Donald Lyons

Changing patterns of corporate headquarter influence, 1974 - 89

Research on the changing geography of metropolitan corporate headquarters (CH) influence has pointed to a decrease in importance for national centers and an increase in the importance of regional centers throughout the country. Theoretical explanations of this change have posited a linear evolutionary sequence from spatial and hierarchical concentration to dispersal. In this paper, the nature of change in metropolitan CH influence between 1974 and 1989 is examined, with a focus on three aspects of this process. First, the detailed sequence of dispersal within types of metropolitan region is explored. Second, the issue of how metropolitan CH influence changes over space is examined. Third, the impact of the recent restructuring of the US economy on metropolitan corporate influence is investigated. The results suggest that the linear evolutionary sequence model needs some modification. The major proportional shifts in CH influence are from New York to a select set of diversified regional centers that may be emerging as national centers in their own right. Dispersion of CH influence is not simply a matter of shifts from one level of the hierarchy to another, rather it is the outcome of a continuous struggle by existing and new corporations in metropolises among and within all levels of the hierarchy to capture new growth opportunities as older opportunities decline. Finally, the impact of restructuring was twofold. Among some metropolitan regions dominated by sectors that declined during the period 1974–89 the consequences were a dramatic decrease in influence. The CHs of the new growth sectors were concentrated among national centers and hence contributed to increased influence at the apex of the hierarchy.

Integrating waste, manufacturing and industrial symbiosis: an analysis of recycling, remanufacturing and waste treatment firms in Texas

The continually increasing volume of the waste stream has led to numerous calls for strategies to close the loop on material use through industrial symbiosis strategies which direct used material and products (wastes) back to production processes. By use of a survey of recycling, remanufacturing and waste treatment firms in Texas, this paper asks if these firms can operate as a bridge between production and consumption/waste to efficiently increase the flow of used materials and products back to production processes at the local level. The results suggest that while most materials and used products are collected locally, only some can be re(consumed) locally. Moreover, the firms face negative perceptions about their activities from industry and the public at large that likely slow both the rate of entry of new firms into these markets and the expansion possibilities of existing firms. In addition, the types of conventions that characterize the interactions of more successful firms are not well developed in this sector(s). It is unlikely that recycling, remanufacturing and waste treatment firms can become central players in the production, consumption and waste cycle loop until society develops production design, marketing and consumption philosophies that include recycling and remanufacturing at a fundamental level.

Editorial: Industrial Symbiosis – An Environmental Perspective on Regional Development

Industrial Ecology is a collective term for a number of business-centered systems-oriented approaches to improve the eco-efficiency of industry. Employing ecological metaphors, IE asks questions about the sustainability of the current industrial paradigm. In essence, it argues that the traditional model of industrial activity where individual manufacturing processes take in raw materials and generate products to be sold plus waste for disposal, needs to be transformed into a more integrated “closed-loop” model: an industrial ecosystem. Here raw material extraction and waste generation are minimized since waste serves as the raw material for other production processes.

EXPLAINING THE CONTEMPORARY SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY EMPLOYMENT IN TEXAS

The paper presents a snapshot of the current employment distribution of high-technology industry among Texass major metropolitan areas and links the broad outlines of that distribution to the particular production context(s) that emerged in those cities during their formative years. High-technology employment is concentrated in four CMSAs. Dallas-Fort Worth has the largest and most diverse employment base. Employment in Houston, the second largest center, is concentrated in the petroleum and petrochemicals industries. Austins focus is in computers and electronics, while San Antonio, the fourth largest high-technology center, has a number of minor clusters of high-technology employment but dominates in no individual industry. Industrialization developed in many of these cities simultaneously with initial growth. With varying degrees of effort and success, the early economic and political elites of each city attempted various strategies, particularly large civic infrastructural projects, to stimulate indi...

Fast-growing firms as elements of change in Canada’s headquarters city system

This research explores the factors that shape the evolving geographic distribution of business headquarters (HQ) activity. We address an understudied influence on HQ geographies: metropolitan HQ changes driven by the process of small, rapidly expanding businesses growing into mature companies. This investigation focuses on the developmental paths followed by fast-growing firms (FGFs) and the geographic distinctions that can be observed in a FGF tracking study of Canada’s metropolitan regions from 1987 to 2005. Our research findings indicate that geography plays an important role in this development, as FGF tracking records throughout Canada’s metropolitan areas diverge sharply. We find that most FGFs that emerged in Vancouver and Toronto continued as ongoing businesses following their rapid growth phase, while a high proportion of FGFs based in Montréal and Calgary did not. These results contribute to a greater understanding of metropolitan economies, business development, and HQ location in Canada

Introducing an international perspective on industrial ecology

Abstract: The aim of this book is to promote a debate about the relationship between industrial ecology (IE), as a business, community and academic endeavour, and the places in the world where examples of industrial ecology can be found. We present analyses of IE demonstrating its context and variability on a global scale. After 25 years of activity, industrial ecology studies and practices can be found across the globe. The commonalities, associated constraints and opportunities, are widely discussed in the burgeoning literature. An additional commonality, seldom explored, is that these examples are all happening somewhere. The significance of location for the IE activity attempted, the outcome of that attempt, and the transferability of lessons to other locations are rarely considered. Furthermore, studies are conducted from somewhere, not necessarily the same place where the IE activities are rooted. Originally inspired by a session on IE and geography at the International Sustainable Development Research Society conference in Hong Kong in 2010, we have expanded the range of contributions to the book to provide a genuinely global reach in terms of both case studies and authorship. This book provides contextualised overviews of current state of IE in specific countries or continents; explores case studies of different types of IE, in a variety of settings (including developed and developing country) and provides comparisons between different national contexts. Authors draw on several methodological and theoretical frameworks, offering approaches to comparative work, and contributing to the theoretical understanding of the field.

Defining the Record of High-Growth Firms by U.S. Metropolitan Region: What Happens to the Inc. 500?

ABSTRACT This study devotes attention to the intersection of two research areas: business development and metropolitan economic evolution. The analysis identifies businesses included in the 2000–2008 Inc. 500 annual rankings of high-growth firms (HGFs) in the United States, and tracks these firms in the years following their Inc. 500 appearance. The research finds that most HGFs have an extended record as independent businesses, with firm failure rates falling far lower than those associated with business continuation. The study also shows that HGF acquisition activity varies greatly among U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), with Boston and Austin leading as hosts to HGFs that became acquisition targets. Finally, the analysis shows that Phoenix and Indianapolis lead all others in hosting HGFs with extended growth periods. The article argues these MSAs have the potential to play a role in shifting the U.S. corporate hierarchy, and interprets the results in light of the public policy applications and further research opportunities presented.

Occupational restructuring in US high-tech manufacturing: 1983-1995

We survey occupation-by-industry panel data from 1983 to 1995, documenting major changes in the occupational structure of employment in US high-tech manufacturing industries. On the non-production side, defence spending cutbacks, technical change and production strategies chosen in response to technical change are causing better-paid computer professionals and more senior executives to displace specialised computer technicians, administrative and managerial support workers and single-discipline engineers. On the production side, the same factors converge, creating the inverse of that trend: less well-trained and therefore less well-paid workers are replacing the more skilled. Although production-side down-skilling can sometimes be viewed as a relative up-skilling or re-skilling for operators and assemblers, these two main trends in high-tech occupational restructuring are exacerbating, rather than mitigating, growing wage and income inequality in the USA.