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In this article, we want to report on evolutions in distribution and distribution research in Belgium. The purpose of the first part is to present some factual data on distribution in Belgium and to report on evolutions since the Second World War.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

A dictionary definition of management says that it is the “judicious use of means to accomplish an end” (Webster). An alternative definition which may be found in textbooks is that management means the handling of scarce resources so as to maximise utility. Can there be a science dealing with how to handle scarce resources? Economics is also sometimes defined as the science having to do with the handling of scarce resources. Is there then any difference between economics and management? I think there is. Economics derives its normative statements from value systems incorporating economic equilibria (market equilibria). Management, on the other hand, is somehow tied to purposeful decision‐making and actions and the concept is often though not exclusively used about business decision‐making. Management is then seen as the art or science of maximising profits and ensuring efficiency. Even if this is the main pre‐occupation of management researchers and practitioners as evidenced by textbooks and case studies, it does not by any means cover the whole complex area of management. For one thing there are always constraints on behaviour, some of which are so strict that they actually serve as goals in themselves and maximisation of profit is often replaced by criteria for satisficing. It should be noted that management is also used in the sense of “the collective body of those who manage or direct an enterprise” (Webster). This latter definition may explain why management in the first sense is often conceived as relating to the handling of scarce resources in the business firm.

Stagflation and persistent balance of trade deficits during the 1970's encouraged government policy makers in many countries to seek improvements in export market performance. Another significant development during the 1970's was the empirical verification provided by the PIMS project of the positive relationship between a firm's market share and its profit ability, or other measures of performance in a particular market. The authors propose that the PIMS findings may also apply for an aggregation of firms — namely, world traders. A market share analysis of the export trade performance of the U.S., the E.E.C., and for Japan is presented, the implications of this research are discussed, and some directions for future research are provided.

La connaissance la plus précise des marchés touristiques et de leur interdépendance définit, aussi bien dans le cadre de l'entreprise privée que publique, la base de toute politique d'investissements et évite le suréquipement ou la surproduction.

TITANIUM Influence of palladium on resistance and passivation. The metal laboratory of the Metallgesellschaft A.G., Frankfurt/Main, has investigated the influence of a palladium admixture on the corrosion resistance of titanium and titanium alloys in 20% hydrochloric acid. It was found that the addition of 0.1% palladium resulted in an improvement of the corrosion resistance not only of non‐alloyed titanium but also of titanium alloys. In solutions containing nitric acid above the passivation limit (0.13%) the corrosion resistance of certain titanium alloys was also improved. With non‐alloyed titanium, the palladium admixture is able to compensate fully the increase in corrosion otherwise caused by the iron contents.—(U. Zwicker, Metalloberfläche, 1960, 14 (11), 334–337.)

We present a comprehensive literature review and critique of union decertification research, and develop a theoretical framework that should prove useful for future research. The framework incorporates three theoretical viewpoints from several research traditions: the expected utility, social‐political, and workplace voice perspectives. We provide suggestions for how each viewpoint can be modeled in future research. Additionally, although some previous decertification research was theoretically rich, the empirical findings across prior studies were ambiguous and inconsistent. We analyze the reasons for the ambiguous and inconsistent prior findings, and note how future research can avoid or minimize the empirical problems of the past.

Telemetry capsules have existed since the 1950s and were used to measure temperature, pH or pressure inside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It was hoped that these capsules would replace invasive techniques in the diagnosis of function disorders in the GI tract. However, problems such as signal loss and uncertainty of the pills position limited their use in a clinical setting. In this paper, a review of the capabilities of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for the fabrication of a wireless pressure sensor microsystem is presented.

The circuit requirements and methods of data transfer are examined. The available fabrication methods for MEMS sensors are also discussed and examples of wireless sensors are given. Finally, the drawbacks of using this technology are examined.

MEMS for use in wireless monitoring of pressure in the GI tract have been investigated. It has been shown that capacitive pressure sensors are particularly suitable for this purpose. Sensors fabricated for wireless continuous monitoring of pressure have been reviewed. Great progress, especially using surface micromachining, has been made in recent years. However, despite these advances, some challenges remain.

Provides a review of the capabilities of MEMS.

This paper exposes the development of markets-as-networks theory from formal inception in the mid-1970s until 2010 state-of-the-art, en route presenting its historical roots. This largely European-based theory challenges the conventional, dichotomous view of the business world as including firms and markets, arguing for the existence of relational governance structures (the so-called “interfirm cooperation”) in addition to hierarchical and transactional ones.

The development of a sensor microsystems containing all the components of data acquisition system, such as sensors, signal‐conditioning circuits, analog‐digital converter, interface circuits and embedded microcontroller (MCU), has become the focus of attention in many biomedical applications. A review of the microsystems technology is presented in this paper, along with a discussion of the recent trends and challenges associated with its developments. A basic description of each sub‐system is also given. This includes the different front end, mixed analog‐digital, power management, and radio transmitter‐receiver circuits. These sub‐system designs are presented and discussed in a comparative study and final remarks are made. The performance of each sub‐system is assessed regarding many aspects related to the overall system performance.