Technology and knowledge are two of the most important factors for maintaining a competitive advantage in today's global economy. This book examines recent trends in the analysis of knowledge and technology from an evolutionary perspective.Technology and Knowledge emphasizes the importance of knowledge in the creation of technological change and innovation. The authors examine the role of knowledge underlying innovation, and the flows of knowledge and other interactions between and within firms. Combining empirical work with simulations to solve models which are too complex to be understood analytically, the book presents a balanced and complementary approach to an area that is critically important for economic growth and international competitiveness. This book will be warmly welcomed by academics working in the fields of technological change, innovation, knowledge and industrial organization.

Blockchain technology may have first emerged with bitcoin but its significance extends far beyond the financial sector: it is ushering in a whole new techno-economic paradigm. This book provides the first critical, in-depth examination of blockchain's transformative impact on the creative industries, including music, media, art and gaming. Drawing on interviews with 10 leading start-ups and a comprehensive review of the literature, the author examines blockchain's impact on business models, addresses the barriers and risks, and concludes with policy recommendations that will help unlock value in the UK's creative economy.

The full cost of the failing energy policies of the United States can be measured by out vulnerability to the dictates of foreign oil-producing countries. U.S. government policy has traditionally been aligned in support of independent oil refiners against the dominance of refining by the major oil companies, with the intent of ensuring competition. At the same time, petroleum policies of the last quarter-century have been justified on grounds of the need for national energy security. Those combined national security and antimonopoly policies have resulted in unacceptably high costs and have only undermined the government's attempts to achieve any kind of long-term energy goals.
Beginning with a thorough economic history and analysis of the refining industry's growth and structure, E. Anthony Copp shows how government import and domestic pricing policy has tended to subsidize the less economic sizes of independent refiners while reinforcing the market power of major refiners, thus failing to provide adequate additions to domestic petroleum proved reserves or to encourage more efficiency in refining capacity. The weakness of natural gas policies (which government has consistently failed to coordinate with national petroleum policy) and state prorationing and other policies since 1948 has also contributed to the current energy crisis.
A major theme of this book is that with energy resource allocation now heavily weighted by government planning, the independents may not gain at the expense of the major oil companies, but more likely both groups will yield actual or potential market power to governments, both foreign and domestic. How well government and industry learn to alter this pattern will have great bearing on the success of this nation in filling its energy needs and in preventing or allaying a more severe energy crisis in the 1980's.
Examining recent and current administration efforts at regulation, and the impact of OPEC's rise to world economic power on those policy efforts, the author presents ideas that should be considered in the development of a new national energy policy.

'The best contemporary map available [of the British state].' Peter Hennessy The final volume of Keith Middlemas's acclaimed trilogy shows how, after a climactic crisis in the mid-1970s, the balance changed between government, interest groups, political parties, and public, whose competition had characterised the postwar years, and how emergence of new alignments among them altered the British state itself. Documented from over three hundred interviews with participants, as well as archives, it provides an object lesson in contemporary history.

The need for both organizations and government agencies to generate, collect, and utilize data in public and private sector activities is rapidly increasing, placing importance on the growth of data mining applications and tools. Data Mining in Public and Private Sectors: Organizational and Government Applications explores the manifestation of data mining and how it can be enhanced at various levels of management. This innovative publication provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings useful to governmental agencies, practicing managers, and academicians.

A deep gap is growing between the promises of the new global capitalism and the reality of the social breakdown, inequality, insecurity, spiritual emptiness, and environmental destruction left in its wake. What went wrong, and why?

Beginning in the 1960s, social, economic, and political observers expressed concern over the role of multination-al corporations. As the global economy has evolved, it is the transnational corporation that provokes apprehension. Increasingly, concentrations of economic, social, and political power are being held by a few strong companies. "Corporate Rule "shows how devastating these effects have been to both the planet and the majority of its inhabitants.

This hard-hitting title examines all aspects of corporate rule and the underlying ideology which serves corporate interests. In particular, it examines its main control mechanisms: trade agreements, the media, and the popular culture, naming corporate rule a form of tyranny no different than the tyrannies of dictators, monarchs, or the church.

Though a searing indictment of an unjust international economic order, it is also a guide to the average person on how to understand and address the enormous challenges of our time. The book argues that the most promising alternative is a world of healthy market economies that function as extensions of healthy local ecosystems to meet the needs of people and communities.

