Business Commons^™

A Mapping Of Ethnic Entrepreneurship In Ireland, Thomas Cooney, Anthony Flynn

Reports

The research findings presented in this report represent the first major attempt to map in a systematic fashion ethnic entrepreneurial activity in Ireland. The rapid transformation of the demographic profile of Ireland in this decade through unprecedented levels of immigration has stimulated debate on the economic and social policy implications of the new multi-racial Ireland. One facet to this policy debate is the potential for non-Irish nationals to bolster indigenous business activity. It was the aim of this research to capture the essential nature of ethnic entrepreneurship in Ireland in 2008 with a view to better informing policy formulation as …

Challenges Facing Professionals In The Hospitality Industry, Frank Mcmahon

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Assessment And Learning Strategies For A Logistics Undergraduate Education Programme, Margaret Farrell

Conference Papers

It is recognised that in today’s global competitive marketplace, where outsourcing continues to grow at an exponential rate, Logistics and Supply Chain Management (SCM) have grown in importance [1]. Research suggests that as logistics moves from being viewed as a stand alone discipline to one viewed as integrating the management of supply, the duties, managerial skills and knowledge of the Professional Logistician have changed [2] [3] . The challenge for logistics educators is to design and develop curricula, learning, teaching and assessment strategies that can support wide-ranging and integrative learning objectives. Research also states that universal logistics management skills must …

Dublin 7., Irish Independent Newspaper

Media

Proximity to the new DIT campus at Grangegorman is one of the principal attractions of a new development which goes on view for the first time tomorrow between 2-4pm.

A Narratives’ Exploration Of Non-Traditional International Assignees Locally Resident And Employed In The South Of France, Marian Crowley-Henry

Conference papers

Contemporary publications in international human resource management call for the pluralisation of international assignees beyond the widely described expatriate. This paper presents an under-explored category of international assignees: highly educated, non French, Western (first world) individuals who reside indefinitely in the South of France, maintaining their professional careers while resident in the host country. A sample of over thirty individuals meeting these criteria was interviewed in France in depth over a three year period. These individuals are not migrants as by their own descriptions they consider migrants to have to move internationally (economic migrants) while their decisions to move to …

International Knowledge Professionals: Contemporary Career Concerns And Implications, Marian Crowley-Henry

Conference papers

This study supplements existing contemporary research on knowledge workers. It takes an interpretivist approach to represent and analyse a new breed and under-researched sub-category of international assignee termed ‘bounded transnationals’ by the author. In the context of this paper these can be simply described as internationally-located knowledge professionals. This sample has committed to living indefinitely in the host country as foreign residents where they are employed under local country contracts of employment. The paper explores how the sample perceives and makes sense of careers in the context of globalisation and change.

Barriers To Innovation In Public-Private Partnership (Ppp), Louis Gunnigan, David Eaton

Conference papers

This paper sets out to identify barriers to greater use of innovation in PPP projects. Using a series of in-depth interviews with participants on two closely related PPP projects, data were gathered and analysed to compare the success of the projects in relation to innovation. The views of the participants relating to the approach to innovation were recorded and were examined relative to the views on innovation expressed in published documentation relating to these projects. The research showed that two different types of innovation could be identified – namely cost reducing innovation and product enhancing innovation. It also showed that, …

Mediators Of Meaning: A Critically Reflexive Study Of The Encoding Of Irish Advertising, Aidan Kelly

Doctoral

This thesis explores the socially constructed process through which advertising agencies and practitioners encode advertisements. It draws from an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, and the study is positioned within the critical marketing studies literature. The literature review explores the relationship between advertising and the theory of ideology, the interaction between advertising and the cultural world and the role of advertising agencies as “cultural intermediaries” within consumer culture. An ethnographic study of an Irish advertising agency was conducted, during which primary data was collected in the form of internal agency meetings, agency documentation interviews with advertising practitioners and participant observations. The study …

Supply Chain: Adding Value Through Excellence, Edward Sweeney

Practitioner Journals

No abstract provided.

