bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Are imports to blame?
Authors: CATHERWOOD FRED
Published: February 2008

The continuing high level of imports since devaluation has worried a lot of people. Imports were higher in the first eight months of this year than the Chancellor's budget forecast; the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has revised its 1968 forecast of imports upwards and has called for import controls by Government. Is this concentration of attention on imports right? Is there anything Government should do about it? Is there anything business should do about it?
The managementality gap
Authors: MUELLER ROBERT
Published: February 2008

'Now is the time to debride some of our outdated management policies and get on with a modern approach to the business challenge. To do this in business—as in all organic systems—the true need is for interaction, trust, communication, commitment; and a period of gestation in order to close the “managementality gap”.'
Measuring morale and motivation
Authors: ROGERS T.G.P.
Published: February 2008

SENSITIVITY to the attitudes and reactions of his employees is a fundamental attribute of any good manager. But how can the chairman of a large company obtain objective data to give him this information? One answer lies in using employee opinion surveys such as those we have used at IBM United Kingdom Limited over the past six years.
Marketing for Christmas
Authors: WHEELER GORDON E.
Published: February 2008

So far as the writer knows the product described in this case has yet to reach the national market—if it has done so, it certainly has not captured the imagination of the masses necessary for its success. Readers might like—perhaps profitably—to consider the merits and demerits of the product described and its marketing. Perhaps the most venturesome may be able to contribute a story of success (we hope!), or failure to these columns. As every reader knows, practically anything can be a Christmas “sell”. One can dress the most ordinary product in the gaudy tinsel or special Christmas pack, and even the prosaic filing cabinet is “the perfect Christmas gift” if your husband or wife happens to be secretary to the local village or town group. However, the case discussed here is about a product which could be the centrepiece of Christmas evenings—the Christmas cake; and yet this much admired and marketed product has not, as yet, received as much attention as might have been thought likely. After all, perhaps 10 m. or more cakes are made and sold each Christmas in the UK alone, and then there are export possibilities! But on with the case …
Computer simulation speeds decision taking
Authors: SMITH JOHN
Published: February 2008

Many companies have already accepted such techniques as network analysis and automatic trend projection by exponential smoothing and are confidently using them on a routine basis. With the increasing sophistication of management, computer simulation as a tool for investigating problems of queueing and storage seems likely to gain similar acceptance.
TAXATION and FINANCE
Authors: GOCH DESMOND
Published: February 2008

GEC/AEI—THE AFTERMATH At the peak of the GEC/AEI takeover struggle (November 1967) the former directors of AEI sought to strengthen their case for continued independence by making a forecast of trading profits showing an anticipated surplus of £10m. for the year to December 31, 1967. This estimate played an important part in their defence tactics although, as subsequent events proved, it was not good enough to win the day.
How the race relation act came to New England
Authors: PEARSON HENRY G.
Published: February 2008

•This type of race relations legislation defeats its own purpose because you cannot legislate Christian virtues. •This is a moral issue and has no place in this body. •If this is such a bad place, why don't these people go some place else? •Why should we take these freedoms away from the majority groups and hand them over to the minority groups? •We want to go back to our old way of living on our individual rights. •I do not see any way we can force people to do things they don't want to do. •We are taught from infancy that majority rules. •Don't you think this bill creates prejudice where there is none?
American business schools—some perspectives
Authors: KEMPNER THOMAS
Published: February 2008

UNTIL this year my only distinction compared with other professors of management studies (or indeed heads of business schools) in this country, was that I had never been to the USA. When I did go in the Spring of 1968, I was able to compare the problems of British management education from a few years' experience, with the much longer established patterns in America. In these comments I hope to highlight and contrast some of the differences with the British system.
WHAT PRICE AM I BID?
Authors: SHELBOURNE P.
Published: February 2008

THE last few years have seen an unprecedented boom in the takeover business in the United Kingdom. In the middle of such a boom, as we are at the present, it is difficult to know whether this is a temporary movement or one that is likely to continue and to grow. The statistics of ever rising numbers of mergers and of their increasing size are well known. It is perhaps possible to doubt whether the huge individual mergers of the immediate past can continue indefinitely, but at the same time it seems likely that the number of mergers will increase as the field in which they take place widens.
Asten Foundries Limited
Authors: WHEELER GORDON
Published: February 2008

History Asten Foundries Limited was established in a South Midlands industrial town in 1908. Its principal products are small castings in iron for the gas industry. It also undertakes general foundry work on a sub‐contract or jobbing basis, as well as some machining.
The Control of Complex Work Organisations
Authors: JONES R.S.
Published: February 2008

