FOCUS: Women in Business Women at Work: A Problem for Business Ethics?

Businesses need to shape and monitor their structures and processes if they are at least to make sex-discrimination more difficult. The author is Visiting Professor in Politics at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.     

Book Reviews

Jones, Kent Albert, Politics Versus Economics in World Steel Trade. Winchester, Massachusetts: Allen and Unwin, Inc.,1986.     

Charles Loft. Government, the Railways and the Modernization of Britain: Beeching's Last Trains

"This book," writes Charles Loft, "is first and foremost aboutrailway closures ... [It] is not a business history, or an economicstudy" (p.2). What, then, does it have to offer to readers ofEnterprise & Society, who may not expect much of a bookwhich is part of a series on "British Politics and Society"?The simple answer is that it provides much more than the author'smodest opening remarks. By analyzing the political and popularopposition     

Do We Really Need a European Agency for Market Regulation?

In November 2007, the European Commission suggested that an EC regulatory agency should be set up for the telecommunications markets. The following paper examines the key tasks and structure of the proposed agency and identifies the limits to the delegation of powers involved by reflecting on the relevant case law and the existing doctrine. It compares the concept with a recently published rapporteur report to the European Parliament and an alternative model of a joint body of national regulatory authorities. The authors wish to thank Martin Busch, Student of Law and Politics at the University of Bonn, for his valuable assistance.     

FOCUS: Ethics in Business and Health

"The NHS may not, on a tight definition, be a business, but it has an obligation to its financial stakeholders (the tax-payers), and this implies an ethical obligation to be business- like. This means it must be as well-managed as it is well-meaning." The author is Chairman of St George's Healthcare NHS Trust. Until 1988 she was Head of the Department of Politics at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, where she is now Visiting Professor. She is a non-executive director of Norwich Union and of the HMV Group and her most recent book is Business Ethics at Work , Cambridge University Press, 1995.     

Lessons from the EMU for Asian Regional Integration: An Economic Perspective

Critical costs and benefits of creating an EMU-like structure in Asia are identified. Analyzing the EU, we pay particular attention to two kinds of economic benefits and costs that do not appear much in conventional economic analysis. First, there are benefits and costs of harmonization in different areas including the monetary area. Second, giving up sovereignty within a policy area can provide many countries with a kind of insurance against domestic institutional, legal, and political weaknesses. Although we emphasize economic arguments it is necessary to recognize that the EU is very much a politically motivated project. Politics may well be the biggest obstacle to an EMU-like monetary system in Asia. Conditions in Asia require consideration of alternatives to a monetary union since there exist disparate economic and political systems that may well prove impossible to fully integrate.     

浅析生态政治视角下和谐社会的构建

当前,我国正处在改革攻坚、社会加速转型与全面建设小康社会的历史性关键时期,从生态政治的理论视野出发找寻社会主义历史条件下构建和谐社会的可能性途径,具有重大的理论价值和深远的现实意义。生态政治与和谐社会是相辅相成、共同促进的。应转变发展思路,将构建和谐社会的行动指南从环境理念上升到生态理念,深化和拓宽和谐社会的建构渠道,同时拓展并加深和谐社会理论的内涵与表达体系,构建生态和谐社会。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Vinod K. Aggarwal International Debt Threat: Bargaining Among Creditors and Debtors in the 1980s I.M. Destler, American Trade Politics: System under Stress John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman (eds), The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics     

Reviews

Skålnes, Tor The Politics of Economics Reform in Zimbabwe, Continuity and Change in Development Antle, John M. and Sumner, Daniel A. The Economics of Agriculture Helleiner, G.K. (ed.) Manufacturing for Export in the Developing World, Problems and Possibilities     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: EMU after Maastricht: Transition or Revaluation by DAVID CURRIE and JOHN WHITLEY Currencies and Politics in the United States, Germany and Japan by C. RANDALL HENNING The Uruguay Round, A Preliminary Evaluation of the Impacts of the Agreement on Agriculture in the OECD Countries by OECD     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article Moschis, George, Consumer Socialization: A Life-Cycle Perspective Sapolsky, Harvey (editor). Consuming Fears: The Politics of Product Risks Lee, Stewart and Mel Zelenak, Personal Finance for Consumers Penz, G. Peter, Consumer Sovereignty and Human Interests     

