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Previous studies on family‐SME internationalization have largely focused on what resources are needed to drive an incremental process rather than how resource management occurs in historical time. This paper focuses on the latter, adopting a social capital perspective (capturing both internal, i.e. among family‐SME board members, and external, cross border agent dyads, relations) in order to decipher case study data from the East of England. Findings show that it is not the presence or absence of organizational‐social‐capital that affects family‐SME internationalization success but rather its variable use over the years driven by the future pursuit of longevity, not growth. Key within this context is the variable use of the international expertise and management capability of non‐family managers in the family SME intra‐organizational context. Ultimately this may lead to change and learning that occurs erratically, often including reversals, without causing family‐SME progression across a sequence of incremental stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on four papers discussed at the University of Nottingham conference held in June 2005. The papers focus on the determinants behind the decision making in global trade and the implications of globalization for firm-level adjustment. It states that the papers explains the three themes namely, exports, multinationals enterprises and outsourcing.

The rapid development of the Euromarkets and the more gradual opening of the West German and other capital markets to external borrowers were significant events in the reglobalisation of financial markets beginning in the 1960s. Finding it increasingly difficult to borrow in the domestic British and US capital markets, the New Zealand government sought to take advantage of the Euromarkets. As well as providing an antipodean perspective on the early Euromarkets, this paper comments on developments in the City of London in the 1960s, and outlines the process by which a relatively inexperienced borrower set about building a communicating infrastructure that enabled relationships to be forged with overseas financial institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper forms part of a series of papers investigating how a handful of European regions responded, in most cases successfully, to deepening global economic integration during the period 1995−2005. This particular case considers the response of the English region comprising the territories of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes (the 'UKJ1 region') located to the immediate West and Northwest of Greater London. It investigates why this region was able to exploit deepening global integration as well as it did, even though it does not have a major urban centre at its territorial core. It also asks what lessons the region's experience holds for other European regions. The messages to emerge from the case study are that the UKJ1 region's success in leveraging these global flows is inextricably linked to its functional interdependence with Greater London and that, to the extent policy factors played a role in this integration process, central government policy-making played a significantly more important role than regional government policy making. The messages to other European regions then are: ( i) to consider and cultivate all kinds of links between regions on the periphery of major national urban centres and those urban centres themselves; and ( ii) to communicate clearly and forcefully the strengths and vulnerabilities of individual regions to the national level policy-makers responsible for the pace of global integration. Resumen. Este artículo forma parte de una serie que investiga el modo en que unas pocas regiones europeas respondieron, en la mayoría de casos de modo exitoso, a la consecución de una integración económica global más profunda en el periodo 1995-2005. Este caso en particular considera la respuesta de la región inglesa que incluye los territorios de Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire y Milton Keynes (la región 'UKJ1' en NUTS), inmediatamente vecinos al oeste y noroeste del Gran Londres. Se investiga por qué esta región fue capaz de explotar en mayor profundidad la integración global tan bien como lo hizo, aunque no tenga un centro urbano importante en el núcleo de su territorio. También se pregunta acerca de las lecciones que la experiencia de esta región puede aportar a otras regiones europeas. Los mensajes que emergen del estudio de caso son que el éxito de la región UKJ1 en cuanto a aprovecharse de estos flujos globales está inextricablemente vinculado a su interdependencia funcional con el Gran Londres y que, en tanto que varios factores políticos han jugado un papel en este proceso de integración, la formulación de políticas del gobierno central ha jugado un papel significativamente más importante que las políticas formuladas a escala regional. Las lecciones para otras regiones europeas son por tanto: (i) considerar y cultivar todo tipo de vínculo entre regiones en la periferia de los principales centros urbanos nacionales y de los propios centros urbanos; y (ii) comunicar de manera clara y enérgica las fortalezas y vulnerabilidades de cada región a los formuladores de políticas responsables del avance de la integración global. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between gentrification and globalisation has recently become a significant concern for gentrification scholars. This has involved developing an understanding of how gentrification has become a place-based strategy of class (re)formation during an era in which globalisation has changed sociological structures and challenged previously established indicators of social distinction. This paper offers an alternative reading of the relationship between gentrification and globalisation through examining the results of a mixed method research project which looked at new-build gentrification along the River Thames, London, UK. This research finds gentrification not to be distinguished by the gentrifer-performed practice of habitus within a ‘global context’. Rather, the responsibility for gentrification, and the relationship between globalisation and gentrification, is found to originate with capital actors working within the context of a neoliberal global city. In order to critically