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Commissioning is the Government's preferred method of driving improvement in both health and local government. Commissioning occurs at several levels, from strategic, high‐level visioning to more intimate purchase by or on behalf of individuals who need services. While there is much written about commissioning as an organisational concept, the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to aid strategic commissioners do an excellent job are still not well articulated. This article looks at some of the key knowledge to be acquired in the near future that will assist strategic commissioners in getting to grips with their massive agenda. It charts key moments in recent policy development to reiterate their strategic role, acknowledges cross‐cutting themes and seeks to define some of the more developed thinking that commissioning strategists will have in their box of tricks.

This article analyses the impact of telecommunication technologies on tourism distribution channels for small and medium enterprises.

The purpose of this paper is to present Danish distribution research, with an emphasis on research conducted during the last decade. In order to give the reader an understanding of the background of current research, a number of older projects are also mentioned. We refrain, on the other hand, from suggesting any trends for the future development of Danish distribution research — trends concerning topics, paradigms and methodology. As will be seen, the volume of research is quite small and the number of researchers is very limited. Hence, the future of distribution research is very dependent on the development of a few individuals and on their subjective choices. Having said this, it should also be made clear that what is presented below deals only with academic research.

Construction time performance (CTP) factors recently identified in work commissioned by the Construction Industry Institute Australia (CIIA) indicate that project team effectiveness significantly influences CTP. Project complexity also was found to significantly contribute to CTP. However, no residential projects were studied in that survey. This paper reports upon CTP research undertaken into Australian multi‐unit residential construction that fills this theory gap. Results indicate that the construction management (CM) team's effectiveness in managing theconstruction process has a major but not predominant role in influencing CTP. Team communication effectiveness and teamwork factors are also essential factors influencing CTP. Other factors found to affect CTP include: design team's management style; intra‐team working relationships; the degree of experience and expertise for the same type and size of project; procurement method; and the level of the CM team's current workload.

The range of pressures which has impacted on local government in the 1980s has forced the emergence of dynamic and sophisticated forms of industrial relations at the workplace level. It is clear, however, that with conceptual tools forged to analyse developments in the private manufacturing sector, very few attempts have been made by academics, policy‐makers or commentators to discuss the structures and processes which have emerged. The character of the changes at authority level are considered using material from a survey of personnel officers in over a third of authorities in England and Wales and within the context of prevailing analytical and theoretical frameworks. It is argued that the distinctive development of the personnel function in local government has resulted in a managerial process which conforms to key features of the human resource management (HRM) model, in particular the devolution of personnel responsibilities to line managers and the integration of personnel concerns at the strategic level. However, other features of this model are less in evidence. The search for employee commitment and flexibility remains patchy and often appears as a practical response to labour market and competitive pressures. Furthermore, collectivist features of employee relations remain well entrenched with the continued encouragement of both union membership and involvement. This is not to deny change beyond the HRM model. Thus, it is clear that established joint machinery is becoming increasingly unable to deal with ongoing issues while the trade unions are gradually being forced into a consultative rather than a bargaining role.

This chapter intends to explore once more the vexing question of the relationship between environment and conflict and the role certain emotions like fear play in it. Given the fact that the empirical evidence about this relation is ambiguous, it suggests that the link between the two issues only makes sense and works whenever institutional factors such as the clear definition and enforcement of property rights are absent or weak within or across societies. The empirical cases of Rwanda and Nepal are used to illustrate this relationship. After a discussion of the data problems that the case raises, simulations of the conflict and the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda and of the Maoist uprising in Nepal are proposed. The simulation model accounts quite well for the conflict and genocide evolution in Rwanda and for the casualties of the uprising in Nepal.

Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.

Popularity of the resource‐based theory of the firm has brought renewed interest in internal organisational domain as an important contributing factor toward organisational success. Generally, this research has taken the perspective that a direct link exists between internal domain and performance. An underlying premise of this view is that competitive direction is simply a reflection of the parameters of this domain. This study investigates the strength and direction of the link between internal domain and competitive direction to determine the significance of this assertion.

This study tests the signaling and tunneling models of dividend policies by examining the relationship between the ownership structure and the dividend payout in a setting where strong institutional governance and weak firm-level governance coexist.

Chinese American Depository Receipts (ADRs) listed in the US offer an excellent opportunity to study dividend policy where strong institutional governance and weak firm-level governance coexist. Using a sample of 161 Chinese ADRs from 2004 to 2018, this study examines the relationship between the firm's ownership structure and cash dividend policy.

This study shows that high levels of controlling shareholder ownership and high levels of state ownership are associated with high dividend payouts. A high level of controlling shareholder ownership has a negative effect on its firm value. Dividend payments in those firms mitigate the negative effect, consistent with the signaling (substitution) model. A high level of state ownership is beneficial to its firm value. However, high dividend payment in those firms decreases the benefit, supporting the tunneling model.

This study covers 161 Chinese ADRs listed in the US with a total market capitalization of over $2 trillion and reveals that dividend tunneling could occur in Chinese government controlled ADRs. Findings in this study would offer valuable insights for US investors and regulators.

This paper extends the tunneling hypothesis to the topic of dividend policy in a setting where strong institutional governance and weak firm-level governance coexist. This study shows that tunneling through dividends can happen among Chinese government controlled ADRs in the US. It also complements the literature by extending the examination of the dividend tunneling model from a relatively small universe of master limited partnership (Atanssov and Mandell, 2018) to a larger universe of Chinese ADRs listed in the US with a total market capitalization over $2 trillion US dollars.

The paper examines a recent example of work and employment restructuring in the Royal Navy. This involved the creation of a new employment branch (the Warfare Branch) out of two former branches: the Operations Branch and the Weapon Engineering Branch. The case study is used as a vehicle for exploring whether, and if so in what senses, technical change can be argued to have contributed to this organizational restructuring, within the wider contexts and dynamics of change.