The aim of this exploratory study was to examine how boundary objects are produced and the role ofpower in this process. To do so, we investigated the use of boundary objects by managers to developa customer oriented culture in a newly formed telecommunications company. The boundary object...

This paper aims to develop further the common distinction that is made between rigour and relevance in management research. The debates around this issue have also been closely linked with the critique of Business Schools and in particular the nature of both their students and their teaching. A...

Increasingly universities are seen to be one of the key actors in national innovation systems (Bessant & Venables,2008; Cosh, Lester, & Hughes, 2006; Etzkowitz, Webster, Gebhardt, & Terra, 2000; Lundvall, Johnson, Andersen, &Dalum, 2002). Firms reach out to universities as a source of knowledge and support...

The question of how best to assess research performance is clearly of great concern. In December 2007, HEFCE launched a national consultation on the future of Research Assessment, proposing that a Research Excellence Framework replaces the current Research Assessment Exercise. Fundamentally the...

This report examines innovation in experiential services. These are serviceswhere the focus is on the experience of the customer when interacting with theorganisation, rather than just the functional benefits following from the productsand services delivered. The report is based on a continuing...

Business schools, both in the UK and internationally, face serious challenges as to their future role and legitimacy.Questions have been raised about the value of the MBA degree, and its role as a preparation for management. Thegrowth of business schools as sites for knowledge production has...

This research in this report is built on the argument that deployment and sustainability are key aspects of improvingmanufacturing businesses. The research is based on eight case studies of companies that have usedthe Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) Lean production programme or...

Do “Anglo-Saxon” management practices generate higher productivity only at the expense of lousywork-life balance (WLB) for workers? Many critics of “neo-libéralisme sauvage” have argued thatincreased competition from globalisation is damaging employees’ quality of life. Others have...

A significant part of the activity of the UK Department Of Trade and Industry (DTI) is concerned with enhancingbusiness access to, and use of, external sources of knowledge and expertise. In March 2005 the DTI, recognising theneed for a synthesis of available evidence, conceived and commissioned...

We use an innovative survey tool to collect management practice data from 732 medium sizedmanufacturing firms in the US, France, Germany and the UK. These measures of managerialpractice are strongly associated with productivity, profitability, Tobin’s Q, sales growth and survivalrates....