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Using historical data for the 1700–1914 period, this paper analyses the nature and direction of technical change in Britain. The evidence in this paper indicates that, over this long period, labour‐saving technology adoption was a major response to changes in relative factor prices, thus supporting the hypothesis that 'induced innovation' was a major driver of technical change during the British industrial revolution. Labour saving was made possible and sustained by capital‐augmenting and energy‐augmenting technical change coupled with continuous capital accumulation and abundant energy supplies. This process placed the British economy on a higher capital–labour ratio equilibrium, and was the primary force driving sustained productivity growth, which further raised wages and living standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of HR practices in shaping inbound open innovation outcomes through the lens of the competency, motivation and opportunity (CMO) model. The paper investigates the aforementioned associations by considering the intervening roles of organizational learning culture and knowledge sharing. The data were collected from managers working in different sectors in the United Kingdom. The findings reveal positive linkages between the different types of HR practices studied and establish the mediating mechanisms of organizational learning culture and knowledge sharing. This study contributes to the current body of knowledge by developing and empirically testing an integrated model of open innovation that is at the intersection of four broad areas – strategic HRM, organizational learning, knowledge management, and innovation management. By identifying processes that can improve the odds of success in the open innovation paradigm, this study can assist managers in designing more effective strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What accounts for the common perception that women have contributed little to advances in entrepreneurship and innovation in Britain during the early industrial era? This paper empirically examines the role of gender diversity in inventive activity during the first and second industrial revolutions. The analysis of systematic data on patents and unpatentable innovations uniquely enables an evaluation of women's creativity within both the market and nonmarket sectors. British women inventors were significantly more likely than men to focus on unpatentable innovations in consumer final goods and design‐oriented products that spanned art and technology, and on uncommercialized improvements within the household. Conventional approaches that fail to account for nonmarket activity and for such incremental changes in consumer goods and design innovations therefore significantly underestimate women's contributions to household welfare and overall economic progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore open innovation (OI) implementation and its impact on firm innovation performance in sectors experiencing technological discontinuities. The paper employs the framework of inbound, outbound and coupled OI to identify processes reflecting sourcing, externalising and exchanging knowledge across organisational boundaries on upstream and downstream innovation activities and explores their impact on the innovation performance of new and established technology firms. The empirical setting is the UK bio‐pharmaceuticals sector during 1991 and 2001, a paradigmatic era of discontinous change and intensified OI implementation. First, our findings show that new technology firms (NTFs) and established technology firms (ETFs) differ in their extent and patterns of inbound, outbound and coupled OI, reflecting that they implement OI to manage their competences in light of technological change. Second, we identify a complex and multifaceted relationship between OI and patenting performance, with NTFs experiencing enhanced performance from some OI processes while ETFs experiencing challenges. The paper suggests that delineating OI into inbound, outbound and coupled, along upstream and downstream activities, offers a deeper understanding of the role of OI in innovation, guiding selective implementation in pursuing enhanced innovation performance during periods of discontinuous technological change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the adaption challenge that confronts the top management team (TMT) of science incubators in situations of substantial technological uncertainty. To do that, we draw on the three‐year longitudinal analysis of a major bioscience catalyst in the United Kingdom. Through the lens of 'prospective sensemaking', we follow the TMT as they work with stakeholders in their ecosystem to make sense of a significant technological shift: the convergence of life sciences, IT and other sciences in the health care environment. Our analysis reveals how prospective sensemaking resulted in the launch of a new strategy to exploit these emerging opportunities. However, stakeholders' increasingly fragmented interpretation of the term convergence and the anticipation of legitimacy challenges in the wider ecosystem resulted in the repositioning of the incubator. Our findings contribute to extant research on science incubation. In particular, the paper sheds light on the complex interactions of incubator TMT's with stakeholders in situations of technological change and uncertainty. Moreover, responding to technological change does not only affect the structural conditions of an incubator. Rather, it may also require changes to the positioning of the incubator in order to maintain legitimacy in the wider ecosystem. The paper also suggests managerial as well as policy‐level implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the determinants of wealth inequality, measured as the share of wealth owned by the top 1 percent wealthiest individuals. We find that labor's bargaining power is a significant and important determinant of top wealth shares. Using a semi‐structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model for the period 