Network software systems and groupware within organizations differ from other information technologies, requiring individuals to 'design' their own use. Users and groups can choose how to engage with these systems (Hassall, 1998), and use is dependent upon existing technological framing (Orlikowski, 1992). Groupware provides opportunities to study interaction between technological and organizational potentials. The action and structure duality of structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) points to the need for systemic understandings. Moreover, deconstructive schemes (e.g. Dudley and Hassall 1995,1996) demonstrate a plurality of overt and ulterior motivations in use. The Systemic Effector Model has been developed based upon longitudinal research in groupware implementation. This abstracted perspective relates choice of facility and design of action to important motivators at the individual and systemic levels. The genesis and explanatory power of the model is explored through survey and case study data.

The project which generated this paper arose from continuing concern in the European Union about the persistence of high unemployment and the likely effects of economic reforms in the Newly Independent States. The study brought together researchers from four countries: Finland and the United Kingdom in the EU and Belarus and Russia in the NIS. The purpose was to examine the impact that differing labour standards in the two NIS countries and the two EU countries have and are likely to have on the ability of companies in each country to compete internationally. The core research activity comprised a small number of in-depth case studies of firms in the textile sector, enabling comparisons to be made between the industries in each of the four countries. The lack of structure of labour markets in the NIS and their comparatively low labour costs posed a potential threat to the competitive position of the EU and this study set out to understand the relevant issues more fully from a number of different perspectives. These included comparing labour costs and productivity, social costs such as health and safety, pensions and other benefits and exploring the impact of investment on productivity. Ultimately the study focused on how a levelling up of labour standards in the NIS would impact on the EU Member States. This paper sets out the findings of the case studies within the textile industries of the respective countries. These specific finds are presented within the general context of a comparison of labour market conditions. For the most part, textile firms in the NIS are in a more vulnerable situation than their EU counterparts, with falling domestic demand in Russia and severe raw materials difficulties in Belarus typifying the problems. Lower labour costs in the NIS firms are counteracted by poor productivity and quality issues. Finnish and UK firms also feel vulnerable in a world market, but most have challenged this by developing higher quality, niche products. Higher labour standards does not currently represent a major factor affecting the competitive position of EU firms compared with those in the NIS.

In this paper we use interview data to demonstrate the efficacy of training as a mechanism of knowledge transfer of entrepreneurship education within a conflict environment. In particular, we found that entrepreneurship education is indeed a vital component that impacts the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills acquisition as well as the entrepreneurial intentions amongst a group of University students severely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria. We draw from our findings to outline the central tenets and policy implications of using training as a mechanism of knowledge transfer.

There has been ongoing debate within the social sciences over the nature of epistemological claims made by both positivist and interpretivist researchers. Within the interpretivist paradigm there are numerous methodologies for constructing knowledge, each of which have their own underlying philosophies, practices, and methods of interpretation. Grounded theory is one such methodology. However, it is a methodology which is sometimes perceived as pseudo positivistic, defiling the canons of humanistic research which emphasises the subjective experience of the other. This paper discusses grounded theory, the missing methodology on the interpretivist agenda, and argues that it is an extension of the methods used by the symbolic interactionists. It discusses the underlying philosophy of the methodology and proceeds to present the key concepts associated with its application. Finally,the paper reviews and addresses some of the major criticisms of grounded theory in order to explicate it as a humanistic and interpretivist method of enquiry. This paper is an early version of a chapter for a proposed book on grounded theory. It extends the discussion of grounded theory published in two academic papers by the author: Goulding, C. (1998) Grounded Theory: the missing methodology on the interpretivist agenda Qualitative Market Research: an international journal 1(1) Goulding, C. (forthcoming) Consumer Research, Interpretive Paradigms, and Methodological Ambiguities European Journal of Marketing 33(7/8)

This study examined consumers in the post-Soviet Russia and their willingness to make effective consumer choices. A sample of consumers (n=79) took part and were asked to explore the concept of ‘consumer rights’. They were asked to report an incident in which they complained about an unsatisfactory product or service, to describe the outcome of the complaint, and provided the outcome of the complaint was unsatisfactory, and how they resolved the problem. Finally, the sample was asked to discuss the Russian product/service providers’ attitudes towards customer complaints. The results suggest that the concept of ‘consumer rights’ does not have much meaning for the majority of Russians, and no statistically significant differences based on age or education were found. However, gender differences were found to be statistically significant (F=3.089,p<.05).

Evaluating and managing the effective delivery of IT services is an issue which has been brought into sharper relief recently. This has been particularly prevalent in the UK public sector where the growing emphasis on formalised client-contractor relationships, outsourcing and benchmarking (both between local authorities and between local authorities and private sector organisations) has meant that the definition of service standards and agreeing performance criteria has attracted considerable practitioner attention. This research is based on 300 interviews conducted in six UK local authorities. The investigation used both gap analysis and perceptual mapping techniques to develop an understanding of the aspects of IT service delivery that users' value most in conjunction with an assessment of how well they perceive their IT department is performing on these criteria. The paper exposes considerable differences in the relative performance of the six local authorities from both the gap analysis and the perceptual mapping elements of the investigation. The methodology is shown to provide an effective way of identifying key performance issues from the user perspective and benchmarking service performance across organisations.

The project which generated this paper arose from continuing concern in the European Union about the persistence of high unemployment and the likely effects of economic reforms in the New Independent States. The study brought together researchers from four countries: Finland and the United Kingdom in the EU and Belarus and Russia in the NIS. The purpose was to examine the impact that differing labour standards in the two NIS countries and the two EU countries have and are likely to have on the ability of companies in each country to compete internationally. The core research activity comprised a small number of in-depth case studies of firms in the steel sector, enabling comparisons to be made between the industries in each of the four countries. The lack of structure to labour markets in the NIS and their comparatively low labour costs posed a potential threat to the competitive position of the EU and this study set out to understand the relevant issues more fully from a number of different perspectives. These included comparing labour costs and productivity, social costs such as health and safety, pensions and other benefits and exploring the impact of investment on productivity. Ultimately the study focused on how a levelling up of labour standards in the NIS would impact on the EU Member States. This paper sets out the findings of the case studies within the steel industries of the respective countries. These specific findings are presented within the context of a comparison of general labour market conditions. The steel sector is an important job and wealth creator in all four countries, accounting for a substantial proportion of manufacturing employment. The contrast between the EU producers and their Belarusan and Russian counterparts is quite marked. In terms both of health and safety standards and environmental standards, the EU firms incurred costs significantly in excess of those incurred by their NIS counterparts, but this was counteracted by much higher productivity and concentration on quality products.

This paper seeks to examine the issues of information management in business in the contemporary world by reviewing the contemporary writers in the subject area in an attempt to indicate the area of curriculum appropriate for general managers undergoing a management development programme. The domain is that applicable to managers (i.e. general managers rather than specialists in the areas of IT or IS) participating in an MBA programme or a competence-based management development programme of a similar level with similar goals.