Taiwan's population that undergoes medical dialysis, dialysis quality and survival rate are the highest in the world, hence, the infamous pun, "dialysis kingdom." In this study, Taiwan¡¦s hemodialysis industry development status, business strategies and the relationship between business strategies and resources will be explored. The hope is that by analyzing the dialysis industry in specific cases and its respons to relationship between the environment and its resources, which can provide useful knowledge for medical related industry references. In this study, dialysis patients had been given a questionnaire and statistical analysis to understand why the patients have chosen a specific dialysis center. Further research methods include, using exploratory case studies, and through the interviews of five experts in the industry, (including the three hemodialysis centers operators and two kidney specialists) as well as secondary data collection, data analysis and infe-rence by the case. The study concludes that relevant research findings, drastically impacts the he-modialysis patients choice in choosing the specific hospital based on various factors that are of great importance to the patients. The top five most important factors were: 1)The nurses attitudes of welcoming enthusiasm. 2)Needle skill of the nurses.3) Phy-sicians ethics and professionalism. 4)Clean and comfortable dialysis beds and lastly, 5)the gracious attitudes of the physicians. The five least important factors were: 1)Providing peritoneal dialysis services. 2)Whether or not there is a facility to provide free meals. 3) On site information services. 4)Recommendation of friends and finally, 5)spacious and comfortable transport vehicles. Using a specific business strategy, the proposed operators pinpoint the needs of patients and enhance the professional stan-dard of services, in which differentiating strategies can be taken and utilized in vari-ous marketing strategies.

The in-depth case study of an alliance termination over a five-year period surrounding the termination of a critical infrastructure industry alliance represents a contribution to organizational scholars’ understanding of alliance termination and the political process under which the set of relationships and competition amongst the firms change. The study develops a process theory to explain the termination and the events that unfold following the termination. Termination is suggested to be an important aspect of the change process. By including termination as an antecedent to firm action, both the social movement and institutional entrepreneurship and the literature on alliance processes can benefit from understanding how termination may shape firm routines and relationship formation.

The in-depth case study of an alliance termination over a five-year period surrounding the termination of a critical infrastructure industry alliance represents a contribution to organizational scholars’ understanding of alliance termination and the political process under which the set of relationships and competition amongst the firms change. The study develops a process theory to explain the termination and the events that unfold following the termination. Termination is suggested to be an important aspect of the change process. By including termination as an antecedent to firm action, both the social movement and institutional entrepreneurship and the literature on alliance processes can benefit from understanding how termination may shape firm routines and relationship formation.

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Commodity markets are characterised by declining growth rates, depressed prices, intensified competition and the evolution of standard and fixed specifications. These lead to an increasingly severe squeeze on profits. The commodity sector of the chemical industry is no exception to this, it is notorious for its fiercely competitive nature and its increasingly severe squeeze on profit margins. Past research suggests that companies will compete primarily on price (Wei et a1. 1979, Emerson 1983, Stobaugh 1988, Quintella 1993, and Black 1994), with relatively little technical service required. However, as the commodity sector of the chemical industry continues to see its margins squeezed, companies are finding that the ability to constantly reduce production costs is limited and no longer offers a total solution. The research examined how a relationship marketing approach could contributed to UK commodity chemical companies' competitiveness. However, the current literature on relationship marketing has not referred specifically to commodities and arguably leaves a gap in this research area. It has been suggested that relationship marketing is not a 'universal panacea' with several authors that believe there are situations, usually involving lowinvolvement or commodity products, when a swift and simple transactional approach is more appropriate and preferred by the 'customer compared to a relational approach (Gronroos 1990; Mattyssens and Van den Bulte 1994; Peck 1996). The research shows this is generally not the case in commodity chemicals. The research investigated, through a multi-method research approach using both case studies and a survey, the relevance and use of a relationship marketing approach in commodity chemicals. The research developed, from a convergence of current ideas and theories, a relationship marketing framework that shows a firm's culture (based on seven marketing arrangements constructs) for establishing, developing, maintaining relationships and the selective termination of relationships with multiple exchange partners (i.e. customers, supplier, communities, authorities). The seven 'marketing arrangements' constructs are: the role of marketing management and planning; multiple exchange partners; responsibility; long-term focus; interaction; management orientation and portfolio planning; trust, commitment and promises. The research provides evidence, from three case studies, that supports the framework's constructs within UK commodity chemical companies across customer, supplier, internal and external relationships. Regression analysis of the survey data shows a positive link between a relationship marketing approach and the business performance of UK commodity chemical companies. The basis of this analysis used REMARKOR, an instrument for measuring relationship marketing orientation developed for this research. It follows a similar procedure to MARKOR, an instrument for measuring marketing orientation, developed by Kohli et al's (1993). However, REMARKOR uses constructs examined in the cases studies, based on current relationship marketing literature.