1970–2019, we estimate that shocks to labor's bargaining power explain 32 percent, 8 percent and 32 percent of the variation around the long‐term trend in wealth inequality in the UK, USA and France, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores innovation‐readiness in the context of design‐led innovation in micro, small and medium‐sized enterprises (MSMEs). It builds on work undertaken and published by the lead author's team in 2018. This reported on the team's rapid design‐led intervention for supporting organisations to establish innovation readiness. Since it first delivery, the approach has been deployed with over 60 separate enterprises across three different countries; UK, USA, and Armenia. It has evolved to be delivered through different modes; one‐to‐one, one‐to‐many, face‐to‐face and on‐line. Further, it has been developed in such a way that postgraduate students, or 'novice facilitators', can take an active role in its delivery. Facilitation teams have invariably included at least one facilitator with a design background. Participants were enterprise founders or leaders. In this study a mixed‐methods approach is used, combining thematic analysis of participant surveys, co‐reflection and semi‐structured interviews with participants and facilitators. Findings suggest that this design‐led approach delivers different benefits from typical business innovation readiness assessment and audit tools. It involves a form of co‐creative, speculative knowledge venturing that supports enterprises in not only understanding their innovation readiness, but also in creating and mapping strategic innovation opportunities, thereby priming them to engage in design‐led innovation practices. This co‐creation of knowledge leads to both new knowledge about the innovation readiness of the enterprise and new innovation opportunities. It is revealed as a fundamental, catalytic aspect of the programme irrespective of mode, or location, of delivery. This paper will be of interest to researchers and practitioners who are seeking to develop innovation support programmes working with SMEs and MSMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central part of the innovation process concerns the way firms go about organizing search for new ideas that have commercial potential. New models of innovation have suggested that many innovative firms have changed the way they search for new ideas, adopting open search strategies that involve the use of a wide range of external actors and sources to help them achieve and sustain innovation. Using a large-scale sample of industrial firms, this paper links search strategy to innovative performance, finding that searching widely and deeply is curvilinearly (taking an inverted U-shape) related to performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the Conservative election victory on June 9, 1983 in Great Britain has added weight to the Government's White Paper on cable development which was jointly drafted by the Home Office and the Department of Industry. Since then, the Radio Regulatory Department of the Home Office has been transferred, lock, stock and barrel, to the Department of industry, an early indication that industrial reasons for the promotion of cable technology may prevail in government thinking over calculations of possible cultural consequences. The entire subject is an amalgam of ideological premises with constantly accelerating technical innovation, differing engineering expertise, national aspirations for a place in the sun, show business calculations, industrial policy, broadcasting policy, and public incomprehension on difference.

Local authorities in the United Kingdom are required to 'lead' multi-agency humanitarian responses to major disasters. Concerns mounted in the late twentieth century that responses to people bereaved in the immediate aftermath of such events at best failed to meet their needs and at worst compounded their distress. Subsequent reviews and reforms reframed some victim needs as 'rights' and established legal, administrative, and practice frameworks to improve matters. Local authority 'crisis support', provided in partnership with other actors, lies at the heart of the UK's contemporary emergency response to the bereaved. Drawing on primary research on the development and the deployment of crisis support in a local authority, and while acknowledging both incident- and context-related difficulties, this paper considers the significance of challenges with their origins in organisational factors. Recent developments within and between responders may exacerbate them. This paper argues, therefore, that further research into such developments is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses developments in the last five to six years in the provision of operational flood forecasting in England, Wales, and Scotland. Before the formation of the Environment Agency EA in England and Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency SEPA, flood forecasting capabilities were fragmented. Just over a decade ago both organisations received governmental mandates for the provision of flood forecasting and warning nationally, and have as a result in recent years established systems providing national coverage: the National Flood Forecasting System, and Flood Early Warning System FEWS Scotland. These have facilitated a rapid expansion of catchments for which forecasts are provided, and the common framework used has enabled a more rapid introduction of scientific advances in forecasting techniques. This paper gives an overview of some of these recent developments, as well as providing an outlook to further developments to be undertaken in the near future. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a long‐term partnership between a university in the UK and one in Botswana teaching interaction design, the Botswana cohort of students consistently performed less well than their UK counterparts. To investigate this, we conducted a pair of design protocol studies: one in the UK and one in Botswana. Our findings show that designer behaviour differs in the two contexts in terms of process, use of ideation techniques and solution and problem focus, when approaching the task. More specifically, UK students follow the approach taught in the module, while this process conflicts with Botswana students' behaviours. However, we also find that Botswana students prioritise the external context of the designed product rather than its interaction characteristics, which is problematic as interaction is the key feature of interactive products. These results are significant because without leveraging indigenous knowledge to design interaction that supports local user characteristics and context, sustainable and equitable development through technological innovation will be suppressed. In this paper, we highlight challenges for interaction design education in Botswana, which include how to recognise and support a diversity of design approaches while providing suitable pedagogic scaffolding. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Charles Babbage (1791–1871) was the embodiment of a polymath: elected a Royal Society fellow, holder of the Lucasian Chair of mathematics at Cambridge, founder of the London Statistical Society, author of many papers and full-length monographs and, most famously from a 21st century perspective, the architect of modern computing with his difference engines and designs for the analytical engine. The scale and complexity of these machines meant their realisation was dependent upon the latest industrial advances like parts standardization and machine tool technology. As a result Babbage committed large amounts of his time and money to the theoretical and empirical study of advanced production and engineering practice. This paper argues that Charles Babbage deserves to be recognised as a pioneer in the field of operations management. His path-breaking contributions were born of a singular intellect and degree of creativity combined with a commitment to empiricist scientific method and statistical measurement. Moreover, he was working as Britain transformed itself into the most highly industrialized country the world had ever seen. The paper draws in particular upon the various editions of his best-selling book, ‘On the Economy of Machines and Manufactures’, first published in 1832. It reviews the many core operations principles evident in Babbage''s analyses and highlights insights that remain relevant to today''s theoretical and practical concerns. The paper concludes with a discussion of how a combination of contextual and biographical factors left Charles Babbage a largely unsung pioneer in the field of operations management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Unique food products constitute a very important element of European food business, culture, identity and heritage. Understanding the uniqueness of food in Europe from a research-based interdisciplinary perspective will be a critical factor in promoting the competitiveness of artisanal food industries going forward both locally and internationally. Success will support the competitiveness of the European food industry, in particular, small and medium enterprises, by enabling substantial product differentiation potential for producers and providing ample variety in food choice for the consumer. In addition, it will contribute to promotion of sustainable agriculture and development of rural areas, protecting them from depopulation. In order to meet the demands of a developing fundamental shift in European Union agricultural focus to greener, sustainable farming practices and wider rural development and to ensure success for local small-scale producers, this paper discusses the future direction of research in the field of unique European foods. The paper presents a perspective which promotes optimisation and innovation in unique food products in Europe through the integration of advanced knowledge and technologies. A framework is presented covering location, identity, perception and well-being as research areas needing synergy to bridge the research knowledge deficit in determination and specification of food identity in the European Union. The ultimate aim being promotion of sustainable agriculture and rural development, particularly in territories across the European Union where unique food is strategically and scientifically under-defined. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we estimate whether sourcing knowledge from and/or cooperating on innovation with higher education institutions impacts on establishment-level total factor productivity and whether this impact differs across domestically owned and foreign-owned establishments and across the regions of Great Britain. Using propensity score matching, the results show overall a positive and statistically significant impact although there are differences in the strength of this impact across production and non-production industries, across domestically owned and foreign-owned firms, and across regions. These results highlight the importance of absorptive capacity in determining the extent to which establishments can benefit from linkages with higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and networks has emphasised the importance of external ties in enhancing firms' innovative performance. Drawing upon survey data from 360 SMEs, this paper explores differences in the strength of UK SMEs' collaborative ties-in a range of activities-with partner firms and industry institutions across five industrial sectors. In doing so, it asks whether differences in the degree of substantive embeddedness are related to innovative performance. The paper finds evidence that substantive embedded ties along the value chain appears to matter for SME innovators, while links with institutions are only significant in industry specific contexts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological change is a major factor in gaining competitive advantage in manufacturing industries. Promoting innovation, exploiting technological opportunities and avoiding threats are increasingly important. Firms need to recognise both current and potential future technological advances that can affect