I wish to propose a bold extension of the idea that particular managerial controls invite manipulation by lower ranking members in organizations: namely, that all managerial controls invite such manipulation. This contention will be supported by arguments of a general character and by illustrations taken from an actual organization.
Marriage — Corporation Style
Authors: STRAGE HENRY M.
Published: February 2008

THE recent spate of mergers and acquisitions is encouraging to proponents of bigness as the answer to Britain's economic problems. 1968, already tagged the “year of the merger”, may some day be considered the beginning of the merger decade.
Hardware, Software and Psyche
Authors: KERNAN JEROME B.
Published: February 2008

EVEN the most retarded observer is aware that computers “have arrived” in advertising. It is a rare conversation currently that is not peppered with acronyms representing one or another computerized scheme for getting the advertising job done. Such a state of the art is encouraging, but perplexing to many people. Unless one's training happens to include notions of “32K storage”, “random access devices”, “matrix eigenvector programs”, and the like, it is relatively easy to become intimidated (or nauseated) by the pace of technology. In perhaps a shy, but nevertheless quite sincere spirit, one feels compelled to wonder just what computers have to do with making advertising decisions. Put another way, one wishes to know the nature and extent of the man‐machine relationship as regards advertising decision making. Does the machine supplant or complement man? To what extent and in what ways? What does the computer leave to the human's judgment? Is the time‐honoured notion of creativity in advertising losing currency?
T‐Groups… part of the A‐Z of group training
Authors: MOLANDER CHRISTOPHER
Published: February 2008

The need for increased managerial effectiveness is not in doubt. The behavioural sciences however, have yet to play their proper part in the training of management. T‐group training is an example of the practical application of behavioural science techniques. It has a great deal to offer in helping managerial groups work more effectively.
Technological myopia—revisin Galbraith's sequence
Authors: Wills Gordon
Published: February 2008

IT is my purpose here to explore the ways in which the imperatives of modern technology interact with the marketing concept; with the idea that the customer is in some sense sovereign in the determination of what will be produced and how it will be marketed in our economic system.
a tailored approach to management development
Authors: Mosley D.
Published: February 2008

TODAY what is generally known as management development is in vogue as never before. Among reasons cited in various publications for this increased interest are the tremendous demand for managers caused by the growth and expansion of industry throughout the world, the increase in new knowledge which is occurring at a fantastic rate, and the recognition that in a world of rapid change the preparation and development of all managers to operate effectively in a changing world is essential for the survival and progress of the firm.
computer planning
Authors: Race J.P.A.
Published: February 2008

IN October 1969 the Chairman of Garden Ornaments was quite pleased with the computer department. Invoicing, stock control and payroll had been on it for two years now, admittedly without showing all the cost savings that had been hoped for, but without any catastrophic muddles such as had almost put Concrete Mushrooms out of business. The chairman and the financial controller discussed the next step, which they felt should be a major one for the following reasons.
management and business studies at Warwick
Authors: Trick R.I.
Published: February 2008

ONE of the core programmes of the Business School in the University of Warwick is the 12 months long M.Sc in management and business studies. Now in its third year, the programme has had nearly twenty applicants for a place in order that they may pursue a career in this field.
competitive bidding
Authors: Wils R.M.S.
Published: February 2008

Competitive bidding today demands both speed and judgement. It is not just a case of seeing a contract that 'looks all right' but of weighing up its individual features and relating the future prospects to past experience. Even so, though experience may be an important factor in the appraisal, there is always the possibility that a particular contract may have an obscure twist to it which will make it unprofitable in the long‐run.
Our industrial image
Authors: Hornsby‐Smith M.P.
Published: February 2008

In 1967 the Jones Report on the Brain Drain declared that the UK industrial structure was “bad and rigid” and pronounced that it should “make a determined effort to project an attractive image of itself to the qualified engineer, technologist or scientist”. Now nearly three years later, nothing has yet been done.
Techniques for managers in the smaller company
Authors: Broadway Frank
Published: February 2008

Because you are a small company, don't think that you are too small for the spending of a little time, and maybe money, on the process of streamlining your organizational techniques. The revision of your management structure, your accounting or production systems could well give you the sound basis for development which you need and will certainly make you an attractive proposition for interested companies later on
APPEARANCE MANAGEMENT
Authors: Jones RS
Published: February 2008

