No / This paper examines the incidence of innovation and the configuration of innovation systems in rural areas, which are viewed as possessing weak knowledge-generating subsystems. Drawing on the results of a microlevel study in rural Cumbria, North West England, the paper shows that entrepreneurs were able to access nonlocal knowledge infrastructure. Thus, the emergent actor-constructed regional innovation system stretched well beyond the confines of Cumbria. This configuration can be explained, in large part, by considering entrepreneurial origin. New arrivals (especially immigrants) demonstrated the greatest propensity to innovate, using innovation systems which cut across the regional and national boundaries. Locally born and returnee entrepreneurs demonstrated a low incidence of innovation. The paper concludes that a distinction between regional innovation systems (as macrolevel analytical units with a normative dimension) and actor-constructed regional innovation systems (as microlevel descriptive units) offers scope for the advancement of research in this field of study.

No / Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine the various mechanisms that can be used to integrate new technology into existing products, and to determine some of the conditions under which specific integration mechanisms are most appropriate. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopted an exploratory theory¿building approach based on analysis of data from 12 case studies, each representing companies with varying levels of: technological maturity of the organization and technological advancement of their products. Informants were managers and engineers who had responsibility for, or a significant role in, the integration of software and hardware. At least three interviews were conducted in each company and all interviews were of at least two hours duration. In total, 41 interviews were conducted. The different approaches used for technology integration were examined and subsequently mapped using the twin dimensions outlined above. Findings Cross¿case pattern analysis indicates that for technologically mature organizations, mechanisms based on processes are most appropriate, while for less mature organizations an approach based on structural mechanisms may be more suitable. Similarly, in cases involving high levels of technology advancement in the products, integration mechanisms based on processes and culture are preferable, whereas for low technology products the mechanisms are clustered around resource¿based approaches. Research limitations/implications Multiple cases do not permit as much depth as the classic single case study and tend to yield ¿modest¿ rather than ¿grand¿ theoretical development. The use of scaling to convert qualitative data into quantitative data, and the identification of patterns in cross¿case analysis are both based on interpretive judgements. Future research should examine the proposed model and its constructs in different settings and using alternative research methods. There is also an opportunity to explore the relationships between the integration mechanisms and the outcomes of integration projects, and finally, it would be useful to extend the work to service settings and to integration of process technology. Practical implications The findings provide guidance to managers in selecting alternative approaches to managing the process of technology integration in different contexts. Examples are given of practices associated with each integration mechanism, together with some of the tensions and challenges which arise during implementation. Originality/value The paper provides clear guidance on the approaches that can be used for technology integration for product development. It classifies these according to the level of maturity and experience in the organization and the level of advancement of the product offered by the technology.

No / As growing numbers of scholars become disaffected by the research traditions laid down by leadership psychology, there is a steady turn towards treating leadership as a discursive phenomenon. In response, leadership researchers are increasingly adopting interpretive and observational methods in the search for the practices of leadership in everyday life. This article suggests that while there are many advantages to an interest in discourse and action, there are also many subtle difficulties in making leadership observable and knowable in the field. Taking Louis Pondy's notion of leadership as a language-game as its starting point, this article argues that leadership studies as a discipline suffers from a persistent category mistake; a category mistake that some recent interpretive studies of leadership reveal, but inadvertently reproduce in the search for leadership's essential character. Instead, this article takes Pondy's thesis to its logical conclusion and outlines a programme of research that confronts this category mistake, whilst demonstrating the potential for, and limitations of, treating leadership as a language-game.

No / The paper examines the determinants of stabilization and its impact on the aftermarket prices. We use a unique dataset to relax several assumptions in the stabilization literature. We find that underwriters support IPO prices shortly after listing, particularly in cold markets and when demand is weak. We also show that stabilized IPOs are more common amongst reputable underwriters. This finding suggests that stabilization may be used as a mechanism to protect the underwriter’s reputation. It also implies that reputable underwriters may possess private information and price IPOs closer to their true values (i.e., higher than those indicated by the weak premarket demand). Consistent with the latter view, we show that stabilized IPOs are offered at higher prices and suffer less underpricing than those indicated by the premarket demand, firm characteristics and market-wide conditions. The post-IPO performance results indicate that stabilized IPOs are unlikely to be mispriced as their prices do not exhibit any significant reversal after the initial stabilization period. We conclude that stabilization may be superior to underpricing as it protects investors from purchasing overpriced IPOs, benefits issuers by reducing the total money “left on the table” and enhances the overall profitability of underwriters.

