Showing papers on "Business model published in 1998"

Business Models for Electronic Markets

Abstract: Electronic commerce over the Internet may be either complementary to traditional business or represent a whole new line of the new features of the Internet, critical questions to be answered include: ♦ what are the emerging business models; and related to this ♦ which strategic marketing approaches are applied, or emerging. This article addresses the first question above by providing a framework for the classification of Internet electronic commerce business models. This framework has been developed on the basis of current commercial Internet business and experimental work in European R&D programmes.

Real Strategies for Virtual Organizing

Abstract: Current models of organizational strategy and structure fail to meet the challenges of the information age Based on field study, the authors conceptualize an architecture, or guide, for virtual organizing that focuses on the importance of knowledge and intellect in creating value Information technology lies at the heart of this business model for the twenty-first century The authors' approach incorporates three interdependent vectors: customer interaction deals with new challenges and opportunities for company-to-customer interactions; asset configuration focuses on creating and deploying intellectual assets while sourcing physical assets from a complex business network; and knowledge leverage is concerned with opportunities for leveraging diverse sources of expertise within and across organizational boundaries Each of the vectors in turn has three stages Stage one focuses on task units such as customer service, purchasing, or new product development Stage two focuses on coordinating activities to create superior value Stage three focuses on the interorganizational network to design and leverage interdependent communities for innovation and growth Each vector raises a distinct series of questions for managers The overall challenge for companies is to harmonize the three vectors and to undertake external benchmarking when experimenting with different approaches to design

Corporate strategies and environmental regulations: an organizing framework

Abstract: An emerging subfield of strategic management is that dealing with the natural environment as it affects corporate strategy. To analyze this we organize the literature on environmental regulations and corporate strategy into a new managerial framework. Next we develop a resource-based view of the interaction between firm-level competitiveness and environmental regulations, including the conditions for the use of green capabilities. Finally, we analyze the green capabilities of multinational enterprises within a standard international business model, using firm-specific advantages (FSAs) and country-specific advantages (CSAs). We then use this FSA/CSA configuration to explore hypotheses on environmental regulations, competitiveness, and corporate strategy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future

Abstract: Acknowledgements. Contributors to the Second Edition. Foreword. PART I Introduction. Chapter 1: The Development of Scenario Planning. Chapter 2: Where Are We Now?. Chapter 3: ICL's Experience of Building Scenarios for Strategic Planning. Chapter 4: Linking Scenarios to Strategic Planning. Chapter 5: Scenarios to Influence Public Attitudes. Chapter 6: Scenarios for Learning. Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusions. PART II METHODS AND EXAMPLES. Computer-Driven Simulations, e.g. Stratx. The European Commission's Methodology. The French School. Generon Consulting. GBN Global Business Network. International Futures and the Terra Project. SAMI Consulting. SCMl. SRI Consulting Business Intelligence. The Amington Institute. The Millennium Project. Futures Data. PART III CASE STUDIES. AMA: Roadmap to Utopia. British Airways. Cable & Wireless Experience. Diabetes 2020: Designing New Business Models for Prevention and Treatment. Electrolux: Developing New Business Streams. European Commission: Using Scenarios to Great Common Understanding across Different Cultures. Finland: A Long-term View. KRONE: Scanning the Horizon. Morgan Stanley in Japan, 2002. Pharma Futures: Multistakeholder Scenario Planning for the Global Pharmaceutical Industry through 2015. Shell's Planning System in the 1990s. Surrey Vision 2020. The UK National Health Service. United Distillers' Experience: Investigating Market Potential. PART IV EXAMPLES OF SCENARIOS. Scenarios Developed by ICL - Mark I. Scenarios Developed by ICL - Mark II. Scenarios for the Telecom Supply Industry. The Hemingford Scenarios. Scenarios for the Future of Biosciences in 2020 and Beyond. Scenarios for Organisations in the Twenty-first Century. Scenarios for Scotland. Shell Global Scenarios to 2025. The Challenge Forum Global Scenarios for 2025. Z/Yen Scenarios for Voluntary-Sector Organisations. Bibliography. Index.

Making business sense of the Internet.

