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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the continuing justification for linking the prices of European gas to those oil products.

The paper uses an analytic‐deductive approach supported by relevant analysis of data over a period of two decades.

Statistical analysis of the end‐uses of gas and oil products over the past two decades reveal that, with few exceptions, use of oil is increasing confined to transportation while gas is a utility fuel used to generate heat and power. The ability of end‐users to substitute oil products for gas – the principal justification for price linkage – has substantially diminished over the past two decades, and this trend is continuing. The implication of these findings is that nearly 20 percent of Europe's energy supplies are priced inappropriately with reference to a fuel which has little relevance to the supply/demand dynamics of natural gas. At levels of oil prices seen since 2003, this has significantly negative consequences for consumers. An important qualification to these findings is that in markets where prices have been set by gas to gas competition for many years – the UK and North America – a long‐term “natural correlation” between gas and oil prices has been observed.

The paper raises the important question facing European gas stakeholders and asks whether to remain with oil‐linked prices or move to spot market prices created at hubs in North West Europe.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Offers a preliminary assessment of electronic commerce. Rarely has the retail and consumer services sector been faced with a strategic challenge of such significant complexity and uncertainty that is growing so rapidly. Suggests that the academic world is lagging behind the world of practice in terms of supplying rigorous analysis of the topic. Deals with four discrete areas of the new economy as it affects retailers. Explores the extent to which the emergence of new electronic channels to market has led to distinctive means of business differentiation, with particular reference to branding and pricing. Secondly, looks at how business‐to‐business companies can use electronic channels to improve supply chain and productivity requirements. Thirdly, assesses how far we understand some of the organisational change issues. Finally considers the future of eCommerce.

Whether opportunities are discovered or created by entrepreneurs is a foundational question in entrepreneurship research. The purpose of this paper is to examine women entrepreneurs in high-growth new ventures and explore the cognitive resources that distinguish between three approaches to opportunity perception: opportunity discovery; opportunity creation; and a combined discover-create (ambidextrous) approach.

Using questionnaire responses from 165 women entrepreneurs in high-growth new ventures, K-means clustering was used to determine three approaches to opportunity perception. The cognitive resources associated with each approach were then identified using multiple discriminant analysis. Finally, multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to examine the relationship between opportunity perception and growth expectations.

These results demonstrate different approaches to opportunity perception among entrepreneurs in high-growth new ventures, the cognitive resources that reinforce each approach, and the expected new venture growth outcomes.

The findings offer insight on the cognitive origins of opportunity perception by empirically identifying distinct approaches to opportunity perception and the cognitive resources that underlie each. The study relies on a unique sample of entrepreneurs to understand complex cognitive phenomenon.

Understanding the effects that cognitive factors have on opportunity perception provides direction for current and aspiring entrepreneurs. The findings and instrument may be used for professional development and to inform educational strategies.

The findings offer important contributions to entrepreneurial theory and practice by addressing repeated calls for research that examines the cognitive antecedents enabling opportunity formation (discovery, creation or both). This manuscript empirically does so, while opening up possibilities for future research.

The essay builds a timeline of the friendship and intellectual intercourse between Sraffa and Wittgenstein with data from both their Cambridge Pocket Diaries (CPDs) and their correspondence and biography. The timeline distinguishes five phases: their first meetings until June 1930, the time in which their weekly conversations run uninterrupted (October 1930–June 1933); the period in which the enchantment of their previous meetings was broken (October 1933–July 1936); the following decade in which their meetings were in some years intense, in others nearly inexistent, until Sraffa decided to put an end to their conversations; and finally the years preceding Wittgenstein’s death. The meetings between Sraffa and Wittgenstein from their CPDs are listed in the Appendix.

This paper examines visual representation in marketing communication from a distinctive, interdisciplinary perspective that draws on ethics, visual studies and critical race theory. An ontological approach is offered as an alternative to phenomenologically based approaches in marketing scholarship that use consumer responses to generate data. Suggests ways to clarify complex issues of representational ethics in marketing by applying a semiotically‐based analysis that places ontological identity at the center of societal marketing concerns. Analyzes representations of the exotic Other in disparate marketing campaigns, including advertising, tourist promotions and music, as examples of bad faith marketing strategy. Music is an important force in marketing communication, yet marketing studies have rarely considered music and its visual representations as data for inquiry. Feels that considering visual representation within marketing from an ontological standpoint contributes additional insight into societal marketing and places global marketing processes within the intersection of ethics, aesthetics and representation.

A “state-driven” approach suggests that colonists use census categories to rule. However, a “society-driven” approach suggests that this state-driven perspective confers too much power upon states. A third approach views census-taking and official categorization as a product of state–society interaction that depends upon: (a) the population's lay categories, (b) information intellectuals' ability to take up and transform these lay categories, and (c) the balance of power between social and state actors. We evaluate the above positions by analyzing official records, key texts, travelogues, and statistical memoirs from three key periods in India: Indus Valley civilization through classical Gupta rule (ca. 3300 BCE–700 CE), the “medieval” period (ca. 700–1700 CE), and East India Company (EIC) rule (1757–1857 CE), using historical narrative. We show that information gathering early in the first period was society driven; however, over time, a strong interactive pattern emerged. Scribes (information intellectuals) increased their social status and power (thus, shifting the balance of power) by drawing on caste categories (lay categories) and incorporating them into official information gathering. This intensification of interactive information gathering allowed the Mughals, the EIC, and finally British direct rule officials to collect large quantities of information. Our evidence thus suggests that the intensification of state–society interactions over time laid the groundwork for the success of the direct rule British censuses. It also suggests that any transformative effect of these censuses lay in this interactive pattern, not in the strength of the British colonial state.

Previous research in the area of distributor performance proposed different scales, mostly in western, developed country context. These studies also lacked the consideration of dynamic interaction between variables, which determine the distributor’s performance. This paper proposes a composite Distributor Performance Index (DPI) to evaluate distributors’ performance based on at the “Enables” and “Results”, taking a system dynamics approach. The model results have been discussed and validated, in business marketing channel. The context of this study is India, an emerging market.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.