Stuart Macdonald | University of Leicester (original) (raw)

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Papers by Stuart Macdonald

International Journal of Technology Management, Apr 30, 1996

Abstract: The demands of structure and control in the organisation accord information from offici... more Abstract: The demands of structure and control in the organisation accord information from official channels an importance beyond its value in sustaining operations. Yet, formal mechanisms seem unable to supply all the information senior management requires for the formulation of ...

... 28 NCRO/2DE/4/14/42: Joseph Oxley to Sir John Délavai, 14 Dec. ... The trial took place on he... more ... 28 NCRO/2DE/4/14/42: Joseph Oxley to Sir John Délavai, 14 Dec. ... The trial took place on heavyclods of clay formed into huge curving ridges,the machine preceded by a specially selected untrained horse, and followed byno less than a dozen plodding women and children ...

... Threshing machines of the Meikle kind were employed there bythe late 1780's, and by ... more ... Threshing machines of the Meikle kind were employed there bythe late 1780's, and by 1800 they had just begun to figure in ... WYE COLLEGE LIBRARY CATALOGUE The Library of Wye College,Ashford, Kent, has published a Catalogue of agricultural and horticul-tural books ...

Communication Booknotes, 1985

Direct Protection of Innovation, 1987

The proposals of Kronz and Kingston, which form the core of this book, provide one of the most or... more The proposals of Kronz and Kingston, which form the core of this book, provide one of the most original contributions to the patent system to appear in recent years. They are lucid, they are exhaustive, they are informed and they are constructive. They propose a radical alternative to the present patent system, one based on protecting innovation rather than mere invention. We are wholly in sympathy with the philosophy behind Kronz and Kingston’s proposals: invention is the easy part of technological change, innovation very much more difficult.(1) Here we part company with them. While we accept that innovation is much more valuable than invention, we do not accept that innovation should, therefore, be protected. We have argued elsewhere that the patent system works only because it does not work: that its very weakness is its real strength.(2) The existing patent system, with all its ludicrous posturing, is a quaint sideshow accompanying the major drama of innovation; it can be tolerated as amateur theatricals provided by patent lawyers and bureaucrats, but their vulgar entertainment must not be allowed to interrupt the professional subtlety and artistry of the main performance. Kronz and Kingston apparently believe that, with practice and new discipline, these fringe thespians can become stars if only they are given a leading role to play, if only they concentrate on innovation rather than invention. We believe that the whole play is just too intricate and difficult for such intrusion, no matter how well-intentioned.

Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 1996

AbstractIndustrial espionage is normally regarded as thoroughly undesirable, something to be stop... more AbstractIndustrial espionage is normally regarded as thoroughly undesirable, something to be stopped rather than studied. Lack of academic interest is explained by industrial espionage being generally ineffective as a means of transferring technological information. Consequently, it makes little contribution to innovation, a topic of consuming interest to academics, policy makers, and managers. Indeed, attempts to prevent industrial espionage would seem to be of rather more relevance to innovation than industrial espionage itself. Such attempts can easily disrupt information flow in informal information channels, and this certainly does make an important contribution to innovation. The problem arises because the information transaction which takes place in industrial espionage is widely confused with the information exchange fundamental to personal networking. The confusion is unnecessary – as is the obsession with preventing industrial espionage.

The Development of High Technology Industries: An International Survey. Croom Helm, London, 1987

International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2010

Telecommunications and Socio-Economic Development, 1998

Section headings and selected chapters. Telecommunications and Development. Telecommunications in... more Section headings and selected chapters. Telecommunications and Development. Telecommunications infrastructure and invention, innovation, and diffusion process (S. Braman). Measuring the gains from Asia-Pacific trade in telecommunications (G. Madden, S.J. Savage). International Dimensions. Contested arenas in international telecommunications: towards and integral political perspective (R. Joseph, P. Drahos). Strategic alliances for the provision of new telecommunications services: a methodological approach to a European satellite system (B. Sapio, P. Bonazinga). Organisational Aspects. Explaining the use of inter-firm data networks for electronic transactions: the case of the pharmaceutical and advertising industries in France (L. Caby et al.). Telecommunications and market efficiency: the missing link (T. Newstead). Country Studies. From path-dependent processes of structural change to a diversity of market models in central European countries' telecommunications (H. Kontkiewicz-Chachulska, D. Phan). Liberalisation and privatisation: telecommunications reforms in Sri Lanka (S. Jayasuriya, M. Knight-John).

International Journal of Technology Management, 2003

International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 2007

The European Commission (EC) is anxious to increase the innovation, and hence the competitiveness... more The European Commission (EC) is anxious to increase the innovation, and hence the competitiveness, of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the depressed regions of the European Union (EU). To this end, the EC funds education and training for these firms, arguing that education and training will produce the desired innovation. In the north of England, the Yorkshire and Humberside Universities' Association (YHUA) was entrusted to provide appropriate education and training for the region's SMEs. In the year 2000, the YHUA asked the authors to analyse the effectiveness of this provision. The analysis concluded that the universities providing education and training services benefited from the scheme, rather than the participating SMEs. This article stands back from the basic analysis and considers why this was so.

Copying is an essential part of the diffusion phase of innovation, a view that was once taken for... more Copying is an essential part of the diffusion phase of innovation, a view that was once taken for granted. Now that intellectual property rights have been strengthened and extended to cover the world, it is less acceptable. Rights holders jealously guard their monopolies against piracy and counterfeiting, arguing that strong intellectual property rights (IPR) facilitate not only their own innovation, but also that of the developing world. The pharmaceutical industry is especially strident in advocating an IPR route to innovation, and anxious that those who have trouble regarding information as property see the error of their ways. To this end, it has joined in common purpose with many of the creative industries to lobby governments and the public. The paper investigates their lobbying efforts and finds them curiously clumsy. With such vast resources at its disposal, why does the lobby not do better? Does the lobby aim to obfuscate rather than persuade? The role of copying in innovat...

Scandinavian Journal of Management, 2009

Technology and the Tyranny of Export Controls, 1990

British Journal of Management, 2015