Abstract: For managers in large, well-established businesses, the Internet is a tough nut to crack. It is very simple to set up a Web presence and very difficult to create a Web-based business model. Established businesses that over decades have carefully built brands and physical distribution relationships risk damaging all they have created when they pursue commerce through the Net. Still, managers can't avoid the impact of electronic commerce on their businesses. They need to understand the opportunities available to them and recognize how their companies may be vulnerable if rivals seize those opportunities first. Broadly speaking, the Internet presents four distinct types of opportunities. First, it links companies directly to customers, suppliers, and other interested parties. Second, it lets companies bypass other players in an industry's value chain. Third, it is a tool for developing and delivering new products and services to new customers. Fourth, it will enable certain companies to dominate the electronic channel of an entire industry or segment, control access to customers, and set business rules. As he elaborates on these four points, the author gives established companies a systematic way to sort through the risks and rewards of doing business in cyberspace.

The power of virtual integration: an interview with Dell Computer's Michael Dell. Interview by Joan Magretta.

Abstract: Michael Dell started his computer company in 1984 with a simple business insight. He could bypass the dealer channel through which personal computers were then being sold and sell directly to customers, building products to order. Dell's direct model eliminated the dealer's markup and the risks associated with carrying large inventories of finished goods. In this interview, Michael Dell provides a detailed description of how his company is pushing that business model one step further, toward what he calls virtual integration. Dell is using technology and information to blur the traditional boundaries in the value chain between suppliers, manufacturers, and customers. The individual pieces of Dell's strategy--customer focus, supplier partnerships, mass customization, just-in-time manufacturing--may be all be familiar. But Michael Dell's business insight into how to combine them is highly innovative. Direct relationships with customers create valuable information, which in turn allows the company to coordinate its entire value chain back through manufacturing to product design. Dell describes how his company has come to achieve this tight coordination without the "drag effect" of ownership. Dell reaps the advantages of being vertically integrated without incurring the costs, all the while achieving the focus, agility, and speed of a virtual organization. As envisioned by Michael Dell, virtual integration may well become a new organizational model for the information age.

Global mind‐sets and cognitive shift in a complex multinational corporation

Abstract: This article investigates attitudes that underlie international strategy processes. We propose survey scales of these attitudes and describe tests that support their reliability and validity as measures of constructs—including integration, responsiveness, and coordination—that researchers have used for many years in case analyses of international strategy and organization. We also propose and validate scales to capture the perceived alignment with firms' international objectives of key business policies that affect individuals, including accountability for global results, career opportunity and a globally shared meaning system that informs communication and discussion about change. Our discussion of these tests offers an assessment of how changing patterns of association among the measures over time conform to expectations generated by the case-based empirical literature. We argue that these patterns document a process of organizational learning that can link managers' mind-sets with senior managers' intentions in the course of proactive international strategic change. The analysis relies on survey responses taken in 1992 and 1995 from 370 managers in 13 country affiliates and the head office of a U.S.-based diversified multinational corporation (DMNC). © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sap R/3 Process Oriented Implementation

Abstract: From the Publisher: Dr. Gerhard Keller works for SAP AG, where he designed the SAP process description and currently works in the area of industry business models. He created the methodology of IPP - Iterative Process Prototyping - based on the concepts for modeling business processes with Event-driven Process Chains (EPC). Thomas Teufel is also an employee of SAP, where, in addition to helping design the SAP process description, he has applied R/3 reference models in various customer projects. He currently focuses on the area of logistics.

IT outsourcing as strategic partnering: the case of the UK inland revenue

Abstract: The information systems (IS) literature, and the industry sectors confronted with information technology (IT) outsourcing, are beginning to perceive IT outsourcing as more than just a necessary organizational resource-acquisition venture. Instead organizations have begun to consider vendors as their partners, causing many companies to enter into more intricate deals that include both contractual and informal issues. In light of these developments, a growing concern with forming closer client–vendor relationships has evolved for both vendors and clients. This paper explores, in the context of a case study, three critical dimensions emerging from previous studies. These are: what is outsourced; the contract; and the relationship dimension. We also explore the process and management issues underlying these dimensions. The investigation is enabled through two analytical frameworks, one proven in previous research, one exploratory, but both specifically developed for IT outsourcing arrangements.