No / This paper questions the application of the entrepreneurship discourse to social entrepreneurship in the UK and looks at how people ‘doing’ social enterprise appropriate or re-write the discourse to articulate their own realities. Drawing on phenomenological enquiry and discourse analysis, the study analyses the micro discourses of social entrepreneurs, as opposed to the meta rhetorics of (social) entrepreneurship. Analysis using both corpus linguistics software and Critical Discourse Analysis showed a preoccupation among interviewees with local issues, collective action, geographical community and local power struggles. Echoes of the enterprise discourse are evident but couched in linguistic devices that suggest a modified social construction of entrepreneurship, in which interviewees draw their legitimacy from a local or social morality. These findings are at odds ideologically with the discursive shifts of UK social enterprise policy over the last decade, in which a managerially defined rhetoric of enterprise is used to promote efficiency, business discipline and financial independence. The paper raises critical awareness of the tension in meanings appropriated to the enterprise discourse by social enterprise policy and practice and illustrates the value of discourse analysis for entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship research.

No / The usefulness of technical analysis, or charting, has been questioned because it flies in the face of the ‘random walk’ and tests present conflicting results. We examine chartists’ decision-making techniques and derive a taxonomy of charting strategies based on investors’ market ontologies and calculative strategies. This distinguishes between trend-seekers and pattern-seekers, and trading as a system or an art. We argue that interpretative activity plays a more important role than previously thought and suggest that charting’s main appeal for users lies in its power as a heuristic device regardless of its effectiveness at generating returns.

No / Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the contemporary research themes published in IJOPM in order to contribute to current debates about the future directions of operations management (OM) research. Design/methodology/approach All 310 articles published in IJOPM from volume 24 issue 9 in 2004 through volume 29, issue 12 in 2009 are analysed using content analysis methods. This period of analysis is chosen because it represents all the articles published in issues for which the authors are able to have full control, during their period of tenure as Editors of the journal. This analysis is supplemented by data on all 1,853 manuscripts submitted to the journal during the same time period and further, by analysis of reviews and feedback sent to all authors after review. Findings The paper reports the main research themes and research methods inherent in the 310 published papers. Statistics on the countries represented by these papers and the size and international composition of author teams are provided, together with the publication success rates of the countries that submit in the highest volumes, and the success rates associated with the size of the author team. Finally, data on the reasons for rejection of manuscripts are presented. Research limitations/implications There is some residual inaccuracy in content analysis methods, whereby, in extracting research themes there is often more than one topic covered. In the same vein, as regards categorisation of the causes of rejection of manuscripts during the review process, there is frequently more than one reason for rejection, so perhaps a weighted scoring system would have been more insightful. In determining the country of origin of papers, while the country of the corresponding author is used, it should be recognised that some studies originate from international collaborations so that this method may give a slightly distorted picture. Finally, in computing publication success rates by comparison of submissions and published papers there is a time delay between the two data sets within any defined period of analysis. Practical implications The analysis adds generally to debates about contemporary research themes; in particular it extends the work of Pilkington and Fitzgerald, which analyses all articles solely in IJOPM between 1994 and 2003. In addition, the findings suggest a need for more frequent exploitation of multiple research methods, for greater rigour in the planning and execution of fieldwork, for greater engagement with the world of OM practice and finally, consideration of how OM research can address wider social and political issues. Originality/value This paper represents an inside view of the publication process from a leading OM journal; this kind of insight is rarely available in the public domain.

No / We examine how information risk and transaction costs influence the initial and subsequent market reaction to earnings news. We find that the initial market reaction is higher per unit of earnings surprise for higher information risk firms (information content effect). Furthermore, it is information risk that induces transaction costs that limit the initial market reaction and lead to higher subsequent drift (transaction costs effect). Information risk does not have an effect on drift beyond that achieved through transaction costs. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the linkage between information risk and transaction costs in price discovery around public disclosure.

No / Application of the Lewis acid BF3·Et2O to the selective synthesis of 5-acetamido-2,6-anhydro-3,5-dideoxy-d-glycero-d-galacto-non-2-enonic acid (Neu5Ac2en) and the related oxazoline, methyl 7,8,9-tri-O-acetyl-2,3,4,5-tetradeoxy-2,3-didehydro-2,3-trideoxy-4',5'-dihydro-2'-methyloxazolo[5,4-d]- d-glycero-d-talo-non-2-enonate is described.

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