Seeing Like a Theorist

Warren Magnusson sees a problem endemic to political thought and practice: we see the world in ways that presume and reaffirm the necessity of a sovereign territorial state, on pain of violent disorder in its absence. The solution is to ‘see like a city’, shaking off the dualism of sovereignty versus anarchy and finding a richer space of political possibilities. I admire and applaud Magnusson's critical efforts to challenge dominant categories and illuminate possibilities, but these aims rest uneasily with his polemical contrast between sovereignty and cities.     

高校英语多媒体教学的六大误区

目前高校英语教学过程中多媒体使用存在误区。英语多媒体教学应与常规媒体教学有机配合;遵循多媒体辅助性原则;遵循现代外语教学理念。     

Striking a Balance Between Rules and Principles-based Approaches for Effective Governance: A Risks-based Approach

Several recent studies and initiatives have emphasized the importance of a strong ethical organizational DNA (ODNA) to create and promote an effective corporate governance culture of trust, integrity and intellectual honesty. This paper highlights the drawbacks of an excessively heavy reliance on rules-based approaches that increase the cost of doing business, overshadow essential elements of good corporate governance, create a culture of dependency, and can result in legal absolutism. The paper makes the case that the way forward for effective corporate governance is to strike an optimal balance between rules-based and principles-based approaches. The recent corporate scandals have demonstrated that the ethical ODNA is critical to the driving force and basis of legal and regulatory requirements. Effective governance means adhering to ethical principles, not merely complying with rules, and is a crucial guardian of a firm’s reputation and integrity. It is through an effective corporate governance program (that is, one that optimally captures and integrates the appropriate aspects of rules-based and principles-based approaches, and identifies and assesses the related risks) that an organization can reconfigure its ODNA for improved performance. Focusing on the ethical ODNA as the basis of new governance measures provides an opportunity to develop a competitive advantage as it represents a potential source of differentiation, strengthens the relationship with all stakeholders of the organization by building a culture of trust and integrity, and re-instills investor confidence. This paper employs dialectical reasoning that links the ODNA through principles-driven rules in developing a risks-based approach. A comparison from a risk assessment perspective between rules-based and principles-based approaches is presented. Although there have been few applications employing dialectical reasoning in business research, this methodology can be extremely useful in isolating ethical issues and integrating them into the business process. The risks-based approach captures the benefits of both rules-based and principles-based approaches, and incorporates trust-based principles such␣as solidarity, subsidiarity and covenantal relationships.Sundera Arjoon is a Senior Lecturer in Ethics at the Department of Management Studies, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad, He has served as Head of Department (2002–2005) and as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (1996–2002). His publications have appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Markets and Morality, Global Development Studies, Social and Economic Studies, Applied Financial Economics, and the Journal of Eastern Carribean Studies. His current teaching and research interests include ethical decision-making, corporate governance, virtue ethics and familial ethics.     

Exploring the Principle of Subsidiarity in Organisational Forms

The paper starts with a case study of a medium-sized company in which a strong and successful change in the organisational form and job design took place. A bureaucratic organisation with highly-specialised jobs was converted into a new organisation in which employees became much more autonomous in managing their own work. This not only entailed new techniques and managerial systems but also a new anthropological vision. Bureaucratic rules were reduced, but not eliminated completely, and management became less authoritarian. Employees could therefore apply greater entrepreneurial spirit, developing their talents in pursuit of the company’s common goals. It is argued that this new organisational form is ethically superior to the old, and reflects the basic requirements of the principle of subsidiarity. The ethical principle of subsidiarity holds that a larger and higher-ranking body should not exercise functions which could be efficiently carried out by a smaller and lesser body; rather the former should support the latter by aiding it in the coordination of its activities with those of the greater community. While the principle has usually been applied in a political context, this paper explores the principle as a moral base for organisational forms within business organisations. Finally, the principle of subsidiarity is analysed in the context of business organisations and proposed as an ethical guideline for organisational forms. This would help to mitigate the effects of those bureaucracies in which individuals, with their dignity, freedom, diversity and capacity for undertaking business activities with entrepreneurial spirit, are often not fully appreciated.     

CATHOLICISM AND CAPITALISM1

Catholic social teaching can be used to help Christians understand the appropriate role of the state in economic life. There is an intrinsic opposition to socialism but also to many of the manifestations of ‘capitalism’. An application of Catholic social teaching to economic problems should lead to a redefinition of the role of the state in many areas of life. That redefinition certainly would favour more autonomy for individuals, families and communities acting independently of the state.     

过度养殖的制度诱因分析及政策建议

过度养殖极易导致海水养殖产业遭到环境惩罚和市场惩罚,对产业的长期发展构成了严重威胁。这一现象之所以会普遍存在,根本原因是我国现存制度存在一定的不足。本文旨在通过分析海水养殖产业的制度环境,找到过度养殖的制度诱因,并在此基础上提出政策建议。研究结果表明,制度诱因主要包括产权安排未能遵循激励相容原则,新品种推广未能完全坚持预防原则以及立法未能彻底贯彻可执行性原则。政策建议包括赋予养殖业者长期有保障的海域使用权,适当限制新品种的扩散进行以及赋予行业协会管理产业的权利来解决。