Designing Systems for Internet Commerce

Abstract: From the Book: PREFACE: In 1994, The Economist ranked the Internet between the telephone and the printing press in its long-term impact on the world. Just as those inventions transformed society, so the Internet has already begun a transformation—one that is happening much faster than the earlier revolutions. Commerce, of course, is one arena already feeling the effects of the Internet. In the past few years, we have seen dramatic changes in some businesses, the creation of new businesses, and significant effects on others. In the nineteenth century, fast transportation—the railroad—fundamentally changed commerce. At the end of the twentieth century, the Internet is making fundamental changes to commerce for the next century. We are just at the beginning of the revolution. It is a revolution made possible by technology, offering a tremendous variety of new business opportunities. The technology will continue to change, and change at a rapid pace. New markets will appear; old ones will be transformed or disappear entirely. The short-term changes in technology and markets are important, but the reaction to them must be balanced with a long-term business vision. The challenge is using the technology effectively to achieve business goals. The audience for this book is what we call the "Internet commerce team." This team includes people responsible for business and those responsible for technology. It includes those who develop the strategic vision for a company, and those who put the strategy into action. In other words, the Internet commerce team is the group of people who make Internet commerce happen, from vision to implementation. Our focus isonmaking Internet commerce happen, and making it successful over the long term. In some ways, Internet commerce seems deceptively simple: companies think "let's put up a web site, and watch the money roll in." A year later, they're wondering what happened, and why it wasn't successful. As anyone involved in running a business knows, nothing is ever that easy. The most basic rules of business haven't changed, but the Internet does change the playing field. It offers new markets, new ways to get close to customers, new ways to work with partners. For some, the excitement over Internet commerce has created a "credibility gap" between grand visions of change and the day-to-day problems of running computer systems for a business. It is easy to paint an exciting vision of the future, yet often difficult to figure out to get there. This book aims to help bridge this gap, grounding the vision of change with what is possible for businesses to achieve with the changing technology. Throughout the book, we emphasize both practice and principles—the what and the why. Practices are the actions; the specific ideas for specific circumstances. Principles are the general rules; the elements on which practices are built. As technology changes (or, for that matter, as business models change), the practices will need to change. The principles, in contrast, change more slowly, and can be applied in a wide variety of circumstances. When a team understands the principles underlying what they do, they can adapt to changing circumstances and develop new practices for it. Without that understanding, they can become incapacitated when the situation changes and different practices are needed to be successful. What the technology brings is a combination of new opportunities, changing cost structures, new customers, and faster response times. The technology opportunities must be combined with and tempered by the business goals. This book is about that combination—designing computer systems for doing business on open networks. When we say this book is about design, we mean that it is intended to help with the design process. It doesn't give all the answers—the actual design for your business requirements is likely to be very different from someone else's. Nonetheless, we can explore some of the common issues and critical questions to ask when planning any system for Internet commerce. In the process, we look at some of the key technologies of today, and apply those technologies in several examples. A word of warning: at times it may seem that we are overly concerned with potential problems—the things that can go wrong. These are not reasons to avoid Internet commerce. Rather, we think it is important to approach Internet commerce as you would any other business proposition, understanding the downside as well as the upside, the risks as well as the benefits. On balance, using the Internet for commerce can be a tremendous asset for businesses. Doing everything possible to maximize the chances for success is merely good business. Acknowledgments This book is an attempt to write down what we have learned about Internet Commerce so far. Much of our experience in this area is drawn from our association with Open Market, which began operations in April 1994, but we have applied many of the lessons learned about the Internet and about systems design during our earlier careers at Xerox, Digital Equipment, and MIT, as well as from our academic associations with MIT, Harvard, and Stanford University. We would like first to acknowlege the great contributions and support we have received in this endeavor from Shikhar Ghosh, Gary Eichhorn, Andy Payne, Peter Woon, and the rest of our colleagues at Open Market. In one way or another, everyone at Open Market has contributed to this work. The editorial team at Addison-Wesley has been outstanding, with our editor Karen Gettman, editorial assistant Mary Harrington, and the editor who inspired this work, Carol Long. We have been fortunate to have many insightful reviewers for early drafts of our manuscript. Our thanks to Russell Nelson, Nathaniel Borenstein, Marcus Ranum, Richard Smith, Brian Reistad, Dave Crocker, Ray Kaplan, Bruce Schneier, John Adams, John Romkey, Fred Avolio, Kurt Friedrich, Alex Mehlman, Paul Baier, Ian Reid, Jeff Bussgang, and the anonymous reviewers. Writing a book is a challenge not only for the authors, but for our families as well. To our wives, Marie and Catherine, and our daughters, Erica and Samantha, go our thanks and our love. We are truly blessed. Win Treese Cambridge, MA Larry Stewart Burlington, MA

Twenty-First-Century Organizations: Business Firms, Business Schools, and the Academy

Abstract: The article presents a 1997 Presidential Address, “Twenty-first-century Organizations: Business Firms, Business Schools, and the Academy,” by Michael A. Hitt of Texas A&M University. The author refers to the Academy of Management, business education, technology, strategic planning, and innovation adoption.

