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The main recommendation of the Report of the Pension Law Review Committee is that trust law will continue to provide the basic structure for occupational pensions in the UK but it will be strengthened by a pensions act administered by a pensions regulator. The Report also proposes minimum solvency rules and, where a fund does fail, a compensation scheme to cover fraud, theft and other misappropriations. In addition, it calls for the role of trustees to be enhanced and for scheme members to have a legal right to representation on the board and greater access to information.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of key issues in the governance of defined contribution pension schemes, with a focus on investment matters, and to recommend best practices.

The paper draws on the results of an online survey of the opinions of pensions professionals and on interviews with pensions professionals.

The paper finds that many employers and pension scheme trustees are reluctant to take an active role in pension scheme design and to provide support and guidance to members for fear of legal liability. Scope exists for regulators and legislators to create “safe harbour” provisions that will encourage employers and trustees to become more active in supporting members.

The paper makes a number of suggestions for best practice in the design and governance of defined contribution pension schemes, for example, in terms of the fund choice that should be offered.

The paper provides the first comprehensive review of investment issues for UK defined contribution pension plans.

The paper seeks to provide an example of how new business unit resources can activate previously passively connected networks of resources.

Two case studies are used, both of which are examples of new business unit resources being embedded into, and also changing, existing resource networks. The cases are organised around issues of the existing network prior to the introduction of the new resource and how resources can become valuable from within a network.

The paper provides details of two business unit resources being embedded in existing resource networks. In both cases, ports are changed from passive to active actors. There are consequences for a set of existing resources when a new actor activates these in relation to a number of specific counterparts. Further, the value of single resources can be enhanced when they are combined in new ways. The main finding is that the value of resources is closely connected to how newly created actors are able to activate networks of existing yet passively connected resources.

Both cases are concerned with business unit resources rather than a mixture of types.

This paper is a study of how new business unit resources become embedded in existing resource networks while simultaneously activating those networks.

This chapter contains a discussion of interdependencies as an explanatory construct in conceptualising the business world and explaining managerial behaviours. Specific interdependencies that exist in business networks influence the outcomes of business relationships. Such interdependencies can be more or less clearly acknowledged and perceived by the practitioners (managers), who can act upon them and create new interdependencies. Interdependence thus also plays an important role in developing effective explanations and conceptualisations of the business world. Some of the interdependencies are consequences of actions focusing on rationalisations, development or positioning, while other interdependencies are made with the intention of creating a specific position or some other effects. To live with, and be competent in, handling interdependencies is thus imperative in the interactive business landscape; as a consequence interdependencies need to be addressed when theorising the business world and its dynamics.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the case for studying non-interaction in networks, particularly instances of intentional avoidance of interaction.

The paper is based on the analysis of instances of interaction avoidance across four case studies in medical technology development, food product development, food distribution network change, and regional innovation in construction.

Some answers are provided to the questions of why and how actors may seek to avoid interaction. Five modes of interaction avoidance are identified and outlined. Within these modes, interaction avoidance took place in order to protect knowledge, enforce progress, economise in business networks, avoid wasting resources, and maintain opportunities respectively. This list is not seen to be exhaustive of the theme, and further studies are encouraged.

Few inter-organisational network studies have dealt explicitly with interaction avoidance or non-interaction.