About “strategy” and “strategies” in supply management

This article addresses the context and content of a generic supply strategy and discusses its strategy-making process. Building mostly on fundamental strategic management theories, the authors explain the role of supply strategy in its managerial context. In so doing, some light is shed on the meaning and use of the terms “strategy” and “strategies”. Also, a practical conceptual framework for supply strategy formulation is provided. The generic checklist, built by segmenting supply management decisions, is intended to guide supply professionals in addressing strategic issues to create value to customers, avoiding confusion and optimising resource allocation.     

The “Big 3” Foundations and American Global Power

This article shows how the major foundations were extremely influential in America's rise to global hegemony over the past century. The leadership of these foundations was part of the eastern foreign policy establishment that initially mobilized support for a globalist, anti‐isolationist agenda and after World War II worked to construct a viable intellectual framework promoting American perspectives in world affairs. The development of foundation leadership in international relations took place in three phases with different emphases, aimed at softening the sharper edges of globalization and elite dominance to retain public legitimacy: 1) shifting American public opinion from the 1920s to the 1950s in favor of liberal internationalism and a strong national government, 2) creating an integrated global elite from the 1950s to the 1970s that could serve as conduits for American interests within the institutions of each nation, and 3) developing democratic reforms in response to neoliberalism after 1980 to gain legitimacy for the international order, in order to sustain the idea that the political and economic systems work for everyone. In this fashion, foundations were able publicly to espouse principles of self‐determination and economic development for every nation, even though their actions paved the way for the continuation of neocolonialism.     

Leading Change and Innovation Through “Organizational Laundering”

Change in organizations can be frequent, but change is not always necessary. In pursuit of innovation, and at times their own agenda, leaders who exhibit a pseudotransformational leadership style can have a catastrophic effect on the workplace. Promoting change under the guise of innovation benefits self and not the organization and sponsors a workplace in turmoil. These leaders practice organizational laundering, which is proposed as an introductory term resulting from employing a combination of destructive and pseudotransformational leadership styles in an attempt to be innovative and make organizational change.     

Demise of “permanent employment” in Japan

The increasing volatility of industrial business cycles is forcing Japanese companies to institute a variety of human resource management methods which are eroding the principle of permanent employment. The transition from permanent employment to more flexible employment practices reviewed here is an example of how human resources can be managed to maximize a firm's competitiveness and effectiveness.     

Does “Health Promotion” Really Promote Health?

A bstract    In his comment on Victor Fuch's essay, the late Alvan Feinstein raised the question of whether government-sponsored programs of "health promotion" are always good for well-being.     

“Offshoring”: How big an issue?

Spurred by the political debate in the US and several high-profile corporate moves, "offshoring" has become a lively topic of discussion. This paper by Grant Colquhoun, Keith Edmonds and David Goodger tries to put recent developments in context and argues that "offshoring" should be seen as part of a long-standing and largely beneficial trend of international specialisation. In the short term at least, the transfer of service sector activities abroad is likely to involve relatively small numbers of jobs when compared to overall UK employment and labour market turnover. However, specific areas — such as call centres, back office functions and software programming — are expected to be increasingly affected, impacting upon regions of the UK with heavy exposure to those activities and giving rise to adjustment costs. In contrast, retailing, hotels and catering and personal services could well benefit from the move of low value-added jobs abroad. Overall, the impact of "offshoring" on the UK economy in terms of output and productivity should be positive.     

Newspaper Ideological Bias or “Statist Quo”?

A bsract .   Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, acid rain was an important topic of public debate. Newspapers ramped up coverage in the early 1980s, which then peaked in the mid-1980s and died off slowly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to be rarely seen again. The question asked is whether the tone of the acid rain coverage was an example of alleged "liberal bias" of journalists, or if it was due to other factors. This paper examines various explanations of newspaper behavior, including one given by the late Warren Brookes concluding that the real bias of reporters tends toward the expansion of government, or the statist quo . In our paper, we examine the coverage of acid rain before and after the election of George Bush in 1988, an event that led directly to the passage of the the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which had strong acid rain provisions. Our statistical tests, while mixed, give credence to the "statist quo" hypothesis, especially where newspapers of "national stature" are concerned.     

Heavy Constraints on a “Weightless World”?

A bstract .   Late 1990s claims of a shift toward a new economy in the United States and other developed economies were said to accelerate earlier trends reducing the material content of production. The shift toward a postindustrial services economy is said to have been accentuated by application of new information and communications technologies, dramatically reducing the material content of production. This offers the possibility for continuous economic expansion unconstrained by resources supply. This paper provides a critical analysis of these trends in relation to resource use by developed economies. It shows that trends toward a lower material content of production are occurring, and this has led to poor demand conditions for primary producers. Nevertheless, these trends fall well short of eliminating Western economies' dependence on key resources. This paper shows the changing role of resources in economic activity among developed economies.     

Wages Councils,retail distribution and the concept of the “cut-off”

If proposed amendments to the Industrial Relations Bill remove protection afforded to some groups of workers by the Wages Councils system, an alternative will have to be found. In retail distribution a case can be made out for operating a bipartite system with voluntary negotiation above, and statutory wage protection below, a “cut-off” point determined on the basis of turnover.     

“What does the word ‘inflation’ mean to you?” and “What is the connexion between wage claims and rices?” Findings from two national sample surveys in 1966 and 19711

Even in 1971 it is evident that a large proportion of Britain's population does not understandthe process of inflation and sees no connexion between wage claims and prices.