Julian is a well published business and economics academic with extensive experience in teaching, research and leadership. He has over 100 publications in strategy, resource and environmental economics, small business and technology strategy. Julian had held tenured and professorial positions in UK at Nottingham, Bath, UWE and Canterbury. In Australia he has held professorial positions at Wollongong and Ballarat ( now Federation University). Phone: +61474259444 Address: P.O. Box 259, Buninyong, Victoria, 3357, Australia
A number of significant changes in the environment of SMEs occurred towards the end of the twenti... more A number of significant changes in the environment of SMEs occurred towards the end of the twentieth century that have the potential to greatly influence this sector as the new millennium unfolds. Connectivity, globalization, changing demographics deregulation and even the 'new terrorism' have all been identified as important influences on the future structure and performance of the sector. SEAANZ Ballarat, 2003 examined the changing nature of the small firm and tried to answer the questions: Is it time for a new perspective? Is a new paradigm required?
International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 1994
Martin Atkis is co-ordinator, center for management studies, Univeristy of Aberdeen, Scotland, an... more Martin Atkis is co-ordinator, center for management studies, Univeristy of Aberdeen, Scotland, and professor Julian Lowe is professor strategic Managment, Univerisity of Western England, Bristol, England. Strategic network are becoming increasingly recognised for theri potential to reduce transaction costs for fimrs. Networks are built on trust and it is therfore appropriate to consider partner in the network among the stakhodler in the firm. in this paper, data from an extensive survery of small firms in the united kingdom have been used to construct a measure of stakeholder involvment and there is very storng statistical evidence in favour of theoretical models which predct greater stakeholder involvment by firms who experience greater external turbulence, especially when that turbulence is measured in terms of changing technology.
An important issue currently facing the mining industry in Australia is the management and cost t... more An important issue currently facing the mining industry in Australia is the management and cost to the industry and other stakeholders of entry into and exit from towns and their communities. These costs can be environmental, social, economic, political or reputational. The ability of companies to engage the trust of communities, governments and investors is critical, and corporate reputation plays a significant role in this. For the industry to secure a long-term and sustainable future, it must have the technical, business and reputation assets to proceed in a cost-effective, environmentally acceptable and socially supportive way. The paper introduces the concepts of sustainability both at the corporate level and the regional town and community level. For the companies, there are important impacts on costs and efficiencies, an organisations ‘license to operate’, shareholder value and the trade off between dealing with environmental and social issues through prevention or retrofit a...
Some educators in the field of commerce and management quite rightly justify the worth of their c... more Some educators in the field of commerce and management quite rightly justify the worth of their courses on the basis of industry value. For instance, “the entertainment industry is a $500 billion industry and therefore understanding this industry is of considerable importance to marketers”. If industry value is the key driver of course importance then none could be more important than a course in pricing – a US$60 trillion industry based on global income (World Bank, 2008). Yet in Australia, no such courses exist at tertiary level and pricing is often given only cursory treatment in the commerce and management curriculum, somewhat consistent with other countries such as the US (Maxwell 1998; McCaskey and Brady 2007). This article highlights the need for greater attention to pricing education in the commerce and management curriculum and makes recommendations as to why pricing is not incorporated in the curriculum, and how it could be incorporated into the curriculum.
This paper examines the entry strategy and start-up of a technology based small firm entering the... more This paper examines the entry strategy and start-up of a technology based small firm entering the China market through the vehicle of a joint venture company. The research deals with two main issues: the intersection of the entrepreneurship and internationalization literatures and the specific considerations pertinent to foreign companies operating in China. Since its entry into the WTO there have been significant changes but the culture and practice of doing business in China has proved a problem. This research shows how an SME can participate in this market, through prior development of networks or “Guanxi”. A network theory of internationalization is helpful in understanding how international SMEs can enter China, although our case study introduces some specific considerations that these models had not previously acknowledged. INTRODUCTION Following the successful expansion large Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) in the post war period, small and medium size enterprise (SMEs) from...
Julian Lowe & Sam Henson School of Business University of Ballarat Australia E-mail: s.henson@bal... more Julian Lowe & Sam Henson School of Business University of Ballarat Australia E-mail: s.henson@ballarat.edu.au E-mail: julian.lowe@ballarat.edu.au May 2004 ABSTRACT The paper reports on the preliminary stages of a case-based study of regional, high-growth SMEs. The study explores the actions, activities and processes undertaken by the firms and their start-up entrepreneurs. A framework for growth is proposed, supporting the notion of the growth process as a complex, multidimensional construct. Tentative suggestions are made about the nature of “distributed entrepreneurship” within a small, rapidly growing firm and the issue of regional impacts is also addressed.
