Using Industry-Sponsored Game Nights to Educate About Risk and Insurance

As educators in the field of risk management and insurance, we see know- ledge of risk management and insurance as a core business function. However, some colleagues and students see insurance as cold-call sales or companies with a lot of money that continue to raise their prices. So we have to find ways to make our public aware of the usefulness of risk management and insurance in the business world and in private life and of the opportunities that having such knowledge presents to all business majors and business people. One method that is beginning to show dramatic improvements in at least our students' perceptions of the field and the major involves industry-sponsored game nights. While not an academic endeavor nor strictly risk management education, we believe the idea provides a useful tool for opening students' eyes to the need for knowledge of risk management and insurance and of the opportunities that are available in the insurance industry and its related fields. This article discusses the history of such an event at Appalachian State Univer- sity, the current status of the North Carolina Surplus Lines Association (NCSLA) event, and the benefits of the event.     

Battles in the costing war: UK debates, 1950-75

In the UK, 1950-75 was a lively period in the long-running debates between proponents of absorption and marginal costing. In the nexus of competing interests, management accountants advocated and defended rival costing systems with much vigour and passion. Expressed in the language of the times, these debates were 'battles' in the costing 'war'. We focus on these battles, analysing the various forces that operated upon the combatants, and locate them in the wider costing war. We conclude that no final resolution of the conflict was achieved in the twentieth century, nor is one likely in the foreseeable future.     

The Rise and Rise of Public Private Partnerships: Challenges for Public Accountability

The increasing popularity of public private partnerships (PPPs) thrusts on to centre stage the inherent tension between accountability and transparency on the one hand, and efficiency and commerciality on the other. This paper explores a number of accountability issues that are exacerbated by a public private partnership structure. The organisational structure of a PPP, where much of the activity associated with the delivery of a public service is embedded in a private-sector entity, increases the likelihood that public scrutiny of decisions and actions is significantly inhibited     

Broadcasting and Sport

The broadcasting of sport is heavily regulated. Our main findingis that common trends, and differences, in the quality, quantity,and price of televised sport across Europe and USA cannot beadequately explained without reference to policy interventionsby national and supranational government, and by competitionand regulatory authorities. These interventions have a significantimpact on the organization and governance of sports, as wellas the structure of broadcasting markets and the conduct ofbroadcasting companies. Foreclosure of broadcasting marketsthrough exclusive, long-term contracts, bundling and verticalintegration, access of viewers to major sporting events, andcollective selling stand out as the most significant policyissues. We conclude by noting a number of policy implications.     

An Examination of the Interaction Between Modelling and Its Relationship with Construction Kits: Lessons from the Past and for the Future

Construction kits have played a significant part in nurturing the growth and development of the minds and manipulation-based skills of children (and adults) in formal and non-formal education settings. These kits have origins rooted in the representation of the built world and now have a diversity of form and function, including technical versions with moving parts. This article examines some of the historically based ideas that lie behind the role that kits may have in terms of physical modelling. The article traces the transformation of kits from simple bricks and blocks into more complicated pieces for space-filling and achieving the transfer of forces and motion. This transformation occurred during the Victorian era when the influence of the ideas of educationalists and, perhaps rather strangely, exponents of early aviation, played major roles in determining the diversity of forms of construction kit and modelled possibilities that are now to be seen in classrooms and homes. The article ends with a review of some of the lessons from the past and present that will need to be considered in relation to concrete modelling in schools for the future. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.