Millions of people are acting to reclaim their political and economic power from these elitist forces, challenging the status quo, saying 'no' to the myth that global capital-ism is not only inevitable, but necessary. At this critical time in history, Model believes that if we truly want to meet our future needs, we must intentionally build a radical new post-corporate world that will sustain our community.

David Model teaches political science at Seneca College, King City, Ontario. He is the author of "People Before Profits "(Captus Press).

As every customer knows, the shopping experience is critical to brand satisfaction and loyalty. We all care deeply about the overall experience of the buying process--the marketing message, subliminal cues, the sales approach, personal human interaction...and more. When all of these elements come together in a cohesive and seamless package, a loyal customer is born. Brand strategist "Jim Joseph" calls this the experience effect.

In a groundbreaking volume called The Experience Effect (2010), Jim showed big business how to create the total brand experience. Now he customizes that very same expertise for the backbone of the American economy, small business. While it is often said that small business is key to recovery, all around us we still see small business suffering the most. Flex and wiggle room is at a minimum, small business simply cannot afford the resources and the access to big brand thinking that the corporations do.

Jim believes that there's simply no reason why a small business cannot perform like a big brand, even within our turbulent times. His perspective makes "The Experience Effect For Small Business a timely and compelling read, particularly now.

Filled with practical advice and real-life examples that will resonate with readers, "The Experience Effect For Small Business" teaches small business owners how to understand their brand's target audience, conduct effective market research, connect with customers on an emotional level, establish unique and engaging touchpoints, and much, much more. Readers learn how to replicate these activities on limited budgets and few resources. Loaded with inspiration, Jim Joseph's book will touch a chord with you, the small business owner in today's America economy.

This book discusses the effect that artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) have on industry. The authors start by showing how the application of these technologies has already stretched across domains such as law, political science, policy, and economics and how it will soon permeate areas of autonomous transportation, education, and space exploration, only to name a few. The authors then discuss applications in a variety of industries. Throughout the volume, the authors provide detailed, well-illustrated treatments of each topic with abundant examples and exercises. This book provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in various applications. The book is written for professionals who want to improve their understanding of the strategic role of trust at different levels of the information and knowledge society, that is, trust at the level of the global economy, of networks and organizations, of teams and work groups, of information systems and, finally, trust at the level of individuals as actors in the networked environments. Presents research in various industries and how artificial intelligence and Internet of Things is changing the landscape of business and management; Includes new and innovative features in artificial intelligence and IoT that can help in raising economic efficiency at both micro and macro levels; Examines case studies with tried and tested approaches to resolution of typical problems in each application of study.

This book offers students an introduction to the concepts of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) and their applications in the business world. It answers questions such as what are the main concepts of artificial intelligence and big data? What applications for artificial intelligence and big data analytics are used in the business field? It offers application-oriented overviews and cases from different sectors and fields to help readers discover and gain useful insights. Each chapter features discussion questions and summaries. To assist professors in teaching, the book supplementary materials will include answers to questions, and presentation slides.

The emergence of new firm-level data, including the European Community Innovation Survey (CIS), has led to a surge of studies on innovation and firm behaviour. This book documents progress in four interrelated fields: investigation of the use of new indicators of innovation output; investigation of determinants of innovative behavior; the role of spillovers, the public knowledge infrastructure and research and development collaboration; and the impact of innovation on firm performance. Written by an international group of contributors, the studies are based on agriculture and the manufacturing and service industries in Europe and Canada and provide new insights into the driving forces behind innovation.

First published in 1989, The Competitiveness of European Industry helps in developing our understanding of the process of improving and measuring industrial competitiveness. The contributors focus on the competitiveness of European industry. Three main topics are discussed: the concept of competitiveness itself; what can be learned about competitiveness at the level of an individual national economy; and processes and strategies in forms which might contribute to improved competitive performance. The first two papers critically assess concepts and measures of national competitiveness and review the performances of the economies of Britain, France, and the Federal German Republic. Then follow accounts of industrial competitiveness in three smaller economies (Belgium, Switzerland, and Sweden), which develop a series of methods and techniques for the analysis of industrial structures and indicate significant policy implications. The three concluding papers look at the competitiveness of British industry at the firm level, focusing on the strategic changes, the competitive process, and technical innovation. This book will be of interest to policy makers, business school teachers, and researchers in the area of strategy, industrial economics, organization behaviour, and innovation management.

Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award recipient This workbook explains in simple, step-by-step terms how to introduce and sustain lean flows of material and information in pacemaker cells and lines, a prerequisite for achieving a lean value stream. A sight we frequently encounter when touring plants is the relocation of processing steps from departments (process villages) to product-family work cells, but too often these "cells" produce only intermittent and erratic flow. Output gyrates from hour to hour and small piles of inventory accumulate between each operation so that few of the benefits of cellularization are actually being realized; and, if the cell is located upstream from the pacemaker process, none of the benefits may ever reach the customer. This sequel to Learning to See (which focused on plant level operations) provides simple step-by-step instructions for eliminating waste and creating continuous flow at the process level. This isn't a workbook you will read once then relegate to the bookshelf. It's an action guide for managers, engineers, and production associates that you will use to improve flow each and every day. Creating Continuous Flow takes you to the next level in work cell design where you'll achieve even greater cost and lead time savings. You'll learn: * where to focus your continuous flow efforts * how to create much more efficient work cells and lines * how to operate a pacemaker process so that a lean value stream is possible * how to sustain the gains, and keep improving Creating Continuous Flow is the next logical step after Learning to See. The value-stream mapping process defined the pacemaker process and the overall flow of products and information in the plant. The next step is to shift your focus from the plant to the process level by zeroing in on the pacemaker process, which sets the production rhythm for the plant or value stream, and apply the principles of continuous flow. Every p

In 1987 the Swedish National Board for Technical Development (STU, later becoming the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development, NUTEK) initiated a study of Sweden's Technological Systems and Future Development Potential. A comprehensive, interdisciplinary study was envisioned, yielding not only useful insight but also a permanent competence base for future analyses of technological systems and technology policy in Sweden. Three leading Swedish research institutes were invited to participate: the Industrial Institute for Economic and Social Research in Stockholm, the Department ofIndustrial Management and Economics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, and the Research Policy Institute at the University of Lund. I was invited to direct the project. The project group decided to focus initially on a particular technological system, namely factory automation, to be followed by similar studies of other systems. Numerous publications have resulted from the project thus far. The current volume represents a summary of our work on factory automation. It consists of several original essays and of some previously published papers which have been edited, in some cases substantially, in order to form a comprehensive and coherent picture of a technological system. To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth analysis of a technological system designed as a component of a systematic study of technological systems more generally. At the time of this writing, three further studies on electronics and computers, pharmaceuticals, and powder technology are under way, to be published in a later volume.

The transition process of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which started more than a decade ago, has been the focus of much attention for both practitioners and scholars. Few studies however, address management issues involved in the transition process and no study has, until now, assessed the strategies and tactics which individual companies have pursued over the past decade as part of their adaptation process. This book fills this gap and will leave the reader with a better understanding of the adaptation process at single firm level.

This book explains the roles of the industrial location in vitalizing regional economies in various economic environments created due to the progress of globalization. Here, this book elucidates the impact of industrial location and locational factors on regional economies. It clarifies the effects on industrial location of regulations and corporate tax. And the book explains the regional economic influence of the employment and agglomeration that are factors influencing the location. It also focuses on some countries and examines the relationships between the industrial location and the vitalization of regional economy in each country. This analysis covers the automotive and high-tech industries in the northeastern region of China, the impact of urban systems on regional development in the Philippines, and firms in revitalization in the northern region of Sweden. And it reveals achievements and challenges in each region. Finally, the book clarifies that the level of achievement in regional development is related to the educational environment. It also suggests that the industrial composition of a region is influenced by the level of regional cooperation with other regions. The analyses in the book show that a region must select the industries that match its newly emerged regional characteristics for vitalization.

The start of intense rivalry between industry, trade unions and the financial sector, to influence policy in postwar Britain, increased in the late 1950s. Macmillan's government succeeded briefly in restoring some of the original wartime consensus after 1961, only to see hopes for Conservative planning wither. Competition among interest groups to settle how the national interest should be defined made Wilson's attempt to create a Labour planned economy almost impossible. Despite the spur of relative decline, modernisation always fell far short of politicians' aims, putting in doubt the ability of even a modern state to achieve its ambitions. A series of crises exposed promises of breakthrough into growth, which governments blamed on the self-interest of institutions - without whose co-operation they still believed they could not govern. Search for an elusive tripartism, though justified in terms of the political ethos and organisations in which they almost all believed, led industrial politics to a messy conclusion in the late 1970s. The fall of the Heath government is described in detail. In the process, the postwar settlement's already-insecure foundations were eroded, and the ab

Mergers & acquisitions are an essential instrument of strategic corporate management for companies of all sizes. The success of an M&A project highly depends on an optimal transaction preparation, fast execution and the experience of all parties involved. Due to numerous endogenous and exogenous influences, no two M&A transactions are alike at the detailed level. This book is designed as a practical M&A guide for students and professionals alike. In addition to dealing with important basics of mergers & acquisitions, the focus is on a structured and in-depth examination of the individual process steps of a typical company sale. At various points in this book, specific differences between a company sale of medium-sized companies (mid-caps) and large companies (large-caps) are discussed in detail.