The Role Of 3pl Internet Technology In Supporting Extended Enterprise Integration: An Exploratory Survey, Pietro Evangelista, Emilio Esposito, Edward Sweeney, Erica Staller

Conference papers

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is widely regarded as a key integration enabler in contemporary supply chain configurations. Additionally, as increasing numbers of manufacturers and retailers outsource significant parts of their supply chain functionality, the world has seen the vertical disintegration of supply chains. As a result of these and other developments, the extended enterprise (EE) business model has become more widely adopted in a range of sectors. In this environment, third party logistics (3PL) providers (the majority of which are small companies) may play a pivotal role in integrating physical and information flows in new business models through the …

The Role Of 3pls Internet Technology In Supporting Extended Enterprise: An Exploratory Survey, Pietro Evangelista, Emilio Esposito, Edward Sweeney, Erica Staller

Conference papers

It is well accepted that ICT and Internet technology have the potential to facilitate firms’ innovation processes as it offers new and more effective support to conduct business operations. This is particularly true in the context of Extended Enterprise (EE) concept where new technologies are critical in ensuring the effective integration of physical and information flows among participating companies (Dresner et al., 1999). The role of third party logistics providers (3PLs) in logistics outsourcing has evolved along the last few years (McKinnon, 1999). Such companies are transforming their business configuration from simple transport service providers to supply chain integrators. Internet …

Exploring The Digital Supply Chain: Implications And Models For Online Software Distribution, Edward Sweeney, Colm Ryan

Conference papers

As a discipline, supply chain management (SCM) has traditionally been primarily concerned with the procurement, processing, movement and sale of physical goods. However an important class of products has emerged - digital products - which cannot be described as physical as they do not obey commonly understood physical laws. They do not possess mass or volume, and they require no energy in their manufacture or distribution. With the Internet, they can be distributed at speeds unimaginable in the physical world, and every copy produced is a 100% perfect duplicate of the original version. Furthermore, the ease with which digital products …

Entrepreneurship Education In The Third-Level Sector In Ireland, Thomas Cooney, Trudie Murray

Reports

Entrepreneurship education is now a key part of the tertiary-level educatin landscape in many countries around the globe. Institutions are creating the type of learning environments that are conducive to encouraging and supporting student enterprise and graduate entrepreneurship. Going byond notions of employability, entrepreneurship capacities enable graduates to create their own futures, exploit the opportunities that emerge in their complex and unpredicatable worlds, and better contribute to economic development and well-being. This report demonstrates that Ireland is no exception. The evidence presented illustrates that there is no shortage of entrepreneurial activity across the island. Institutions are spreading provision outside of …

A Mapping Of Entrepreneurship And Innovation Policy In Ireland., Thomas Cooney

Reports

The objective at the centre of the IPREG (Innovative Policy Research for Economic Growth) project is the facilitation of a " network of networks" needed to address one of Europe's critical issues-empirically relevant research on growth policy. IPREG is an established "network of networks" encompassing researchers, policy makers and business people in twelve countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and UK. The initial stage of the project was to map out the current policies and actors in each country and to develop a comprehensiveness index based upon interviews and survey feedback. This work …

Fathers: A Contemporary Perspective On Their Role In Child-Driven Materialism, Catriona Nash, Serge Basini

Conference proceedings

This paper explores the contemporary role of fathers in child-driven materialistic consumption, a little explored territory. Commencing with an exploration of the child consumer and their influence in personal and family spending, both of which have grown considerably over that last number of decades, followed by an analysis of changes in families and the role fathers now play in the aforementioned. It is also acknowledged that fathers have previously been ignored to a large extent in the majority of research studies concerning parent-child consumption and purchases. As such, valuable insights emerged through an interpretative framework utilised to explore this area. …

Volatility Spillovers On Precious Metals Markets: The Effects Of The Asian Crisis, Lucia Morales

