Derrida reappraised : deconstruction, critique and emancipation in management studies

Derrida has been significantly misread by many management scholars. The paper argues that his work is not ‘postmodernist’; further, that Habermas’ (1987) influential critique of Derrida’s views on truth and politics have led to widespread but misleading views of his critical credentials. Although Habermas is not entirely misguided, a defence of Derrida is provided that sets out the potential for his work to inform management scholars who wish to provide emancipatory critique

Policy spillovers in a regional target-setting regime

The present UK government has introduced a decentralised, target-driven framework for the delivery of regional policy in England. This paper analyses the operation of such a regime when there are spatial spillovers about which the government is uninformed. It stresses the simple idea that spillovers in such a setting normally lead to a sub-optimal allocation of policy expenditures. A key result is that the existence of negative spillovers on some policies generates expenditure switching towards those policies. The extent of the expenditure switching is related to a number of factors: the size of the spillovers; the initial policy weights in the government's welfare function; the number of agencies; the extent of their knowledge of spillovers; and their degree of collusion. Such expenditure switching is generally not welfare maximising

Notes On Franklin Relics

Mr. L. A. Learmonth, formerly of the Fur Trade Department, Hudson's Bay Company and a Fellow of the Arctic Institute has provided Arctic with notes and sketch maps concerning traces of the Franklin Expedition found in the King William Island region of northern Canada. The map published here is based on the Canadian National Topographic Series map on a scale of 8 miles to the inch, with amendments by Mr. Learmonth. The following items refer to the large map. Mr. Learmonth and Mr. D. G. Sturrock discovered the remains of three men at Tikeraniyou (1) together with a George IV Half Crown and a large ivory sailor's button (Pootogo). The remains were taken to Gjoa Haven and the relics forwarded to Hudson's Bay House, Winnipeg. The place is a point of land shaped like a crooked finger, and is where the land bends round to the southwest, between 12 and 15 miles west of Starvation Cove. A skull and some bones were found at (2) near Washington Bay late in June 1942 and were taken to Gjoa Haven. Two skulls were discovered on the beach at (3) near Tulloch Point in June 1942 and forwarded to the R.C.M.P. at Cambridge Bay, where they were buried near the grave of Patsy Klengenberg. Remains of seven of Franklin's men were found at (4), Douglas Bay, by Paddy Gibson. Bones of four of Franklin's men were moved from islands at (5) and along with three others from Tikeraniyou were buried under the beacon at Gjoa Haven. The following items refer to the small inset map of the Richardson Point area. Jaw bones of three white men discovered at (1) in June 1942. Most of the teeth were in place, in good condition, and not ground down as would have been the case with adult Eskimos. Mr. Learmonth also found one whole skull and many large bones scattered on the surface close to an old Eskimo seal cache. Moss had grown over many of the bones. He erected a small cairn where the bones were discovered, and a larger one at the sky line on the ridge above, and which can readily be seen from the sea.He took all the bones to Gjoa Haven. Neniook, Eyaritituk's mother, about seventy years old, reported having come across the skeletons of seven white men still partly clothed in blue serge, and partly buried in the sand and seaweed on a small island in the vicinity of (2). Hard boots with nails in the soles were also noted by Neniook who was a small child at the time. She was not available at the time Mr. Learmonth searched several small islands in the vicinity very carefully, but he failed to discover any evidence. In a letter accompanying the above notes Mr. Learmonth suggests that it might be appropriate for a cairn or other memorial to be erected at Victory Point, King William Island "commemorating the landing of 105 men under Crozier from the abandoned Erebus and Terror". It was there, he points out, that the only written record ever recovered from the expedition was found. He also suggests a cairn and a memorial plaque for the grave of the seven men buried near the Hudson's Bay Company post at Gjoa Haven. "Their names of course are unknown, but did they not die in a great cause? Whoever they may be, did they not fight as tough a battle as any unknown soldier?" In August 1948, Mr. Learmonth flew north from Winnipeg on the H.B.C. Canso with Mr. R. H. Chesshire, Manager of the Fur Trade Department. He plans to remain in the area of Fort Ross throughout the winter, in order to carry out archaeological, geographical and other studies

Critical management education in action: personal tales of management unlearning

In this essay I explore personal experiences while a practicing manager. I offer autobiographical stories from this time that emphasize, in particular, management's political and emotional dimensions. These narratives are used to illustrate shortcomings in management education that exclude critical perspectives, and to illustrate the potential value of receiving critical management education (CME), a value I feel to be important, in spite of the practical difficulties, for those with the desire to aim toward becoming critically informed managers

The effects of a 12-week leisure centre-based, group exercise intervention for people moderately affected with multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled pilot study

<b>Objective:</b> To establish the effects of a 12-week, community-based group exercise intervention for people moderately affected with multiple sclerosis. <b>Design:</b> Randomised controlled pilot trial. <b>Setting:</b> Two community leisure centres. <b>Participants:</b> Thirty-two participants with multiple sclerosis randomised into intervention or control groups. <b>Intervention:</b> The intervention group received 12 weeks of twice weekly, 60-minute group exercise sessions, including mobility, balance and resistance exercises. The control group received usual care. <b>Main outcome measures:</b> An assessor blinded to group allocation assessed participants at baseline, after eight weeks and after 12 weeks. The primary outcome measure was 25-foot (7.6 m) walk time, secondary outcomes assessed walking endurance, balance, physical function, leg strength, body mass index, activity levels, fatigue, anxiety and depression, quality of life and goal attainment. <b>Results:</b> The intervention made no statistically significant difference to the results of participants’ 25-foot walk time. However the intervention led to many improvements. In the intervention group levels of physical activity improved statistically between baseline and week 8 (P < 0.001) and baseline and week 12 (P = 0.005). Balance confidence results showed a significant difference between baseline and week 12 (P = 0.013). Good effect sizes were found for dynamic balance (d = 0.80), leg strength (d = 1.33), activity levels (d = 1.05) and perceived balance (d = 0.94). <b>Conclusion:</b> The results of the study suggest that community-based group exercise classes are a feasible option for people moderately affected with multiple sclerosis, and offer benefits such as improved physical activity levels, balance and leg strength

Who doesn't want to be a leader? Leaders are such wonderful people: Comment on “Leadership and leadership development in healthcare settings - a simplistic solution to complex problems?”

Leadership, as McDonald (1)argues, is a phenomenon which many people involved in healthcare around the globe put great emphasis on today; some even see the improvement of leadership as a panacea for all the ills of their healthcare system. This brief commentary on her work seeks to supplement the points she makes by emphasising the personalattractions leadership enjoys, at least in the eyes of many of those who exercise power in healthcare. It also endeavours to highlight some of the ironies and absurdities which arise as a result of the conflicts about what terms we should use to describe the “leaders” (or, alternatively perhaps, those who seek to enjoy supremacy) within healthcare

"Is there such a thing as “Evidence-Based Management”?": A commentary on Rousseau’s 2005 presidential address

The article provides the author's thoughts on research by D. M. Rousseau and others about the use of academic management evidence in the workplace. The author discusses how the health care profession has used evidence-based management. The article discusses the pros and cons of managers using evidence-based management and provides an overview of the key research that has been done on evidence-based management