No description available.

Diss.--Cottbus, 1998. / Bibliogr. p. 137-159.

Conceptual development in the purchasing of professional business services has been limited to date. A critical examination of purchasing in this specific context is necessary given the distinctive nature and characteristics of professional business services. In view of this map, this research explores the purchasing of professional business services, looking specifically at the purchasing of occupational health services. The occupational health services context is an ideal case context of study given the similar nature and service characteristics of these services when compared with other professional business services. In light of the current state of theory development, a post positivist approach to research emphasising the discovery and or the corroboration of theories in the path to theory development formed the basis of this research. In this regard, conceptual material was drawn from the related fields of services marketing and industrial goods purchasing. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, these concepts were applied in the context of purchasing occupational health services in a sample of 360 organisations that consisted of FTSE 350 companies and selected public sector organisations. Subsequently, through theoretical sampling, a range of buying situations particularly possible transactional ones in in-depth study of seven buyer and service provider dyads was undertaken. It was concluded that the relational models of purchasing were applicable to all cases studied in this specific context. However, in exploring the dynamics of relational purchasing, the relationships underpinning the process were found to be heterogeneous. An understanding of the dynamics of these relationships formed the foundation for a classification of ideal type relationships. This proposed typology represents the first step in developing a conceptual model for understanding inter-organisational interaction and relationships. Comparison of conceptual development at this level sets the stage for empirical testing through future research.

No description available.

Strategic management, also described as policy or simply strategy, deals with the long-term direction and success of organisations, and covers issues that are usually of primary concern to senior and top management. Construction organisations have started to embrace a strategic approach as a way of managing their long-term success, in an increasingly turbulent business environment. This shift in managerial approach was necessitated by a need to adopt a total quality philosophy in managing the business enterprise. There is, however, a dearth of information on what construction companies do when planning their long-term future survival. Where such planning is evident, there appears to be no systematic approach for doing it, and the factors involved vary considerably. This research set out to establish the focus and activities undertaken by construction contractors to determine their strategies; with the view to recommending the best practices for the industry, especially to companies where strategic planning does not form a coherent part of their long-term survival considerations. The research therefore centred on the internal activities that contractors undertake to establish their corporate strategies. The research established the framework and focus of the strategy making process in construction companies. The research also assessed the methods of financial evaluation techniques employed by contracting companies as part of their strategic planning. This led to the identification of the need for an effective financial evaluation criteria to be employed for the corporate assessments. An improved approach that links up generic strategy options with classification of evaluation was proposed. This took the form of a sequential financial model. Such a model was developed and tested, and linked up with the generic strategic options available to construction contractors, to be employed for their strategic management.

Texte remanié de: Th. 3e cycle--Sc. Eco., option Economie du travail et de la production--Grenoble 2, 1992. / IREPD = Institut de recherche écon. et de planification de développement. Bibliogr. p. 197-203.

Proefschrift--Universiteit Leiden, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 255-269.

Th.--Aix-Marseille 3, [1973].

This thesis examines the aims and work of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) between 1919 and 1939. The NCSS was a large charity, formed in 1919 with the express aim of promoting voluntary organisation in Britain. It worked closely with other charities, statutory agencies, and local and national government in a number of areas to support a series of reforms and schemes aimed at providing a more organised and efficient voluntary sector. The thesis discusses the history and formation of the NCSS, its national aims and its work in rural and urban areas. It also analyses the development of local clubs specifically for women. It places a large emphasis on the work of the NCSS with the unemployed and contains two large case studies of such work in south Wales and the northeast of England. The thesis discusses the extent to which the NCSS attempted to implement a policy of `bureaucratic citizenship'. It shows that the policies of the National Council were based upon the notion that the state, individuals, charities and organisations could work together and, in so doing, enact the role of the `good citizen'. The NCSS attempted to establish a bureaucratic system of welfare, which could encompass a wide and diverse range of social thought and action. However the thesis also makes broader points about the way in which an idea can develop within a non-political organisation. It discusses the way in which the central tenets of NCSS ideology were manipulated due to local needs and circumstances and the effect this had on national policy. By examining the way in which an idea develops within a middle class, `middle of the road' organisation the thesis sheds light on a much neglected group.

This article explores the implications of `networked¿ and `flexible¿ organisations for the work and skills of professionals. Drawing on material from four different case studies it reviews work that is out-sourced (IT professionals and housing benefit caseworkers), work done by teachers contracted to a temporary employment agency and work done through an inter-firm network (chemical production workers). In each of these cases work that was out-sourced was managed very differently to that which was undertaken in-house, with managerial monitoring replacing and reducing employees¿ discretion. New staff in these networks had fewer skills when hired and were given access to a narrower range of skills than their predecessors. By contrast, the production staff employed on permanent contracts in the inter-firm network were given (and took) significant amounts of responsibility, with positive results for both their skills and the work processes. Despite these results, out-sourcing and sub-contracting are a far more common means of securing flexibility than organisational collaboration and the implications of this for skills is considered.