This paper presents evidence to show how vocational qualifications act as boundary objects in the stimulation of learning at work and how they, in turn, become the catalyst for the creation of artefacts that have a purpose and existence beyond the life cycle of an accreditation process....

In this paper, we introduce the cross-border logistics problem with fleet management. A major phenomenon of implementation of open-door policy in China is the move of Hong Kong-based manufacturers’ production lines to China, crossing the border to take advantages of lower production costs,...

This paper challenges the critical articles that have classified thematic initiatives as 'fads' or 'fashions' of their period with little real value. Using business process reengineering (BPR) as an example, the paper suggests that it is important to 'unpack' thematic initiatives into their key...

Transaction cost concepts have been deployed in information systems to analyze the impact of information technology on the organization of economic activity in markets and hierarchies. It has been widely observed that there is a general trend toward markets. It has also been observed that the...

Throughout modern business history, contract has been used as an organizational technology that holds counterparties in formal or legally binding agreements. The proliferation of contract prompted the emergence of professional contract managers who played an important but relatively peripheral...

Some of the factors contributing to the risks SMEs take when implementing information technology were investigated in a questionnaire survey of 18 small businesses in the Greater Manchester area, complemented by interviews with the advisers working at the Greater Manchester Business Innovation...

Large design and manufacturing projects are conducted in elaborate settings. Interdependent specialists work together, building complex systems. A substantial part of their daily work concerns the coordination of distributed work. This paper reports from a field study at Foss Electric, a Danish...

The current lack of awareness of the systemic risks inherent in computer-based information systems is criticized. Cases are presented that demonstrate the adverse consequences (increased complexity and uncertainty, reduced security) of the introduction of information technology (IT). It is...

The literature on innovation has been both rich and varied in approach and has provided much insight into the process of, and difficulties contained within, innovation. A number of important concepts including those of path dependency, technological trajectories, together with the plethora of...

The UK government is actively encouraging the transfer of science and technology innovation to the business sector through a range of initiatives (http://www.ost.gov.uk/enterprise/knowledge/sec.htm). In part, this is seen as a ‘third mission’ for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs),...