The message from James Lowe's presentation at the FMF Conference came through loud and clear: the UK's performance in comparison with other EEC countries is grim. We are 7th in…
Abstract
The message from James Lowe's presentation at the FMF Conference came through loud and clear: the UK's performance in comparison with other EEC countries is grim. We are 7th in terms of comparative consumer spending; by 1976 our national income per head will be 7th (with only Italy and Ireland less than ours); and in the growth of private consumption per person, we are lowest. But in retail terms, we have a more advanced distribution industry than the other member countries, particularly in food. The efficiency of our large‐scale multiple organisations is unquestionable.
Postcards have been sold by the billions over the past 100 years or so, but you never would recognize their popularity by checking library holdings. Most libraries ignore them…
Abstract
Postcards have been sold by the billions over the past 100 years or so, but you never would recognize their popularity by checking library holdings. Most libraries ignore them, yet a reporter observed at the 1981 national poster and postcard show: “Postcard collection—a nostalgic pastime that has become a consuming passion for thousands of Americans—is more popular today than when picture postcards first caught on at the turn of the century.” Among the dealers of new cards, Kennard Harris says that “in the past five years there has been an explosion of museum postcard publishing and sales in this country.”
The management practices of three organisations in the computerindustry, one North American, one Japanese and one British owned aredescribed. Although operating in similar…
Abstract
The management practices of three organisations in the computer industry, one North American, one Japanese and one British owned are described. Although operating in similar marketplaces, markedly different management styles and practices were apparent, with the British company showing much less evidence of “human resource management” activities than the other two.
Details
Keywords
Jonathan Morris, James Lowe and Barry Wilkinson
The Japanization debate in the UK has moved considerably since first mooted in 1987. On the one hand academics ‐ advocates as well as sceptics ‐ have questioned its continued…
Abstract
The Japanization debate in the UK has moved considerably since first mooted in 1987. On the one hand academics ‐ advocates as well as sceptics ‐ have questioned its continued usefulness as an analytical framework. On the other, there has been greater sophistication, refinement and clarity on what is being studied, and particularly surrounding aspects of the transferability of the Japanese model. This paper reports on a study of production supervisors in Japanese transplants in the UK, and data from emulating or comparable non‐Japanese owned organizations. It also draws on comparative data from Japan and North America. The study focuses on two industries ‐ consumer electronics and autos ‐ and uses a variety of methodologies.
Details
Keywords
Nick Oliver, Rick Delbridge and James Lowe
This paper reports the findings of a study into 12 UK and nine Japanese automotive component plants. Compared to the UK plants, the Japanese plants showed a 60 per cent…
Abstract
This paper reports the findings of a study into 12 UK and nine Japanese automotive component plants. Compared to the UK plants, the Japanese plants showed a 60 per cent superiority on productivity and a 9:1 superiority in quality. Detailed examination of work structures on the shopfloor revealed that UK plants devolve more responsibility to operators for activities such as quality monitoring and improvement, work allocation and work pace determination than the Japanese plants do. This implies that key aspects of the Japanese model may have been misrepresented in the Japanization debate.
Details
Keywords
Richard Delbridge, James Lowe and Nick Oliver
Benchmarking is a topic which is currently attracting considerableinterest among both academics and practitioners in the manufacturingcommunity. Yet little has been written about…
Abstract
Benchmarking is a topic which is currently attracting considerable interest among both academics and practitioners in the manufacturing community. Yet little has been written about the assumptions which lie behind benchmarking. As a process, benchmarking remains poorly understood. Describes a benchmarking study in the auto components industry, and makes a preliminary attempt to identify the principles of good practice in benchmarking.
Details
Keywords
Even though companies are loading themselves up with the full TQM armoury, the benefits do not always appear to match the effort. One of the main reasons for this is a reluctance…
Abstract
Even though companies are loading themselves up with the full TQM armoury, the benefits do not always appear to match the effort. One of the main reasons for this is a reluctance by senior management to inspire and empower their first‐line managers and supervisors.
