Post-Thatcherite Urban Planning and Politics: a Major Change?

The political ideology driving urban statutory planning in the United Kingdom has held a central place within planning literature during the 1980s and 1990s. The distinctiveness of leadership style and political ideology associated with the Thatcher governments have been widely recognized both in practice and academia. However, the distinctiveness of political ideology to determine the form and status of statutory urban planning since John Major acceded to the prime ministership in 1990 has not been assessed so markedly. Questions emerge on whether Thatcherite ideology is continuing in the 1990s within the realm of planning and environment, of whether a watered down version of New Right policies are being implemented, or whether central government policies towards planning over the last six years marked a change in ideological direction. This paper examines statutory planning during the Major years with reference to the ideological components of Thatcherism. From this assessment, a comparative analysis is undertaken of both political administrations. The paper concludes by finding that although elements of Thatcherite ideology are continuing, there have been initiatives that move away from the primacy of the market. However, these do not form any ‘big theory’: the differences between Thatcher and Major are more related to style than substance. Thatcherism is continuing but in a neo-Thatcherite way.     

Alliances and Mergers in Electricity Supply

The takeovers that have occurred within the Regional Electricity Companies (RECs) since the privatization of the UK electricity industry are reviewed. The article describes the nature and scale of the changes that have occurred, and the policy considerations that have influenced the behaviour of the companies. A variety of emergent behaviour patterns among the companies are identified, which reflect apparent differences in the RECs' policy objectives; the mergers are then grouped on the basis of this behaviour. There is strong evidence of a learning process among the companies.     

Aggregate demand, conflict and capacity in the inflationary process

This paper focuses on an alternative perspective on inflationto that of the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment(NAIRU). It indicates that there are no automatic forces leadingto a level of aggregate demand consistent with constant inflation.Inflationary pressures arise from conflict over income shares,and from cost elements, with the price of raw materials, especiallyoil, being the most important. There are supply-side factorsimpinging on the inflationary process, which arise from thelevel of productive capacity (relative to aggregate demand).The supply-side constraints are viewed as arising from capacityconstraints, rather than from the operation of the labour market.     

An Institutional Perspective to Finance and Development as an Alternative to Financial Liberalisation

This paper argues that financial liberalisation as practiced recently worldwide engenders widespread financial crises precisely because of the weak foundations of its theoretical framework and poor empirical performance. Financial liberalisation is critically evaluated on both theoretical and empirical grounds, which suggests that an alternative is vitally necessary. Based on institutional theory,a new approach is proposed the focus of which is on ways to affect financial and banking transformation that is more consistent with economic development. We demonstrate how this theoretical approach can be applied in the real world, and indeed how the theoretical propositions we put forward in this contribution, very different from those of financial liberalisation, produce a more developmentally oriented set of policies for the countries that are prepared to pursue them.     

New Development: The Demystification of Knowledge Management for Public Services

The public sector should be cautious about the use of classical and technological approaches to knowledge management. There is a need to face the power struggles and organizational politics associated with knowledge growth and dissemination. Knowledge management should promote the high value of team-based professional work and the desire to retain such staff through a collaborative environment.     

The evolution of the maize seed industry in Zambia

This article outlines the development of maize improvement and the symbiotic seed industry in Zambia over the past seventy‐five years. Although improvement through selection was started in the 1920s, the first locally bred cultivars were not available until 1970. The development of a maize seed industry in Zambia has been remarkable considering the inhibitions imposed by successive government policies of colonialism, federalism and socialist economics. The future of maize breeding and the seed industry depends on the success of recently introduced free‐market economic policies, and on the introduction of legislation to protect the rights of plant breeders and allow full participation by private seed companies.     

A chameleon function? HRM in the ‘90s

This article examines the changing role of the HR function in large corporations in the 1990s. It draws on data collected from a multi-sector case study research project – the Leading Edge Forum Consortium. Activities are analysed along three dimensions: access to strategic decision making, shift of responsibilities to the line, and the function's perceived contribution to business performance. It concludes that devolution to the line remains problematic, and that access to strategic decision making is still contingent on the personal influencing skills of senior HR managers or directors. Nevertheless the recognition of the strategic importance of HRM as a contributor to business performance has risen.