their products, services and processes. This paper presents a Technology Intelligence (TI) methodology and toolset, the main purpose of which is to enable companies to monitor and assess technological developments associated with their products, components, processes and other areas of concern. These technology management activities will assist the company in evaluating its environment while taking advantage of technological changes that represent opportunities or threats. The methodology is described in detail and demonstrated using a case study conducted in an aerospace manufacturing firm in the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful research commercialisation within the university domain is predicated upon basic research being developed into technology that will attract funding, ultimately resulting in entities such as University spin-out companies or licensing arrangements. This development process involves considerable risk and uncertainty and may require substantial resources to fund early stage operations while returns are uncertain. Hence there is a need to explore risk-minimisation approaches relating to proving the potential for development while concurrently allocating resources in an incremental manner. This paper focuses on the development of the Northern Ireland Proof of Concept (PoC) process within a University Science Park Incubator (USI) as a particular approach to addressing these challenges inherent in the United Kingdom University technology transfer. Furthermore, Absorptive Capacity has emerged in the literature as an appropriate theoretical framework or lens for exploring the development and application of new technology. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the PoC process within a USI as a means for improving the commercialisation of University technology transfer using an Absorptive Capacity perspective. A multiple case analysis of PoC applications within a UK university is described. From the findings it emerges that Absorptive Capacity influencing factors such as levels of R&D investment, prior knowledge base and integration of stakeholder and technology planning all impact on PoC outcomes. In addition a number of process improvement areas for PoC are identified in relation to the influencing factors within the Absorptive Capacity framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of international outsourcing on UK wage inequality during the 1990s by applying the mandated wage approach proposed by Feenstra and Hanson (1999 ). The methodology is extended in order to obtain additional insight into the relative importance of the factor and sector bias of international outsourcing and technological change. The results indicate that technological change is the predominant force behind the increase in wage inequality, but international outsourcing also contributed significantly. In explaining the increase in wage inequality the factor bias of technological change was slightly larger than its sector bias, while for international outsourcing the sector bias was much more important. The relative importance of the two effects hinges crucially on the estimated rate of productivity passthrough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review paper, we ask how UK business might realize improved productivity through value creation. Our aim is to evaluate the ability of UK firms to reduce the productivity gap by assessing the challenges associated with the following strategic options: (a) increasing efficiency and effectiveness through the adoption of better practices; (b) innovating to produce products or services that generate more revenue (through either higher prices or larger volumes) while remaining at the same position in the value chain; and (c) fundamentally changing position in the value or supply chain and moving to a position where the products and services that are delivered inherently generate more value. To this end, we contend that the core issues that affect such endeavours relate to the conceptualization and management of change and innovation. By considering the interconnections between firm-level activities and wider institutional processes and structures, we assess the links between knowledge production, skills provision and productivity, including the role of the state and other institutions in the context of the micro-processes of innovation. We conclude with a discussion of the research and policy implications of the attempt to make more sense of innovation and reduce the UK's productivity gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the knowledge and technology sourcing practices of a range of key firms and organisations across the UK based on primary research, and analyses the key factors related to managing the technological knowledge boundaries of the firm. In particular, the paper considers the dynamic dimension considerations to such issues. As such it outlines important differences between short and long time horizons, before analysing in more detail some of the implications for firms of technological change over the long term. The paper seeks to highlight the importance of the time dimension in helping to explain why and how firms source technological knowledge externally and how they align their sourcing activities to their strategies associated with developing current and future capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the significance of the media to what the author terms involved citizenship as of 2001. The article examines how the media respond to the needs of active citizens and focuses upon Great Britain. It discusses how information is presented by British newspapers and television networks such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and ITN. The article also discusses how technological innovations may impact the flow of information from media to citizens and cites the online availability of parliamentary bills, committee reports, and policy papers, as well as the use of direct links by British newspapers such as the "Daily Telegraph" to online resources. The author also presents his thoughts on the BBC as a media entity.

