Rethinking the concept of community of practice in relation to schoolteachers’ workplace learning

This paper explores two different ways of understanding communities of practice in relation to workplace learning. This is based upon a case study of secondary school teachers working and learning in four subject departments in two English schools. In spite of institutional similarities, the cultures and working practices of the departments were different, and influenced the learning of the workers significantly. In such contexts, a tight conceptualisation of community of practice can form a valuable intermediate scale of analysis, between the individual learner and wider organisational influences on learning. However, communities of practice can also have a valuable meaning in relation to the wider influences and in situations where close‐knit groupings do not exist.     

An economic analysis of sheep flock structures for mixed enterprise Australian farm businesses

A strategic question facing many mixed enterprise broadacre farm businesses in Australia is, ‘What sheep flock size and structure is most profitable to complement the farm’s cropping enterprises?' This study answers this question for a typical large mixed enterprise farm business in a key production region of Australia. Whole‐farm bioeconomic modelling, combined with broad‐ranging sensitivity analysis, is used to examine the profitability of different sheep flock structures and sizes. We find the most profitable flock structure is to run Merino ewes and turn off finished Merino or first‐cross lambs. The profitable selection of these flocks is robust to commodity price variation but does require the farmer to give more attention to sheep management. The correct choice of flock structure greatly adds to farm profit. A farm based on cropping and a self‐replacing Merino flock using surplus ewes for first‐cross, meat lamb production earns 33 per cent more profit than a similar farm that runs a traditional self‐replacing Merino flock that emphasises wool production. Of far less importance than flock structure, as a source of additional profit, is to increase flock size or adjust cropping intensity.     

Intoxicants and the invention of ‘consumption’

In 1600 the word ‘consumption’ was a term of medical pathology describing the ‘wasting, petrification of things’. By 1700 it was also a term of economic discourse: ‘In commodities, the value rises as its quantity is less and vent greater, which depends upon it being preferred in its consumption’. The article traces the emergence of this key category of economic analysis to debates over the economy in the 1620s and subsequent disputes over the excise tax, showing how ‘consumption’ was an early term in the developing lexicon of political economy. In so doing the article demonstrates the important role of ‘intoxicants’—that is, addictive and intoxicating commodities like alcohols and tobaccos—in shaping these early meanings and uses of ‘consumption’. It outlines the discursive importance of intoxicants, both as the foci for discussions of ‘superfluous’ and ‘necessary’ consumption and the target of legislation on consumption. It argues that while these discussions had an ideological dimension, or dimensions, they were also responses to material increases in the volume and diversity of intoxicants in early seventeenth-century England. By way of conclusion the article suggests the significance of the Low Countries as a point of reference for English writers, as well as a more capacious and semantically sensitive approach to changes in early modern consumption practices.     

Transition Therapeutics inc.*

Transition Therapeutics Inc. (Transition) and Waratah Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Waratah) are two publicly traded biopharmaceutical Canadian companies. In October 2001, Transition and Waratah announced that they had agreed to combine their respective businesses, assets, and operations. The business combination will be effected through an exchange of equity interests. The case unfolds before special shareholders' meetings for approval of the arrangement. Management is preparing the joint management information circular, which should include pro forma consolidated financial statements. However, many issues should be addressed to account for the business combination, and decisions on these issues might affect the accounting treatment as well as pro forma financial information. Note: Teaching Notes for instructional cases are not published in the journal but are made available to full CAAA member subscribers in a password‐protected area of the CAAA website. Go to https://www.caaa.ca/en/journals-and-research/accounting-perspectives-ap/teaching-notes/ to log in and access the notes.     

How much is that doggie in the window? Machiavellian reflections on dog regulation

The article recounts the storey of the “Eulogy of the Dog” first given by George Vest in 1870 in a court case in defence of the noble animal and friend. It highlights the unselfishness of the noble creature and its support for mankind. Regulating for Consumption with Bite is then reviewed and a future research agenda highlighted for the appreciation of canines and their human companion relationships. The article raises concern about the increasing consumption of dog meat for food and the lack of caring animal regulation in much of Asia and Africa. The article argues for effective pressure group activity internationally to ensure Old Drum does not end up on somebody's plate.     

‘An assembly line in the head’: work and employee relations in the call centre

To date, academic studies of the call centre ‘sector’ remain limited in scope. Here the authors attempt to remedy that omission by analysing the recent and spectacular growth of call centres in the UK, drawing on a wide variety of sources, including two extensive surveys of developments in Scotland during 1997.     

Spot and forward markets for natural gas: The effects of state regulation

Since the emergence of a spot market in natural gas in 1984, state regulators have been concerned that regulated utilities would fail to choose between contracts and spot purchases in a way that minimizes costs. Grounds for this concern are shown, under two alternative rate structures, in a model where regulation produces ex post profit and loss restrictions. Two policy resolutions to the problem are suggested, one that uses an alternative mechanism for triggering rate reviews, allowing the substitution of ex ante for ex post profit and loss restrictions, and one that exploits the special structure of gas markets within the context of traditional regulatory practice.     

Gender,choice and constraint in call centre employment

This paper examines the genderised experience of employment in call centres. While existing studies have acknowledged structural and agential constraints on women in the workplace, this paper goes further by illustrating the gendered nature of career choice and progression in a context which, in certain respects, appears to have benefitted women's desires for advancement. Drawing on quantitative and in‐depth qualitative data from four Scottish call centres, the study provides evidence of gender inequality shaped by structural and ideological workplace and household constraints.     

Diffusing 'best practice' in multinational firms: prospects,practice and contestation

This article explores the possibilities and problems of transferring best practice within multinational enterprises. Following a discussion of the literature on the transfer of best practice, we draw on a case study of ABB to highlight some of the issues and problems involved. In particular, we focus on the use of benchmarking as a powerful tool for the diffusion of best practice in ABB. We conclude that under certain conditions the case for the transfer of best practice within multinational enterprises is relatively sound and that the use of internal benchmarking can be a highly effective method of producing such organizational change. However, any form of diffusion has to take into account (a) the local cultural and institutional context and (b) the ability and incentive of local managers to implement best practice.