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In business, a competitive advantage is an attribute that allows an organization to outperform its competitors .

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79-706: The Scots Law Times is a commercially published law reports service and law magazine for Scotland , publishing over 1400 pages of reports each year. Published weekly during court term by W. Green , the Scots Law Times covers every Scottish court , civil and criminal, from the Sheriff Courts to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (formerly the House of Lords ). It is considered

158-483: A differentiation advantage. A cost advantage arises when a business can provide the same products and services as its competitors but at a lower cost. A differentiation advantage arises when a business can provide different products and services from its competitors which are more closely aligned to customers' needs. In Porter's view, strategic management should be concerned with building and sustaining competitive advantage. Competitive advantage seeks to address some of

237-589: A "Key Numbering System" with a unique number for every conceivable legal topic. The U.S. federal government does not publish an official reporter for the federal courts at the circuit and district levels. However, just as the UK government uses the ICLR reporters by default, the U.S. courts use the unofficial West federal reporters for cases after 1880, which are the Federal Reporter (for courts of appeals) and

316-439: A book in 1985 which identified three strategies that businesses can use to tackle competition. These approaches can be applied to all businesses whether they are product-based or service-based. He called these approaches generic strategies. They include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. These strategies have been created to improve and gain a competitive advantage over competitors. These strategies can also be recognized as

395-401: A business's products or services are different from its competitors. In his book, Michael Porter recommended making those goods or services attractive to stand out from their competitors. The business will need strong research, development, and design thinking to create innovative ideas. These improvements to the goods or service could include delivering high quality to customers. If customers see

474-654: A computerized legal research system. The Commonwealth Law Reports are the authorised reports of decision of the High Court of Australia . The Federal Court Reports are the authorised reports of decisions of the Federal Court of Australia (including the Full Court). Each state and territory has a series of authorised reports, e.g. the Victorian Reports, of decisions of the superior courts of

553-631: A firm to superior performance by facilitating the firm with competitive advantage to outperform current or potential players (Passemard and Calantone 2000, p. 18). To gain competitive advantage, a business strategy of a firm manipulates the various resources over which it has direct control, and these resources have the ability to generate competitive advantage (Reed and Fillippi 1990 cited by Rijamampianina 2003, p. 362). Superior performance outcomes and superiority in production resources reflect competitive advantage (Day and Wesley 1988 cited by Lau 2002, p. 125). The quotes above signify competitive advantage as

632-414: A jurisdiction's primary law . Official case law publishing may be carried out by a government agency, or by a commercial entity. Unofficial law reports, on the other hand, are not officially sanctioned and are published as a commercial enterprise. In Australia and New Zealand (see below), official reports are called authorised reports—unofficial reports are referred to as unauthorised reports. For

711-597: A low-cost power source, highly skilled labor, geographic location, high entry barriers, and access to new technology and to proprietary information. The term competitive advantage refers to the ability gained through attributes and resources to perform at a higher level than others in the same industry or market (Christensen and Fahey 1984, Kay 1994, Porter 1980 cited by Chacarbaghi and Lynch 1999, p. 45). The study of this advantage has attracted profound research interest due to contemporary issues regarding superior performance levels of firms in today's competitive market. "A firm

790-421: A product or service as being different from other products, consumers are willing to pay more to receive these benefits. Focus strategy ideally tries to get businesses to aim at a few target markets rather than trying to target everyone. This strategy is often used for smaller businesses since they may not have the appropriate resources or ability to target everyone. Businesses that use this method usually focus on

869-499: A product or service in a manner that is different, meaningful, and based on their customers' needs and desires. Deciding on the appropriate price and quality depends on the business's brand image and what they hope to achieve in relation to their competition. Positioning is an important marketing concept. The main purpose of positioning is often to create the right perceptions in comparison to competitors. Thus, it creates competitive advantage. This positioning, or competitive advantage,