The word 'manage' has been defined as “to cause persons to submit to one's control”. Studies of both the operation of wage systems and of budgets show that these managerial controls are open to manipulation by employees. A study by the author described a situation in an engineering factory where the whole range of managerial controls were simultaneously manipulated. He concluded that all managerial controls could be manipulated by employees. The primacy of informal over formal organization has been demonstrated in a variety of institutional settings. The sources of power available to lower participants in organizations have been reduced by Mechanic to a number of formal statements. These show clearly why the distribution of power or influence in an organization is likely to be quite different from that implied by its formal structure of authority. Mechanic writes: “Organizations, in a sense, are continuously at the mercy of their lower participants, and it is this fact that makes organizational power structure especially interesting to the sociologist and to the social psychologist”. Or again, “When the power of lower participants is considered, it often appears to be clearly divorced from the traditions, norms and goals and sentiments of the organization as a whole. Lower participants do not usually achieve control by using the role structure of the organization, but rather by circumventing, sabotaging and manipulating it”.
Business Schools: Is the backlash justified?
Authors: Robertson Andrew
Published: February 2008

A quarter of a century ago, the second world war ended and Britain's first tottering steps to economic recovery began. Two events of significance to bowler‐hatted servicemen, and of continuing influence on the management scene today, took place.
Industrial Relations Reform: some neglected issues
Authors: Hawkins Kevin
Published: February 2008

Whatever happens to some of the detailed provisions of the Government's forthcoming Industrial Relations Bill, it is obvious that everyone concerned in this field will soon have to acclimatise themselves to a new and highly‐regulated environment. It is interesting but not very profitable to speculate on the likely effects of the new legislation on strikes, wage inflation, restrictive practices and other contentious problems. Of much greater importance is the extent to which the proposed measures are designed to deal with the real problems in contemporary industrial relations. It is at least arguable that the now almost forgotten analysis of the Donovan Commission represents a far more realistic basis for change in industrial relations than anything contained in the Government's ‘Consultative Document’.
GROWTH, PROFITABILITY
Authors: Allen Christabelle
Published: February 2008

In 1967, the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation published the results of a survey into the financial development, growth and profitability of 300 ICFC backed companies. The 300 firms were those on which ICFC had the necessary data for a number of years—for 10 years in the case of 113 firms and for 5 years in the case of a further 187. This paper is a more up to date survey of a similar kind. This time the nine years 1959–60 to 1967–68 and the 4 years 1964–65 to 1967–68 were selected. The selection of these years, and the size of the sample, was largely brought about by the desire to submit this paper as part of the evidence ICFC was putting before the Bolton Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms. In view of the urgent need for this evidence, it was not possible to take the sample beyond 1967–68 and even then a number of companies have had to be excluded because their results for 1967–68 were not yet available. For the purposes of this paper 1967–68 refers to any financial year ended by 31st March, 1968. Since its inception 24 years ago ICFC has financed well over 2,000 small and medium sized companies in the UK. Almost all of these firms have been owner‐managed, private companies, and it is on companies such as these that national statistics are particularly deficient at present. This survey examines 304 of these firms, of which 69 had their results analysed for the period 1959–60 to 1967–68 and a further 235 for the period 1964–65 to 1967–68.
COMMISSION ON INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: A CASE STUDY
Authors: Turner Patricia
Published: February 2008

HOOVER is a household name. On March 2, 1970, the company's plant at Merthyr Tydfil—which concentrates on producing washing machines—was referred to the Commission on Industrial Relations (CIR) by the Secretary of State for Employment.
PERSONNEL STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Wilcock Stephen
Published: February 2008

This study concerns a company in Britain in the electronics industry. It is the subsidiary of an American parent which has been established about 14 years in England. During this period it has grown from a mere handful of English and American engineers, to a complex fully developed company of two and a half thousand employees. Its development represents, in miniature, that of the electronics industry; namely extremely rapid growth with a high technological content and a predominantly youthful management.
ORGANISING THE MULTINATIONAL FIRM
Authors: Brooke Michael
Published: February 2008

The International Business Unit is part of the Department of Management Sciences in the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. It grew out of a research programme which started eight years ago, and has been undertaken in collaboration with the European Institute of Business Administration at Fontainebleau. The research is now supported by the Social Science Research Council. A small team are investigating various aspects of the decision‐making process in the multinational firm. This article is based on evidence already in the possession of the Unit.
OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION
Authors: Robertson Andrew
Published: February 2008