Research on International Business: Problems and Prospects

Abstract: This paper reflects on the general problems and specific opportunities faced by contemporary research on multinational enterprise. The general problems include controlling properly for the firm’s opportunities when testing the effectiveness of its policy choices; avoiding biases that result from studying surviving business units and ignoring those that disappeared; and mobilizing longitudinal data and exploiting the many census-based data sets now coming available.

The role and impact of information technology in Australian business

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a study of the top 530 organizations in Australia which was conducted to determine whether organizations use IT as a strategic tool to meet competitive issues. Significantly this research addressed the following questions: How well organizations matched their IT investment plans with their strategic planning; how well IT strategies were formulated; how well IT systems were implemented and what were the critical success factors and impediments; and whether organizations were truly getting value from their IT investment. The findings have shown the causes of misused IT in some organizations, such as IT strategy not closely aligned with business strategy, no change of historical IT structure, lack of understanding of the potential of IT, lack of CEO and senior management support and awareness of IT's potential, impediments to IT development and implementation. Although in many organizations the role of IT development has become proactive and strategic to gain competitive advantage through primary and support activities, it has still not unleashed ITs full potential.

Small firm success and the art of orienteering:the value of plans, planning, and strategic awareness in the competitive small firm

Abstract: There is an ongoing debate within the academic literature about the value of the business plan in the development of the small firm. On closer inspection of the research, there appear to be clear benefits in the use of business planning as a process within the smaller business. This is in contrast to the production of a business plan as an output focused predominantly on convincing and acquiring resources from other organisations and individuals. As a process, business planning can be both formal and informal. It is also focused on understanding and responding to the context within which the business operates. Strategic awareness capability, as both a bundle of activities and a core competence, helps to make sense of this context, and serves as a means of managing interactions between the firm and its environment. It also allows for a more sensitive reading of the limitations and strengths of the planning process in markets that are, for the small business, generally unpredicatable and complex. When combined, strategic awareness capability and planning effectiveness can be used to develop a typology of business types that provides insight into the processes by which business development can be supported. In addition, strategic awareness capability can be considered a core competence of the small business and conceptualised in terms of different levels of experience, and expertise. As a result, small firms with varying levels of experience face different challenges and needs when using and developing strategic awareness capability.

The Challenge Today: Changing the Rules of the Game

Abstract: As the information age takes over from the industrial age and change accelerates, the key challenge for each company is to become the architect of revolution in its industry, leaving other companies to play catch-up. The author argues that the key competitive advantage for companies intent on winning in the new economy is non-linear innovation. Companies need to shift from a product-centric view of innovation to a systemic view of innovation: ie innovation of the business model itself. This article is derived from the last of the 1998 Stockton Lectures, delivered in April.

Electronic Commerce: Technical, Business, and Legal Issues

Abstract: 1. Introduction. Overview. EC Statistics. Objectives of EC. Requirements and Services. 2. EC Components. Electronic Data Interchange. Digital Currency. Electronic Catalogs. Intranets and Extranets. 3. EC in Business. The Business Case. Business Uses of Electronic Commerce. Business Models and Business Functions. Industrial Applications. EC Use within Government. 4. Technical Issues for Electronic Commerce. Telecommunication Infrastructure. Decision Support Systems for EC. Interoperability. Storage and Retrieval of Multimedia Information. Workflow Management. Markup Languages. 5. Security for Electronic Commerce. Functions and Requirements. Security Management and Business Controls. User Perceptions and Trust. Security Technologies. The Cryptography Debate. Legal Validity of Digital Signatures. 6. Legal Frameworks: Policy & Regulatory Issues for Electronic Commerce. Intellectual Property. Legal Issues for Electronic Payment Systems. Contractual and Legal Settlements. Regulatory Framework for Electronic Commerce. 7. Conclusions and Future Directions. Interoperability. Automated Interactions. Information Overload. Mobile Computing. Multimedia Information. Matchmaking Services. Economic, Social, and Cultural Issues. References. Index.

XML and electronic commerce: enabling the network economy

Abstract: There has been a lot of talk about how the Internet is going to change the world economy. Companies will come together in a “plug and play” fashion to form trading partner networks. Virtual companies will be established and new business models can be created based on access to information and agents that can carry it around the world using computer networks.

