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Publication date: 1 June 1995

Jacqueline Senker and Peter Senker

Companies have difficulties in extending their capabilities in new unfamiliar areas. This paper outlines how the Teaching Company Scheme (TCS) helps companies overcome such…

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Abstract

Companies have difficulties in extending their capabilities in new unfamiliar areas. This paper outlines how the Teaching Company Scheme (TCS) helps companies overcome such difficulties by supporting links between academics and industry. Firms are having to find ways to cope with the intensifying international competition and with the emergence of a cluster of new, pervasive technologies. Their response is based increasingly on the application of technology and modern management methods to the development of new products of consistent high quality and their efficient manufacture. The complexities of the new product development processes, shortening product life‐cycles, the transformation of production processes, the growing use of computer‐based innovations such as Materials Requirement Planning, and organisational innovations such as Total Quality Management all demand that firms learn to do things in new ways (Dodgson, 1993). It takes time and effort for firms to understand technologies which are new to them, and to accumulate technological expertise. Acquiring such understanding may require investment in new competences, in training and retraining. Firms which fail to employ graduate level staff have limited capacity to learn, or to use technology and modern management and marketing methods properly and systematically. Employees who have received a university education acquire ‘knowledge of knowledge’: when they are confronted with technical problems beyond their capability, they know how to seek out external information to solve such problems (Gibbons & Johnston, 1974). A key part of the learning process is concerned with the identification of information which can add value to the business, and with integrating new knowledge into a company's existing accumulated knowledge (Tiler & Gibbons, 1991). Various studies show that external technology acquisition cannot substitute for in‐house R&D capability (Mowery, 1983; Granstrand et al, 1992), nor is recruitment generally the first step by which firms acquire capability in new technological fields (Faulker and Senker forthcoming). Firms often form links with university experts to learn something about the new field before committing themselves to recruitment. In the absence of procedures to ensure internal diffusion of new knowledge, firms which attempt to build up their knowledge through the use of a consultant or the recruitment of an expert are likely to gain little from their investment: It is necessary to ensure that knowledge which is received from external sources is communicated and utilised effectively throughout the organisation. For example, Dale (1986) has shown that it is dangerous for an organisation to rely on individual IT experts. The organisation as a whole must learn to use IT, so that it can draw upon the complex blend of skills and talents over which it has control, locating and drawing upon the strengths in its knowledge base. The effective introduction of new technology requires not only technical expertise, but managers who appreciate the wider implications of introducing new technology. Studies of firms involved in automation implementation have shown that they very often fail to secure the anticipated benefits from their investment largely as a consequence of senior management failure to understand the need to manage new technology introduction according to a strategy which covers work and its organisation in addition to technical aspects (Senker, 1984; Bessant & Haywood, 1988; Senker & Simmonds 1991). Organisational learning may also be constrained by a firm's culture, which is generally conservative and sustains existing structures of belief (March et al, 1991). A recent research project sought to assess the extent to which the programmes supported by British Teaching Company Scheme have contributed to the solution of these very difficult problems, and to make proposals for enhancing its effectiveness (Senker et al, 1993). This paper describes the Scheme and its objectives, outlines the aims of our study and reviews its findings.

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Management Research News, vol. 18 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0140-9174

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1990

Jacqueline Senker

Concentration in food retailing has swung the balance of power awayfrom food manufacturers. This not only affects margins, it also affectsproduct ingredients. Retailers are…

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Concentration in food retailing has swung the balance of power away from food manufacturers. This not only affects margins, it also affects product ingredients. Retailers are employing increasing numbers of qualified food scientists and technologists to develop high quality own label products which can be used as a competitive weapon to gain market share. This has serious implications for branded products. A history of the campaign to remove contentious food additives is presented and retailers′ and manufacturers′ responses are reported as a cautionary tale for those who try to resist rather than respond to consumer concern.

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British Food Journal, vol. 92 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Publication date: 1 May 1983

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…

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In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

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Management Decision, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

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