Report on Water Supply for Town of St. Catharines

Report (20 page booklet) on a water supply for the town of St. Catharines by Thomas Monro, civil engineer. This is addressed to Lucious S. Oille, M.D., chairman of the Water Committee of St. Catharines, June 10, 1875.

Letter to James Ingersoll from S.D. Woodruff

Letter to James Ingersoll from S.D. Woodruff asking for pay roll accounts for items such as nails and lumber for repairs to cattle guards and fencing. This letter is accompanied by an envelope and it is on “Engineer Department” letterhead, May 11, 1857.

Chart of estimate of work done on Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway in the section between Geneva Street and Thorold Station of the Grantham Railway

Chart of estimate of work done on Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway in the section between Geneva Street and Thorold Station of the Grantham Railway by John Brown for February, 1856. This is signed by S.D. Woodruff, engineer, March 1856.

Chart of estimate of work done on Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway in the section between Geneva Street and Thorold Station of the Grantham Railway

Chart of estimate of work done on Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway in the section between Geneva Street and Thorold Station of the Grantham Railway by John Brown for May, 1856. This is signed by S.D. Woodruff, engineer, June 3, 1856.

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from John Frazer

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from John Frazer of Fonthill stating that the cheques for engineer services are enclosed, Sept. 5, 1855.

Extract from the minutes of a session of the Provisional Municipal Council of the County of Welland

Extract from the minutes of a session of the Provisional Municipal Council of the County of Welland held on Nov. 3rd, 1855. It was decided that the petition of Andrew Drew and others be laid over until the engineer could make a survey of the premises and report to the council. This was signed by Dexter Deverardo, 1855

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from Fred Holmes

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from Fred Holmes saying that he received a letter from Mr. Greybell of Marshville stating that a cheque for A. Mains was waiting for a certificate of the engineer, Oct. 31, 1856.

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from Dexter Deverardo

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from Dexter Deverardo stating that a cheque is enclosed for the services of the engineers and a resolution is also provided to continue the services of the engineer, Jan. 20, 1858.

Estimate of work done on marsh lands drainage by Alexander Cook and Andrew Mains

Estimate of work done on marsh lands drainage by Alexander Cook and Andrew Mains. This is signed by S.D. Woodruff. Also on this sheet is pay roll for engineer services for the months of September, October and November, 1855. This was paid to Frederick Holmes, Thomas Baird, Joseph Simpson and Len [illegible name], Nov.30, 1855.

Drivers of Local Firms’ Focus on Internal R&D in Emerging Economies and Their International Performance

Grounded on the resource-based view of the firm, the study of this thesis investigates the effect of four internal and external factors – engineer intensity, location, affiliation with the government, government funding – on Chinese firms’ decision to either invest in internal R&D activities or external R&D and the effect of this decision on the firms’ international market success. In addition, the moderating role of the presence of foreign firms in China is examined. To understand these relationships, the thesis’ theorization focuses on the issue of how firms can combine optimally the two options – “internal R&D” and “external R&D”. In this regard I juxtapose internal R&D and external R&D and compare their advantages and disadvantages. To test my model, I apply panel data from the Annual Industrial Survey Database provided by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics. My results show that three of the four investigated factors affect Chinese firms’ resource allocation decisions; and effective resource allocation decisions lead effectively to international market success, strengthened by the presence of foreign firms in China. Moreover the findings bear several theoretical and managerial contributions. First I propose the last dimension of the “VRIO framework” – “organization” – as an endogenous component of the VRIO framework, as my study investigated how firms can effectively combine resources to generate a competitive advantage in terms of international market success. Previous academic literature so far focused on examining whether internal and external R&D are complements or substitutes. My study fills a gap in the literature by investigating the determinants of the efficient combination of the two strategies and the outcome of the combination. One of the managerial implications is that Chinese firms can learn from foreign companies that are present in China.