A decade of downsizing: Understanding the contours of change in Australia, 1990-99

his paper seeks to map a decade of organizational downsizing in Australia utilizing a comprehensive longitudinal data set of 4153 firms. Aggregate downsizing measures conceal extensive change within organizations. We seek to assess these processes by comparing a conventional downsizing measure with more specific occupational downsizing measures. The results show the contours of change in Australia over the 1990s; indicate that there are distinctive and contrasting trends; and raise significant issues for future theoretical and empirical research.

Marketing: a history of the next decade

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Movando et al. concerning marketing measures and constructs, and an article by Grandcolas et al. concerning research methodologies and the future of web-based survey research.

Marketing strategy:a history of the next decade

Editorial

Tracking and updating academic research in selling and sales management:a decade later

This study examines the state of academic research in selling and sales management (S&SM) from the years 2003-7, ten years after the data collected by Moncrief, Marshall, and Watkins (2000). Sales articles are reviewed that appeared in 19 marketing journals and evidence is provided on the state of the S&SM discipline by comparing the number of authors, authorships, and publications versus a comparable five-year period a decade ago. Of interest are the universities that produce and employ faculty in S&SM and to identify those schools and geographic regions that are publishing the majority of articles. Publication distribution trends across journals are also examined. A dramatic increase in non-U.S. authors and authorships is noted versus the prior study. Overall, the findings indicate that, perhaps contrary to some popular misconceptions, the state of S&SM research is healthy, vibrant, and evolving.

A decade of silicone hydrogel development:surface properties, mechanical properties, and ocular compatibility

Since the initial launch of silicone hydrogel lenses, there has been a considerable broadening in the range of available commercial material properties. The very mobile silicon–oxygen bonds convey distinctive surface and mechanical properties on silicone hydrogels, in which advantages of enhanced oxygen permeability, reduced protein deposition, and modest frictional interaction are balanced by increased lipid and elastic response. There are now some 15 silicone hydrogel material variants available to practitioners; arguably, the changes that have taken place have been strongly influenced by feedback based on clinical experience. Water content is one of the most influential properties, and the decade has seen a progressive rise from lotrafilcon-A (24%) to efrofilcon-A (74%). Moduli have decreased over the same period from 1.4 to 0.3 MPa, but not solely as a result of changes in water content. Surface properties do not correlate directly with water content, and ingenious approaches have been used to achieve desirable improvements (e.g., greater lubricity and lower contact angle hysteresis). This is demonstrated by comparing the hysteresis value of the earliest (lotrafilcon-A, >40°) and most recent (delefilcon-A, <10°) coated silicone hydrogels. Although wettability is important, it is not of itself a good predictor of ocular response because this involves a much wider range of physicochemical and biochemical factors. The interference of the lens with ocular dynamics is complex leading separately to tissue–material interactions involving anterior and posterior lens surfaces. The biochemical consequences of these interactions may hold the key to a greater understanding of ocular incompatibility and end of day discomfort.