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Using a case study of BP the authors explore the management of the relationship portfolio using a technique developed by Deloitte Consulting.

Outsourcing was a key concept throughout the 1990s and symbolized the realization that effective business strategies had to start by focusing on core activities and competencies. However, there is more to outsourcing than either moving the stationery cupboard and the motor pool off‐site to another company’s premises or annual supplier reviews. A new technique, developed by Deloitte Consulting for BP, focuses on business activity as a network of relationships that require continuous hands‐on management.

Existing research suggests that the competitive advantage provided by technological development depends to a large extent on the speed and coordination of the technology’s implementation, and on how adoptable the technological applications are considered. While accepting this argument, the authors consider the explanatory model to be inadequate. This study aims to contribute to the theoretical discussion by analysing institutionalised industrial relations and other organisation-level factors, which are important for workplace restructuring and societal change.

The analysis is based on a representative nation-wide work and working conditions survey (N = 4,100) from Finland, which includes a variety of themes, including practices, changes and well-being at work. Changes are understood as organisational changes, focusing on modern technologies such as robotisation and digitalisation.

The results indicate that occupational division at workplace (low-skilled vs high-skilled occupations) affects job insecurity and acceptance of technologies at work. The characteristics of workplaces, such as the employees’ participation and involvement in the development of the organisation, play a significant part in both the acceptance and the implementation and outcomes of the technological transformations in the workplace.

The research provides new and interesting insights into working life practices. Furthermore, it reveals how technology acceptance and employment perspectives relate to working conditions and lessons learned from past reforms.

The authors consider current theories such as technology acceptance model at the micro level and that way rationalise the need for this study. This study shows the importance of individual, organisational and wider contextual factors in technology acceptance.

This bibliography is offered as a practical guide to published papers, conference proceedings papers and theses/dissertations on the finite element (FE) and boundary element (BE) applications in different fields of biomechanics between 1976 and 1991. The aim of this paper is to help the users of FE and BE techniques to get better value from a large collection of papers on the subjects. Categories in biomechanics included in this survey are: orthopaedic mechanics, dental mechanics, cardiovascular mechanics, soft tissue mechanics, biological flow, impact injury, and other fields of applications. More than 900 references are listed.

To share activities to support preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSMTs) participation questioning discourse, which consists of (a) modeling and engaging students in mathematical discourse and activity, and (b) supporting and assessing students’ development of conceptual understanding.

PSMTs typically struggle to develop fluency in participation questioning discourse, despite having it modeled for them by expert teachers in mathematics education courses. Using Gee’s Discourse Theory to conceptualize this problem, we developed the iterative model of See it, Try it and Reflect on it (STaR) to create learning activities in a methods course that engage PSMTs in viewing and reflecting on videotaped mathematics lessons.

PSMTs increased their fluency in participation questioning discourse through viewing and reflecting on videotaped lessons using the STaR iterative model.

The STaR model is a promising framework that can be used to design learning activities to help preservice and inservice teachers acquire fluency in discipline-specific pedagogical Discourses.

Digital technologies promise efficiency gains and untapped opportunity. Adoptions of digital technology lead firms to rethink their organizational setup and existing practices. This paper aims to present a management innovation-based framework that describes new processes and practices for digital transformation.

This study uses a structural equation modeling approach to test the framework with survey responses from a sample of 901 Taiwanese organizations – both local firms and multinational subsidiaries – to explore the linkages between adoption of digital technologies and digital maturity.

The results reveal that management innovation mediates the relationship between digital technology adoption and digital maturity. Moreover, fast-paced environments have a greater impact of management innovation toward digital maturity than slow-paced environments.

This study adds to emerging research that considers the role of organizational learning in digital transformation efforts. The extent to which organizations link the lessons from direct experience to digital routines through which management innovation is implemented determines to a large extent whether this strategic initiative is optimized by the firm. More generally, the findings point to the mutual importance of digital maturity and experiential learning efforts, and suggest a specific means by which learning processes are mobilized by innovating organizations. This study contributes to digital transformation research by providing insight into how a firm can restart failed transformation initiatives of this kind.

The recent Middle East war and the subsequent strengthening of political ties between the United States and Middle Eastern countries have opened the doors to attractive business opportunities and increased the chance for the transferability of Western business practices more than ever before. The objectives of this study were to examine marketing practices among Egyptian firms. The results from 51 firms operating in various sectors of the Egyptian economy indicate a massive neglect and absence of modern marketing practices among the surveyed firms. Foreign firms that adapt their strategies to cultural and structural impediments to marketing in that country will prove most profitable.

This article attempts to position marketing as an academic and professional discipline. It discusses potential differences between the needs of marketing academics and other marketing professionals with respect to the definition of the subject matter of marketing. The politico‐ideological basis of marketing in a free market economy is seen as an external criterion, which can help to identify the most appropriate concepts for marketing theory building and applied marketing knowledge.