Conference papers

This paper investigates the nature of volatility spillovers between precious metals returns over the 1995- July 2007 period. We analyzed daily closing values for precious metals data, we took the US$/Troy ounce for gold, the London Free Market Platinum price in US$/Troy ounce, the London Free Market Palladium price in US$/Troy once, and the Zurich silver price in US$/kilogram. We divide our sample into a number of sub periods, prior to, during and after the Asian crisis, with the objective to provide a wide analysis of the behaviour of the precious metals markets during this crisis; we use GARCH and …

Managing An Agile Supply Chain:Supply Chain Agility In The Food And Drink Industry: The Key To Further Enhancing Shareholder Value, Edward Sweeney

Practitioner Journals

No abstract provided.

Can E-Learning Be Used To Further Improve The Learning Experience To Better Prepare Students For Work In Industry, Eileen O'Donnell

Other resources

In the context of this study, the term e-learning refers to the use of an e-learning platform as an enhancement to traditional teaching methods in the form of blended learning. The term industry is used here in a generic sense i.e. a form of employment that will remunerate the employee. This dissertation sets out to explore the hypothesis ‘Can e-learning be used to further improve the learning experience, to better prepare students for work in industry?’ The theoretical framework consists of empirical research to identify the conclusions drawn by others who have previously explored similar hypotheses. Initially a Survey of …

Do Precious Metals Markets Influence Stock Markets?, Lucia Morales

Conference papers

This paper investigates the nature of volatility spillovers between stock returns and precious metals returns for the G-7 countries over the 1995-2006 period. We divide our sample into a number of sub periods, prior to, during and after the Asian crisis, with the objective to provide a wide analysis of the behaviour of these two markets taking into account the effects of the Asian crisis; we use EGARCH modelling which takes into account whether bad news has the same impact on volatility as good news. The results show that there is no evidence of volatility persistence from stock returns to …

Motorists Will Have To Pay For The Cost Of Congestion, Thomas Power

Articles

The available road space (the scarce resource) is currently allocated by one’s willingness to sit in traffic jams. The costs incurred in sitting in traffic jams benefits no one – it is pure deadweight loss. The solution is to get the motorist to pay the social cost (marginal congestion cost). By pricing the cost of this traffic congestion in euro, this money could be collected and put to good use, perhaps on improving public transport.

Women’S Careers Internationally: A Qualitative Study Of Female Western Knowledge Professionals Living In The South Of France, Marian Crowley-Henry

Conference papers

This paper is founded on a qualitative PhD study researching the careers of individuals who live outside their home country on a potentially permanent basis in the South of France. It interprets the careers of the females in the sample, and the findings highlight both the personal nature of careers and the permeable career/life boundary with the females ‘morphing’ their careers over time, as circumstances dictate and opportunities facilitate. The phenomenon of ‘morphing careers’ is identified in the literature as the protean career. Specific elements from the work/life trajectory influence women’s career choices at varying points in their life and …

Analysis Of A Pilot Implementation Of Problem Based Learning Strategy For A Logistics Undergraduate Education Programme, Margaret Farrell

Conference Papers

Research findings suggest that a supply chain manager's job is complex and multidimensional, requiring both general management and logistics/supply chain specific knowledge, competencies and skills. The challenge for logistics educators is to design and develop curricula, teaching and assessment methodologies that can support wide-ranging and integrative learning objectives, which include team, people, project management and technological skills. Problem based learning (PBL) draws heavily on andragogical principles, requiring the student to be self directed and responsible for their own learning as they seek to solve a ‘real life’ problem, within a group. The paper presents the analysis of the teachers experience …

Managing A Flexible Workforce, James Peter Murphy

Conference papers

The greatest cost to most Irish Licensed premises is staff. When establishments say that they are ‘people based’ and their important assets are their people they usually mean it, yet very little investment has gone into staff management systems. Effective staff management systems can help to reduce the costs involved in recruiting and training employees and, most importantly, help to reduce the result that absenteeism causes on maintaining quality customer service. This special presentation addresses these issues and offers some practical solutions to these challenges.