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Construction organisations are increasingly focussing their energies, resources, and aspirations to the development of strategy. In this context, information technology (IT) is progressively being used as a core tool and enabler of the business strategy (BS), particularly in areas of strategic analysis and knowledge management. However, two major issues should be considered concerning the use of IT; the first of which relates to the technology itself - specifically how this can be used (and evaluated) to support the business; and the second issue concerns implementation - the details of which naturally embraces many aspects, including the provision of (and support for) IT training. From an IT perspective therefore, organisations should endeavour to match opportunity with corporate capability, the edict of which requires appropriately trained and skilled workforce to deliver IT capability (to match skills with demand). Training can be considered an investment, the remit of which aims to prepare organisations to adapt to the changing business environment (to meet current and future business needs). Whilst the provision of training can often lead to improved performance, organisations must however engage appropriate mechanisms to evaluate (and assess) the impact of IT training on the business performance gap. Organisations are therefore increasingly using 'process' to improve business performance, the concepts of which focus on activities (how things are done), rather than the product ('what' is produced). Many large construction organisations are now using maps and protocols to deliver business benefits. In this context, the process approach to IT (and its link with the BS) could therefore enable process users to more readily appreciate (and assess) the impact of IT training on the business performance gap. This research introduces a Generic Assessment Process Protocol model for IT training (GAPP-IT) for specific use in the construction business environment. It engages the Process Protocol (PP) methodology to identify the key sequential stages (gates) and issues required to satisfy (or close) the business performance gap.

Innovation research in the wood products industry has historically focused on factors that the firm can influence or control, as opposed to factors external to the firm. The purpose of this research is to understand how the external factors of the firm (i.e., social, technological, economic, ecological, and political or STEEP factors) impact Schumpeter's five-factors of innovation (i.e., sources of supply, methods of production, markets, products and services, and business models) in decorative hardwood veneer producing firms. Case studies of hardwood veneer firms in Austria and the United States were conducted to understand these impacts from individual firms' perspectives. Innovation strategies of the companies were identified based on their use of innovation resources, leverage of those resources and capabilities to serve customers and markets, and deliberateness or emergence. Interviews of experts in each of the environmental areas from both geographic regions also were conducted to qualify and validate the impacts. An online survey was conducted with hardwood veneer companies in Austria, Germany and the United States to quantify the impacts in these regions, and results were analyzed via cluster analysis to better understand the environmental impacts to innovation and the strategies firms were employing to innovate. The results of the study identified American firms as being most impacted by economic environmental factors and Austrian firms most impacted by social factors. Austrian/German and US firms both made more deliberate than emergent attempts to innovate. US firms most attempted to innovate their business models, while Austrian and German firms most attempted source of supply and product and service innovations. The major implications of this research are the awareness firms in the hardwood veneer industry can gain from understanding the innovation strategies their firms employ, how the environment they function within impacts their innovation, and what they can do about it. By helping this niche industry create sustainable competitive advantages, the industry can overcome the adversities of the mature industry lifecycle phase, including competitive threats from substitute products and increased competition from foreign log buyers, and shift back into a growth phase of the lifecycle. / Ph. D.

The term “economic integration” recently has been used for various forms of economic cooperation. Many writers have tried to give a working definition of it, but a review of the literature does not show any generally accepted definition. The term is used for several degrees of economic cooperation; harmonization; trade agreements; tariff-agreements; advanced forms of cooperation like tariff communities, customs communities, customs unions, free trade areas, common markets, monetary unions; and complete economic unions. Integration furthermore has been split into sector and total integration and has been determined by various criteria. Thus, it is very difficult to judge where economic activity is still in the form of a loose cooperation and where the term “integration “ is appropriate. The abolition of discrimination, regional extensions or limitations, harmonization of economic policies, inclusion of meta-economic factors, and the abolition of barriers to factor movements are some of the measurements. In fact, changes in their combination observed in existing economic systems makes it difficult to find a general definition which can be applied to all forms of cooperation.

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