The aim of this paper is to explore a theoretical framework that can assist in understanding the extent to which the increased integration of macro-regional economies (such as the European and North American) and the global economy is leading to divergence and/or convergence in the pattern of...

Purpose – This paper aims to report on a study that investigated employees' views on the organizational factors that affect their ability to deliver service quality to customers. The study is important because call centers represent unique work environments and they have not been used in the...

The adoption of new managerial philosophies within higher education is well documented and has increased significantly in the last decade. Of these adoptions, strategic planning within higher education institutes in the Republic of Ireland is particularly relevant given the legislative...

Since the late 1980s the East European clothing sector has witnessed a dramatic transformation. Driven by increasing costs in Western Europe, Western clothing retailers and buyers have increasingly outsourced production to lower-cost regions of postcommunist Eastern Europe. One consequence of...

Despite their importance in pricing futures and other derivative contracts, seasonalvariations in mean and variance of energy prices have not been fully captured inprevious studies of energy prices. We examine the volatility dynamics of daily naturalgas futures traded on the NYMEX via the...

Continuous new service design / redesign is a key contributor to organisational performance. The NSD literature, originally evolving from new product development studies, often emphasised a sequential, linear process. More recently, however, the role of culture, internal politics and social...

The Slovak clothing sector seems to have a number of relative competitive strengths and limitations within this broader context of EU−ECE trade liberalisation and growth of clothing exports. In terms of strengths, three issues are key. First, like other ECE countries, Slovakia is achieving...

Cosmetic defects such as 'hollows' are the result of deviations in a skin panel. These deviations are usually too small and local to be detected by discrete measurements of the panel but become visually apparent after the application of paint. As a result, the perceived quality of a panel may...

The staff working paper ‘Stranded Irrigation Assets’ (Roper, H., Sayers, C. and Smith, A) was released on 28 June 2006. Prior to the National Water Initiative (NWI), irrigation authorities imposed restrictions on outward trade of water entitlements partly to protect remaining irrigators...