Convergence and divergence dynamics in British and French business schools: how will the pressure for accreditation influence these dynamics?

This paper focuses on convergence and divergence dynamics among leading British and French business schools and explores how the pressure for accreditation influences these dynamics. We illustrate that despite historical differences in approaches to management education in Britain and France, these approaches have converged partly based on the influence of the American model of management education but more recently through the pursuit of accreditation, in particular AASCB and EQUIS. We explore these dynamics through the application of the resource-based view of the firm and institutional theory and suggest that whilst achieving accreditation is a necessary precursor for international competition, it is no longer a form of competitive advantage. The pursuit of accreditation has fostered a form of competitive mimicry reducing national distinctiveness. The resource-based view of the firm suggests that the top schools need a more heterogeneous approach that is not easily replicable if they are to outperform the competitors. Consequently, the convergence of management education in Britain and France will become a new impetus for divergence. We assert that future growth and competitive advantage might be better achieved through the reassertion of national, regional and local cultural characteristics

Jurisdictional conflit, dtrategies of ligation and mechanisms of compromise in thirteenth-century Tortosa

La codificació oficial dels Costums de Tortosa a la dècada del 1270 ve motivada per les disputes jurisdiccionals entre els senyors de la ciutat i els ciutadans, sorgides ja a principis del segle XIII. Aquest article estudia la dinàmica d’aquest conflicte, posant especial èmfasi en el desenvolupament del plet que va tenir lloc, sota jurisdicció papal, durant la dècada del 1260.Així mateix, s’analitza la implicació de les parts en conflicte en el procés de revisió dels Costums arran de l’acord de col·laboració per a revisar les lleis consuetudinàries, assolit el 1272. Les successives fases d’arbitratge i el volum assolit per l’expedient van provocar la reformulació dels objectius i estratègies de les parts litigants. El curs del procés així com la revisió, molt polititzada, dels Costums van servir per a modular l’expressió dels interessos civils i senyorials en el codi legal tortosí i en els acords addicionals. Els compromisos assolits van tenir una gran influència sobre la combinació d’autoritat municipal i senyorial sorgida, que es va prolongar durant molt després que la Corona assumís el controladministratiu de la ciutat, a la dècada de 1290

Is what you see what you get? representations, metaphors and tools in mathematics didactics

This paper is exploratory in character. The aim is to investigate ways in which it is possible to use the theoretical concepts of representations, tools and metaphors to try to understand what learners of mathematics ‘see’ during classroom interactions (in their widest sense) and what they might get from such interactions. Through an analysis of a brief classroom episode, the suggestion is made that what learners see may not be the same as what they get. From each of several theoretical perspectives utilised in this paper, what learners ‘get’ appears to be something extra. According to our analysis, this something ‘extra’ is likely to depend on the form of technology being used and the representations and metaphors that are available to both teacher and learner

Re-Designing Law and Lawyering for the Information Age

This Article analyzes the intersection of three aspects of law, lawyering, and Information Age technology and culture, describing how they disrupt and inhibit one another even as they supply possible opportunities for each to grow and innovate. The Article urges that Information Age challenges to traditional legal institutions and thinking become the foundation for reforms to legal systems and individual lawyering. In embracing changes made possible by emerging technology, the Rule of Law may be strengthened globally and the Preventive/Proactive style of lawyering can be re-invigorated. The Article begins by describing the Preventive/Proactive lawyering ( PPL ) style, and offers an example within commercial contracting. The Article analyzes how the adoption of this PPL style has been limited by traditional legal institutions and thinking, described using the metaphor of a container. The effectiveness and cultural acceptability of this containerized legal system is being challenged, however, by Information Age methods and attitudes concerning information and its delivery; the nature of individuals and their social groupings; and the legitimacy and purposes of social control. Emerging Information Age culture, however, is largely compatible with the assumptions underlying PPL. As Information Age technology unfolds, preventive/proactive thinking and methods may not only become more popular in everyday lawyering practice, but also may serve as a model for how traditional legal systems may be helpfully reformed. The Article concludes with a set of design principles by which those reforms may be guided