Decimal growth scale of cereals

Accurate assessment of growth stage is important because the cereal plant\u27s response to herbicide, growth regulator or fertiliser application depends on its stage of development

New public management and employee share ownership plan in Fiji’s public sector

This article provides insights into the implementation of new public management (NPM) practices in Fiji Telecom and whether the use of the employee share ownership scheme was helpful in the organisational change process. The NPM practices were influenced by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund who were the lenders to Fiji government. The adoption of NPM practices was part of a political, economic and public sector reforms introduced after 1989. The paper discusses the background and obstacles of the reform and how the employee share ownership scheme practice at a privatised Telecom Company assists employees to assimilate commercial business norms. The authors finally make recommendations for policy-makers in Fiji and other developing nations

Effect of frost on cereal grain crops

Loss of wheat production due to frost damage is not common in Victoria. However, while the total loss is rarely great, individual growers can suffer heavy losses in some years. The factors exposing crops to loss are discussed along with tips to minimise the potential for frost damage to occur

Aztec obsidian industries

Obsidian was the primary lithic or stone material used for cutting activities in Aztec society, including domestic food production, craft production, hunting, warfare, and ritual. The demands of millions of consumers within and outside of the Aztec Empire shaped a diversity of industries and distribution networks that operated through merchants, markets, and state taxes in goods and labor. This chapter provides an overview of the primary obsidian sources, quarry activities, artifact types, use contexts, and innovations in lithic technology during the Aztec (Middle and Late Postclassic) period. A particular focus is the Sierra de Las Navajas (or Pachuca) mine and the detailed history of quarrying and manufacturing activities that have been documented there

Ageing industries

This paper uses micro-data from four years of the Labour Force Survey (1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010) to examine the relationship between employment share and age structure across Scottish industries. Over the three decades, there has been a considerable shift in employment away from manufacturing industries to services industries. It is less well known that there are large differences in the age structure of employment between industries. There is some evidence from other countries that growing industries attract younger workers while declining industries keep older workers. If this is true, then the processes of labour force ageing and employment decline reinforce each other resulting in large and likely problematic age structure differences in certain industries. The analysis presented it this preliminary paper generates some evidence consistent with this view. The analysis also brings into some doubt the longer-term sustainability of the agriculture and fishing industry given the very top heavy nature of its age structure of employment

Creative industries

Creative industries are nowadays central in many policies to stimulate the economic development of cities, regions and advanced capitalist economies in general. This paper contributes to the� creative industries literature in two respects. First, we empirically explore if high shares of creative industries in regions go together with one particular aspect of regional economic development, namely firm entry rates. Drawing on Dutch trade register data over a six-year period, it is concluded that at the level of municipalities there is indeed a connection between the share of creative industries and firm entry, even after controlling for the sizes of municipalities, and no matter if creative industries are defined broadly or narrowly. Second, the paper analyses if firms in creative industries are heterogeneous in terms of business processes and their contribution to regional firm entry. Drawing on previous work four creative domains are identified: arts, media and entertainment, creative business services and, at the periphery, knowledge intensive business services. After analysing survey data of 4,746 Dutch SMEs, we find that firms across these domains are distinct in their use of the surveyed business practices: innovation, strategy and marketing, and human resources practices. Especially knowledge intensive services firms are deviant. For the connection with firm entry rates, it appears that high shares of firms in the arts and knowledge intensive business services are significantly connected with regional firm entry rates, while media and entertainment and creative business services remain insignificant. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed. �

Growing wheat

Wheat is the most important cereal grain in world commerce. The framework for all winter crop production in Victoria, Australia, is based on the principles and practice of successful wheat farming. This Agriculture Note gives an overview of those principles