Contextual ambidexterity is of paramount importance for new product innovation and organizational success, particularly in high-tech firms operating in a dynamic environment. Whilst it is recognized that contextual ambidexterity is grounded in organizational culture, existing research has not crystallized what kind of organizational culture enables contextual ambidexterity and consequently new product innovation. In this paper, drawing on data from 150 UK and 242 Chinese high-tech firms, we conceptualize ambidextrous organizational culture as a higher-order construct consisting of organizational diversity and shared vision, and examine its impacts on contextual ambidexterity and consequently on new product innovation outcomes. Using structural equation modelling, we find significant relationships between ambidextrous organizational culture, contextual ambidexterity and new product innovation outcomes; contextual ambidexterity mediates the relationship between ambidextrous organizational culture and new product innovation outcomes. Our findings also suggest that the above relationships are robust in the UK- China comparative research context, and that contextual ambidexterity and new product innovation outcomes are dependent on business unit level heterogeneity (i.e. ambidextrous organizational culture and research and development strength) rather than industry or cross-cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather forecasts on BBC radio and television are recognized as the bench mark by which all other weather broadcasts in the United Kingdom are judged. Having spent many years at the BBC Weather Centre, as forecaster and senior meteorologist, the author reflects on the development of television weather forecasts on the national, licence fee funded, broadcaster in the United Kingdom. The period referred to in the paper saw technology evolve rapidly with television weather graphics at the forefront of the technological revolution. Changes in the recruitment and training of forecasters over time are discussed, giving an insight into the behind the scenes evolution of the workings of television and radio weather broadcasts. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1997 there has been a series of far-reaching constitutional changes in the UK through the devolution of power from Westminster to new legislatures and executives in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition, an elected assembly in London and the English regional development agencies have been established. This paper examines policy developments in higher education in the four countries of the UK between 1997 and 2004, and the impact devolution may have had on the sector, looking in particular at funding, increasing participation and widening access, tuition fees and student support, and business links and technology transfer. There is a strong sense that the devolved administrations want and expect more from‘their’ higher education institutions. While institutions are often proactive in seeking links with regional businesses and communities, the relationships between universities and devolved administrations have important implications for institutional autonomy which need to be carefully thought through. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role played by information and communication technologies in today's businesses cannot be underestimated. While such technological advancements provide numerous advantages and opportunities, they are known to thread organizations with new challenges such as cyberattacks. This is particularly important for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) that are deemed to be the least mature and highly vulnerable to cybersecurity risks. Thus, this research is set to assess the cyber risks in online retailing SMEs (e‐tailing SMEs). Therefore, this article employs a sample of 124 small e‐tailers in the United Kingdom and takes advantage of a multi‐criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method. Indeed, we identified a total number of 28 identified cyber‐oriented risks in five exhaustive themes of "security," "dependency," "employee," "strategic," and "legal" risks. Subsequently, an integrated approach using step‐wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and best–worst method (BWM) has been employed to develop a pathway of risk assessment. As such, the current study outlines a novel approach toward cybersecurity risk management for e‐tailing SMEs and discusses its effectiveness and contributions to the cyber risk management literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a new encompassing flexible diffusion model of the epidemic type is proposed and its properties explored. Economic factors are incorporated directly into the model. The new model allows freer interaction between exogenous and endogenous factors in the diffusion process than existing models of this type. The model is applied to the diffusion of colour television ownership in the UK and outperforms the existing models in the literature. The exogenous factors are shown to play a more dominant role in the diffusion of colour television in the UK than existing models allow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the paper of engineers A.G. Jordan and J.J. Richardson regarding the fascinating account of the long and complex saga of negotiation following an official report on the engineering profession in Great Britain. To judge by their ability to document events, opinions and committee papers they have turned good access to participants and papers into a very fruitful project through diligent research. Their weave of brisk narrative and intriguing commentary is a valuable addition to the knowledge of state-profession relations, political responses to economic malaise, and the world of engineers and engineering. Yet their paper is much less convincing on their claim to demonstrate a good test of the system's capacity for policy innovation.

In recent years many commentators have addressed the `crisis' in manufacturing industry (Gerwin, 1982; Drucker, 1988, 1990; Hayes and Jaikumar, 1988). Some have offered cross-national comparisons on Japanese and Western management methods and techniques (Kharbanda and Stallworthy, 1991; Oliver and Wilkinson, 1987; Pascale and Athos, 1981) whilst others have concentrated on improving performance in specific fields such as management accounting (Kaplan, 1984; Cooper, 1991) or manufacturing management (Schonherger, 1982; Hall, 1983). Empirical research into managing AMT in Japan and the UK (Currie 1991a) considers some of the broader managerial issues in manufacturing. Cultural differences are common in the areas of investment appraisal, post-auditing of AMT and preventive maintenance policy. For example, in Japan JET is perceived `holistically' incorporating production management, total quality assurance (TQA) and total preventive maintenance (TPM). This is contrary to the UK in that many large manufacturing companies fail to include TPM in their manufacturing strategies (Currie and Seddon, 1991). There are few management information systems (MIS) which provide an understanding of machine performance using both non-financial and financial information. Focusing on maintenance as a central theme, the paper discusses the development of the Failure And Scheduled Maintenance Analysis (FASMA) system, which offers a practical solution to the problem of collecting and manipulating manufacturing data on the shopfloor (Seddon, 1991a). Essentially, FASMA attempts to interface both the manufacturing and management accounting functions by translating machine performance data into valuable information from which preventive maintenance policy may be improved. Using FASMA to measure machine performance at a major UK automotive manufacturer, machine down-time has averaged 61% each month over a 3-year period. By manipulating this data, performance measurement information may be utilized by management accountants. FASMA thus develops a link between manufacturing and management accounting by providing data on machine performance which can be used for cost analysis within a manufacturing environment. The paper concludes by arguing that manufacturing strategies can only be developed using appropriate management information systems (MIS) designed to enhance functional integration. This will enable a better understanding of how the `manufacturing jigsaw' fits together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial research and development activity is often regarded as one of the important contributing factors to industrial growth and the purpose of this paper is to investigate some aspects of this research and development activity. Industrial research and development expenditure is treated as a particular type of industrial investment outlay and this approach raises several interesting questions. As a first step in answering these questions information was gathered from the private industrial sector using survey methods. This effort is reported in the first section. The second section of the paper presents annual estimates of private British industrial research and development investment, and related technical knowledge estimates for the period 1948-70. Very few data are available about the characteristics and amount of industrial research and development expenditure in Britain and this study may be of some use in overcoming this data deficiency. This work, however, is limited to research and development expenditure performed or financed by the private sector.