ABSTRACT The book examines through research cases, how SMEs can use technology licensing to help ... more ABSTRACT The book examines through research cases, how SMEs can use technology licensing to help them compete with larger firms and develop new products
Principal Topic This research is investigating the scope and relationships of the fine arts and a... more Principal Topic This research is investigating the scope and relationships of the fine arts and associated sectors before, during and after disruption of the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) core activities over the period 1999 to 2003. The significance of the research is to examine the effect of the NGV’s scaled down operations and understand what happens to an industry and business relationships when a key player moves out of and then re-enters a market. The NGV has long been a dominant figure within the Victorian fine art cluster and, for the purpose of this research, has been used to investigate the way small / medium enterprises (SMEs) may be affected when a key player (one that has in the past dominated the cluster) is forced temporarily to assume a weaker role. The research focuses on the interactions and inter relationships between the NGV and SMEs specifically and the repercussions of dislocation within the cluster. The investigation will determine if the NGV’s dislocat...
This paper discusses elements of inter-entrepreneurial trust in regional networks and clusters in... more This paper discusses elements of inter-entrepreneurial trust in regional networks and clusters in terms of influencing business processes and economic viability in today’s economy. The message that can be extracted from the literature is that competitive advantage strongly depends on interfirm collaboration and that networks with a high degree of trust lead to entrepreneurship and innovation. The paper highlights two local Victorian network studies, one in the grains industry and one in the tourism industry, and explores trust based relations in these regional networks. Contrasting sectoral results indicate that social network cohesion and trust were found to be present in the grains community but were absent in the tourism community. Borrowing from the economics and leadership literature, it is proposed that trust fosters certain types of inter-entrepreneurial networks. A description of these networks and related policy implications conclude the paper.
... DOI: 10.1177/017084069701800504 1997 18: 783 Organization Studies James Lowe and Nick Oliver ... more ... DOI: 10.1177/017084069701800504 1997 18: 783 Organization Studies James Lowe and Nick Oliver Components Industry High-Performance Manufacturing: Evidence from the Automotive Published by: ... James Lowe, Rick Delbridge and Nick Oliver* ...
... to refer to 'inter-firm co-operative arrangements over a given economic spac... more ... to refer to 'inter-firm co-operative arrangements over a given economic space and time ... governments have pulled back from full sponsorship of R&D projects in this sector and that ... In all cases political and strategic motives loomed large and disputes and personality clashes were ...
A number of significant changes in the environment of SMEs occurred towards the end of the twenti... more A number of significant changes in the environment of SMEs occurred towards the end of the twentieth century that have the potential to greatly influence this sector as the new millennium unfolds. Connectivity, globalization, changing demographics deregulation and even the 'new terrorism' have all been identified as important influences on the future structure and performance of the sector. SEAANZ Ballarat, 2003 examined the changing nature of the small firm and tried to answer the questions: Is it time for a new perspective? Is a new paradigm required?
International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 1994
Martin Atkis is co-ordinator, center for management studies, Univeristy of Aberdeen, Scotland, an... more Martin Atkis is co-ordinator, center for management studies, Univeristy of Aberdeen, Scotland, and professor Julian Lowe is professor strategic Managment, Univerisity of Western England, Bristol, England. Strategic network are becoming increasingly recognised for theri potential to reduce transaction costs for fimrs. Networks are built on trust and it is therfore appropriate to consider partner in the network among the stakhodler in the firm. in this paper, data from an extensive survery of small firms in the united kingdom have been used to construct a measure of stakeholder involvment and there is very storng statistical evidence in favour of theoretical models which predct greater stakeholder involvment by firms who experience greater external turbulence, especially when that turbulence is measured in terms of changing technology.
An important issue currently facing the mining industry in Australia is the management and cost t... more An important issue currently facing the mining industry in Australia is the management and cost to the industry and other stakeholders of entry into and exit from towns and their communities. These costs can be environmental, social, economic, political or reputational. The ability of companies to engage the trust of communities, governments and investors is critical, and corporate reputation plays a significant role in this. For the industry to secure a long-term and sustainable future, it must have the technical, business and reputation assets to proceed in a cost-effective, environmentally acceptable and socially supportive way. The paper introduces the concepts of sustainability both at the corporate level and the regional town and community level. For the companies, there are important impacts on costs and efficiencies, an organisations ‘license to operate’, shareholder value and the trade off between dealing with environmental and social issues through prevention or retrofit a...
