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Asserts that innovation, which plays a key role in product and process improvement in many companies, is the very lifeblood of high technology firms. Considers that because technological change is a function of the economic growth model then technological substitution must be a sub‐function of this model. The ability to forecast technological substitution in the long‐term macro view enables strategic planners to develop trends for their specific technological application. Begins with a brief statement of the problem, followed by a discussion of the theoretical framework, review of related literature, methodology, findings, discussion of findings and their implications and, finally, recommendations to practitioners.

COVID-19 has influenced the way we utilise the radio spectrum in terms of increasing data rates, the localisation of usage, and the transfer of traffic from urban to rural areas. Most regulators have shown sympathy towards operator requirements, stipulating a range of mitigation actions including allowing technology neutrality and temporary assignments. Internationally, the ITU-R suspended all physical meetings and launched a new global network resiliency platform named ‘REG4COVID’ to share experiences including those related to spectrum management.

It is argued in this chapter that the pandemic has supported the calls for additional unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz and accelerated the rollout of 5G. Moreover, despite of increasing use of streaming, it is quite difficult to assume that traditional linear TV will be replaced, at least in the near future for a variety of reasons. The pandemic has also raised the question as to whether an innovative assignment model could be used to assign the spectrum instead of auctions, and whether, in some countries where temporary assignments were made, frequencies are kept unutilised or reserved. Concerning international spectrum management, it is expected that WRC-23 will be held on time though there will be some implications for issues such as the regulatory time-limits for bringing into use satellite networks frequency assignments. Finally, it is argued that the pandemic has also demonstrated the importance of flexibility and agility in national spectrum management, and placed spectrum managers in a new position where they were forced to be proactive instead of their traditional reactive role.

The paper analyses the strategic management strategies of UK Construction Contracting Firms (CCFs) and their impact on the industry, highlighting their fragmentation, high-risk, low-profit nature and low profit returns. It suggests proactive strategies for sustainable growth and explores the potential of corporate diversification.

Utilising a thematic critical literature review, specific inclusion/exclusion criteria are used to select relevant literature together with a thematic qualitative synthesis data analysis approach to identify trends and challenges.

UK CCFs primarily use reactive and project-based strategic management, which may not align with long-term success due to market volatility, reactive supply, fragmentation, high competition and lack of differentiation. The short-term business cycle makes medium- to long-term strategy development difficult. It is recommended that CCFs adopt proactive strategic management and consider corporate diversification for enhanced competitiveness, stability and performance. Although there are conflicting findings on the impact of diversification on firm performance, this research suggests that it is a viable strategy for achieving enhanced firm performance and competitive advantage.

The importance of proactive corporate strategies for CCFs is emphasised to overcome industry challenges, promote sustainable growth and enhance competitiveness. Corporate diversification, cultural transformation, management qualifications promotion and talent development collaboration are advocated, providing valuable insights for practitioners, policymakers and researchers.

The practical implications of this research involve fostering a shift towards proactive and dynamic strategic management in the UK construction industry, addressing the historical neglect of broader strategic perspectives and empowering practitioners and academics to drive positive change and innovation within the sector.

The social implications of this research encompass the potential to enhance the overall efficiency, sustainability and collaborative dynamics within the UK construction industry, which can ultimately contribute to improved infrastructure development and the well-being of communities.

Project-driven strategic management in the UK construction industry is explored, questioning the reactive approach used by CCFs. It provides insights, best practices and improvement areas, emphasising diversification, proactive corporate strategies, cultural shifts and industry improvement, spanning theory, practice and theory.

Existing reviews of research on voluntary childlessness generally take the form of narrative summaries, focusing on main topics investigated over time. In this chapter, the authors extend previous literature reviews to conduct a systematic review and content analysis of socio-historical and geopolitical aspects of knowledge production about voluntary childlessness. The dataset comprised 195 peer-reviewed articles that were coded and analysed to explore, inter alia: the main topic under investigation; country location of authors; sample characteristics; theoretical framework and methodology. The findings are discussed in relation to the socio-historical contexts of knowledge production, drawing on theoretical insights concerned with the politics of location, representation and research practice. The shifts in the topics of research from the 1970s, when substantial research first emerged, uphold the view of voluntary childlessness as non-normative. With some regional variation, knowledge is dominated by quantitative, hard science methodologies and mostly generated about privileged, married women living in the global North. The implications of this for future research concerned with reproductive freedom are outlined.

strategic alliances/collaborative strategies;

defending against global competitors;

related diversification;

entrepreneurship-organizational life cycle; and

evaluating strategies for firm growth.

MBA/PGP level programmes in management and/or entrepreneurship.