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948-400: A reasonable profit on each good or service sold. If businesses are not making a large enough profit, Porter recommends finding a lower-cost base such as labor, materials, and facilities. This gives businesses a lower manufacturing cost over those of other competitors. The company can add value to the customer via transfer of the cost benefit to them. A differentiation advantage is gained when

1027-508: A resource-based advantage, such as manufacturing processes, technology, or market-based assets such as knowledge of customers or processes for new product development. Firms with a knowledge-based core competency can increase their advantage by learning from "contingent workers" such as technical experts, consultants, or temporary employees. Those outsiders bring knowledge inside a firm, such as sharing understanding of competing technologies. Moreover, interactions with contingent workers can provoke

1106-592: A selection of case law decided by courts . When a particular judicial opinion is referenced, the law report series in which the opinion is printed will determine the case citation format. Historically, the term reporter was used to refer to the individual persons who actually compile, edit, and publish such opinions. For example, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States

1185-592: A specific group of states. The National Reporter System is now the dominant unofficial reporter system in the U.S., and 21 states have discontinued their own official reporters and certified the appropriate West regional reporter as their official reporter. West and its rival, LexisNexis , both publish unofficial reporters of U.S. Supreme Court opinions. West also publishes the West American Digest System to help lawyers find cases in its reporters. West digests and reporters have always featured

1264-483: A strategic advantage for building a core competency. The competitiveness of a company is based on the ability to develop core competencies. A core competency is, for example, a specialised knowledge, technique, or skill. Yang (2015) concluded, with the examination of a long-term development model, that developing core competencies and effectively implementing core capabilities are important strategic actions for any enterprise in order to pursue high long-term profits. In

1343-546: Is Chancery Law Chronicles, which now publishes verdicts of Supreme Court of Bangladesh. After the Supreme Court of Bangladesh was established in 1972, its online law report is Supreme Court Online Bulletin and it initially published a law report, containing the judgments, orders and decisions of the Court. Another widely used law report in the country is the Bangladesh Legal Decisions which is published by

1422-479: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Scottish newspaper-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a legal magazine is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See tips for writing articles about magazines . Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page . Law reports Law reports or reporters are series of books that contain judicial opinions from

1501-500: Is available, permitted parties to rely on any report "with the name of a barrister annexed to it". While maritime cases often have a contract or tort element and are reported in the standard volumes, the standard source for maritime cases is the Lloyd's Law Reports, which covers matters including maritime matters such as carriage of goods by sea , international trade law , and admiralty law . The Session Cases report cases heard in

1580-481: Is based on creating the right "image" or "identity" in the minds of the target group. This positioning decision exists of selecting the right core competencies to build upon and emphasize. Therefore, both corporate identity and core competencies are underlying internal factors of competitive advantage. The operational model for managing corporate reputation and image of Gray and Balmer (1998) proposes that corporate identity , communication , image, and reputation are

1659-399: Is defined as the long term plan of a particular company in order to gain competitive advantage over its competitors in the industry. It is aimed at creating defensive position in an industry and generating a superior ROI ( return on investment ). American academic Michael Porter defined two ways in which an organization can achieve competitive advantage over its rivals: a cost advantage and

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1738-431: Is said to have a competitive advantage when it is implementing a value creating strategy not simultaneously being implemented by any current or potential player" (Barney 1991 cited by Clulow et al.2003, p. 221). Competitive advantage is the leverage a business has over its competitors. This can be gained by offering clients better and greater value. Advertising products or services with lower prices or higher quality piques

1817-689: Is supplemented by other reports such as the Scottish Civil Case Reports and Green's Weekly Digest. In each state of the United States , there are published reports of all cases decided by the courts having appellate jurisdiction going back to the date of their organization. There are also complete reports of the cases decided in the United States Supreme Court and the inferior federal courts having appellate jurisdiction since their creation under

