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on the basis of it findings, that A. planci did not "constitute a threat to the Great Barrier Reef as a whole" (Walsh et al., 1971: p. 6). The conclusions of that committee, particularly the one just mentioned, were challenged and debated (e.g. Dwyer, 1971; Endean, 1971b; Talbot, 1971; O'Gower et al., 1972; James, 1976). During 1971 an advisory committee was established to implement the policies of the second committee of inquiry and to coordinate future research. Over the ensuing years many aspects of the biology of A. planci were studied. The progress of these studies was reported in a document prepared by the advisory committee (Walsh, Harvey, Maxwell & Thomson, 1976) and in it further research was recommended particularly on the ecology and population dynamics of the starfish and its coral prey. With the decline of starfish outbreaks during the latter half of the 1970s research on A. planci waned. A further committee was established (by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) not long P. J. MORAN after a second outbreak was reported at Green Island at the end of 1979. Once again the results of previous research were reviewed and the significance of those outbreaks was assessed to determine whether further research was warranted. That committee considered the situation serious enough to recommend that several types of research be undertaken, addressing a number of broad aspects of the phenomenon (Advisory Committee on the Crown of Thorns Starfish, 1980). Some of this research was implemented although field studies on the ecology of the starfish were largely neglected. In view of the seriousness of the current series of outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef another committee was formed with similar aims to those preceding it (Crown of Thorns Starfish Advisory Committee, 1985). In constrast to the findings of the second committee of inquiry this committee concluded that "the destruction of hard coral by aggregations of A. planci poses a serious threat to the organisation and functional relationships within some reef communities within the Great Barrier Reef, at least in the short term" (loc. at., p. 1). It also recognized that outbreaks of starfish posed a "major management problem in some areas of the Great Barrier Reef" (loc. cit., p. 1). On the basis of its findings the committee recommended that a coordinated programme of research be conducted over five years at an estimated cost of $A 3 million. Despite the reviews of these committees and the impetus that they gave to research they have not managed to quell the questions and debates, in Australia at least, concerning the phenomenon. Frequently the debate surrounding the occurrence of outbreaks has been reduced to whether they are seen to be a problem, or threat to the reef and, ultimately, whether they are natural or man-induced events. Logic would have it that if they are natural then nothing is required except to adopt sensible management in areas of commercial interest. If unnatural then action may be required. Reducing the debate to this simplistic ...

We develop a framework to describe value creation as a process comprising resource combinations and exchanges and use the framework to show how organizations in general, and business firms in particular, interact with markets to create economic value for themselves, for their members, and for society. The theory offers an explanation of why neither a market nor a firm, by itself, can achieve adaptive efficiency and why institutional pluralism contributes to the process of economic development. Organizations dominate our socioeconomic landscape. Their influence in our everyday lives has grown steadily for two centuries (Coleman, 1992), particularly among the wealthiest and most developed regions of the world (cf., Demsetz, 1995). Indeed, this "ubiquity of organizations" prompted Herbert Simon (1991) to question the use of the term market economy to describe the structure of our economic interactions. "Wouldn't 'organizational economy' be the more appropriate term?" asks Simon (1991: 28). Even more curious than our choice of name, however, is how little attention scholars have given to the role organizations play in economic development, relative to that played by markets. Certainly, the notion of an organizational economy, as characterized by both intensely competitive markets and multiple firms, coexisting in a constant state of vigorous but creative tension, is uncontroversial. Such an economy is the basis of the process of creative destruction that Joseph Schumpeter (1942) described over half a century ago. This familiar evolutionary process is one of continuous interaction among firms, on the one hand, creating and realizing new value, and markets, on the other hand, forcing these same firms to surrender, over time, For detailed discussion and valuable comments, we thank

A local electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (LEIS) technique for mapping the ac impedance distribution, as a function of frequency, of an electrode has been developed. In LEIS, as in traditional ac impedance methods, a sinusoidal voltage perturbation between the working and reference electrode is maintained by driving an ac current between the working electrode and a distant counterelectrode with a potentiostat. Local ac impedances are then derived from the ratio of the applied ac voltage and the local ac solution current density. The local ac current density is obtained from potential difference measurements near the electrode surface using a probe consisting of two micro-electrodes. By measuring the ac potential difference between the micro-electrodes, and knowing their separation distance and the solution conductivit.y, the local ac solution current density is derived. The accuracy of the local ac impedance data generated with this technique was established by investigating two model systems. The first provided a homogeneous electrode which allowed LEIS measurements to be compared to traditional EIS, while the second system provided a heterogeneity of known size and location whose components were easily characterized with traditional techniques. It is shown that area-normalized scanning ac impedance measurements of the homogeneous electrode agreed well with traditional results. In addition, because LEIS maps the impedance properties of an electrode, the defect in the heterogeneous electrode was easily detected, while traditional ac impedance of this electrode gave little indication of its presence.