Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are constantly confronting formidable and competitive challenges. In their midst, to stay abreast of larger firms or international markets, a small number is still able to insulate themselves from the pervasive effects of competition, technology advancement...

As small films have limited resources, they cannot out-muscle larger competitors, so they have to do something different - be innovative and leverage know-how and collaborate with others to increase the scale and scope of what they can offer to be globally competitive. This paper describes an...

Collaborative R&D networks in Australia are explored through a comparison of case studies of seven such ?clubs?. The paper addresses the research question: what are the conditions and mechanisms that facilitate the engagement of entrepreneurial SMEs with R&D and innovation? A typology of these...

The rising interest in innovation studies as indicators of industry growth has resulted in the proliferation of research unpacking the elements that enable companies to learn and to innovate (Arthur De Little, 2001; Smith, 2000). In recent years the attention has been focused on knowledge-intensive...

The paper examines industrial relations in the shipping industries of two Liberal Market Economies (LMEs), Australia and the United States and in two Coordinated Market Economies (CMEs), Germany and Denmark. Hall and Soskice?s (2001) theory of Liberal versus Coordinated market economies has been...

Purpose ? Aims to test Walton and McKersie?s theory on labour negotiations, specifically in the case of German car manufacturers. Design/methodology/approach ? The research is based on interviews with industrial actors in Germany?s car industry ? an empirical case study. Findings ? The article...

The increasing acceptance of enterprise bargaining by both employers and trade unions in Australia calls into question not only the ongoing role of industrial tribunals, but also that of employer associations and their traditional role in the collective representation of individual employers in...

Academic and other research has consistently shown that the work of child care workers has historically been undervalued due to its feminised nature, its charitable origins and a low rate of unionisation. However employer submissions to wage fixing tribunals have both challenged a higher...

New South Wales is at the forefront globally in the protection of labour standards in the clothing industry by regulating the supply chain from the bottom to the top, from home workers to clothing retailers. This is the first case in which retailers are effectively brought under a legal...

This article critically examines the tensions and challenges multinational mining companies (MNMCs,) face in the formation and control of the workforce in a developing country setting. Data gathered through extensive fieldwork, interviews and observation of Papua New Guinean mineworkers shows...