Regional development, commercialisation and target adoption of new integrated management techniques for Sheep industry

This Sheep CRC2 project is directed towards regional development of, support for, commercialisation and target adoption of, new integrated management techniques, which will lift productivity and better match product with market specification. The outputs and benefits will help support and improve the productivity and profitability of producers remaining in the industry, and support industry in the current move towards one in which both meat and wool will be joint drivers of industry productivity.

Modelling interactions between farm-level structural adjustment and a regional economy: A case of the Australian rice industry

Climate change and on-going water policy reforms will likely contribute to on-farm and regional structural adjustment in Australia. This paper gathers empirical evidence of farm-level structural adjustments and integrates these with a regional equilibrium model to investigate sectoral and regional impacts of climate change and recent water use policy on rice industry. We find strong evidence of adjustments to the farming system, enabled by existing diversity in on-farm production. A further loss of water with additional pressures to adopt less intensive and larger-scale farming, will however reduce the net number of farm businesses, which may affect regional rice production. The results from a regional CGE model show impacts on the regional economy over and above the direct cost of the environmental water, although a net reduction in real economic output and real income is partially offset by gains in rest of the Australia through the reallocation or resources. There is some interest within the industry and from potential new corporate entrants in the relocation of some rice production to the north. However, strong government support would be crucial to implement such relocation.

Determining the regional potential for a grass biomethane industry

Grass biogas/biomethane has been put forward as a renewable energy solution and it has been shown to perform well in terms of energy balance, greenhouse gas emissions and policy constraints. Biofuel and energy crop solutions are country-specific and grass biomethane has strong potential in countries with temperate climates and a high proportion of grassland, such as Ireland. For a grass biomethane industry to develop in a country, suitable regions (i.e. those with the highest potential) must be identified. In this paper, factors specifically related to the assessment of the potential of a grass biogas/biomethane industry are identified and analysed. The potential for grass biogas and grass biomethane is determined on a county-by-county basis using multi-criteria decision analysis. Values are assigned to each county and ratings and weightings applied to determine the overall county potential. The potential for grass biomethane with co-digestion of slaughter waste (belly grass) is also determined. The county with the highest potential (Limerick) is analysed in detail and is shown to have ready potential for production of gaseous biofuel to meet either 50% of the vehicle fleet or 130% of the domestic natural gas demand, through 25 facilities at a scale of ca. 30ktyr of feedstock. The assessment factors developed in this paper can be used in other resource studies into grass biomethane or other energy crops. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Corporate Social Responsibility within the Northern Ireland Construction Industry: A Regional Review

As the construction industry continues to struggle with a poor societal image, many organizations have adopted a positive corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards their surrounding environment, with the objective of improving their persona within social circles. The aim of this research is to identify and document the various approaches adopted by UK contractors in relation to their international counterparts to aid in the identification of possible future benefits which may be exploitable.
In order to acquire the relevant information, a number of qualitative methodologies are adopted including a review of the current literature on the topic along with a detailed semi-structured interview with a UK based industry professional that specializes in corporate social responsibility. Through assessing the findings using qualitative analysis software, it is possible to disseminate the information, resulting in the identification of key findings. This research concludes that a number of factors profoundly affect corporate social responsibility within the UK versus other regions. These factors are identified as the effect of the recession, implementation and reporting along with competitiveness within the sector.
The impaction for practice within the UK construction sector of this research is that it enables various industry leaders to actively consider the findings of the research while also vigorously encouraging the establishment and development of corporate social responsibility, not only within their respective organizations, but within the construction industry as a whole. This would not only result in a more environmentally sustainable industry, but would also raise the awareness of the sector locally, nationally and internationally, therefore improving the overall perception of the sector on a variety of levels. This will ultimately lead to a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and collective industry while also considering the needs of one of its most important external stakeholders – the local community.

Impact of the financial crisis on cross-border mergers and acquisitions and concentration in the global banking industry

The global banking industry has seen dramatic changes in the past 40 years. Most recently, the financial liberalization of emerging markets and the global financial crisis have significantly impacted the market share of banks worldwide. This article investigates the impact of the 2007–2008 financial crisis on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the banking sector and emphasizes the role of emerging-market banks in the postcrisis consolidation trend. Using M&A data and concentration data over the period 2000–2013, our analysis indicates that the financial crisis had a significant impact on worldwide M&As, especially on the direction of the transactions. Emerging-market banks appear to be major acquirers in the postcrisis period, targeting both neighboring countries and developed economies in Europe. We also observe an increase in bank concentration in developed markets most hit by the financial crisis, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, whereas bank concentration decreased in emerging markets.