A Taxonomy of Internet Commerce

Abstract: This paper attempts to clarify terminology discussing the interface between commerce and the Internet. It is also an empirically derived classification system or taxonomy of existing Internet business models. This taxonomy has two main branches - transplanted real-world business models and native Internet business models. The latter part of the paper discusses the role of business, governments, regulation and ideology in the development of I-Commerce and makes some cautious speculations regarding its future.

Bridging the user-IS gap: a study of major information systems projects

Abstract: A 'culture gap' between IS professionals and their business counterparts has been blamed for many of the problems and failures that have plagued systems development in the last four decades. A rich model of integration is developed based on normative, organizational and work group features. The model is utilized to analyse survey results and case studies of 12 major IS projects being implemented in the UK retail and electronics sectors. The research provides detailed profiles of goal, transitional and unhelpful practices and states, and highlights key success variables in achieving user-IS staff integration on major IS development projects.

Perspectives on strategy : from the Boston Consulting Group

Abstract: THE NATURE OF BUSINESS STRATEGY. THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS STRATEGY. Foundations. Milestones. THE PRACTICE OF BUSINESS STRATEGY. The Customer: Segmentation and Value Creation. Time-Based Competition. Performance Measurement. Resource Allocation. Organizational Design. Leadership and Change. BUSINESS THINKING. SOCIAL COMMENTARY. Index.

Trust, Business and Business Ethics: An Introduction

Abstract: It has been a quarter century since issues of trust began attracting the attention of those concerned with business and the management of business (cf. Zand). During the quarter century prior to that point, trust was particularly the concern of psychologists and those focused on issues of international security and relations between the superpowers. It is ironic, then, that at a time when there is increased trust between the superpowers, there seems to be less trust by many within and between businesses. Downsizing, mergers, outsourcing, and reengineering have led to mistrust by many employees of the business for which they work (or worked). Dangerous products, invasive marketing, and efforts to pressure people to agree to unneeded repairs have fostered mistrust between customers and businesses. Takeovers, leveraged buyouts and corporate espionage have fostered mistrust among businesses.And yet the importance of trust within and between business organizations, both nationally and internationally, is increasingly recognized. Trust is said not only to reduce transaction costs, make possible the sharing of sensitive information, permit joint projects of various kinds, but also to provide a basis for expanded moral relations in business. Indeed, many (such as Gewirth and Hosmer) have claimed that ethics and trust are bound up together. One CEO has even claimed that “ethics is simply and ultimately a matter of trust. People act in their economic self-interest. But a system based on that fact must also be grounded on mutual trust, among individuals and among organizations” (Loucks, 1989: 55).In light of these apparently conflicting movements of both extensive mistrust and expanding trust, as well as the strong claims made on behalf of trust, it is not surprising that trust has become an important topic for those studying business and its values.

Decision support for managing organizational design dynamics

Abstract: Changes in the business environment and the advent of new Information Technologies (IT) create new challenges and opportunities for redesigning the organization. Organizational design encompasses a large number of factors including IT, incentives, business processes, and the scope of decision authority. Further, a design configuration based on a given business and technological environment may have to be modified with changes in the environment. We suggest using an approach called business value complementarity [8] as a systematic basis to ensure that design decisions contribute maximally to bottom-line performance measures such as profitability. It is based on the notion of creating a business value model showing relationships between key performance measures and design decision variables involving IT, incentives, etc. Complementarity between the variables in the business value model provides a basis for choosing the levels of design variables. We derive some results which specify conditions under which the overall performance measure(s) are complementary in the design variables. We suggest that a Decision Support System (DSS) would be appropriate for helping senior management in the complex process of developing and maintaining a business value model and in choosing a suitable organizational design. We also enumerate high level functional requirements of such a DSS.

Modeling Industry Political Dynamics

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to extend from the business and society research focus on corporate political strategy and to factor this emphasis into business strategy thinking. The approach taken is to incorporate business and society concepts into a model that parallels Michael Porter's well-known Five Forces Model of business strategy. The applicability of the parallel model for practitioners and academics is then illustrated by using the model to analyze the television violence issue.

