satisfaction, customer care and quality are priorities now that companies cannot afford to lose existing customers and have to work hard to attract new ones. Studies examples of how sales staff in both newspaper advertising and in software companies have been trained to deliver better Customer service. Looks at ways in which the sales function has changed and will change in the future, creating the need for corresponding changes in job description.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the importance for nations of key institutional, economic, and societal factors for attracting skilled professionals from abroad. It examines the existing literature on international talent mobility and empirically tests the validity of nation branding as a strategy for attracting internationally mobile skilled professionals.

The authors use secondary data from the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Martin Prosperity Institute to test six hypotheses concerning factors that attract internationally mobile skilled professionals to a foreign country to live and work.

The study finds that conditions of employment, quality of life, good governance, and tolerance towards people of diverse backgrounds are key issues that need to be holistically emphasized in successful nation branding campaigns aimed at attracting highly skilled professionals from abroad.

The authors use strong secondary data to reduce common method bias in the results which show that “macro” factors sway internationally mobile skilled professionals to favor some countries over others. The authors contribute to the literature on international talent flows by conceptualizing nation branding as a framework through which a variety of push and pull factors can be examined to entice and attract internationally mobile skilled professionals to a particular host-country. The findings will apply to several different types of skilled professionals including self-initiated expatriates, self-initiated corporate expatriates, and third country nationals and local foreign hires.

This paper proposes the concepts of communities of enterprise (CoEs) and virtual communities of enterprise (VCoEs) to describe business networking patterns in regional areas where there is no central organisational or industry focus and small and medium enterprises dominate the economy.

Based on analysis of the literature this paper builds on theoretical understandings of knowledge management, clustering and regional development.

The concept of CoEs is most appropriate for regional areas characterised by many small enterprises in diverse industries. CoEs enhance development of regional clusters by contributing to their intellectual capital, innovation culture, value networks and social capital. The incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICT) creates VCoEs which provide added potential by enabling regions to expand their learning potential through innovation.

This paper provides a conceptual foundation for empirical research into regional network or cluster development using ICT.

VCoEs value creation potential is substantial but only when the socioeconomic elements of regional clusters are understood. The VCoE approach addresses the fact that without an industry focus it can be difficult to engage and link small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from different industries, although this is where the greatest potential for value creation in regional clusters is to be found.

The VCoEs concept specifically addresses the unique requirements of SMEs in regions. It has the potential to provide value for regions in a way few ICT based regional development initiatives have been able to achieve.

The purpose of this study is to explore the early stage of development of a cluster. The literature on early stage of cluster development shows that there are often random effects such as an entrepreneur and spin-off companies, and in this study, a coordinated approach for cluster development is described.

A single exploratory case study approach is followed. The aerospace cluster in the Spokane region, State of Washington, is described. Data from a variety of sources are triangulated to enhance the credibility of the case study findings.

It was found that although there are many types of collaborations occurring in the region, which involve policy and government organizations, the main driver of the early-stage cluster development is manufacturers-led coordinating mechanism. Individual manufacturers are too small to be successful in the aerospace industry, and they are collaborating to present a united “front” to out-of-the-region customers. Once customers place an order, then within this coordinating mechanism, the work is divided among different manufacturers.

The research has two main limitations. First, it is a single case study, and therefore, the results may not be generalizable. Second, the cluster is in an early stage of development, so it is not (yet) clear whether this manufacturers-led coordinated approach will have long-term success.

The studies offer potential for cluster development that go beyond relying on a single entrepreneur or on mostly government- or policy-driven initiatives. Instead, this is an approach that can be used by industry to lift the overall competitiveness of their region.

This cluster development approach offers potential for economic development of smaller regions which mainly consist of small- and medium-sized companies without endowment benefits or a large local customer base.

This study adds to the existing knowledge on clusters and cluster types. The identified cluster approach does not fit with the main types of clusters that have been identified in the literature. The companies involved are mainly small- to medium-sized companies, but by coordinating their capabilities, they are able to present core capabilities in a much more attractive manner to customers. This cluster development approach is not driven by or achieved through advantages in innovation, vertical or horizontal supply chain competition and advantages, creation of spin-off firms, or a regional demand base as customers are located outside the region. It deviates in terms of the types of companies involved and, mostly, in a sense that it acts as one unit to customers who are located outside the region.