Bogotá-Cundinamarca: cooperación público-privada para la competitividad regional y el desarrollo de clusters

Gestión del conocimiento

Diversity in the fitness industry : a cross-case comparison /

This cross-case study explored the extent to which two fitness facilities were accommodating diversity with respect to age, ethnicity, gender, social class, sex-role socialization, and persons with a disability among both members and staflf. The sites were purposely chosen in a large city and a smaller city in order to provide as representative an example as possible of health clubs within a small sample population. The interview participants were selected by a combination of stratified, typical case, and snowball sampling strategies. . , .. , The intent of the exploration was a two-fold examination of diversity issues within both the membership and the staff of the organization. Data were collected and analysis was done using a triangulation method involving personal interviews, observations, and facility documentation. The results ofthe study showed that the members and staff at each facility were rather homogeneous in ethnicity, age, social class, physical ability, and physical appearance. From a membership standpoint, the environment of the sites presented the impression of being affordable only to the middle- and upper-middle classes, unwelcoming to the older, less fit, or overweight participant, economically exclusive for youth, and nonaccommodating for people with a disability. With respect to staff, the findings indicated that the fitness facilities purported to be team-oriented in theory, but were hierarchical in practice, with the major decision making being made by the male executives. The paper concludes with the recommendation that students must be given a practical toolkit for dealing with these issues in their postsecondary courses.

El impacto de los clusters basados en tecnología en el desarrollo regional: el caso del tecnopolo Futuroscope de Gran Poitiers

Un gran número de reconocidas ciudades en el mundo han llegado a niveles excepcionalesde desarrollo económico y social apalancadas por innovaciones de punta. Para laregión de Poitou-Charentes, en Francia, la presencia del parque de atracciones Futuroscopeen la ciudad de Poitiers se ha convertido en una importante atracción turística que actualmente propone una incógnita: ¿es esta infraestructura suficiente para considerar elGrand Technopole de Poitiers como un exitoso cluster de alta tecnología?Para conseguir las condiciones que permitan consolidar este cluster de alta tecnología, laregión debe tener la posibilidad de articular, gestionar y gobernar agresivas estrategias deinnovación.Con base en los resultados de un estudio sobre varias ciudades innovadoras de todo elmundo, se identificaron mecanismos básicos que permiten romper con los paradigmas convencionales del crecimiento, por medio de innovaciones revolucionarias que permitentener rendimientos de clase mundial, una marca de prestigio global y el estatus de polo éxitosode innovación tecnológica. Los resultados obtenidos muestran las características delos tecnopolos existentes, que deben de potencializarse para conseguir un posicionamiento de clase mundial para la región.

Los clusters como mecanismo para la generación de economías a escala en el sector de medicamentos de alto costo en Colombia

La presente investigación tiene por objeto considerar los cluster en la industria farmacéutica Colombiana, como un mecanismo para la disminución de los sobrecostos de los medicamentos, que han impactado de forma importante, entre otras causas, al sistema de salud, con unos recobros (por concepto de medicamentos No POS) que superan el billón de pesos, situación que dada la crisis que enfrenta al respecto, el Estado Colombiano, ha propuesto una quinta reforma que cursa actualmente en el Congreso de la República. Se trata de una investigación cualitativa tipo estudio de caso, en la que se presenta el modelo Colombiano de Salud y las cifras de recobros de las Empresas Prestadoras de Servicios de Salud (EPS), cantidad que representó el 0.4% del PIB (Producto Interno Bruto) en el 2009. Para tal fin se analizará el comportamiento de los recobros durante el año 2012, en cuarenta y una (41) EPS reconocidas del sector. Subsecuentemente se estudian las diferentes estrategias para la generación de economías de escala y dentro de ellas, los clusters como un posible modelo a seguir hacia la disminución de estos costos en salud, se analizan sus componentes y su posible constitución dentro del entorno Colombiano. Al final del estudio se establece como conclusión, que existen suficiente evidencia para apoyar la implementación de un cluster farmacéutico dentro del territorio Colombiano.

Controlling regional monopolies in the natural gas industry: the role of transport capacity

This paper analyzes some optimal fiscal, pricing, and capacity investment policies for controlling regional monopoly power in the natural gas industry. By letting the set of control instruments available to the social planner vary, we provide a characterization of the technological and demand conditions under which “excess” capacity in the transport network arises in response to the loss of the two other control instruments, namely, transfers and pricing. Hence, the analysis yields some insights on an economy’s incentives to invest in infrastructures for the purpose of integrating geographically isolated markets.