1997 Presidential Address: Twenty-First-Century Organizations: Business Firms, Business Schools, and the Academy

Abstract: We are on the precipice of an epoch-a distinctive, exciting, and challenging time for organizations. My focus is on twenty-first-century organizations and the characteristics required for survival and long-term success. To begin, consider that you are a member of the Board of Directors of a major corporation in the year 2010-13 years in the future. What do you believe will be the characteristics of business organizations in this year? What strategies will they employ? How will they be structured? How will they manage their human capital? How many of the current high-profile company names will you recognize in the year 2010? To put it in perspective, look back to 1984-13 years in the past. What were the high-profile company names during that year? Many of you would probably mention Apple and IBM. How many of you would have mentioned Microsoft and Compaq? How much change has occurred in U.S. and world economies and in organizations during the last 13 years? The popularity of personal computers was only beginning 13 years ago, and Microsoft and Compaq were young, largely unknown firms. The Internet was an unknown commodity, and few referred to electronic networks. Multiply the amount of change that occurred between 1984 and 1997 by thirtyfold to fortyfold or more and you will have the amount of change that will occur between 1997 and 2010. According to Alan Greenspan, we are in a new economic age with an organic market economy (Foust, 1997). This new economic age entails a new competitive landscape driven largely by globalization and the technological revolution (Bettis & Hitt, 1995). In a recent presidential address to a sister professional organization, Michael Jensen (1993) discussed the failure of the modern industrial revolution. Although he noted the metamorphosis of the economic landscape and the rapid scope and pace of changes in recent times, much of his discussion of the failure focused on the past-not the future. Thus, while his discussions of failures of corporate governance and control systems were clearly relevant and important, they may focus on a time past. We have now begun a third industrial revolution that is global in nature and will surpass the significance and combined impact of the previous ones in a very short time. We have discussed increasing environmental turbulence and uncertainty for at least three decades, dating back to Lawrence and Lorsch (1969), if not earlier. Accordingly, scholars have emphasized the need for effecting organizational change to help organizations adapt to their environment. However, only recently have we observed and experienced widespread and revolutionary changes in organizations. Clearly, the changes now occurring are geometric in nature. There are many attributes of the technological revolution, but I focus here on three. First is the increasing importance of innovation and the diffusion of this innovation into the marketplace (Brown & Eisenhardt, 1995; Hitt, Keats, & DeMarie, 1998; Stimpert & Duhaime, 1997). We are in the age of mass customization, where we can have even highly complex products manufactured to our personal specifications in a short period of time (Kotha, 1995). Speed now is of critical importance, while dramatic, radical innovations will frequently occur and be difficult to predict (Eisenhardt & Tabrizi, 1996). Because of frequent radical innovations, there is increasing emphasis on designing new products and moving them to the marketplace rapidly (Dougherty & Corse, 1995). For example, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, U.S. manufacturers required 5 to

A Business History of Britain, 1900-1990s

Abstract: Acknowledgements. Introduction. Notes on general sources. Notes on the internal purchasing power of the pound. A. THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT. 1: Markets: political dimensions. 2: Markets: economic dimensions. 3: Technical change and business. 4: Business and the state. B. BUSINESS ORGANISATION. 5: Business structures and strategies. 6: Merger waves and the creation of big businesses in Britain. 7: Multinational activity. 8: The City and industry: London and the financial sector in British Business. 9: The birth, growth and death of firms: SMEs and retailing. C. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MANAGEMENT. 10: Entrepreneurs and managers: origins, education, training. 11: Management and research and development. 12: Management and labour relations. 13: Management and marketing. 14: Company culture. 15: Business ethics. Conclusion. Reading list. Questions for discussion. Appendix: 50 largest employers in the UK in 1907, 1935, 1955, 1992. Index

System method and article of manufacture for a goal based system utilizing an activity table

Abstract: not available for EP1141926Abstract of corresponding document: US6016486A system is disclosed that provides a goal based learning system utilizing a rule based expert training system to provide a cognitive educational experience. The system provides the user with a simulated environment that presents a business opportunity to understand and solve optimally. Mistakes are noted and remedial educational material presented dynamically to build the necessary skills that a user requires for success in the business endeavor. The system utilizes an artificial intelligence engine driving individualized and dynamic feedback with synchronized video and graphics used to simulate real-world environment and interactions. Multiple "correct" answers are integrated into the learning system to allow individualized learning experiences in which navigation through the system is at a pace controlled by the learner. A robust business model provides support for realistic activities and allows a user to experience real world consequences for their actions and decisions and entails realtime decision-making and synthesis of the educational material. The system is architected around a linked list activity table utilized to manage and control the system.