Some educators in the field of commerce and management quite rightly justify the worth of their c... more Some educators in the field of commerce and management quite rightly justify the worth of their courses on the basis of industry value. For instance, “the entertainment industry is a $500 billion industry and therefore understanding this industry is of considerable importance to marketers”. If industry value is the key driver of course importance then none could be more important than a course in pricing – a US$60 trillion industry based on global income (World Bank, 2008). Yet in Australia, no such courses exist at tertiary level and pricing is often given only cursory treatment in the commerce and management curriculum, somewhat consistent with other countries such as the US (Maxwell 1998; McCaskey and Brady 2007). This article highlights the need for greater attention to pricing education in the commerce and management curriculum and makes recommendations as to why pricing is not incorporated in the curriculum, and how it could be incorporated into the curriculum.
This paper examines the entry strategy and start-up of a technology based small firm entering the... more This paper examines the entry strategy and start-up of a technology based small firm entering the China market through the vehicle of a joint venture company. The research deals with two main issues: the intersection of the entrepreneurship and internationalization literatures and the specific considerations pertinent to foreign companies operating in China. Since its entry into the WTO there have been significant changes but the culture and practice of doing business in China has proved a problem. This research shows how an SME can participate in this market, through prior development of networks or “Guanxi”. A network theory of internationalization is helpful in understanding how international SMEs can enter China, although our case study introduces some specific considerations that these models had not previously acknowledged. INTRODUCTION Following the successful expansion large Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) in the post war period, small and medium size enterprise (SMEs) from...
Julian Lowe & Sam Henson School of Business University of Ballarat Australia E-mail: s.henson@bal... more Julian Lowe & Sam Henson School of Business University of Ballarat Australia E-mail: s.henson@ballarat.edu.au E-mail: julian.lowe@ballarat.edu.au May 2004 ABSTRACT The paper reports on the preliminary stages of a case-based study of regional, high-growth SMEs. The study explores the actions, activities and processes undertaken by the firms and their start-up entrepreneurs. A framework for growth is proposed, supporting the notion of the growth process as a complex, multidimensional construct. Tentative suggestions are made about the nature of “distributed entrepreneurship” within a small, rapidly growing firm and the issue of regional impacts is also addressed.
ABSTRACT The book examines through research cases, how SMEs can use technology licensing to help ... more ABSTRACT The book examines through research cases, how SMEs can use technology licensing to help them compete with larger firms and develop new products
Principal Topic This research is investigating the scope and relationships of the fine arts and a... more Principal Topic This research is investigating the scope and relationships of the fine arts and associated sectors before, during and after disruption of the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) core activities over the period 1999 to 2003. The significance of the research is to examine the effect of the NGV’s scaled down operations and understand what happens to an industry and business relationships when a key player moves out of and then re-enters a market. The NGV has long been a dominant figure within the Victorian fine art cluster and, for the purpose of this research, has been used to investigate the way small / medium enterprises (SMEs) may be affected when a key player (one that has in the past dominated the cluster) is forced temporarily to assume a weaker role. The research focuses on the interactions and inter relationships between the NGV and SMEs specifically and the repercussions of dislocation within the cluster. The investigation will determine if the NGV’s dislocat...
This paper discusses elements of inter-entrepreneurial trust in regional networks and clusters in... more This paper discusses elements of inter-entrepreneurial trust in regional networks and clusters in terms of influencing business processes and economic viability in today’s economy. The message that can be extracted from the literature is that competitive advantage strongly depends on interfirm collaboration and that networks with a high degree of trust lead to entrepreneurship and innovation. The paper highlights two local Victorian network studies, one in the grains industry and one in the tourism industry, and explores trust based relations in these regional networks. Contrasting sectoral results indicate that social network cohesion and trust were found to be present in the grains community but were absent in the tourism community. Borrowing from the economics and leadership literature, it is proposed that trust fosters certain types of inter-entrepreneurial networks. A description of these networks and related policy implications conclude the paper.
... DOI: 10.1177/017084069701800504 1997 18: 783 Organization Studies James Lowe and Nick Oliver ... more ... DOI: 10.1177/017084069701800504 1997 18: 783 Organization Studies James Lowe and Nick Oliver Components Industry High-Performance Manufacturing: Evidence from the Automotive Published by: ... James Lowe, Rick Delbridge and Nick Oliver* ...
... to refer to 'inter-firm co-operative arrangements over a given economic spac... more ... to refer to 'inter-firm co-operative arrangements over a given economic space and time ... governments have pulled back from full sponsorship of R&D projects in this sector and that ... In all cases political and strategic motives loomed large and disputes and personality clashes were ...
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