Reviews literature on industrial choice, ethnography and flexible specialization. Investigates flexible specialization in more depth, claiming that before ethnographic description…
Abstract
Reviews literature on industrial choice, ethnography and flexible specialization. Investigates flexible specialization in more depth, claiming that before ethnographic description can be achieved, abstract simplifications and the choices facing businesses in the local community have to be overcome. Proposes two models for economic recovery – flexible specialization and multinational Keynesianism – and discusses the boundaries that both models impose. Explores the public sphere and enterprise culture, particularly in the UK. Warns of the dangers of ethnographic studies of communities, specifically the imposition of meaning onto communal exchanges. Talks also of social solidarity. Observes that the identification of a communal language and a common work culture is tricky but that ethnography has a role to play in establishing the meaning of flexible specialization in small business communities.
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Questions put to Mr Aitchison during the evening dealt mainly with the method of his SDI investigation. In reply to Mr C. S. Sabel (Central Electricity Generating Board) Mr…
Abstract
Questions put to Mr Aitchison during the evening dealt mainly with the method of his SDI investigation. In reply to Mr C. S. Sabel (Central Electricity Generating Board) Mr Aitchison said that progressive modification of user profiles would be attempted. In answer to a point made by Mr D. V. Arnold (ICI Heavy Organic Chemicals Division) he affirmed his belief that co‐operation with librarians was essential. Mr P.E.Colinese (Central Electricity Generating Board) asked about the method of assessment of relevance by users. Mr Aitchison indicated that this would become more stringent as the study progressed. In reply to Mr D.H. Barlow (McGraw Hill) he said that three indexers would be required for indexing a maximum of 15,000 documents a year. To questions on the amount of computer time required and the percentage of key word match which would enable him to regard a document as relevant to a user, he replied that they hoped to have answers within the next four months. Mr C. S. Sabel (Central Electricity Generating Board) wondered what was the best way for work on mechanization to be co‐ordinated. Mr Aitchison thought that since so few people were working in this field there was little risk of fruitless duplication of effort.
C.S. SABEL, J.E. TERRY and J.H. MOSS
A survey of inquiries addressed to the Information Office of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), Harwell, is described. The objects of the survey were to collect…
Abstract
A survey of inquiries addressed to the Information Office of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), Harwell, is described. The objects of the survey were to collect facts about such inquiries, the work involved and methods used in answering them, and the nature of the answers obtained; to discover useful generalizations from these facts and to apply relevant generalization to the improvement of the information service at Harwell.
Since Bernal made his pilot survey of the use of scientific literature for the 1948 Royal Society Scientific Information Conference, at least three dozen other investigations have…
Abstract
Since Bernal made his pilot survey of the use of scientific literature for the 1948 Royal Society Scientific Information Conference, at least three dozen other investigations have been reported of the needs of scientists and engineers for information, of their information gathering habits, and the use to which they put information.
The role of public procurement as an instrument to stimulate innovation has been increasingly emphasized by European policymakers. This perspective raises demand for the…
Abstract
The role of public procurement as an instrument to stimulate innovation has been increasingly emphasized by European policymakers. This perspective raises demand for the understanding of public procurement as an activity taking place in a variety of different procurement contexts and as an act of innovation. Accordingly, this paper proposes a taxonomy of public procurement and innovation, combining interactive learning and evolutionary perspectives on innovation processes to account for the broad range of different ‘interaction environments’ or ‘resource interfaces’ in which government or public sector organizations may act as lead users of innovations. On this basis, the taxonomy draws practical policy implications for the design of programmes and initiatives for the public procurement of innovations.
Reprints of the following papers are available on loan from Aslib library pending receipt of the published proceedings.
Seeks to explore the analytical rectitude of comparative culturalist approaches to the explanation of differences in the implementation of technologies in different settings…
Abstract
Seeks to explore the analytical rectitude of comparative culturalist approaches to the explanation of differences in the implementation of technologies in different settings. Takes theory and empirical observation from a well‐established case study of the use of information technology in the workplace as a form of worker surveillance (Kay Electronics) and examines a hitherto neglected feature of the company’s reconfiguration of the industrial labour process. Focuses on the realization that the quality monitoring system implemented to support manufacturing in the UK plant was not, as it was initially thought, a direct emulation of a system used in its Japanese sister plant, but was described by the company as a unique approach developed in response to the challenges of a UK manufacturing context.
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C.W. HANSON and PATRICIA TILBURY
To what extent do special librarians and information workers read the literature of their own profession? What use do they make of it? Which journals do they read? Which books do…
John McCartney and Paul Teague
This paper reviews a number of studies that has examined the use of workplace innovations in the Republic of Ireland. It is argued that despite having quite different sampling and…
Abstract
This paper reviews a number of studies that has examined the use of workplace innovations in the Republic of Ireland. It is argued that despite having quite different sampling and technical properties, the surveys reach similar findings on many matters – the high degree of experimentation with innovative work practices, and the piecemeal nature of workplace reform in most companies for example. Yet disagreement has occurred about how these findings should be interpreted. One view is sceptical about whether the surveys point to meaningful innovations in enterprise level employment systems in Ireland. A less pessimistic perspective suggests that the high level of experimentation occurring on new employment practices should be seen as significant as most organisations adopt an evolutionary approach to workplace reform.