The United Africa Company (UAC), formed in 1929 by the fusion of the Niger Company and the African and Eastern Corporation, was by far the largest single commercial organization in West and Equatorial Africa, and thus central to modern African economic history. This is the first detailed account to be published and one which fills a serious gap in the literature. It was not commissioned by the company (now reabsorbed into Unilever) but the author had full access to all confidential material in the UAC and Unilever archives and complete freedom in what he wrote. The book is not intended to be primarily a company history but uses the UAC as a focal point for detailed study of how the role of foreign merchant capital changed in response to economic and political developments in Black Africa during this critical half century.

Although what has come to be known as transaction cost economics has its origins in the 1930s, it was not until the 1970s that transaction cost economics as a systematic and identifiable field of study began. Since then, numerous theoretical developments and empirical applications have expanded and enriched the field. Recognition of its contributions to our understanding of organizations and institutions includes two Nobel laureates, Ronald Coase in 1991 and Oliver Williamson in 2009. This is an important selection of key articles on transaction cost economics by distinguished scholars including Ronald Coase, Herbert Simon, Kenneth Arrow and Richard A. Posner. This research review addresses key areas such as private ordering and credibility, contracts and organization, internal organization, vertical integration and contracting.

Two pioneering researchers identify key causes of workplace burnout and reveal what managers can do to promote increased productivity and health. Burnout is among the most significant on-the-job hazards facing workers today. It is also among the most misunderstood. In particular, we tend to characterize burnout as a personal issue-a problem employees should fix themselves by getting therapy, practicing relaxation techniques, or changing jobs. Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter show why this is not the case. Burnout also needs to be managed by the workplace. Citing a wealth of research data and drawing on illustrative anecdotes, The Burnout Challenge shows how organizations can change to promote sustainable productivity. Maslach and Leiter provide useful tools for identifying the signs of employee burnout, most often exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness. They also advise managers on assembling and interpreting worker self-evaluation surveys, which can reveal workplace problems and potential solutions. And when it comes to implementing change, Maslach and Leiter offer practical, evidence-driven guidance. The key, they argue, is to begin with less-taxing changes that employees nonetheless find meaningful, seeding the ground for more thorough reforms in the future. Experts estimate that more than $500 billion and 550 million workhours are lost annually to on-the-job stress, much of it caused by dysfunctional work environments. As priorities and policies shift across workplaces, The Burnout Challenge provides pragmatic, creative, and cost-effective solutions to improve employee efficiency, health, and happiness.

New Work and Industry 4.0 have matured and this book takes a practical, experience-based approach to project management in these areas. It introduces methods and covers the practical aspects. It critically examines existing approaches and practices and shows their limitations. The book covers appropriate methods as well as human and social aspects. It contributes to the ongoing discussion of business practices and methods. It also aims to stimulate dialogue in the professional community. Digital Project Practice for New Work and Industry 4.0 begins by introducing basic concepts in the context of Industry 4.0 and discussing how they might influence organizational communication and impact the work environment. After examining the possibilities and challenges of remote work and collaboration in distributed teams all over the world, the book looks at a company's fundamental changes related to New Work from a practical business perspective as well as legal and ethical perspectives. It reviews the case of the VW emission scandal and recommends ways to improve corporate culture. Legal issues include New Work and hybrid forms of collaboration as well as liability for automated decisions (i.e., the potential need for an 'electronic person'). Other implications for the workplace include how: Industry 4.0 might influence the potential demand for "Digital Unions" Industry 4.0, and lean production, and their applications can change industrial practices Open Banking presents new approaches and new business models Work structures and systems can empower employees' work self-management This book also looks at how New Work effects individual workers. It addresses digital stress, introduces strategies for coping with it, and discusses related topics. It also explores the benefits of meditation and the economics of mind, body, and spirit. In essence, this book cover appropriate methods along with human and social factors. It also covers practice, different perspectives, and various experiences from all around the globe. Contributing to the ongoing discussion on business practices and methods, this book will nourish and stimulate dialogue in the professional community.