1896-711: Is the most-cited law journal and it ranks among the country's most-cited law reviews of any kind. Published monthly, the MLR provides timely treatment of significant developments in law through articles contributed by judges, leading scholars and practitioners. Bangladesh Legal Decisions is published under the authority of the Bangladesh Bar Council. The other law reports include Bangladesh Law Chronicles, Lawyers and Jurists, BCR, ADC, Bangladesh Legal Times and Bangladesh Law Times. The online law report in Bangladesh

1975-425: Is the official reporter for Supreme Court decisions. In addition, some private reporters have been authorised to publish the Court's decisions. Pakistan inherited a common law system upon independence from Great Britain in 1947, and thus its legal system relies heavily on law reports. The most comprehensive law book is the "Pakistan Law Decisions" (PLD), which contains judgments from the Supreme Court of Pakistan ,

2054-570: Is the person authorized to publish the Court's cases in the bound volumes of the United States Reports . Today, in American English , reporter also denotes the books themselves. In Commonwealth English , these are described by the plural term law reports , the title that usually appears on the covers of the periodical parts and the individual volumes. In common law countries, court opinions are legally binding under

2133-659: The Federal Supplement (for district courts). For cases from federal circuit and district courts prior to 1880, U.S. courts use Federal Cases . The Federal Reporter , the Federal Supplement , and Federal Cases are all part of the NRS and include headnotes marked with West key numbers. West's NRS also includes several unofficial state-specific reporters for large states like California . The NRS now numbers well over 10,000 volumes; therefore, only

2212-553: The United States Patents Quarterly (USPQ). Today, both Westlaw and LexisNexis also publish a variety of official and unofficial reporters covering the decisions of many federal and state administrative agencies which possess quasi-judicial powers. A recent trend in American states is for bar associations to join a consortium called Casemaker . Casemaker gives members of a state bar access to

2291-498: The Apex Law Reports (ALR) provides timely treatment of significant developments in law through articles contributed by judges, leading scholars and practitioners. The Law Messenger is an internationally standard law report which started publication in 2016. It is the first law journal in Bangladesh which specifically publishes law decisions of Supreme Court of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan only. Mainstream Law Reports (MLR)

2370-536: The Free Access to Law Movement . Many law librarians and academics have commented on the changing system of legal information delivery brought about by the rapid growth of the World Wide Web . Professor Bob Berring writes that the "primacy of the old paper sets [print law reports] is fading, and a vortex of conflicting claims and products is spinning into place". In theory, court decisions posted on

2449-720: The High Court , Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of New Zealand . The reports, which were initially sorted by volume, are sorted by year. Three volumes per year are now published, with the number of volumes having increased over time from one, to two and now to three. The reports do not focus on any particular area of law, with subject specific reports filling this niche. There are approximately 20 privately published report series focusing on specialist areas of law. Some areas are covered by more than one report series—such as employment, tax and family law. Most Irish law reports are contained in The Irish Reports (IR), published by

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2528-791: The Supreme Court Reports . There are also general reporters, such as the long-running Dominion Law Reports , that publishes cases of national significance. Other law report series include the Canadian Criminal Cases , the Canadian Criminal Reports , the Ontario Reports and the Rapports Juridiques du Québec . Neutral citations are also used to identify cases. The UK Supreme Court publishes on its own website

2607-590: The Supreme Court of New South Wales . The Victorian Reports are published by Little William Bourke on behalf of the Council of Law Reporting in Victoria and cover the Supreme Court of Victoria . The New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR) are the authorised reports of the New Zealand Council for Law Reporting and have been published continuously since 1883. The reports publish cases of significance from

2686-612: The United States Constitution . The early reporters were unofficial as they were published solely by private entrepreneurs, but in the middle of the 19th century, the U.S. Supreme Court and many state supreme courts began publishing their own official reporters. In the 1880s, the West Publishing Company started its National Reporter System (NRS), which is a family of regional reporters, each of which collects select state court opinions from