conceptualise this form of gentrification, and understand the role of globalisation within the process, the urban theory of Lefebvre is drawn upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we argue that a process of super-gentrification, similar to that first identified by Lees (2003 Urban Studies 40 2487–509) in Brooklyn Heights, New York City, is occurring in the already gentrified, inner London neighbourhood of Barnsbury. A new group of super wealthy professionals working in the City of London is slowly imposing its mark on this inner London housing market in a way that differentiates it and them both from traditional gentrifiers and from the traditional urban upper classes. We suggest that there is a close interaction between work in the newly globalizing industries of the financial services economy, elite forms of education, particularly Oxbridge, and residence in Barnsbury which is very different from other areas of gentrified inner London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable debate has occurred over whether ‘global cities’ are witnessing polarization of their labour forces into highly paid professionals and low paid personal service workers. This paper offers evidence on paid domestic labour in London, some of which occurs in the informal sector, and considers its potential significance for the polarization debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A seeming paradox of globalization is that while innovation and the industries and institutions that support it transcend local and national boundaries, high-tech innovative activity continues to agglomerate in a select number of high-capacity regions. Research, however, suggests that innovative regions must—through collaborative activity and related networks—both economize regional capacities while remaining open to global knowledge and finance. Collaboration and network formation are viewed as critical in this regard, as the competitive pressures of globalization are forcing firms to adopt collaborative and open innovation practices: forging relationships with external partners. Two important sources of knowledge and finance are regionally concentrated venture capital firms and large corporations, often globe-straddling multinational enterprises. While collaboration occurs between these two actors, an understanding of the processes and implications has only begun to emerge. Focusing on collaborative venture capital activity in London and the South East, this exploratory paper presents a preliminary understanding as to the role that this particular collaborative activity plays in the pursuit of complementary, extra-regional knowledge and expertise, and the extent to which this collaboration is recharacterizing the shape of regionally based venture capital networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities and city regions are back on the research agenda in the UK. Taking the world city literature as a guide, this article uses advanced producer service firms to study contemporary inter-city relations in the UK space economy. We employ an interlocking network model, initially developed for global scale analysis, to assess signs that recent globalization is effecting a revival outside the London region, and to identify leading urban areas in the UK national economy. Two different analyses are presented: a connectivity analysis, which indicates how well cities and towns are linked into the UK space economy, and a fuzzy clustering analysis, which classifies the cities and towns in order to search out hierarchical and regional tendencies. From these findings, we identify two distinctive polycentric city-regional processes in contemporary Britain: a Jacobs-style polycentric mega-city regional process out of London, which creates new important service centres and reaches selected smaller cities and towns; and a polycentric multi-city regional process beyond London, which mainly enhances the service capacities of selected larger cities. A concluding section considers the implications of the two processes for spatial planning in the UK. Résumé Les villes et régions urbaines reviennent en force dans la recherche britannique. Orienté par les publications sur les villes mondiales, ce travail utilise les entreprises de services avancés à la production pour étudier les relations contemporaines entre villes dans l’économie spatiale britannique. À l’aide d’un modèle de maillage, mis au point à l’origine pour une analyse à l’échelon mondial, nous mesurons les signes indiquant que la récente mondialisation provoque une relance hors de la région de Londres et nous identifions les zones urbaines dominantes de l’économie nationale. Sont présentées deux analyses différentes: une analyse de la connectivité, montrant dans quelle mesure les villes et grandes villes sont reliées au sein de l’économie spatiale britannique, et une analyse des groupements flous qui classe villes et grandes villes afin de trouver les tendances hiérarchiques et régionales. À partir de ces résultats, sont identifiés deux processus distincts de région urbaine polycentrique dans la Grande-Bretagne contemporaine: un processus de méga-région urbaine polycentrique, proche de la description de Jacobs, à la périphérie de Londres, qui crée de nouveaux centres de services importants et atteint certaines villes et grandes villes plus petites; un processus de multi-région urbaine polycentrique au-delà de Londres, qui renforce principalement les capacités de services de certaines grandes villes. La conclusion étudie les implications des deux processus sur l’aménagement spatial au Royaume-Uni. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the values of early career teachers being positioned in Norway, Germany and England. The research questions were related to the values held by becoming teachers in relation to their proposed occupation, similarities and differences in values of the teachers among the three national settings and the role played by national pedagogic traditions, national policy contexts and institutional settings in the changing values of newly-qualified teachers. It was based on the theory and methods related to globalization and followed a layered approach of study focusing on both macro and micro phenomena. The study concluded that all the three nations had different cultural traditions and were subject to the forces of economic globalization.

