Imitation, entrepreneurship and the informal/formal economy nexus: an African perspective

This paper explores a segmentation of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in developing countries within the formal/informal economy nexus that has wide-ranging implications for the targeting of base-of-the-pyramid initiatives and entrepreneurship theory. This proposed segmentation emerges from the analysis of a sample of Kenyan MSEs utilising current and prior business models; the antecedent influences shaping the business model; barriers to entry associated with knowledge, capital and skills; the degree of innovation or imitation evident in the business model linked to the nature of opportunity recognition; and their relationship with the formal institutional business environment.

Technological change and the challenges for regional development: building social capital in less-favoured regions

The relevance of regional policy for less favoured regions (LFRs) reveals itself when policy-makers must reconcile competitiveness with social cohesion through the adaptation of competition or innovation policies. The vast literature in this area generally builds on an overarching concept of ‘social capital’ as the necessary relational infrastructure for collective action diversification and policy integration, in a context much influenced by a dynamic of industrial change and a necessary balance between the creation and diffusion of ‘knowledge’ through learning. This relational infrastructure or ‘social capital’ is centred on people’s willingness to cooperate and ‘envision’ futures as a result of “social organization, such as networks, norms and trust that facilitate action and cooperation for mutual benefit” (Putnam, 1993: 35). Advocates of this interpretation of ‘social capital’ have adopted the ‘new growth’ thinking behind ‘systems of innovation’ and ‘competence building’, arguing that networks have the potential to make both public administration and markets more effective as well as ‘learning’ trajectories more inclusive of the development of society as a whole. This essay aims to better understand the role of ‘social capital’ in the production and reproduction of uneven regional development patterns, and to critically assess the limits of a ‘systems concept’ and an institution-centred approach to comparative studies of regional innovation. These aims are discussed in light of the following two assertions: i) learning behaviour, from an economic point of view, has its determinants, and ii) the positive economic outcomes of ‘social capital’ cannot be taken as a given. It is suggested that an agent-centred approach to comparative research best addresses the ‘learning’ determinants and the consequences of social networks on regional development patterns. A brief discussion of the current debate on innovation surveys has been provided to illustrate this point.

The business case development process in the delivery of NHS infrastructure

There is a lack of knowledge base in relation to experiences gained and lessons learnt from previously executed National Health Service (NHS) infrastructure projects in the UK. This is in part a feature of one-off construction projects, which typify healthcare infrastructure, and in part due to the absence of a suitable method for conveying such information. The complexity of infrastructure delivery process in the NHS makes the construction of healthcare buildings a formidable task. This is particularly the case for the NHS trusts who have little or no experience of construction projects. To facilitate understanding a most important aspect of the delivery process, which is the preparation of a capital investment proposal; steps taken in developing the business case for an NHS healthcare facility are examined. The context for such examination is provided by the planning process of a healthcare project, studied retrospectively. The process is analysed using a social science based method called ‘building stories’, developed at the University of California-Berkeley. By applying this method, stories or narratives are constructed around the data captured on the case study. The findings indicate that the business case process may be used to justify, rather than identify, trusts’ requirements. The study is useful for UK public sector clients as well as consultants and professionals who aim to participate in the delivery of healthcare infrastructure projects in the UK.

Visualizing knowledge in project-based work

This article considers how visual practices are used to manage knowledge in project-based work. It compares project-based work in a capital goods manufacturer and an architectural firm. Visual representations are used extensively in both cases, but the nature of visual practice differs significantly between the two. The research explores the kinds of knowledge that are (and aren't) developed and made visible in strategizing and planning activities. For example, whereas the emphasis of project-based work in the former firm is on exploitation of knowledge and it visualizes its project context largely in commercial and processual terms, the emphasis in the latter is on exploration and it uses a wide range of visual materials to understand physical interdependencies across the project boundary. We contend particular kinds of visual tools can help project teams step between exploration and exploitation within a project, and articulate the types of representations, foci of attention and patterns of interaction involved. The findings suggest that business managers can make more deliberate choices about how knowledge is made visible, and can change visual practice to align the project with exploring and exploiting opportunities. It raises the question: What don't you see within your organization? The work contributes to academic debates about managing through projects, strategising and organizing, while the focus on visual representation disrupts the tacit-codified dichotomy in the broad debate on knowledge and learning, and highlights the craft skills central to strategizing and organizing.