To Investigate Customer Expectations And Perceptions Of Service In The Restaurant Sector, Mike O'Connor

Other resources

The principal objective of this dissertation is to investigate customer expectations and perceptions of service in the restaurant sector in Ireland. Chapter 1: Serves as an introduction to the dissertation, it outlines the research objectives, the rationale for the research while evaluating customer satisfaction. It also looks at service personnel while measuring the cost of quality and reviewing customer equity considerations. Chapter 2: Acquaints the reader with material from alternative sources, it describes the restaurant environment, identifies the implications and characteristics of service, examines the role of the service quality classification, it states the early approaches to service and looks …

Communication For Business (4th Ed.), Henry Mcclave

Other resources

'Business for Communication' is a textbook providing comprehensive coverage of key communication principles and skills for business and professional students in Ireland

Rethinking The Organisational: From ‘Form’ To ‘Forming’, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

The organisational theory literature has identified the emergence and evolution of organisational forms as a critical issue to be addressed, yet new ways of looking at organisational form have yet to be addressed and there are concerns about the largely ahistorical and aprocessual character of much organisational theorising. Most “new” theories that have been put forward continue to view form as something already formed, as an essence, with the attention focused on what constitutes form. Further, extant organisational theories, from the original Weberian ideal type through all other theories, be they in appearance ahistorical (i.e., contingency) or historical (i.e., ecological) …

Young Irish Adults In Civil Society: Volunteering, Reflexive Identity Work And Social Capital, Geoffrey Robert Weller

Doctoral

This thesis seeks to explain how young Irish adults are capable of achieving identities as episodic volunteers. Participation in civil society in Ireland is changing, with new forms of volunteering emerging (Donoghue et al 2006). Issues of identity and identity construction appear to be symptomatic of these changes (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 2002). This research focuses upon young Irish adults identity work as they discursively construct their episodic volunteering (Macduff 2005). The research uses a discourse analysis lens (Wetherell 1998; Wetherell and Edley 1998, 1999; Edley and Wetherell 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999; Edley 2001). It is based upon 17 intensive interviews …

Technology-Aided Participative Methods In Environmental Assessment: An International Perspective, Ainhoa Gonzalez, Alan Gilmer, Ronan Foley, John Sweeney, John Fry

Articles

Provisions for citizen involvement in the assessment of potential environmental effects of certain plans, programmes and projects are present in current legislation. An international survey revealed that public participation is common practice in European and some other countries worldwide. However, a number of issues are observed to affect public involvement in EIA/SEA processes and expert opinion differs when evaluating the effectiveness of existing participative methods. Results suggest that technology-aided methods can improve traditional participation processes. In particular, GIS has the potential to increase community knowledge and enhance involvement by communicating information more effectively. Variable accessibility to technology and data quality …

Tax Treatment Encourages Residential Investment, Thomas Power

Articles

The economic survey on Ireland by the OECD (issue 5 2008) proposed phasing out policies that distort the housing market, which in turn could help to dampen future housing cycles and maintain competitiveness in the economy.

Specifically it suggests that tax breaks favouring owner occupation contributes to making housing expensive and that these effects could be reduced either by “limiting mortgage tax relief… or by implementing a property tax”.

Volatility Spillovers Between Stock Returns And Foreign Exchange Rates: Evidence From Four Eastern European Countries, Lucia Morales

Conference papers

This paper investigates the nature of volatility spillovers between stock returns and exchange rates changes for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia for the 1999-2006 period. We divide our sample in two sub period, prior to the introduction of the Euro as since the single currency has been introduced. We use an EGARCH modelling which takes into account whether bad news has the same impact on volatility as good news. Our results show that in terms of volatility spillover effects from stock returns to exchange rates returns, there is non-existence of significant spillovers in these countries, what suggest the …