2765-514: The "Civil Law Cases" (CLC), which as the name suggests deals with Civil cases; the "Pakistan Criminal Law Journal" (PCrLJ), which reports Criminal Cases; and the "Pakistan Tax Decisions" (PTD), on the Income Tax tribunal cases and their appeals. Kenya's first output of law reports was in the form of volumes under the citation E.A.L.R (East African Law Reports). They were first published between 1897 and 1905. Seven of these volumes were compiled by

2844-716: The Chief Justices of the Territories and the presiding judge of the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa. Following the collapse of the East African Community, under whose auspices the reports were published, the reports went out of publication. The period before the resumption of the East Africa Law Reports saw sporadic and transitory attempts at law reporting. Firstly, with the authority of the then Attorney-General, six volumes named

2923-476: The Court of Session and Scottish cases heard on appeal in the House of Lords . The Justiciary Cases report from the High Court of Justiciary . Those two series are the most authoritative and are cited in court in preference to other report series, such as the Scots Law Times , which reports sheriff court and lands tribunal cases in addition to the higher courts. The law reports service of Scotland

3002-740: The Hon Mr Justice R. W. Hamilton, who was then the Chief Justice of the Protectorate and the reports covered all courts of different jurisdictions. The 1922–1956 period saw the emergence of some twenty-one volumes of the Kenya Law Reports (under the citation K.L.R). These reports included the decisions of the High Court only and were collated, compiled and edited by different puisne judges and magistrates. Then came

3081-711: The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland. Other reports are contained in the Irish Law Reports Monthly (ILRM) and various online collections of court decisions. In Bangladesh, the law reports are published according to the provisions of the Law Reports Act, 1875. There are many law reports now in Bangladesh. The most widely known being the Dhaka Law Report which started publication in 1949. Published monthly,

3160-576: The Kenya Law Reports" (section 3 of the Act). The Kenya Law Reports are the official law reports of the Republic of Kenya which may be cited in proceedings in all courts of Kenya (section 21 of the Act). Cases of Hong Kong are predominantly published in the authorised Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Reports (HKCFAR) and Hong Kong Law Reports and Digests (HKLRD), as well as the unauthorised but

3239-619: The Kenyan Parliament passed the National Council for Law Reporting Act, 1994 and gave the Council the exclusive mandate of: "publication of the reports to be known as the Kenya Law Reports which shall contain judgments, rulings and opinions of the superior courts of record and also undertake such other publications as in the opinion of the Council are reasonably related to or connected with the preparation and publication of

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3318-761: The New Kenya Law Reports covering the period between and including the years 1976 to 1980 were published by the East African Publishing House . These reports included the decisions of the High Court and Court of Appeal of Kenya and were compiled by the Late Hon Mr Justice S. K. Sachdeva and were edited by Mr Paul H Niekirk and the Hon Mr Justice Richard Kuloba, a judge of the High Court of Kenya . The publication of these reports ceased when

3397-526: The Privy Council. They covered only those appeals filed from the territories. The East Africa Law Reports (cited as E.A.) were introduced in 1957 and were published in nineteen consecutive volumes until 1975. These reports covered decisions of the Court of Appeal for East Africa and the superior courts of the constituent territories, namely, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Aden, Seychelles and Somaliland. They were published under an editorial board consisting of

3476-567: The Web (versus the standard volume and page number used for print law reports). Furthermore, turning away from the traditional "official-commercial" print report model raises questions about the accuracy, authority, and reliability of case law found on the Web. The answer to these questions will be determined, in large part, through changing government information policies , and by the degree of influence exerted by commercial database providers on global legal information markets . Reports usually come in

3555-515: The Web expand access to the law beyond the specialized law library collections used primarily by lawyers and judges . The general public can more readily find court opinions online, whether posted on Web-accessible databases (such as the Hong Kong Judiciary public access site, above), or through general Web search engines . Questions remain, however, on the need for a uniform and practical citation format for cases posted on