Environmental sustainability and energy transition, especially the renewable energy transition, have become critical concerns of nations throughout the world in recent decades. The sustainable and eco‐friendly technologies have led to more sustainable methodologies, substantial stewardship of our natural resources, and the conversion to renewable energy sources, all of which have been demonstrated to benefit the environment significantly. However, prior studies have overlooked the ecological sustainability and energy transition effects of green technology innovation. Therefore, this study endeavored to investigate the role of green innovation (lnGRN) and financial globalization (lnFIG) on the sustainability of the environment (lnEFT) and energy transition (lnENT) in the United Kingdom using quarterly data for the period from 1995 to 2020. The study applied the time‐varying (bootstrapping) rolling window technique, which can retrieve casual associations among variables at different periods of sub‐samples. Besides this, the method is advantageous for addressing the non‐consistency of parameters and eliminating the pre‐test distortion. The novel Bootstrap Rolling‐Window full‐sample causality technique results demonstrate that lnGRN and lnFIG have unidirectional causality toward lnEFT and lnENT. Furthermore, the bootstrap rolling‐window subsamples in the final stage indicate that lnGRN and lnFIG mitigate lnEFT, whereas lnGRN and lnGDP enhance energy transition. On the other hand, lnGDP and lnETX contribute to environmental deterioration, while lnFIG hinders the energy transition. Several important policy implications are derived from the results to encourage financial globalization, green innovation technologies, renewable energy resources consumption, and environmental taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While numerous models examine the linkages between improvisation and innovation, the factors that moderate this relationship at the team level are unknown. Consequently, this study builds on principles and insights from the jazz jam session framework used by jazz musicians and regression analysis to examine the nature of the improvisation process and consider how it affects innovation. By using unbalanced panel data on 2,749 teams containing between two and eight employees in the United Kingdom during 2002–2016, this study demonstrates that the success of the improvisation process relies on both internal and external factors conducive to innovation. Subsequently, the conclusions drawn may help entrepreneurs and team managers think differently about the role improvisation plays in the innovation activity. As a result, important practical implications are drawn for team managers and entrepreneurs intending to cultivate a willingness to improvise in teams and nurture collaborative relationships with external partners for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

...studies have shown that SMEs have specific barriers to growth and innovation, and more often, they constrain their innovation activities as a result. Incubators and accelerators play an essential role in developing small and medium enterprises. STEAMhouse integrates a design thinking approach to encourage an innovative culture in SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio‐economic scenarios such as the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) have been widely used to analyze global change impacts, but representing their diversity is a challenge for the analytical tools applied to them. Taking Great Britain as an example, we represent a set of stakeholder‐elaborated UK‐SSP scenarios, linked to climate change scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways), in a globally‐embedded agent‐based modeling framework. We find that distinct model components are required to account for divergent behavioral, social and societal conditions in the SSPs, and that these have dramatic impacts on land system outcomes. From strong social networks and environmental sustainability in SSP1 to land consolidation and technological intensification in SSP5, scenario‐specific model designs vary widely from one another and from present‐day conditions. Changes in social and human capitals reflecting social cohesion, equality, health and education can generate impacts larger than those of technological and economic change, and comparable to those of modeled climate change. We develop an open‐access, transferrable model framework and provide UK‐SSP projections to 2080 at 1 km2 resolution, revealing large differences in land management intensities, provision of a range of ecosystem services, and the knowledge and motivations underlying land manager decision‐making. These differences suggest the existence of large but underappreciated areas of scenario space, within which novel options for land system sustainability could occur. Key Points: A national‐scale agent‐based model is developed to represent paired climatic and socio‐economic scenarios in the land systemKey scenario characteristics relate to forms of human behavior, interactions and societal preferencesLarge differences emerge between scenarios in terms of land management intensities, ecosystem service provision and land sparing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of innovation labs, purpose-built physical facilities designed to enhance and support creativity and innovation in organizations. This rising phenomenon may be driven by the increasing emphasis placed on innovation as the key to the survival of modern day organizations. Innovation labs are attracting greater attention from organizations, yet little is known about their effectiveness. Using a mixed-method approach this paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a major UK-based facility in enhancing creativity and to explore users' attitudes towards this rising organizational phenomenon. The findings have implications for the management of existing innovation labs and those in the planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considers the use of technological innovations in ensuring profitability of entrepreneurial firms in Great Britain. Key factors contributing to the success and longevity of firms; Contribution of innovation in enhancing economic progress and competitiveness of enterprises; Role of small and medium-sized enterprises in promoting near-to-market developments and initial market diffusion; Description of emerging firms engaged in the innovation process.