The idea of optical character recognition (OCR), in other words the “reading” of documents by other than human means, arose as a practical proposition during the Second World War. Wartime experience of using computers in the United States had revealed the contrasts in speeds between the transcription of documents to be processed (at that time the punching of cards or tape by operatives working from original documents) and the central processing within the computer itself. Visual output was also slower than central processing but was much speeded up by the introduction of line printers and later of xerography. This “paired” case study, part of a project sponsored by the Science Research Council to examine patterns of success and failure in industrial innovation, is confined to two attempts to innovate in the field of OCR. There were others, one or two of which were contemporary, most of which have followed, have a much more recent history and may be thought to have overtaken, in terms of market penetration, the innovation here designated a commercial success. The point of this study when it was undertaken was to extract data about the two innovations that would be suitable for general analysis by a computer programme designed to search out significant groups of explanatory factors so that the characteristics associated with innovative success might be recognised as typical within an industry, or perhaps generally. This study belongs to one of two groups, the instrument industry, the other group investigated being chemical manufacturing.
CORPORATE STRATEGY IN A MEDIUM SIZED COMPANY
Authors: Thomas D.M.C.
Published: February 2008

There is a growing recognition that long range and strategic planning are essential to the survival and healthy growth of a company, particularly at this time of accelerating technological change, but this recognition highlights problems in the organisation and management of these functions. The largest companies, those of international stature, have the necessary resources to create a self‐contained organisation for long range planning and the approach of such companies to these problems has been well documented. Very little however has been said about medium sized companies; those whose turnover is in the region of tens of millions of pounds rather than hundreds or thousands of millions. For these smaller companies the massive resources to support large staff departments serving line management are not available. The fundamental question is often whether, in such a company, managemsent for the future should be separated from management of the present or whether they should be merged to provide better communication. The whole outlook of the two sizes of company is different, the smaller financial inertia of the medium sized company means that its continued survival is less certain and consequently management must concentrate more on short term decisions because unless the organisation survives there will be no long term future to manage.
FINANCIAL AND LEGAL NOTES
Authors: Goch Desmond
Published: February 2008

Union Membership for Professional Employees Although Mr. Bumble (Oliver Twist) may have been right when he said that the law is an ass, a recent decision by the Lords of Appeal (see also this feature, Winter 1971 issue) has demonstrated that the judiciary is well able to exhibit a fine disregard for precedents when to follow them might well result in a denial of natural justice.
AN APPROACH TO PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Authors: Jenkins Mike
Published: February 2008

This paper is concerned with strategic planning in the public services, in particular that sector where no market price exists and where the community expresses some demands. The National Health Service, the Social Services, Education Authorities or Local Authorities are examples. Because the consumer does not directly pay for the service at the point of consumption, demand cannot be expressed in monetary terms. The supply of services is some reflection of community need tempered by its willingness to provide the resources of people, equipment, facilities and money to satisfy that need. Strategic planning or policy making is a complex not to say emotive process, because no obvious measure of success or of community satisfaction exists. It is often difficult to measure satisfaction of a single need, let alone define a policy which “best” satisfies the conglomerate of often conflicting community needs. Nevertheless, this is the task confronting policy makers in the public sector services. The quantity and allocation of these services are not usually directly determined by the community itself but by some section of the community; commonly politicians, economists, planners and occasionally representatives of the community. Within these planning bodies each individual conception of the “best” policy is in conflict with all others. It is not possible to resolve this conflict by deriving a policy which maximises the satisfaction and, hence, minimising the regret of the policy making body. Yet a compromise, or at least a single, policy must be reached. The aim of this paper is to suggest a method of arriving at the most acceptable single policy without making assumptions or deriving definitions of where that compromise ought to lie given the initial postures of the policy makers. The paper is in two sections. The first describes the method in general terms. The second demonstrates, through a small model of the maternity services, its use in practice. The community or surrogate of the community is referred to throughout as the decision makers, policy makers or planning body.
MARKETING TILTS AT TARIFF WINDMILLS
Authors: Wilkinson Ian , Wills Gordon
Published: February 2008

Many firms are now undertaking their final analysis of the effects on their businesses of Britain's entry into the E.E.C. New opportunities in Europe and new threats at home are being anticipated and planned for. One obvious fact that is being focussed upon by many is the phased elimination over the next five years of tariff barriers between Britain and the six present member countries. This leads firms to examine their pricing policies for Europe, if they are already operating there, and ponder such questions as whether the tariff saving is to be passed on to the consumer in the form of a price reduction, or retained by the firm. Alternatively, if firms are not already operating in Europe then the tariff reductions are seen as an opportunity for them to consider marketing there. We attempt here to explore the effects of Britain's entry on the overall marketing strategies of British firms in Europe and to put the tariff reduction question into its broad commercial perspective.
MARKET SHARE STRATEGY AND CORPORATE PROFITABILITY
Authors: James Barrie
Published: February 2008

