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Joyce‐Loebl's Alan Robinson, technical director, and Peter Hage, industrial systems manager, talk to Jack Hollingum about a low cost ‘vision engine’ for handling and assembly and a related Esprit project.

Focuses on the JL Automation Company of Sunderland, a major supplier of both turnkey and OEM solutions for the quality control of components for the automotive industry. The company is relatively unique in that it develops both its own hardware and software for the machine vision applications. This allows JL to design low‐cost solutions for OEM markets and advanced high technology turnkey systems as one‐off projects for high‐volume products. Describes some of their core machine vision products and applications.

This article gives an account of ESPRIT Project 278 which aimed to create a robot system guided by visual and tactile senses.

This paper aims to create and validate a scale that will serve to measure the construct “organic structure”, currently of great utility for the competitive analysis of firms. On the basis of the literature, eight dimensions, corresponding to the parameters technical system, formalization, centralization, structural complexity, planning and control systems, training, information flows, and culture, form this construct. To verify the reliability and the validity of this measuring instrument we used a sample of 150 large Spanish firms.

I. INTRODUCTION This study attempts to extend and expand previous research conducted by the Department of Marketing at Strathclyde on the adoption and diffusion of industrial products.

Addresses the standardization of the measurements and the labels for concepts commonly used in the study of work organizations. As a reference handbook and research tool, seeks to improve measurement in the study of work organizations and to facilitate the teaching of introductory courses in this subject. Focuses solely on work organizations, that is, social systems in which members work for money. Defines measurement and distinguishes four levels: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Selects specific measures on the basis of quality, diversity, simplicity and availability and evaluates each measure for its validity and reliability. Employs a set of 38 concepts ‐ ranging from “absenteeism” to “turnover” as the handbook’s frame of reference. Concludes by reviewing organizational measurement over the past 30 years and recommending future measurement reseach.

The purpose of this paper is to identify gaps in the structure of organizations that hinder collaboration of organizations involved in the creation of graduate employment opportunities in Uganda.

Data was collected from staff and leaders of 14 organizations that were purposely selected to represent government, private, and civil society organizations. These organizations were selected based on their mandates, which touch on the employability of university graduates in the country in very direct ways. This was a cross-sectional survey design—based on a self-administered questionnaire, key informant interviews, and documentary analysis.

Organizations were found to have “Tell”/directive decision-making, high power distance between employees, and jobs were not coded in a way that gives employees freedoms to interact and build collaborative relationships. Finally, rules and regulations were very restrictive, disorienting employee's abilities to collaborate.

This research concentrated on the gaps that exist in the structure of organizations from which the results point to inadequate relational, interactional, inclusive, and democratic space among different stakeholders. It would be useful for future research to examine the extent to which the structure of organizations not only impacts collaboration but also measures the level to which it affects organizational performance.

The knowledge economy of the twenty-first century demands for collaborative engagements with different stakeholders if they are to survive the competitive business environment. Collaborative engagement helps in the sharing of knowledge, expertise, and resources, development of more coherent services, facilitation of innovation and evaluation, avoiding duplication of work, and minimizing conflicts and competition while creating synergy among partners.

Unlike previous studies, which have examined employability of graduates from a supply side perspective, this study investigates organizations from both the supply and demand perspectives and identifies synergy that is as a result of bringing organizations to work together.

Zahra and Covin (1995, p. 46) report that “the current interest in corporate entrepreneurship arises from its potential usefulness as a means for renewing established organizations and increasing their ability to compete in their chosen markets.” In addition, a number of researchers support a contention made by Schollhamer (1982, p. 82), that “corporate entrepreneurship is a key element for gaining competitive advantage and consequently greater financial strength” (Covin & Slevin, 1991; Peters & Waterman, 1982; Zahra & Covin, 1995). Interestingly, however, other researchers argue that corporate entrepreneurship can be risky and may be detrimental to a firm’s short-term financial performance (Burgelman & Scales, 1986; Fast, 1981).

Having a good idea, product or system is often not enough to ensure the adoption and diffusion of an innovation. Using an organisational power and politics perspective, several published accounts of product and administrative innovation are analysed. The interplay of political tactics or games are found to be present at both the observable surface level and the deep structural level of power relationships in all areas of activity – individual, group, organisational and societal. The viability of two overall political influence strategies, “asking for forgiveness” versus “seeking permission” are contrasted in terms of their implications for the eventual success or failure of a proposed product or administrative innovation. Several propositions and future research directions which focus on the political nature and processes of innovation are suggested.