3634-409: The ability to create such a relatively unique advantage. Johnson and Foss have provided a formal account of what constitutes an optimal business strategy. According to well-established variational methods, a business pursuing an optimal strategy will follow the shortest economic path that makes the most efficient use of resources. Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School , wrote

3713-454: The ability to stay ahead of present or potential competition. Also, it provides the understanding that resources held by a firm and the business strategy will have a profound impact on generating competitive advantage. Powell (2001, p. 132) views business strategy as the tool that manipulates resources and creates competitive advantage. Hence, a viable business strategy may not be adequate unless it possesses control over unique resources that have

3792-459: The comparative advantage and the differential advantage. Cost leadership is a business's ability to produce a product or service that will be at a lower cost than other competitors. If the business is able to produce the same quality product but sell it for less, this gives them a competitive advantage over other businesses. Therefore, this provides a price value to the customers. Lower costs will result in higher profits as businesses are still making

3871-462: The corporate identity; they form the foundation of corporate competitiveness. Core competencies fit within the " resource-based view of the firm ". Resources can be tangible or intangible. A firm's knowledge assets are an important intangible source of competitive advantage. For firm knowledge to provide a competitive advantage, it must be generated, codified, and diffused to others inside the organization. Many different types of knowledge can serve as

3950-513: The court's judgments after they have been handed down, together with the ICLR summary (or "headnote"). In England and Wales , beginning with the reports of cases contained in the Year Books ( Edward II to Henry VIII ) there are various sets of reports of cases decided in the higher English courts down to the present time. Until the nineteenth century, both the quality of early reports, and

4029-582: The criticisms of comparative advantage . Competitive advantage rests on the notion that cheap labor is ubiquitous and natural resources are not necessary for a good economy. The other theory, comparative advantage, can lead countries to specialize in exporting primary goods and raw materials that trap countries in low-wage economies due to terms of trade. Competitive advantage attempts to correct this issue by stressing on maximizing scale economies in goods and services that garner premium prices (Stutz and Warf 2009). Successfully implemented strategies will lift

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4108-726: The decisions of the Court of Appeal of Kenya selected over that period. Law reports relating to special topics have also been published. Ten volumes of the Court of Review Law Reports covering the period 1953 to 1962 and including the decisions on customary law by the African Court of Review were published by the Government Printer. There was no editorial board and it is not known who the compilers of these reports were. Their apocryphal origin notwithstanding, they were commonly cited by legal practitioners and scholars. In 1994,

4187-520: The end, real advantage can be created by the management's ability to unify corporate-wide technologies and production skills into competencies that capacitate individual businesses to adapt quickly to changing opportunities. To sustain leadership in a chosen core competency area, companies should seek to maximize their competency factors in the core products like being important in positioning its values, distinctive (differentiated), superior, communicable (visibility), unique, affordable, and profitable. When

4266-476: The extent to which the judge explained the facts of the case and his judgment, are highly variable, and the weight of the precedent may depend on the reputations of both the judge and the reporter. Such reports are now largely of academic interest, having been overtaken by statutes and later developments, but binding precedents can still be found, often most cogently expressed. In 1865, the nonprofit Incorporated Council of Law Reporting (ICLR) for England and Wales

4345-439: The firm to codify knowledge that was tacit in order to communicate with the temporary employees. The benefits of these interactions with outsiders increases with the "absorptive capacity" of the firm. However, there is some risk that these interactions cause leakage or dilution of knowledge assets to others who later hire the same temporary employees. Modern knowledge management theory now suggests that serendipity can be tapped as

4424-400: The form of sturdy hardcover books with most of the design elements on the spine (the part that a lawyer would be most interested in when searching for a case). The volume number is usually printed in large type to make it easy to spot. Gold leaf is traditionally used on the spine for the name of the report and for some decorative lines and bars. In lawyer portraits and advertisements ,

4503-454: The fundamental components of the process of creating competitive advantage. Corporate identity through corporate communication creates corporate image and reputation, with an end result of competitive advantage. Corporate identity is the reality of an organization. It refers to the distinct characteristics or core competencies of the organization. It is the mental picture of the company held by its audiences. Corporate communication refers to all