Based on qualitative interviews (n = 64) within five UK organizations that have embarked on large-scale restructuring (including delayering, downsizing, culture change, role redesign, lean production) we argue that middle managers are currently experiencing significant and progressive work and personal pressures. Performance is monitored more closely, hours and intensity of work are increasing, roles and tasks are changing frequently, and prospects for promotion are downscaled within flattened hierarchies. Whereas middle managers report increased levels of autonomy and skill, are often well remunerated, and frequently appear motivated (at least in the private sector), we suggest their burgeoning grievances over working hours, role pressures and promotion prospects have worrying implications for the future performance of UK industry. We argue further that the motivation for corporations to embark on such large-scale restructuring is best understood with reference to the incessant demands of international capitalism. We conclude that such restructuring, and the personal managerial experiences that result from it, is in keeping with many, but crucially not all, of the trends predicted by Bravermanian labour process theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on critiques of ‘global cities’ to conceptualize Birmingham, the UK's second largest metropole, as a ‘global’ city by highlighting forms of economic globalization that draw on the city's residents, their histories and their social and cultural networks. The article illustrates some of the diversity and significance of minority ethnic economic activity within Birmingham and the potential this holds for its future economic development, focusing on examples from three transnational networks (Chinese business networks, ethnic food manufacturing and the Bhangra music industry). The article signals a rather different understanding of ‘global’ as it relates to economic advantage, transnationalism and ethnic diversity within cities in general, and Birmingham in particular. We suggest that this different understanding of the global has important policy implications, not simply in terms of economic representations of the city, but also in terms of developing the possibilities of such transnational networks and engaging with the constraints facing them. We argue that encouraging a more relational way of thinking about cities like Birmingham has the potential for advancing social wellbeing by influencing socio-economic policy and practice. We use the example of Birmingham, therefore, to engage broader debates about alternative paths of ‘global’ economic, social and cultural investment for UK (and other) cities. A partir de critiques des ‘villes planétaires’, cet article conceptualise Birmingham (deuxième métropole britannique) en tant que ville ‘planétaire’ en soulignant les formes de mondialisation économique qui s’appuient sur les citadins, leurs histoires et leurs réseaux sociaux et culturels. Pour illustrer en partie la diversité et la place de l’activitééconomique ethnique des minorités à Birmingham, ainsi que le potentiel afférent pour son essor économique futur, ce travail s’intéresse à des exemples issus de trois réseaux transnationaux (réseaux d’affaires chinois, fabrication d’alimentation ethnique et secteur de la musique indienne Bhangra). Il repère une compréhension assez différente de ‘planétaire’, selon que le terme est liéà un avantage économique, au transnationalisme et à la diversité ethnique au sein des grandes villes, et de Birmingham en particulier. Cette perception multiple a d’importantes implications politiques, à la fois au plan des représentations économiques de la ville et en termes de création de possibilités pour ces réseaux transnationaux et de prise en compte des contraintes à affronter. Encourager un mode de réflexion plus relationnelà l’égard de villes comme Birmingham permettrait de promouvoir le bien-être social en influant sur la pratique et la politique socio-économique. Le cas de Birmingham sert donc à lancer des débats plus larges sur les options d’acheminement de l’investissement économique, social et culturel ‘planétaire’ pour les grandes villes britanniques (et étrangères). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial markets and information technologies are key issues for contemporary social theory and the anthropology of globalization. Drawing on fieldwork in Chicago and London, I examine the interplay between processes of technological rationalization and the situated actions of traders in two financial futures markets-one that operates on open-outcry pit technology and the other process online. Both technologies represent the market in numbers. Traders use these symbols to read and interpret the market. Yet each technology configures numbers differently. The technologies influence traders' practices by shaping this basic unit of financial knowledge, [finance, globalization, knowledge, numbers, technology, United States, England] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arab Gulf's relationship to London epitomizes the processes of globalization i.e. flows of people, images, ideas and wealth beyond national borders. The rise of oil wealth in the mid-1970s financed the growth of London as a centre of Gulf Cooperation Council-funded Arab cultural production. The British capital's populations of ex-servicemen, former diplomats and Middle Eastern immigrants serve as 'third culture' mediators. Often well educated, well heeled and well connected, these intermediaries possess the social position and cultural know-how to play a central role in the construction and marketing of Gulf Arab local culture and heritage. Romantic notions of Gulf Arab cultural particularism feature prominently in mediators' products and activities. In the case of Arab London's mediation industries, globalization results not in cultural homogenization, but rather in the (re)production and commodification of reified notions of cultural difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]