Since Autumn 2012 and under strict regulatory obligations, the biggest corporations in the UK have been offering a pension to any employee who earns more than £10,000. Now the challenge falls on ...smaller employers. This compulsory measure has far-reaching consequences for all players: not only have many new pension customers been brought into the market, but companies face strict deadlines and major fines if they do not comply. The Handbook of Work-based Pension Schemes takes a practical approach to the many issues and crucial decisions facing employers. Choose the right course of action and pensions can become a powerful element within a competitive package of benefits for attracting and keeping the right people, as well as opening up the potential for freeing up capital to invest back into the business. However make a mistake and the consequences can be far-reaching and expensive. Published in association with the Institute of Directors, this book will bring readers up to speed with how pensions are changing, then focus on the ways they will be able to design and manage better schemes at lower costs and at lower risk.
Drawing on a wide range of expert contributions, this book is a practical and easy-to-follow account of how IP comes into play at various stages of ventures and delivers commercial success and real ...competitive advantage. Drawing out the commercial implications of the changes that are happening within Europe's framework for innovation, like the arrival of the unitary patent, this Handbook reviews how EU programmes such as Horizon 2020, the Innovation Union and the European Research Area are measuring performance against a target of creating more growth from IP ventures.
Assess the role of innovation in developing profitable business strategies with this expert commentary on effective and profitable practice in the world's new low-carbon economy.
The Innovation Handbook is a practical guide to the effective management and commercial exploitation of ideas and knowledge, allowing companies to move ahead of their competitors, offer real value to ...customers and boost their profitability.
Millions of tons of buoyant plastic materials enter oceans annually, the majority originating from terrestrial sources and transported to oceans where oceanographic processes disperse or accumulate ...them. Some of these materials beach while others accumulate in convergent zones in coastal seas and the open ocean. Although accumulations associated with subtropical gyres, for example, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” (GPGP) are well-known, coastal accumulation zones have received less attention. Here we report quantities and characteristics of plastics accumulated in fronts encountered within the Ashmore Reef marine park (Pulau Pasir), northern Australia. These areas, as well as surrounding waters, were sampled using Manta trawls, drone, and snorkel surveys conducted in October 2018. With mean plastic concentrations of 523,146 pieces km
−2
for plastics > 500 micron these hotpots contained plastic concentrations an order of magnitude higher than surrounding waters (16,561 pieces km
−2
) and comparable to the largest known accumulation zone: the GPGP. Furthermore, the mean mass within hotspots was 5,161 g km
–2
vs. 9 g km
–2
in surrounding waters. Therefore, we classify the features described in this study as types of “Coastal Garbage Patches” (CGPs). Importantly, the coastal fronts accumulating plastics in CGPs are key habitats for many marine species. Biomass outnumbered plastics by weight, with a ratio of 0.521 in CGPs and 0.016 in surrounding waters vs. 287.7 recorded in the GPGP. Polymer types found between the CGPs and GPGP were similar, but plastic films vastly dominated in the CGPs, whilst they were amongst the rarest types found in the GPGP. This study demonstrates the existence of CGPs coinciding with high priority conservation zones in coastal waters and highlights a need for further research into these environments.
Designed to help innovators capture the full value of their creativity, this book combines the experience of innovative companies with the expertise of academics and advisors, bringing together ...current thinking and practice in innovation, strategy, marketing, design, intellectual property and finance.
With GDP growth of 7.1 per cent in 2006, and having joined the EU in January 2007, Romania now presents a relatively stable place to invest and do business. This up-to-date guide looks at the ...commercial opportunities in the country and at the banking, law, tax, and other rules of business engagement in the country.
The driving factors behind British foreign policy have attracted much scholarly attention, causing a good deal of disagreement. A fundamental dispute concerns which rival state shaped British foreign ...policy the most significantly. Although both Berlin and Paris influenced London, this work will prove that it was St. Petersburg which was of the primary importance. Through this work, two significant factors concerning the importance of Anglo-Russian relations, during the period 1885 - 1895, will be made evident. Firstly, this piece demonstrates the significance of Central Asia to British foreign policy. The British Empire was a world empire with interests that stretched far beyond Europe. Her greatest asset, the Indian Raj, was the focus of British policy during the late nineteenth century. The imperial government in London wanted, and needed, to maintain its Indian Empire. This extra-European aspect was more consequential than any European factor in driving British foreign policy during this period. Due to the importance of the Raj, Anglo-Russian relations were pivotal to British foreign policy. To defend this 'jewel in the crown', Britain formed a buffer defence system involving Afghanistan and Persia; the period 1885 - 1895 was spent protecting these buffer states through a variety of methods. However, while this work will prove the importance of Central Asia, it will also demonstrate how the security of India dictated Britain's broader decision making in Europe. For instance, in 1885 the Penjdeh Crisis on the Russo-Afghan border was followed in quick succession by a European crisis over Eastern Roumelia. This cannot simply be coincidence. The link between Central Asia and Europe, and therefore the role played between Britain's wider imperial power and her European interests, will form the crux of this work. It will also be shown that it was Anglo- Russian and not Anglo-German relations which were pivotal to Britain's foreign policy. The current historiography shows too much emphasis upon the role of Germany, which is a result of the period being viewed through the lens of the First World War. To counter this trend, Adam Jolly this piece will join and improve the smaller but growing body of work which is re-evaluating the respective roles of Russia and Germany within British foreign policy. Focusing upon the foreign policies of Salisbury and Rosebery, this work will concentrate on a decade of great importance to British foreign policy, and illustrate how Britain's foreign policy-makers navigated a world that was rapidly changing.
This book explores how individuals and companies can stimulate new innovation and protect their best ideas in a competitive and aggressive marketplace. It is divided into twelve sections: the ...innovation premium, moving up the value chain, forms of innovation, sources of innovation, new frontiers, the creative organization, an open search for ideas, commercialization models, IP fit for purpose, contract negotiation, funding innovation, and what to do when a product is copied. Designed as a practical guide to the effective management of ideas and knowledge, this book is aimed at leaders of organizations who want to move ahead of their competitors and offer new sources of value to their customers. Drawing on a wide range of expert opinion in strategy, design, technology, brands, intellectual property, finance, marketing and management, the book discusses how to best combine an open search for potential winners with procedures that capture, protect and enhance their full value. --
PDF