4582-427: The interest of consumers. This is the reason behind brand loyalty , or why customers prefer one particular product or service over another. Value proposition is important when understanding competitive advantage. If the value proposition is effective, that is, if the value proposition offers clients better and greater value, it can produce a competitive advantage in either the product or service. Competitive strategy

4661-498: The largest law libraries maintain a full hard copy set in their on-site collections. Some government agencies use (and require attorneys and agents practicing before them to cite to) certain unofficial reporters that specialize in the types of cases likely to be material to matters before the agency. For example, for both patent and trademark practice, the United States Patent and Trademark Office requires citation to

4740-467: The law reporter's contribution. Thus, law students are warned that the headnote is not part of the decision rendered, since headnotes occasionally contain misinterpretations of the law, and are not part of the official judgment. (In the United States, however, the headnote, also called the syllabus, is sometimes written by the court itself, which fact is stated.) The development of the Internet created

4819-433: The middle", and the business will not be able to have a competitive advantage. When businesses can find the perfect balance between price and quality, it usually leads to a successful product or service. A product or service must offer value through price or quality to ensure the business is successful in the market. To succeed, it is not enough to be "just as good as" another business. Success comes to firms that can deliver

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4898-834: The most authoritative series of law reports in Scotland, after the Sessions Cases . Since 2000, the Scots Law Times reports have been prepared by a specialist legal team working online , with court opinions downloaded from the Scottish Court Service website. Reports of leading cases can therefore be published very shortly after a decision is issued. The Scots Law Times also has a news section that contains topical articles, reviews of recent publications, case commentaries, and new rules of court and practice notes. This article related to law in Scotland

4977-476: The needs of the consumer. Porter believes that once businesses have decided what groups they will target, it is essential to decide if they will take the cost leadership approach or differentiation approach. Focus strategy will not make a business successful. Porter mentions that it is important to not use all 3 generic strategies because there is a high chance that companies will come out achieving no strategies instead of achieving success. This can be called "stuck in

5056-410: The needs of the customer and how their products or services could improve their daily lives. In this method, some firms may even let consumers give their inputs for their product or service. This strategy can also be called the segmentation strategy, which includes geographic, demographic, behavioral, and physical segmentation. By narrowing the market down to smaller segments, businesses are able to meet

5135-410: The official and informal communication sources, through a variety of media, by which the company outsources its identity to its audiences or stakeholders. Corporate communication is the bridge between corporate identity and corporate image or reputation. The above-stated process has two main objectives, namely to create the intended image in the minds of the company's principal constituents and managing

5214-462: The official opinions, so lawyers and law journals must cite the unofficial report until the case comes out in the official report. But once a court opinion is officially published, case citation rules usually require a person to cite to the official reports. A good printed law report in traditional form usually contains the following items: It is only the last item that is authoritative. The others, although useful for its understanding, are only

5293-400: The official regulator of the enrolled lawyers of the country; the Bangladesh Bar Council. Various others for example, Bangladesh Law Chronicles, Bangladesh Legal Times, Lawyers and Jurists, Counsel Law Reports, Legal Circle Law Reports, Bangladesh Legal Times, BCR, ADC are also in operation. The decisions of the lower judiciary are not reported in any law report. The Supreme Court Reports (SCR)

5372-778: The oldest Hong Kong Cases (HKC). Some specialist series are available including the Hong Kong Family Law Reports (HKFLR), Hong Kong Public Law Reports (HKPLR) and Conveyancing and Property Reports (CPR). Chinese-language judgments are published in the Hong Kong Chinese Law Reports and Translation (HKCLRT). The Hong Kong Law Reports and Digests were published as the Hong Kong Law Reports (HKLR) until 1997. Competitive advantage A competitive advantage may include access to natural resources , such as high-grade ores or