The accepted primary objective of most companies, which is reflected in their marketing strategy, is to maximise profitability.
TOWARDS THE GREATEST RELIEF OF UNEMPLOYMENT: A Forecasting Method
Authors: Sopariwala Dorab
Published: February 2008

In the post‐1945 period, successive Governments have provided a considerable amount of aid to industry in various forms and under various Acts of Parliament. Governments have tried to alleviate unemployment in the regions by providing assistance to manufacturing firms under the Local Employment Acts. Under the recently passed Industry Act, the Minister for Industry has been empowered to disburse large sums of money to firms not only in the manufacturing industry but also in the job‐creating service industry. When new jobs are created, there is a saving of unemployment benefits to the Exchequer and the earnings of the newly‐employed provide a stimulus to the growth of the local and regional economies and thus benefit the community.
MANAGEMENT'S SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ROLE IN THE POST‐INDUSTRIAL ERA
Authors: Quinn Peter
Published: February 2008

In recent years, considerable interest has been expressed in the evolving role of professional management and the extent to which it should take account of the different interest groups in industrial society. A new theory is now emerging which advocates that the primary task of professional management is to balance or try to harmonise the conflicting interests of the major power blocs in society—the employees, the shareholders, the unions, consumers, the community at large and, in some ill‐defined sense, 'the public interest'. More recently, managers have also become deeply pre‐occupied with the inherent conflict of interests in their relations with foreign states as a result of the growth in foreign subsidiaries. The justification for this new approach is that it no longer makes sense to talk about the 'paramountcy' or the 'primacy' of the shareholder interest in the very large organisations which account for a large proportion of the nation's productive assets. Furthermore this viewpoint has some solid backing from surveys carried out in both Britain and the United States which show that the vast majority of professional managers no longer feel that a corporation's duty is only—or even primarily—to its nominal owners, the shareholders.
MANPOWER PLANNING AND JOB SATISFACTION
Authors: Wild Ray
Published: February 2008

Some factors which relate to manpower planning procedures will be examined briefly in the context of the selection, placement and retention of manual production workers. The research studies cited for this purpose will be confined to those of which the author has first hand knowledge.
OBSOLESCENCE OF PEOPLE—IN CONTEXT
Authors: Legge Karen
Published: February 2008

Several problems present themselves when discussing the concept of obsolescence in relation to human behaviour within organisations. Most definitions of ‘obsolescence’ in fact refer to evaluations of inanimate physical phenomena within a dynamic context, not to human behaviour as such. Thus ‘obsolescent’ is often defined as ‘going out of date’, ‘falling into disuse’, or in accountants' terminology, as part of the process of calculating depreciation, involving the assessment of the ‘inadequacy of an asset relative to newer models’. Yet these ‘definitions’ beg the question. When is a machine (or an operative or manager) ‘out of date’, when is any asset, human or otherwise, ‘inadequate’ as compared to something ‘newer’ and where is the dividing line between ‘new’ and ‘old’ to be placed? These questions suggest that to define what we mean by ‘obsolescent’ in relation to any phenomenon, involves essentially a process of evaluation in the light of selected criteria in some particular context.
EUROPEAN COMPANY PERFORMANCE IN THE UNITED STATES
Authors: Ward J.
Published: February 2008

Much attention in the field of international marketing has recently been focused on the need for adaptation of strategies to new environments. One aspect of this is the extent to which products and promotion require adaptation for success in foreign markets. Writers have advanced various guidelines as to when products and promotion strategies should be standardised versus adapted. Most of the literature on this topic is in reference to the operations of U.S. firms overseas, and few broadly based empirical studies are available to substantiate the theorising. We are given many individual examples, mostly of foreign marketing failures, with too little systematic analysis.
THE ECONOMICS OF PRODUCT WARRANTIES
Authors: Mason R.S.
Published: February 2008

The product warranty has become an increasingly important factor contributing to the consumer's assessment of overall product value in recent years and, in consequence, can nowadays have a significant effect on demand levels for a particular product make or brand. The warranty is in effect an “added value” component by which the manufacturer commits himself to a given level of responsibility (usually over a specific time period) for the performance of the product he sells.
TOWARD A SPECIFICATION OF BUSINESS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Authors: Moyer Charles
Published: February 2008