航天测控和信息综合系统及技术

跨国经营,需要政府实质性支持。为了实现中央提出“走出去”战略,从政府 层面看,要结合我国企业走出去的实践,注意比较、研究和分析国外政府的经验,为 我所用。本文认为某些国家的政府支持本国企业开展对外直接投资,劳务输出和 工程承包的经验值得借鉴。     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: Craig Freedman, Why Did Japan Stumble? Causes and Cures Klaus Schmidt‐Hebbel, The Economics of Saving and Growth: Theory, Evidence and Implications Deepak Lal, Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Factor Endowments, Culture, and Politics on Long‐Run Economic Performance T.J. Byres, Karin Kapadia and Jens Lerche (eds), Rural Labour Relations in India     

Book Reviews

Alesina, A and Rosenthal, H. Partisan Politics, Divided Government and the Economy Bernstein, H. and Brass, T. (eds) Agrarian Questions: Essays in Appreciation of T.J. Byres Flamm, K. Mismanaged Trade? Strategic Policy and the Semiconductor Industry Balasubramanyam, V.N. and Greenaway, D. (eds) Trade and Development: Essays in Honour of Jagdlish Bhagwati     

Robert M. Collins. Transforming America: Politics and Culture during the Reagan Years

Robert Collins has written two superb books treating modernAmerican business history—The Business Response to Keynes(1981), and More: The Politics of Growth in Postwar America(2000). In this, his most recent and elegantly written book,he takes on the rather more slippery, amorphous cultural historyof the period. He even dives undaunted into that most murkyphenomenon, "postmodernism." There, he has some delightful thingsto say about "the therapeutic culture" and the "self-esteem"fad that it produced. In his treatment     

An exploratory study of organizational politics in Kuwait

Because politics is a way of life in organizations, organizational politics has been studied by several scholars over the past 40 years. Few studies, though, have examined organizational politics outside of the United States and Europe. This study is a further step toward closing that gap. In particular, we (1) examined the applicability of the Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale (POPS) instrument in Kuwait, (2) examined the perceived existence of organizational politics in a public organization in Kuwait, and (3) sought to determine if perceptions of organizational politics seemed to be influenced by the same variables in Kuwait as in Western societies. The study found that the perception of organizational politics is relatively strong and that the POPS instrument was applicable in the Kuwaiti culture and could lead to an expanded understanding of organizational politics. The gender of the respondents, their tenure, and their current positions had some influence on perceptions of organizational politics. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article Chandler, Tomasita M. and Barbara M. Heinzerling. 1999. Children and Adolescents in the Marketplace: Twenty‐five Years of Academic Research Macklin, M. Carole and Les Carlson, eds. 1999. Advertising to Children: Concepts and Controversies Meier, Kenneth, E. Thomas Garman, and Lael R. Keiser, eds. 1998. Regulation and Consumer Protection: Politics, Bureaucracy and Economics Mohr, Lawrence B. 1995. Impact Analysis for Program Evaluation.     

Ethics for Management Consultants

Management consultants and their moral standards and behaviour have been questioned and caricatured, but it is not sufficiently appreciated that they frequently have to operate in situations which are characterized by ambiguity, ignorance, uncertainty and sensitivity and they cannot always simply apply ethical rules in cooperating with their clients. In addition, more attention should be given to the ethics of the client, and "dual ethics" should be a joint concern. Research among consultants and clients has identified several ethical dilemmas frequently experienced by consultants which are explained and explored. Dr Poulfelt is Associate Professor of Management at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School, Blaagaardsgade 23 B, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Bolster, L. Carey, H. Douglas Woodburn, and Joella H. Gipson, Consumer and Career Mathematics. Law, Sylvia and Steven Polan, Pain and Profit: The Politics of Malpractice. McGowan, Daniel A., Consumer Economics Moschis, George P., Acquisition of the Consumer Role by Adolescents. Thirsk, Joan, Economic Policy and Projects; The Development of a Consumer Society in Early Modern England Vogel, David, Lobbying the Corporation: Citizen Challenges to Business Authority.     

Business divestment in South Africa: In who's best interest?

In recent years, there has been considerable pressure on corporations doing business in South Africa to divest and withdraw from that country. While this moral view espouses withdrawal, this article seeks to provide insight into the practical consequences of divestment. One of the questions addressed is how does foreign divestment affect Black South Africans, those who are supposed to benefit from a divestment policy. Paul Lansing is Associate Professor of Business Law. Previous articles have appeared in the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Harvard International Law Journal, The International Lawyer, The Journal of Corporation Law and others Sarosh Kuruvilla is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Iowa.