Search results for " Sector"
showing 10 items of 975 documents
Upgrading cultural infrastructures: Notes on the strategy concerning variable message signs on the European scene
2011
This paper presents the general strategy concerning Variable Message Sign harmonization in Europe represented by the work of the Expert and Study Group 4-Mare Nostrum (ESG4) within the EasyWay program. Co-funded by the European Commission and participated by 22 European Member States, EasyWay focuses on ITS implementation integrating stakeholders from the public and private sector. The paper shows some empirical data to illustrate the slow but careful, integral approach followed by ESG4 in order to issue specific recommendations concerning Variable Message Signs design and use in Europe.
Rewarding ageing employees—means used in the public sector
2005
Abstract Finland along with the rest of Europe will face considerable challenges in the next five to ten years due to changing age structures. The large number of ageing and aged employees, the baby-boomers, as well as the remarkably low birth rates that have occurred ever since the beginning of the 1980s, have led to a social phenomenon never experienced before. These changes should be considered when designing and implementing human resource strategies in organisations and institutions. This study considers the rewarding of ageing employees as a function of human resource management, and moreover rewarding is considered as an important function of age management. The purpose of this study…
Relationship between employee involvement and lean manufacturing and its effect on performance in a rigid continuous process industry
2015
Relationship between employee involvement and lean manufacturing and its effect on performance in a rigid continuous process industry DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2014.975852 Juan A. Marin-Garciaa* & Tomas Bonaviab Received: 1 Aug 2013 Accepted: 30 Sep 2014 Published online: 04 Nov 2014 This research aims to empirically test the effect of employee involvement on lean manufacturing (LM), and the effect of LM on production outcomes. Employee involvement is operationalised through four related variables: empowerment, training, contingent remuneration and communication. The effects are tested by recording management perceptions in a different industrial sector from those usually studied in previous re…
The performance of entrepreneurial small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises
2012
Innovation is an important driver of economic growth for it leads to new products and services, enhanced quality, and lower prices. In an increasingly competitive global market, innovation turns out to be essential to secure a viable competitive position. Although there is no perfect correspondence between accounting intangible assets and innovation activities, the association between these two concepts is close enough to take investment in intangible assets as a proxy for entrepreneurship and innovation. To identify differences between innovative and non‐innovative small and medium enterprises in the service industry, both descriptive and statistical analyses are performed on financial dat…
An overview of ecopreneurship, eco-innovation, and the ecological sector
2019
Given the current trend toward a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly economy, the overlap between entrepreneurship and sustainability has become a key research area. Part of this trend is the emergence of ecopreneurial businesses. These businesses are pioneers in using innovation to achieve sustainable growth by exploiting market opportunities. This article presents an overview of the concepts of ecopreneurship, eco-innovation, and the ecological sector. A rigorous review of the literature in this area is presented. The results of this review show the key values and principles that are central to this new stream of research and shed light on opportunities for further research. The…
The influence of innovation orientation on the internationalisation of SMEs in the service sector
2009
This article examines the internationalisation of small- and medium-sized service firms from an international entrepreneurship perspective. The results of the empirical research developed in Spain have shown that innovation orientation accelerates the time these companies take to internationalise and allows them to implement more activities and opt for high-control entry modes in foreign markets. The results suggest that two different models of internationalisation can be found within the services sector: firms either adopt a gradual process or attempt to benefit from a rapid transition period of internationalisation.
Guanxi, performance and innovation in entrepreneurial service projects
2013
PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the role played by two dimensions of entrepreneurs' private social capital in the survival, growth and innovativeness of entrepreneurial service ventures: local size and preferential attachment degree.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by a questionnaire, the unit of investigation being the private entrepreneur in the service sector in the city of Shanghai. The questionnaire allows the authors to identify the social network of the entrepreneurs, estimate the empirical degree distribution for the entire sample, and estimate local size and preferential attachment degree.FindingsThere is empirical evidence that entrepreneurs do not create social ne…
Innovation practices in schools: The impact of different models of organization on the practice of Norwegian municipalities
2017
Services provided by primary schools have a significant impact on citizens’ living conditions. We need more knowledge of how innovation activities in primary schools should be organized and managed. This article addresses this gap by raising the following question: ‘Why do municipalities have different ways of organizing preventive work in primary schools and what impact do different organizational approaches have on professionals’ judgement and their decisions to call attention to children at risk, their response patterns and interdisciplinary/interagency cooperation?’ The qualitative exploration of these questions is based on in-depth interviews with head teachers and teachers in 10 Norw…
Master International Franchising in China: The Case of the Athlete’s Foot
2016
Franchising in China is a relatively new and growing phenomenon, which has gained momentum since the 1990s. Among the franchising pioneers in China are large and well-known food and beverage brands, such as KFC and McDonald’s. Less well known, but equally important, are the non-food retailing and service industries, which also made inroads in China using franchising. One such example is the case of the Athlete’s Foot Company. This American company has been a major competitor in the athletic shoes and sportswear sectors globally, made early entry into China using master international franchising, and, consequently, ran into problems indicative of the issues companies that expand internationa…
Women entrepreneurship in small service firms: motivations, barriers and performance
2012
This article presents an exploratory study on the characteristics of women entrepreneurs and the businesses they run in the Valencia region. Following a close look at the evolution of literature on women entrepreneurs, the study shows how different internal and external factors affect the motivation, obstacles and performance of firms created by women. These results contribute towards a better understanding of business creation by women as they provide an empirical contrast of these variables (motivation, barriers and performance). Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of women entrepreneurs and the businesses they run in the Valencia Region of Spain, in order…