Book review: the new capitalist manifesto: building a disruptively better business

Nick Taylor finds the New Capitalist Manifesto’s constant positioning of “old” capitalism against “new” capitalism wholly unconvincing, despite the wealth of examples of well-meaning multi-national firms

Book review: Essays on Classical and Marxian political economy: collected essays IV

"Essays on Classical and Marxian Political Economy: Collected Essays IV." Samuel Hollander. Routledge. January 2013. --- Samuel Hollander’s work on the history of economic thought has been provoking debate for over four decades. This book brings together key contributions of recent years, in addition to some brand new pieces, including an extensive chapter on Adam Smith’s often neglected arguments for government intervention in the economy to correct market failures, and his critical view of the business class as an anti-social force. If you are interested in political economy and have some grounding in the subject matter then Hollander’s essays make for engaging, essential reading, concludes Nick Taylor

Book review: casino capitalism: how the financial crisis came about and what needs to be done now.

Nick Taylor finds Hans-Werner Sinn‘s recent book to be an excellent point of reference for understanding the economic trends leading up to 2007, but senses the author’s tensions around opportunities for structural reform.

Small mammal survey on agricultural land during conversion and into full organic production

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Loss of food and suitable habitat due to modern intensive farming and the decline of mixed farming systems has lead to a reduction in numbers of small mammals on farmland in the UK. Organic production systems are believed to encourage biodiversity. Small mammal surveys were carried out on Coswinsawsin Organic Demonstration Farm in November 1999, April and November 2000 and October 2001. 50 Longworth traps were set in pairs at 5 metre intervals along a hedgerow and checked morning and evening for three days. Trapped mammals were identified, weighed and with the exception of shrews, marked by a small fur clip before release. The wood mouse was the most prevalent species trapped. Other species included the bank vole, the field vole and the common shrew. The highest number of shrews was caught during the April survey. No change in population size or species diversity was demonstrated

Marketing in SMEs: assessing the contribution of a business school to the development of competent managers

The purpose of this paper is to assess the contribution that a business school can make to the development of marketing competencies in SME managers. Literature reveals that in comparison to undergraduate marketing learning, less attention is paid to the SME manager. The primary research here is based on workshops run by tutors from the University of Lincoln’s Business school marketing group. Workshops were organised around an entrepreneurial marketing theme and based on a philosophy of participative learning. Course member’s responses to the workshops were gathered via a questionnaire that allowed for the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. The results of both tutor and course participant evaluation suggests that models from entrepreneurial marketing, as opposed to traditional marketing, provide a sound basis for the development of SME managers skills. The positive course evaluation also suggests a good degree of satisfaction with the learning methods used in the workshops. Further research should be undertaken to assess the degree to which workshop thinking has become embedded in the actual practices of managers who attended the course. Finally, it is posited that there exists considerable scope for future workshops of this nature at both a national and local level

Conflict in the East China Sea: would ANZUS apply?

This paper analyses the circumstances under which conflict in the East China Sea could occur and the implications for Australia. Executive summary Tensions between China and Japan have ratcheted up in recent years to the point where their territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea is seen as among the region’s most dangerous flashpoints. The prospect of Sino-Japanese conflict over these islands is one that cannot be taken lightly by Australia. Economically, three of our four leading trading partners are located in Northeast Asia, while sea lanes vital to Australian trade run through the waters of the East China Sea. Strategically and politically, two US allies are based in this region and America retains a strong forward military presence there. This paper starts from the premise that insufficient attention has been given to the potential ramifications for Australia of conflict in the East China Sea, particularly in terms of whether Australia’s alliance obligations with the United States could embroil Canberra in a conflict. The paper is motivated in part by Defence Minister Johnston’s June 2014 remarks stating that the ANZUS alliance would not commit Australia to a conflict where the US had sent forces to support Japan. While reminiscent of remarks made a decade earlier by then-Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in relation to the prospect of Australian involvement via ANZUS in a Taiwan contingency, Johnston’s assessment has not attracted anywhere near the same level of attention and analysis as those made by Downer in August 2004. The purpose of this paper is to begin to fill this gap in Australia’s public and policy debate by analysing the circumstances under which conflict in the East China Sea could occur and the implications thereof for Australia. The paper answers three questions: 1. What does Australia’s alliance relationship with the US commit Canberra to in the event of conflict in the East China Sea? 2. What are the risks that Australia faces as a result of ANZUS and other associated international commitments? 3. What can be done to better understand and manage these risks

The productivity of organic dairy herds

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Organically managed ruminant systems place particular emphasis on maximising production from forage. Therefore, it is important that efficiency measures take full account of forage inputs. The Livestock Production Efficiency Calculator (LPEC) calculates the total metabolisable energy (ME) required by livestock and estimates forage inputs as the difference between total requirement and that supplied by other measured feeds. Productivity is expressed in terms of output (£) minus other valued inputs (£) per unit of forage ME. Estimates of production parameters were used to produce productivity indices for thirteen organic dairy herds. The productivity of herds was compared, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the potential impact of a number of economic and production scenario. The relationships between yield, fertility, culling and herd productivity were examined. The advantages of this productivity analysis of organic production systems is that full account is taken of the most important input i.e. grazed and conserved forage and that all of the determinants of productivity and their interactions are considered

The student practitioner: developing skills through the marketing research consultancy project

This paper examines the perceptions of a group of undergraduate students undertaking marketing research consultancy projects for employers. The projects are informed by action learning. The author’s intention is to demonstrate that this method of learning facilitates a level of student skill development that more traditional marketing courses find difficult to achieve. Design/methodology/approach The study is underpinned by an interpretivist approach. Research involved students taking part in two focus groups during the consultancy and the completion of pre consultancy and post consultancy open ended questionnaires. Findings Findings suggest that the marketing consultancy project represents a way to help develop the general skills required by novice marketers. Students show an understanding of the importance of acquiring communicative, interpersonal, creative and team based skills. These assist them in developing a practical knowledge neglected by much existing marketing teaching. Research limitations/implications The findings although based on a small sample, indicate that marketing education if based on action learning, positively engages learners. The emphasis on practice suggests that experience, work place socialisation and tacit knowledge, are essential components of learning about marketing that often get overlooked in more traditional marketing courses. Originality/value This paper suggests that much established marketing education does not take sufficient account of experiential based learning and instead, is wedded to a model of teaching that sees marketing as being mainly about the transmission of administratively based knowledge. This paper argues that relying overly on the latter will not provide tomorrows marketers with an appropriate skill set for employment

The Potential Influence of Multiple Job Holding on Official Statistics Describing The Rural Workforce: Issues for Data Series and Workforce Policy

The research programme on multiple job holding identified substantial discrepancies between the Census and HLFS series regarding the increasing level of rural multiple job holding 1981 to 2001. Furthermore, evidence from the Time Use Survey suggests that the distribution of second job occupations does not match those for first jobs. This result and qualitative data indicate answers to census questions could lead to under-reporting of some rural occupations "hidden" as second jobs. Any under-reporting of the scale and form of the rural labour force in official statistics has implications for understanding rural occupations and industries, and formulation of rural policies.Census data, rural labour market, multiple job holding, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,