I This paper suggests a framework within which the notion of social responsibility may be operationalised in the enterprise. The thrust of the model which is presented is toward a more efficient allocation of a firm's resources, incorporating social costs and benefits into the capital budgeting decision. It may be argued that the approach which is taken considers only the economic role of the modern corporate institution. The corporation was created and supported by society because it fulfilled certain societal needs (Including economic ones). These needs or priorities are continually changing, thereby demanding that the corporation respond to new societal aspirations. Nevertheless, the business enterprise is still a predominantly economic institution, justifying the following emphasis on the efficiency with which it performs its economic function. An understanding of the rationale for the proposed model is best gained by a brief review of the foundations upon which the notion of social responsibility is based.
ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT A MANAGERIAL PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH
Authors: Magerison Charles J.
Published: February 2008

These headlines often make news. Behind the headlines lie problems of organisational change and development. The problems involve who does what with whom and when in terms of getting work done. The headlines that appear in newspapers are, however, only a small fraction of the organisational problems that have to be solved.
MERGING PUBLIC SERVICES
Authors: Algie Jimmy
Published: February 2008

Forthcoming Reorganisations Inter‐Authority working parties develop programmes for forthcoming Local Government reorganisation. Elaborate Health Service reorganisation plans are formulated. Schools are merged to form comprehensives. Central Government reshuffles frequently involve merging or demerging whole departments, and Common Market entry will eventually lead to some synthesis of services and policies at continental levels of operation. Many European countries approach major Social Services mergers—for example, the Dutch are soon to take action on Seebohm‐style report called “Structural Perspective”, and the 1970 Danish Social Steering Act is equivalent to the 1970 British Social Services Act, except that it allows for a four‐year changeover period. The Swedes continue to test integrated service delivery at neighbourhood level along the lines of such famous experiments as the Tierp commune block in Uppsala. Many European countries are in throes of Maud‐type Local Government reorganisations, which Italy embarked on in April 1972, and Britain is to embark in April 1974. The public sector is evidently moving through a period of major mergers as scepticism about 1960s' industrial conglomeration prompts the Government's fair trading legislation promising new merger evaluation methods. General principles about merging public services begin to emerge. Relevant data derives from British Social Services' reorganisation following the Seebohm Report, London Local Government reorganisation, American and Australian state‐level experiments in service integration incorporated under Allied Services legislation and various service industry mergers. Merger theory is still in its infancy, even that part which derives from industrial experience the degree of potential upheaval in public services reorganisations demands that fullest possible use be made of our existing understanding of what may occur when two or more organisations merge.
THE CONCEPT OF CASH FLOW
Authors: Soenen Luc A.
Published: February 2008

There are several definitions of the concept of “cash flow” in the current financial literature. The article begins by reviewing the most recent definitions of cash flow. An arrow diagram, showing the flows in and out of the pool of corporate cash, has also been developed. The article then proceeds to examine techniques for accelerating the cash flow cycle, in particular the problem of accounts receivable collection. Indeed, the usual transfer time of payments in Europe varies from four to eighteen days, depending on the country of origin and the method of payment. This means that funds are permanently lost in “float” somewhere in the banking system. The amount of “float” results in an actual loss of working capital for the company. This illustrates the importance of techniques to increase the cash turnover. We limit ourselves to the more important techniques. Finally, we define and examine in detail the phenomenon “float”, a crucial concept in cash management.
ORGANISING TO ORGANISE
Authors: Sills Patrick A.
Published: February 2008

Organisation structures have been planned and changed—or not planned and not changed—for as long as human beings have combined their efforts towards common goals. Organising means, in the words of A. A. Milne's Rabbit, “what you do to a search when you dont't all look in the same place at once”. The mode of organising collective work exercises a considerable influence on how it is performed and its overall effectiveness. Too often in the past organisational change has proved too little or too late. The escalating size of organisations, and complexity and interdependence of the environments in which they operate, render the planning and monitoring of their structures a managerial priority of increasingly urgent importance. In the future, firms are likely, either to develop, preferably by design, or to die. They may well be more or less successful in direct relation to whether, or how, they organise, not least to organise.
Fair Trading an operational guide
Authors: ACKROYD ELIZABETH
Published: February 2008

This monograph identifies five essential elements for an effective policy to promote consumer interests viz. protection, information, advice, education and representation. The author explores each in considerable depth to assess the extent to which this year's Fair Trading Act will contribute to them. Her verdict is that although not as much as might be hoped will be achieved, by and large the Act is a useful measure. It should bring a higher standard to trade practices particularly in the field of selling and promotion. But it can do little to provide consumer education or representation and these the author considers to be major omissions from the present consumer scene.
Clues for Bidding Strategists
Authors: O'Leary Ray
Published: February 2008

