Open source software expectations in retail businesses of Igualada : an exploratory study

The emergence of open source software in the last years has become a common topic of study in different fields, from the most technical characteristics to the economical aspects. This paper examines the current status about the literature dealing with economics of open source and explores the uses, infrastructure and expectations of retail businesses and institutions of the town of Igualda about it. This qualitative case study finds out that the current equipment and level of uses of ICTs are low and that the current situation of the town stores is receptive to a potential introduction of open source software.

Las Uniones temporales de empresas en el nuevo PGC.

El lnstituto de Contabilidad y Auditoria de Cuentas (lCAC) aprovo el 16 de noviembre de 2007 el nuevo Plan General de Contabilidad (Real Decreto 1514/2007), con caracter general (PGC 07); y el de las Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas, junto con los criterios contables especificos para las microempresas (Real Decreto 1515/2007). EI articulo que se presenta centra su atencion en los cambios experimentados en la redaccion del nuevo PGC 07 con referencia a los negocios conjuntos, en convergencia con las Normas Internacionales de Informacion Financiera (NIIF), y muestra las diferencias que supone dicha informacion respecto al anterior Plan General de Contabilidad (PGC90). Incidiendo especialmente en el tratamiento contable de las Uniones Temporales de Empresas (UTE)

Determinants of science-based cooperation: evidence in a sample of small and micro firms

We study the determining factors of cience-based cooperation in the case of small and micro firms. In this research, we propose an analytical framework based on the resource-based view of the firm and we identify a set of organisational characteristics, which we classify as internal, external and structural factors. Each factor can be linked to at least one reason, from the firm¿s point of view, to cooperate with universities and public research centres. Each reason can, in turn, be used as an indicator of a firm¿s organisational needs or organisational capacities. In order to validate the theoretical model, we estimate a logistic regression that models the propensity to participate in science-based cooperation activities within a sample of 285 small and micro firms located in Barcelona. The results show the key role played by the absorptive capacity of new and small companies.