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The article focuses on dynamic capabilities and the resource-based view of the firm, or RBV theory. Research (Teece et al.1997) extended RBV to dynamic markets which explains the competitive advantage that firms can gain during rapid and unpredictable change. Topics in this paper include organizational processes that can be value-creating strategies via manipulation of resources, "best practice", market dynamism, and learning mechanisms.

The article focuses on organizational change and evolutionary economics research that explains a firm's adaptive intelligence. Technological capabilities can give an organization its competitive advantage and lack of capabilities can lead to inertia and failure. A "competence destroying" technology has the potential to destroy firms' "architectural knowledge". This paper studies how the combination of capabilities and cognitions relates to organizational inertia during times of radical market change.

The "digital revolution" pervades current headlines as "c-business" transforms commercial practices and reshapes major industries. But the wellsprings of today's digital technologies surfaced more than a half century ago, stimulating successive waves of change that repeatedly threatened the survival of well established firms in home entertainment, electronic components, communications services, data processing, and related fields. Even the most dominant firms in the information industries have found themselves challenged to develop new strategies and new capabilities to cope with the incursions of new rivals exploiting new technologies. The academic literature on innovation has repeatedly observed that mature, successful firms often fail to adapt successfully to revolutionary changes in technology (Cooper and Schendel, 1976; Foster, 1986; Christensen, 1997). Rather than analyzing patterns of failure, however, this paper traces the means by which one prominent firm--National Cash Register Company (NCR)--coped with radical changes in technology over four decades. We will examine in detail how NCR addressed the introduction of electronics to the field of business equipment and the advent of digital computers to widespread use. NCR not only survived but eventually prospered in the face of these powerful forces of change. Through this account of NCR's history from 1938 to 1978, we hope to illuminate the processes by which other firms threatened by similar fundamental change might cope successfully with the emergent threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of the term "competitive advantage" in management and economics research. An argument is presented that empirical strategy researchers should identify factors that are linked to superior performance and the dynamics of adopting these performance differentials. The Stinchcombe (2000) paper that refers to population ecology is mentioned.

Working as junior doctors in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, Laura and the author were constantly impressed by the organisation of the haematology department. A team of six coordinated the management of all the haematology patients in the region. Even more challenging was the responsibility of ensuring that junior doctors knew how to give the best care to these patients. The team rose to the occasion with clear, idiot-proof protocols and guidelines, which they placed on every ward and within easy reach. Perhaps what impressed the author the the most is just how well they organised this information using paper.

This paper introduces the topics included in the "Handbook of Strategic Management," part of the Handbook series by Blackwell Publishers. The strategic management volume is divided into five parts. Part 1: "Origin and Process" deals with the strategic management process. Part 2: "Theoretical Foundations" provides a theoretical groundwork for the field of strategic management. Part 3: "Strategy Types" deals with various types of strategy. Part 4: "Human Factors" deals with human factors in strategic management. Part 5: "Teaching Methods" focuses on effective use of cases in the classroom, in addition to other tools and techniques for teaching. The authors feel that this volume will be of interest to Ph.D. programs and students in strategic management as well as related disciplines in management, marketing, finance, economics, and business and society. The authors also believe that Advanced Master's degree students, researchers, and "thinking" managers will find value in reading this book.

The article presents information on current environmentally sound assembly processes with an emphasis on processes that produce faster and smaller electronic products such that the goal of energy and material conservation can be achieved during and after product assembly. The paper also discusses the processes and materials selection, pollution prevention methodology and product end-of-life management. The need to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and other related ozone-depleting chemicals in the early 1990s triggered an international competition that has since resulted in more than 80% reduction in production of all CFC materials in 1997.

Ontologies are a core element of the knowledge management architecture. In this article, a methodology for application driven ontology development has been described, covering the whole project lifecycle from the kick off phase to the maintenance phase. Existing methodologies and practical ontology development experiences have in common that they start from the identification of the purpose of the ontology and the need for domain knowledge acquisition. They differ in their foci and following steps to be taken. In the approach of the ontology development process, aspects from existing methodologies and lessons learned from practical experience have been integrated.

Discusses human performance principles in relation to design of information systems. Function of information systems; Development of capstone requirements document to outline the system-of-systems requirements; Definition of the information processing and transport requirements.

Discusses the importance of management processes and methods in human systems integration (HSI). Accommodation of the role of the human being within systems; Involvement of HSI throughout the major stages in acquiring a system; Determination of the allocation of resources for subsequent phases.

Discusses the importance of organizational change for the achievement of human systems integration. Changes in individual variables; Role of reductionism in the structural model of organizational change; Role of people in organizations.

Parts of this appendix have been abstracted from Appendix B of Software Engineering: Design, Reliability, and Management, by M. L. Shooman, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1983; and also Probabilistic Reliability: An Engineering Approach, 2d ed., by M. L. Shooman, Krieger, 1990. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This appendix is largely extracted from Appendix A of Software Engineering: Design, Reliability, and Management, by M. L. Shooman, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1983. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]