This article examines how bidding decisions are being tackled in practice. It appears very likely that in the future, these decisions will have to be made on a sounder, more structured, quantitative basis. The article suggests a formal, yet mathematically unsophisticated way of handling the bidding problem and considers how such an approach can help the decision maker. Such an approach is a valuable addition to the experience, judgment, intuition and common sense of the bidding strategist.
Management Documentation Services
Authors: Bakewell Kenneth G.B.
Published: February 2008

This article is concerned with services providing information about management (e.g. personnel practices, the use of management techniques) rather than the broader area of information for management. The manager's need for information services is examined by reference to actual enquiries put by managers in their daily work. The present state of documentation services (e.g. books, periodicals, abstracting and indexing services, guides to research) is examined, together with the various kinds of libraries providing information services on management. Finally, reasons for the non‐use of existing services by managers are examined and suggestions are made for the removal of these obstacles.
Job Restructuring and Work Organisation
Authors: Wild Ray
Published: February 2008

This paper summarises some of the points arising from a recent study of developments in mass production systems. The study conducted during 1972 and 1973, was concerned with engineering mass production, in particular the mass production of relatively complex discrete items such as domestic appliances, motor vehicles, etc. The emphasis was upon assembly work, the primary objectives being to identify and evaluate present developments in order to assess their significance and to speculate upon future developments in the UK. Two principal but not mutually exclusive dimensions of development were identified, i.e. (1) largely behaviourally orientated action or changes designed to improve the form and content of the manual jobs required in such production systems, and (2) the reduction of the amount of manual work required through increases in mechanisation and automation. This paper is concerned only with the former type of development.
Cost‐Volume Relationships and Changes in Levels of Activity
Authors: Jones D.M.C.
Published: February 2008

Information provided for managers by an accounting department can be divided into two broad categories: (a) information which will help managers to control future costs incurred, and (b) information which will enable managers to be well‐informed when making decisions involving a choice between alternative courses of action. Both accountants and managers need to understand the way in which costs respond to changes in the level or type of activity if appropriate information is to be presented and used effectively. Furthermore, the ability to employ techniques such as standard costing, budgetary control and marginal costing, which are commonly used in planning and controlling organisations' activities, must be based on an appreciation of the basic relationships between costs and volume.
A Closer Examination of some Aspects of Behavioural Accounting Research
Authors: Ray G.H. , Piper J.A.
Published: February 2008

This article consists mainly of a description, analysis and criticism of four research studies in the area of behavioural accounting. We have selected these particular studies because of the frequency with which they are referred to in articles on behavioural accounting in a wide number of journals, which have as their basic audience both practising and academic accountants. To generalise, the majority of these articles are concerned with how the behavioural variable in relation to accounting information should be managed, and vice‐versa, i.e. they are predominantly prescriptive. The prescription is sometimes presented as a set of guidelines for management action, based on references to research studie.
The Role of Research in Management Decision Making
Authors: Bennett Roger
Published: February 2008

Introduction The last decade or so has seen an immense growth in the amount of research carried out in a wide range of management aspects. Currently, the position is one of continuing growth, as a review of the many journals of management, organisation and allied subjects will testify. Not only has research become more widespread, it has also become much more sophisticated. A look at those same journals in the early 1960s will reveal methods of reporting very different from those of today. Now the use of statistical methods for data testing—especially multi‐variate techniques—is commonplace, if not always intelligible to the layman or even fellow academics and research workers. Research designs have become more elaborate, and the topics of research often elevated to such a level of academic sophistication as to seem irrelevant to the manager. While it would be unfair to suggest that all research in management takes this form, there is sufficient to make the manager ask what it all has to do with him, as Bennett et al and Gee make clear.
Research into Share Price Behaviour
Authors: Firth M.A.
Published: February 2008

Over the last ten years there has been an enormous growth in research into share price behaviour. Most of the studies have been undertaken in the USA although there has recently been a growing interest in the British and European equity markets. This growth in research has been occasioned by the ignorance of the working of capital markets and by the advent of computer data banks which have facilitated large scale empirical investigations. Both completed research and future programmes represent large commitments in terms of manpower and computer time and thus there is a definite need to assess the potential benefits from such studies. This paper will point out some of the advantages that may accrue from a continuing study of share price behaviour.
Consumerism as an Element of On‐going Social Change
Authors: Layton R.A. , Holmes G.
Published: February 2008