This study aims to understand independence in internal auditing by investigating how internal auditor independence is constructed when analysed in its corporate governance context.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand independence in internal auditing by investigating how internal auditor independence is constructed when analysed in its corporate governance context.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the corporate governance reports of Swedish large stock market listed non-financial companies, for three consecutive years, is undertaken, using a theoretical lens of organisational embeddedness and operational coupling to understand independence as a situated practice.
Findings
The study develops four archetypes of internal auditor independence – autarchic, instrumental, symbiotic and subservient – and discusses each archetype's implications for independence, related to tripartite relations with management and the audit committee, regarding who has the mandate to direct work and how the work is done. It finds that internal auditors always have a capacity to be independent. Although they are not independent in relation to agents in the subservient archetype, they are independent of those down the organisational chain of command, suggesting independence is both situational and relational.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis contributes a novel approach to the literature and develops a conception of independence using the dimensions of embeddedness and coupling. The archetypes offer an analytical framework for future studies on independence.
Practical implications
Internal auditors may understand their practice differently through the archetypes that result from this study.
Social implications
Internal auditors' power relations within corporate governance further an understanding of the pressures on internal auditors and their role.
Originality/value
This study contributes new knowledge on the situatedness of independence by showing how internal auditors are embedded and coupled helps build their independence.
Details
Keywords
Although it was ordained in the Beginning, we are told, that mankind should have dominion over the fish of the sea, it is only within comparatively recent times that the ocean has…
Abstract
Although it was ordained in the Beginning, we are told, that mankind should have dominion over the fish of the sea, it is only within comparatively recent times that the ocean has provided man with that very substantial proportion of his food supply now deriving from this source. More and still greater weights of fish are taken from the sea each year, but the food requirements of a hungry world are increasing too, at a rate that is a persistent source of alarm to many, so that any design or device that may decrease wastage and thus expand the quantities of food available, must be given careful thought and consideration. The case for utilising aureomycin or some other antibiotic to reduce fish spoilage has a not unreasonable aspect, but at this year's conference of the Public Health Inspectors' Association, Mr. John D. Syme, who is Chief Port Health Inspector at Grimsby, and should therefore know something about the fishing industry, came out fairly strongly against the idea; he feared it might cause a lowering of standards of hygiene on fishing vessels, and although the duration of voyages could be lengthened, he doubted whether in the long run the condition of the fish on landing would show any improvement. He regarded the step proposed as retrograde and contrary to the generally accepted trend of recent years toward the production of purer food and the elimination of preservatives as far as possible.
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the real estate development and community interaction aspects of US shopping malls. The existing research on shopping mall development and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the real estate development and community interaction aspects of US shopping malls. The existing research on shopping mall development and redevelopment can more comprehensively address the importance of malls to the communities in which they are located. Existing shopping mall research focuses on lease valuation, tenant location, retail agglomeration economies, retail demand externalities and intangible asset value. Largely, neglected areas of research are the community and economic contributions of shopping malls. These are critical issues given the age of shopping malls worldwide, the need for adjacent area redevelopment and requirement of large public subsidies for infrastructure construction.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates the critical role of shopping malls as town centres and catalysts for area development and redevelopment. A review of the existing research on shopping malls and retail economic contributions to communities is addressed along with how mall redevelopment can be a catalyst for the revitalization of urban core and suburban areas. Methodology on the measurement of shopping centre economic and employment impacts using input/output (IO) modelling is reviewed and analysed.
Findings
IO modelling is an effective tool to evaluate publically supported infrastructure to accompany shopping mall and retail redevelopment. As an example of an IO analysis of construction and mall operations economic impacts, the paper presents a case study of the proposed $2 billion Mall of America (Bloomington, Minnesota) expansion employing IO modelling.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates the community benefits and economic justification for public support for mall revitalization and provides a reliable analytical tool for quantifying the benefits of mall redevelopment to the community.