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Market liberalisation has resulted in significant changes not only in the way electricity is traded, but also for the market participants themselves. The bidding behaviour of market participants who are active in a liberalised UK‐like market has been modelled. Both operational and technical parameters associated with the market and its participants are accounted for. Explicit characterization of risk (value at risk) is made with respect to market participants and their attitude to trading. Profit maximization strategies for market participants are then developed based on the minimization of price‐risk under uncertainty. Results are presented for a selected case study and the effect of alternative strategies is compared. The case study concerns several generators who need to determine what proportion of their production they should sell to the market. The results show that based on cost and price forecasts there is scope for generators to profitably take advantage of both contractual and within‐day market trades.

At almost 1,500 feet above sea level Wanlockhead is the highest village in Scotland, lying in the Lowther Hills some eight miles above Sanquhar in Nithsdale and a similar distance from Abington in Lanarkshire, above the Clyde Valley. The name of its close neighbour, Leadhills, gives the clue to why inhabitants could have been induced to settle in such a remote, bleak and inhospitable location, for lead had been mined in the area since the Middle Ages. It was during the Seventeenth Century that mining in the area became a significant activity and in the Eighteenth Century the numbers of miners and their employees increased dramatically and social and village life developed.

States that there is continuing difficulty in achieving success with information systems, particularly in the sense of meeting users’ expectations and offers a fresh examination of those attributes of information systems by which users perceive success and failure, and through which they establish their expectations. Reviews existing research literature and suggests that, in addition to the process and product viewpoint, an important factor in achieving success is the service management perspective. Applies repertory grid techniques to uncover a total of 43 constructs which relate to users’ perceptions of success with information systems in business. Reduces these to 21 attributes which provide the basis of a new assessment and measurement framework, incorporating and augmenting the attributes found in previous work in this area. Illustrates the practical use of these attributes using two case studies: an information service provider and a hospital equipment supplier.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the size of the population of people with Down’s syndrome in Scotland in order to provide a basis for estimating likely numbers of people with dementia in Down’s syndrome at a range of ages.

Recorded data were requested from all general practitioner (GP) services in Scotland on people with an identified READ code denoting Down’s syndrome. A statistical weighting model was then applied to account for non-response bias.

There were 3,261 people with Down’s syndrome estimated by the application of a statistical weighting model. Of these, 1,118 people (34 percent) were aged between 40 and 59. This age banding includes the age groups reported as having the highest incidence of early onset dementia in Down’s syndrome.

It is not possible to apply a benchmark to the percentage of observed data which gives an indication of how accurate the estimates produced are. Rather, the quality of the estimates depends on the response rate itself and the extent to which response is correlated with the outcome variable. In short, the quality of the final weighted estimates depends on the extent to which the biasing effect is mitigated by the weighting. As a result, a different response rate to this survey would have resulted in variations in the weighting model and therefore provided a different set of estimates.

Adults with Down’s syndrome have an elevated risk of developing dementia significantly earlier than the general population and require specific age appropriate supports and services to meet their needs both pre and post-diagnosis. The reality of this is currently not fully realized in either standard practice or national policy concerning the issue.

This is the first set of data collected from GP services in Scotland to examine this issue and attempt to identify the population of people with Down’s syndrome in Scotland as a whole.

This study delves in the controversy about the nature and the sign of the effect of strategic alliances and exploration and exploitation capabilities on innovation and new product development. The paper analyses the effects of knowledge sharing and strategic alliances relationships at the firm level. Specifically, we study the influence of strategic alliances relationships in new product development and the mediating role of exploration and exploitation as dynamic capabilities.

This investigation proposes a theoretical model tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The multigroup analysis was performed to understand the moderating role of. A questionnaire survey was developed to explore the relations between strategic alliances and innovation and new product development variables. For this study, 387 valid questionnaires were collected from a sample of Portugal SME' firms. A 90-item questionnaire was submitted to employees managers of a large number of Portuguese SMEs, which consists to study the relationships among all the variables.

The results show that exists a positive direct influence of strategic alliances on innovation and new product development, and mediating impact the exploration and exploitation by the moderating role of knowledge sharing.