5451-480: The opportunity for courts to publish their decisions on Web sites . This is a relatively low cost publication method compared to paper and makes court decisions more easily available to the public (particularly important in common law countries where court decisions are major sources of law ). Because a court can post a decision on a Web site as soon as it is rendered, the need for a quickly printed case in an unofficial, commercial report becomes less crucial. However,

5530-421: The period covering 1934 to 1956 which saw the birth of the famous Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa Law Reports (E.A.L.R). These reports comprised twenty-three volumes altogether which were also compiled by puisne judges and magistrates, a Registrar of the High Court and a Registrar of the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa . These volumes reported the decisions of the then Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa and of

5609-426: The process to create a favourable reputation in the minds of the important stakeholders. Gray and Balmer (1998) say that a strong image can be built through a coordinated image-building campaign and reputation, on the other hand, requires a praiseworthy identity that can only be shaped through consistent performance. A core competency is a concept introduced by Prahalad and Hamel (1990). Core competencies are part of

5688-532: The publishers of unofficial reports to maintain a competitive advantage over the official ones, unofficial reports usually provide helpful research aids (e.g., summaries, indexes), like the editorial enhancements used in the West American Digest System . Some commercial publishers also provide court opinions in searchable online databases that are part of larger fee-based, online legal research systems, such as Westlaw , Lexis-Nexis or Justis. Unofficially published court opinions are also often published before

5767-508: The publishing house folded them up ostensibly on account of lack of funds. Later, two volumes of what were known as the Kenya Appeal Reports were published for the period 1982–1992 by Butterworths, a private entity, under the editorship of The Hon Chief Justice A.R.W. Hancox (hence the pseudonym "Hancox Reports") who had the assistance of an editorial board of seven persons. These reports, as their name suggested, included only

5846-459: The rows of books visible behind the lawyer are usually reports. Each province in Canada has an official reporter series that publishes superior court and appellate court decisions of the respective province. The federal courts, such as the Federal Court , Federal Court of Appeal , and Tax Court , each have their own reporter series. The Supreme Court of Canada has its own Reporter series,

5925-627: The rule of stare decisis ( precedent ). That rule requires a court to apply a legal principle that was set forth earlier by a court of a superior (sometimes, the same) jurisdiction dealing with a similar set of facts. Thus, the regular publication of such opinions is important so that everyone— lawyers , judges , and laymen—can all find out what the law is, as declared by judges. Official law reports or reporters are those authorized for publication by statute or other governmental ruling. Governments designate law reports as official to provide an authoritative, consistent, and authentic statement of

6004-488: The state or territory. The Australian Law Reports are the largest series of unauthorised reports although there are several others general reports and reports relating to specific areas of the law, e.g. the Australian Torts Reports publish decisions from any state or federal court relating to tort law . The NSW Law Reports are published by the Council of Law Reporting for New South Wales and cover

6083-544: The various provincial High Courts, the Service, Professional and Election Tribunals as well as the superior courts of territories such as Azad Kashmir. PLD is augmented by other books, most notably the "Yearly Law Reports" (YLR), and the "Monthly Law Digest" (MLD). The Supreme Court also has its own law book, the "Supreme Court Monthly Review" (SCMR), which lists more recent cases that the appex court heard. In addition, there are books dealing with specific areas of law, such as

6162-462: The very ease of internet publication has raised new concerns about the ease with which internet-published decisions can be modified after publication, creating uncertainty about the validity of internet opinions. Decisions of courts from all over the world can now be found through the WorldLII Web site, and the sites of its member organizations. These projects have been strongly encouraged by

6241-591: Was founded, and it has gradually become the dominant publisher of reports in the UK . It has compiled most of the best available copies of pre-1866 cases into the English Reports . Post-1865 cases are contained in the ICLR's own Law Reports . Even today, the UK government does not publish an official report, but its courts have promulgated rules stating that the ICLR reports must be cited when available. Historical practice, which may still apply where no other report

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