Aztec Fluids & Machinery, set up just over four years ago in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, caters to the printer hardware, spares and consumables needs of the digital ink jet printing market. The company has identified vendors principally from the UK and China for its printers and consumable sourcing and presently markets these using a hybrid channel structure of direct selling and through 12 distributors in ten cities of India. A recent development of note is the successful transformation of a flexible roll printer into a flat-bed type one by the co-founder. The experiment assumes significance since the cost of a conventional flat-bed screen printer is almost five times that of the improvised printer. The huge, fragmented, price-sensitive, yet quality-conscious market in India offers immense potential for this innovation. At the same time, Aztec's recent interactions with a couple of its UK-based vendors present other alternatives for growth.

To explore organizational life cycle: the introduction and early growth phases.

To understand alliance dynamics for early-stage entrepreneurs –rationale, management and the manifestation of trust between different types of partners: suppliers and customers.

To understand how small firms prepare for and evaluate the challenges of growth.

Teaching note.

Many jurisdictions fine illegal cartels using penalty guidelines that presume an arbitrary 10% overcharge. This article surveys more than 700 published economic studies and judicial decisions that contain 2,041 quantitative estimates of overcharges of hard-core cartels. The primary findings are: (1) the median average long-run overcharge for all types of cartels over all time periods is 23.0%; (2) the mean average is at least 49%; (3) overcharges reached their zenith in 1891–1945 and have trended downward ever since; (4) 6% of the cartel episodes are zero; (5) median overcharges of international-membership cartels are 38% higher than those of domestic cartels; (6) convicted cartels are on average 19% more effective at raising prices as unpunished cartels; (7) bid-rigging conduct displays 25% lower markups than price-fixing cartels; (8) contemporary cartels targeted by class actions have higher overcharges; and (9) when cartels operate at peak effectiveness, price changes are 60–80% higher than the whole episode. Historical penalty guidelines aimed at optimally deterring cartels are likely to be too low.

This chapter is a retrospective commentary on the efficacy of teaching and learning in a higher education space that embraces the incredible diversity of delivery modes available in the post-Covid-19 era of “Smart Cities.” The current reality of widespread and leading-edge experimentation with online learning necessitates that existing brick-and-mortar institutions reimagine their places as providers of higher education in this new age of digital disruptions that will resonate with all stakeholders a future of endless possibilities. The authors, with four decades between them of practice and field research at leading universities and colleges in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and UAE, advocate an approach to higher education that is personalized for learning effectiveness, industrial operations, and institutional evolution; that is, a higher education that is democratized. They warn that the wasted opportunities of meaningful digital transformation pre-Covid-19 have led to an urgency of transformation at the present time. While randomized control trials continue to be the “elephant in the room”; scholars, leaders, technocrats, and regulators must drive the quest for the growth and relevance of a diversified and learner-driven higher education in the years ahead. The platform of a “smart city” may just be the catalyst for such a radical innovation.

Crisis is the real test of the capabilities, of both the organizations as well as individuals. When time is hard, they are tempted to break the rules of the game, only to realize later that the harm done by their socially irresponsible behaviour while handling the crisis, outweigh the damage because of the crisis itself. The Spring of 2003 brought crisis on the MNCs in soft‐drinks and chocolate industries. In this paper, the action of three MNCs to get out of the crisis is analyzed from the CSR perspective, both theoretically and empirically. The actions of the company manufacturing chocolates are perceived as being socially responsible, while those manufacturing soft‐drinks are not perceived as being socially responsible. Although the MNCs are out of the crisis now, but people are able to differentiate between socially responsible behaviour and those actions, which are not. Such repeated actions may damage the company reputation and erode their competitive advantage in long run.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the long-term performance of construction sector initial public offers (IPO) made in India during 2006–2015. The study aims to compare the performance of the construction sector IPOs with the non-construction sector IPOs and finds the determinants of long-term performance of construction sector IPO with a time horizon of three years. The study also attempts to find out, if the long-term IPO underpricing that has been discussed in the literature, really exists or it is a myth.

The study uses data of IPOs listed on National stock exchange during 2006–2015. In total, 281 IPOs are considered for the study, among which 44 are construction sector IPOs. IPOs anniversary performance of three successive years is calculated from the date of listing, and a random effect panel regression model with clustered robust estimates using the maximum likelihood method is performed to find out the determinants of IPO performance. The data are also tested for multicollinearity, stationarity and heteroscedasticity to ensure the robustness of results.

The results show that in the long-run construction sector IPOs outperform the non-construction sector IPOs, though the performance is below average when compared to market returns. The IPO underpricing is a myth, and IPO underperformance is a reality in India. The performance of construction sector IPOs is driven positively by market return, size of the firm and negatively by liquidity of the firm.

The paper is the first attempt to analyze the performance of construction sector IPOs, and compare it with non-construction sector IPOs. The study uses a random effect panel regression model with robust estimates using the maximum likelihood method to ensure the robustness of results. This is the first time the performance of IPOs is studied with a panel data approach.