COMPETING BY DESIGN, SPECIALIZATION AND CUSTOMIZATION: MANUFACTURING LOCKS IN THE WEST MIDLANDS (UK)

The past thirty years have seen major shifts and improvements in manufacturing productivity, bringing greater output but fewer jobs. As a result, manufacturing is now less visible in "post-industrial" societies. Nevertheless, manufacturing still matters in developed market economies but our understanding of manufacturing has failed to evolve with developments in the management and organization of production processes. This paper explores the lock industry in the West Midlands (UK), a traditional low-tech manufacturing sector. West Midlands lock companies that produced standardized, mass-produced products have experienced intensive competition from low-cost producers. Many of these firms have downsized their operations in the UK. Nevertheless, this is only one response to intensified competition. Lock firms located in the West Midlands are unable to compete on price and have shifted away from the production of mass-produced locks to concentrate on high value-added niche markets. The firms have developed inimitability strategies based around design, expertise, specialization, customization and nearness to market that assist them in maintaining their revenue and profit streams. Niche manufacturers have been far less susceptible and relatively immune to foreign competition and they continue to diversify product ranges by targeting specialist end-users. The emphasis is on producing high-quality locks in small batches that can be produced just-in-time to meet customers' requirements. The continued survival of these lock firms is based upon a strategy that includes the development of product-based competitive advantage combined with locational advantage and supported by efficient, responsive and customer-focused manufacturing processes.     

Reform and the Basque dukes of Gascony: a context for the origins of the Peace of God and the murder of Abbo of Fleury

The tenth‐century Basque rulers of the early medieval duchy of Gascony created novel temporal and ecclesiastical institutions through which to express their power, and negotiated, from a position of some prestige, relationships with both monastic reformers and the Poitevin dukes of neighbouring Aquitaine. There a member of the Gascon ducal family summoned what would come to be known as the first council of the ‘Peace of God’ movement, usually portrayed as an Aquitainian initiative. The impact of the Gascons’ record on their own obscure territories also provides a context for the murder of Abbo, abbot of Fleury.     

What motivates millennials? How intersectionality shapes the working lives of female entrepreneurs in Canada’s fashion industry

The contemporary fashion industry is based on a set of ‘gendered skills and attributes.’ Women numerically dominate fashion schools and the labour force of fashion firms, and also start and run the majority of independent fashion brands. Angela McRobbie and others have highlighted the importance of considering the gendered dynamics of fashion-related work. Yet, as the industry continues to evolve in the wake of global integration, the digital transition and intensifying competition, there is an ongoing need for research. Using an intersectional approach, this paper provides a novel case study of young ‘Millennial’ female independent fashion designers who operate within the emerging and under-explored Canadian fashion industry. Drawing on 87 interviews and participant observation, the paper demonstrates how entrepreneurial motivations, pathways, practices and experiences are shaped by individual characteristics, such as gender, age, lifecycle and class. Particular attention is paid to the challenges and tensions associated with the D.I.Y. (do it yourself) model and how forms of work, including aesthetic labour, are performed and experienced in virtual spaces such as social media platforms. In so doing, the paper contributes to nascent research on Millennials and nuances our understanding of the gendered nature of creative labour. Crucially, the paper also moves beyond typical masculinist conceptualisations of entrepreneurship, which focus on high-growth and high-technology businesses, to highlight the legitimacy, prevalence and importance of alternative motivations, networks, identities and business practices within contemporary markets and creative industries.     

乌尔第三王朝时期的尼普尔银贷业商人档案研究(上)

古代两河流域银贷业商人的苏美尔文为dam-gàr,他们是从事借贷和买卖获利的专业人员。本文根据乌尔第三王朝时期的原始经济档案研究了7个主要商人的借据档案,总结了有息和无息贷款、大麦借贷的基本高利率,大麦和其他物品的一般价格,以及银钱和大麦转换借贷形式等规律,并对散乱发表的出土借据中的7个主要商人的文件进行了档案重建,进而为理解古代两河经济领域中货币形式、银贷利率、商人职能等金融和商业规律提供第一手史料。