Vocational training incidence for those at work is frequently financed partly or wholly by employers, who then lose part of their investment return if workers migrate to other firms. We investigate the incidence of training and the incidence of lob-to-job mobility for a large sample of British workers in 1984 and 1989. We also analyse the role of sectoral technology characteristics in influencing patterns of both training and inter-firm mobility.
Our results demonstrate that job-to-job mobility is highest for the young and higher for those with formal educational qualifications than for the unskilled. These are also characteristics which engender a higher training propensity; so, unavoidably, private gains to training for employers are below social gains for these young people. Public-sector workers have high training rates but low mobility; this perhaps explains the lack of perception of the poaching problem by successive governments. Sectoral R&D activity is associated with more training and less mobility for men; in contrast, women are more likely to train and are less mobile if the rate of adoption of innovation is rapid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the list of publications on the economic and social history of Great Britain and Ireland. Some of the books are "The Church in Derbyshire," edited by M.R. Austin; "The Levellers in the English Revolution," edited by G.E. Aylmer; "Early Yorkshire Families," edited by C. Clay; "Sidney Iron Works Accounts," edited by D.W. Crossley; "The Registers of Roger Martival: Bishop of Salisbury," edited by K. Edwards; "Luffield Priary Charters," edited by G.R. Elvey; and others.

Reflecting on recent events in Great Britain it is not easy to see many major new external factors generating innovatory changes in nursing. The new British statutory bodies for nursing, midwifery and health visiting, that is the United Kingdom Central Council and the new National Boards, have not yet had time to produce any startling proposals. Perhaps the main influence has been a continual reduction in resources which could ultimately produce innovatory ideas in practice in response to the long-term effects. According to the author, interest in innovation and a subsequent exploration of this idea has led him to the conclusion that there is a prolific amount of literature on the subject of innovation putting forward a range of ideas and many different models.

This paper examines the association between innovation and the evolution of market structure. A dynamic model of market concentration is applied to 73 UK industries, 1970-4979, and the results are found to be consistent with the hypothesis that innovation is deconcentrating. The results reported here and those contained in earlier work combine to suggest that innovation and changes in market concentration interact in a relatively rapid, mutually reinforcing but rather weak spiral of increased innovation and decreasing concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a case study of a major technical innovation in the core activity of payment processing in a UK bank. In describing the strategic rationale for the change and the process of implementation, the degree of consistency between the operational and organizational dimensions of the new system are examined. As this system is widely regarded as the benchmark for future paper processing in the industry the factors contributing to successful innovation are discussed and the management rather than the technological aspects of this are emphasized. Competitor responses to the innovation are explained by the influence of traditional assumptions about the basis of competitive advantage in banking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies two companies in a period of turbulent technological change. Based on historical data for the 1980s, it examines the technology and human resource strategies of Lucas Industries PLC and Robert Bosch GmbH both at a group and plant level. It draws two main conclusions: first that stability in company strategy is a key to understanding competitive performance and second that the way in which strategy is transmitted to the individual plant level and diffused into actual working practices is similarly central to effective performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of company performance is one of the major dilemmas facing the strategic researcher. This paper reviews the alternative methods available, then uses one approach, peer assessment, to produce a guide to British company performance. Britain's best companies are identified and their profiles are examined. Their declared financial strengths and relative weaknesses in marketing and innovation are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is chiefly concerned with the causes and technological effects of 'short-term pressures' on and in large firms in British manufacturing. 