This study has some methodological limitations affecting its potential contributions. A cross-sectional study that captures one image in time and its ability to identify strict causality between variables is limited. Furthermore, the results are based on log collected from a key respondent, rather than broader actual data. The results are restricted to one country, Portugal. Future research should initially target different countries. Such research could then test the generalizability of the results.

To fill this managerial relevance gap, we propose a process model in which the main antecedents of alliance stability will be examined. We argue that an alliance's evolutionary dynamics depend on these factors and variables that the partners must assess and manage over its developmental stages. In this sense, managers have significant scope to influence the ultimate success of strategic alliances. This study highlights the need to actively manage the cooperation – competition (coopetition) tension with the alliance partner and to apply the knowledge acquired from the partner to create new knowledge to enhance innovative performance

This paper contributes to fill the gap between strategic alliances and new product development mediated by exploration and exploitation in the dynamic capabilities view.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a framework for management of digital records on the cloud in South Africa.

This qualitative case study used semi-structured interviews and document analysis to collect data from regulatory documents, records practitioners and chief information officers in the national government departments in South Africa.

This study reveals that despite the advent of cloud computing, government is still struggling with manual paper-based records challenges, as they have not developed a government-owned cloud in which to manage and dispose records.

Technological advancements have brought about dramatic changes to the management and disposition of records since cloud computing emerged. The traction gained by cloud computing influences how records are managed and disposed in the cloud storage. Currently, the South African Government manages and disposes records in the government premises as stipulated by the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act (1996). This is enforced by the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa, which is the government records regulator because records are on paper-based, microfilms and audio-visual formats. It is hoped that the recommendations and framework proposed in this study may assist the government and related sectors in the adoption and implementation of the cloud computing system for records management and disposal. This may assist in resolving challenges such as missing files, damaged records and archives and long turnaround time for retrieval of records.

In South Africa, the digital records are securely stored in storage mediums such as hard drives and USBs, to mention but a few. In addition to digital obsolescence faced by the storage mediums, global access to information is hindered because information is limited to those who can visit the archival holdings. The alternative option is to manage and dispose of records in the cloud. The framework and recommendations in this study may also assist in improving information, archives and records management policies and service delivery to the community at large. The framework proposed may be applied as a theory for framing future studies in the same area of cloud computing and used as a resource to guide other future studies and policymakers.

This study provides a framework for management of digital records on the cloud in South Africa. It also proposes the promulgation of the Cloud Act to promote unlimited access to state heritage, regardless of time and location. This study is framed on the Digital Curation Centre Life Cycle Model.

The purpose of this paper is to show an optimum income tax policy, given that the government must raise sufficient tax revenue to fund public goods and services as well as income transfer programmes. The paper examines the different types of taxes and then suggests a policy that is efficient, equitable, easy to administer and leads to a higher level of economic growth.

A literature review has been done to find all scholarly work that relates to income tax policy and its effect on economic growth. Results from endogenous growth models have been utilised to determine both the significance and the magnitude of income tax policy's effect on the growth rate of real GDP.

After examining the benefits of each type of taxation and reviewing the principles of capitalism, a proportionate (single rate) tax of 12 per cent on all income would be approximately revenue neutral in the USA, and would add to the growth of real GDP, thereby improving the standard of living.

The paper concentrates on income tax policy in the USA. While it is believed that the conclusions apply to virtually all market-based economies, cultural differences in some countries may result in a modification of the conclusion to fit the society.

In the USA today, the majority of people favour changing the current income tax code. The debate is about what to change and how to change it. This debate is also important to developing nations who try to set an income tax policy that reaches the goals while encouraging growth.

While the literature shows varying studies concerning the impact of tax policy, there is a gap when searching for an optimum policy. Many scholars have made suggestions but none of them seem to be optimal. This topic is of particular interest in the USA and the rest of the developed and non-developed world, since the recent performance of GDP growth has been very slow and in many instances negative. Most countries have tried combinations of monetary and fiscal policies to encourage growth, but none seem to be working effectively. The solution may be to change income tax policy. The proposal for an optimum income tax policy is new and different from any that has been suggested as yet.