Consumerism has become a fashionable area of concern, centred on the belief that there is a compelling need to strengthen the consumer's position in the market‐place. Consumerism is essentially a societal problem, based on the efforts of the average person to come to terms with everyday companies in everyday transactions. Yet the growth in size of business organisations, together with the increasing complexity of their offerings, is such that it is becoming ever more difficult for the ordinary individual to participate in transactions with any real hope of equality and satisfaction. It is this inequality of bargaining position that has become the “centrepoint” of consumer pressures on the community to provide for intervention and regulation in a socially constructive manner. Experience everywhere suggests, however, that it is not an easy area in which to operate. The issues of consumerism are complex and difficult to resolve, concerning as they do some of the most basic human relationships: those involving exchange.
An Approach to Decision Making in Situations with Conflicting Objectives
Authors: Bayat G.R. , Longbottom D.A.
Published: February 2008

This article describes an approach which is designed to assist management in making decisions in situations where there are a number of conflicting objectives. The approach incorporates an optimisation model which is used to explore the costs and benefits of setting target levels for operational criteria, as well as to present the “best” solution to a problem. A case study is described which illustrates an actual application of the approach relating to the selection of a portfolio of capital investment projects for a company.
The Valuation of Human Resources
Authors: Dobbins Richard , Trussell Peter
Published: February 2008

The application of human resource accounting requires the measurement of the firm's investment in recruitment, selection, training and development. Our objectives in this article are firstly to familiarise readers with the methods proposed in the literature by which this measurement may be achieved, and secondly, to consider the implications of this recent development in financial reporting for the personnel function. The significant effect on annual accounts is demonstrated in a research application of human resource valuation in the Football League.
Stress and Pressures within Organisations
Authors: Cooper Cary L. , Marshall Judi
Published: February 2008

Introduction Working in organisations not only provides a large section of the population with life‐sustaining income, but also exerts its own pressures and stresses on them, which can ultimately have negative consequences both for achieving the goals of organisations and meeting the needs of the individuals working within them. Before we examine the various sources of pressure and stress at work, it might be useful to define these two central concepts. “Pressure” is an external or internal force acting on an individual to perform in a particular way or achieve a particular end result. This can be a source of some discomfort and some anxiety, but it can be at the same time exciting, challenging, and growth‐producing. “Stress”, on the other hand, has only negative outcomes for the individual concerned because (1) the individual feels that he or she will not (in the long term) be able to cope, and therefore (2) will find it necessary to deal with it in a defensive and maladaptive way. Pressure is a tolerable, manageable condition, includes some positive attributes, and is characterised by activity and productive coping; stress is a regressive and counter‐productive condition, can produce extreme and usually undifferentiated anxiety, and is characterised by defensive coping.
Effectiveness as a Guide to Planning in the Social Services
Authors: Bayat G.R. , Wade G. , Longbottom D.A.
Published: February 2008

Introduction The purpose of social services can be defined as the provision of support services, to individuals who are unable to lead a “normal” existence within the community at large. Irrespective of the emphasis placed on different aspects of its purpose, in practice, the agencies that are charged with this duty must take three steps. Initially the client's needs must be identified, in some cases this being no easy task as the perceived and actual client needs are not identical. Secondly, the strategy for aiding the client must be defined and the resource requirements specified. Finally, the effectiveness of the chosen strategy in meeting the client need must be determined such that if unsatisfactory, some corrective alternative solutions can be devised within the resource constraints that are prevalent.
Job Structuring and Work Organisation
Authors: Hall Peter
Published: February 2008

INTRODUCTIO The title of this review is rather misleading and inaccurate. It is true that jobs are structured and work is organised, but very few papers are written advocating the status quo. Most academics and all consultants make their names and indeed their livings by recommending, proposing and implementing change. Sometimes change for change's sake, often change because almost anything would be better than the existing situation. But always change.
The Impact of Inflation on Corporate Financial Performance
Authors: Hull John , Alexander Bill
Published: February 2008

Computer models can provide fast and efficient ways of assessing the impact of different rates of inflation on a company's future performance. This article describes the steps in the development and use of a simple model. Typical computer outputs are included and several examples are given of the way in which the model can be interrogated in order to make easier the task of setting objectives and defining viable company strategies.
Behavioural Aspects of Management Accounting
Authors: Jones D.M.C.
Published: February 2008

The aim of systems of financial control, installed and operated by management accountants, is to supply managers with relevant information which is up‐to‐date and sufficiently accurate to allow them to control the functions for which they are responsible. The information supplied by accountants should enable managers to be well‐informed when making decisions. Whichever way we look at accounting information we see that it involves people. It is produced and used by people. It is not that accounting information makes possible the control of costs but rather that it provides a logical basis for the control of people and hence the control of costs. It follows from this that accountants cannot afford to ignore the reactions of individuals to control systems or base their financial control systems on an inappropriate model of human behaviour.