Regeneration in a mass-tourism resort: The changing fortunes of Bugibba,Malta

International images emanating from Malta’s tourism authorities are of a tourism product typified by quality accommodation, attractive aesthetics, urban environment and design, and the proximity of cultural attractions.     

Core public sector reform in New Zealand and the United Kingdom

Public management reform in New Zealand has been informed by a strong concern for how public money is spent. Devolution linked with firm incentives is viewed as the best way of ensuring value for money. In Britain, the Treasury gives greater emphasis to controlling public expenditure totals and therefore the approach to value for money is rather different.     

Testing the impact of job‐related variables on a utility judgment training criterion beyond background and affective reaction variables*

We tested the incremental impact of a job‐related set of variables for explaining a utility judgment training effectiveness variable, that is, course completion skill preparedness, beyond background and course‐related variables. Our respondents were two different emergency medical service samples, 415 basics and 742 paramedics, from the 2008 US Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographic Study. Extending earlier research into the training of US emergency medical services staff, we developed scales for measuring two course‐related affective reaction variables, quality of course materials and quality of lead instructor. We found for both samples that the quality of course materials and quality of lead instructor variables each significantly explained course completion skill preparedness variance beyond controlled‐for background variables. We also found that the set of job‐related variables explained further, additional variance and that job satisfaction was positively related to course completion skill preparedness for both samples. The limitations of the study and future research ideas are discussed.     

Not because they are new: Developing the contribution of enterprise resource planning systems to management control research

Enterprise Resource Planning systems are fundamentally bound up with the work of accounting, and have been seen to have transformative implications for the nature of organisational integration and control. This introductory essay briefly outlines the nature of Enterprise Resource Planning systems, noting the main lines of argument in their treatment in the accounting literature so far. It goes on to set the scene for the distinctive contribution of the two papers that follow, exphasising the way in which they offer a basis for re-evaluating our understanding of organisational integration and control through their detailed field work.     

Book Review

Organisational risk propensity directly affects the decision‐making behaviour of employees, with linked impacts on the ongoing prosperity of the organisation. The literature on an individual's risk behaviour is extensive. However, few studies investigate the risk propensity of an organisation. This study uses primary data from interviews within a major change programme in a FTSE100 pharmaceutical organisation to explore the characteristics of organisational risk propensity. The data are analysed using open coding procedures from Grounded Theory in order to fragment the category of ‘organisational risk propensity’ into some constituent properties and dimensions. An integrative framework is then inductively derived which provides insights into risk propensity within the case context; together with some cues for implementing changes to the organisation's risk propensity if so desired. The output from this research also provides a useful base from which to develop a survey instrument for assessing organisational risk propensity.     

World oil: the growing case for international policy

Can the economic theory of depletion be reconciled with low petroleum prices? This article uses a revision of the theory, which reflects demand functions that rise in response to increasing world population and income. The magnitude of producers' and consumers' surplus is estimated under both competitive and monopolistic assumptions; the result indicates a present value comparable to or in excess of today's gross world economic product. Game theory suggests a framework that explains the interaction between oil pricing and military policy, and the economic incentives that result in a general pattern of recent market equilibrium crude oil prices often fluctuating with a $15–20 per barrel range. The analysis concludes that the economic incentives for political instability in the Persian Gulf will increase, and more formal methods of setting the international framework for Persian Gulf oil may be expected.     

FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE - UNDERSTANDING HOUSING PRIVATIZATION IN POST-SOCIALIST COUNTRIES

In a period of economic transition, many commentators have identified the inefficiencies, distortions and inequalities which exist in the housing system of post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. These structural flaws are deemed to be incompatible with the adoption of free market principles and economic liberalization. For economic and political reasons the reform of the housing system has become a necessary and indispensable element of the market reform process. This paper contributes to the growing debate on the context in which housing reform and housing privatization programs have been adopted in Europe's post-socialist economies. The paper goes on to argue that the introduction of housing privatization and the preoccupation with owner-occupation has not been based on any overall assessment of what has occurred elsewhere in western Europe or on the experience of housing provision in other advanced western capitalist countries. The economically driven orthodox approach towards privatization and the way this has been translated into the housing system of post-socialist countries raises important policy questions on the longer term viability of housing provision and the creation of a sustainable housing system.