Changing Standards? Children's awareness and knowledge of features of written standard English at ages 10-11

This paper reports the findings of a small-scale research project, which investigated the levels of awareness and knowledge of written standard English of 10- and 11-year-old children in two English primary schools over a six-year period, coinciding with the implementation in the schools of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS). A questionnaire was used to provide quantitative and qualitative data relating to: features of writing which were recognised as standard or non-standard; children's understanding of technical terminology; variations between boys' and girls' performance; and the impact of the NLS over time. The findings reveal variations in levels of recognition of different non-standard features, differences between girls' and boys' recognition, possible examples of language change, but no evidence of a positive impact of the NLS. The implications of these findings are discussed both in terms of changes in educational standards and changes to standard English.

Knowledge and information evaluation practice: an exploratory study in a construction firm

There are a number of challenges associated with managing knowledge and information in construction organizations delivering major capital assets. These include the ever-increasing volumes of information, losing people because of retirement or competitors, the continuously changing nature of information, lack of methods on eliciting useful knowledge, development of new information technologies and changes in management and innovation practices. Existing tools and methodologies for valuing intangible assets in fields such as engineering, project management and financial, accounting, do not address fully the issues associated with the valuation of information and knowledge. Information is rarely recorded in a way that a document can be valued, when either produced or subsequently retrieved and re-used. In addition there is a wealth of tacit personal knowledge which, if codified into documentary information, may prove to be very valuable to operators of the finished asset or future designers. This paper addresses the problem of information overload and identifies the differences between data, information and knowledge. An exploratory study was conducted with a leading construction consultant examining three perspectives (business, project management and document management) by structured interviews and specifically how to value information in practical terms. Major challenges in information management are identified. An through-life Information Evaluation methodology (IEM) is presented to reduce information overload and to make the information more valuable in the future.

The engagement of territorial knowledge communities with European spatial planning and the territorial cohesion debate: a Baltic perspective

Recent, dramatic spatial development trends have contributed to the consolidation of a unique territorial governance landscape in the Baltic States. The paper examines the transformation of this evolving institutional landscape for planning practice and knowledge, which has been marked by the disintegration of Soviet institutions and networks, the transition to a market-based economy and the process of accession to the EU. It explores the evolution of territorial knowledge channels in the Baltic States, and the extent and nature of the engagement of actors' communities with the main knowledge arenas and resources of European spatial planning (ESP). The paper concludes that recent shifts in the evolution of these channels suggest the engagement of ESP has concentrated among epistemic communities at State and trans-national levels of territorial governance. The limited policy coordination across a broader spectrum of diverse actors is compounded by institutionally weak and fragmented professional communities of practice, fragmented government structures and marginalized advocacy coalitions.

Diaspora return of transnational migrants to Trinidad and Tobago: the additional contributions of social remittances

Current enthusiasm among development stakeholders for the enticement and recruitment ‘back home’ of skilled Diaspora migrants has predominantly revolved around how human capital gains and transfers of capital, knowledge, technical skills and workplace entrepreneurialism and innovation can be facilitated. In this article, we widen the conceptual basis of this dimension of the migration–development nexus, by bringing the additional contributions of the social remittances that return migrants offer, and practice, into the mix. As evidence, the article examines how and why a sample of ‘middling’1 Trinidadian transnational professionals engage in social development activities and why experiences vary widely on their return. Their views are appraised through the verbal optic of their narratives, which they shared with us during in-depth interviews. Several among these Diaspora returnees appear to be agents for the diffusion and infusion of social capital and non-monetary, social remittances in the homeland to which they have returned in mid-life and mid-career. Others are disappointed, or frustrated, and have their hopes dashed, leading to thoughts of re-migration, or re-return. Despite such difficulties, we find that family belonging and national pride strengthens many of these return migrants’ development potential through their deeply felt commitments to local ‘capacity-building’.