'Short-term pressures' (STP) are defined as factors acting upon (or within) an organization which tend to cause decision-makers (explicitly or implicitly): (a) to raise their time rate of discount; and/or (b) to foreshorten the time horizon beyond which future revenues are ignored altogether. Such pressures will tend to reduce the rate of investment (defined very broadly as present sacrifice of cash flow for future gain), and/or bias it towards 'short-term' projects. In the British context such pressures upon firms arise from the nature of the relationship with shareholders. (High interest rates and low profitability have similar effects but should be analysed separately.) STP can also be generated and/or transmitted within organizations. STP acting within an organization are likely to be associated with pressures on middle and lower management to take a narrow, 'sectional' view, avoiding efforts and expenditures whose benefits may go largely to other parts of the firm. The first section sets out a theoretical framework within which to predict the intensity of external STP, and uses this to assess their likely incidence. After defining and discussing the concept of culture in organizations, it is argued that culture dominates structure at higher levels, and the reverse at lower levels. The second section deals with internal STP, and shows how performance pressures on managers at various levels are determined by the interaction of structural and cultural factors. Structural factors considered include organizational configurations and methods of auditing and management accounting. Internal performance pressures may at various levels be quite different from the external pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years ergonomist and industrial sociologists have found considerable common ground in the study of the impact of technological change on work. The former have been concerned mainly with the ways in which new technologies affect the activities and skill requirements of the individual worker and with studies of newly emerging man-machine systems. The latter have turned their attention more to the impact of technological change at the level of the total organizational system and on the occupational structure of industrial society. Conceptions of skill and ideas about levels of skill are highly relevant to both lines of enquiry, but in bringing the two approaches together a problem arises, in that 'skill' as defined for the purposes of ergonomics research is something different from 'skill' as an element in the social structure of a manufacturing plant or the occupational structure of an industrial society. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the existence of two sets of ideas about skills, to show how they relate to each other in occupational life, and to examine the implications for technical progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Outcomes in acute myeloid leukaemia have improved steadily over the last six decades thanks to advances in disease classification, risk stratification and the advent of new drug and transplant therapies. Over this period the UK has made a major contribution to this international effort, both through its delivery of large prospective randomised trials with integrated genomic and measurable residual disease assessments and its pioneering role in the development of allogeneic stem cell transplantation as a potent anti‐leukaemic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: The resource‐based view of the firm characterizes brands as important resources for firm growth and competitive advantage. Existing studies offer theory and evidence that venture capital (VC) backing enhances the growth of new technology ventures along different dimensions. It is not clear, however, whether and how VC backing affects the development of brand assets. In a study of VC‐backed and non‐VC‐backed nanotechnology ventures in the United Kingdom, we find a positive association between VC backing and the development of brand assets. We also find that VC‐backed technology ventures tend to create brand assets with a wider scope, which can be deployed across multiple different product‐markets. Managerial Summary: Brand strategy is critical for the success of entrepreneurial firms and can be challenging for firms operating in nascent industries that aim to commercialize innovations stemming from general purpose technologies. Such firms face dilemmas on whether to diversify or not into different product‐markets, how many brand assets to develop, and whether to leverage a brand asset across multiple product categories. In a study of nanotechnology ventures, we find that VC‐backing can affect the development of brand strategy: VC‐backed ventures tend to develop more brand assets compared with non‐VC‐backed ventures and tend to create brand assets with a wider scope, which can be deployed across multiple different product‐markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I examine the effect of competition on the production and use of innovations using evidence from a natural experiment of policy reform, the introduction of cartel legislation in the U.K. in the late 1950's. I compare manufacturing industries which had been collusive and were therefore affected by the policy with those that had been competitive and were not affected. The intensification of competition following the abolition of cartels caused a short‐run decrease in innovations produced, but had no significant effect in the long run. In contrast, innovations used increased both in the short run and in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among 48 U.K. companies those with more vulnerable core technologies employ more specialist planners, more forecasting and evaluative techniques, in proposal generation and evaluation. Irrespective of size. Allowing for size, hostility of marker conditions is associated with greater scope, status and involvement of planners, and diversification and divisionalization with formality and scope of planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UK research and technology organizations (RTOs) compete globally by offering engineering, technology and innovation services. Although associated historically with specific industries, UK RTOs have expanded into nontraditional markets and sectors. This article profiles 15 UK RTOs and we suggest that UK RTOs have unique technology and innovation capabilities, which cut across industrial boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]