With three credited scriptwriters and five credited directors, the 1967 release of Casino Royale saw a gang of multifaceted James Bond 007s facing off against an army of…
Abstract
With three credited scriptwriters and five credited directors, the 1967 release of Casino Royale saw a gang of multifaceted James Bond 007s facing off against an army of beautiful, hypersexualised, personality-less female spies, headed by the real James Bond’s neurotic, insecure, American nephew Jimmy. Perhaps this wasn’t Fleming’s intended storyline for Bond’s first outing at Casino Royale, but the resulting parodic outing absorbed and commented upon some of the inherent gendered archetypes of Fleming’s work. What the 1967 Casino Royale accomplishes is a narrative which contrasts varieties of masculinity which are segmented forms of the masculinity defined by Fleming’s Bond. This chapter compares the masculinity of Bond developed in Fleming’s novel, before examining the representations of masculinity inherent within the four key male characters: Sir James Bond (David Niven), Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers), Cooper (Terence Cooper) and Dr Noah/Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen). By showing the depictions of masculine elements each of these characters embodies, along with the metanarrative elements of each performer’s persona, this chapter aims to identify how the 1967 Casino Royale both faithfully depicts the masculine elements of Bond while at the same time satirizing Bond’s particular brand of masculinity. This examination ultimately argues that this segmentation of Bondian masculinity is the core point of cohesion in a deeply incoherent, parodic film adaptation of Fleming’s novel.
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Charles J. Fornaciari, Bruce T. Lamont, Ben Mason and James J. Hoffman
Two views of organizational change dominate the management literature. The incremental view holds that organizations experience large‐scale strategic changes quite slowly while…
Abstract
Two views of organizational change dominate the management literature. The incremental view holds that organizations experience large‐scale strategic changes quite slowly while the revolutionary view proposes that organizations experience long periods of relatively little strategic variation punctuated by short, intense periods of major change. Commonalties among the two change theories provide the basis for a study of 101 businesses over a six year period. The research examines two theoretical implications: change is bimodally and discretely distributed and skewed toward incremental strategic change, and firms undergoing revolutionary strategic change will be more likely to experience simultaneous changes on multiple organizational dimensions than firms undergoing incremental strategic change. Consistent with Proposition 1, it was found that change is skewed toward incremental, but also that change is unimodal and continuously distributed, contrary to Proposition 1. Contrary to Proposition 2, revolutionary change on multiple dimensions was found to be rare.
Antonios Antoniou, Yilmaz Guney and Krishna Paudyal
This paper aims to investigate the determinants of choice between private and public debt for British and German listed companies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the determinants of choice between private and public debt for British and German listed companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on three strands of theories: the “liquidation and renegotiation” hypothesis; the “moral hazard and adverse selection” hypothesis; the “flotation cost” hypothesis. The regression analysis was adopted to test these hypotheses. The specific econometric method used for panel data is generalised method of moments (GMM).
Findings
The evidence records a few similarities in debt‐mix structure of German and UK firms but it also detects some important differences. Therefore, the paper concludes that the relation between dependent and explanatory variables is country‐dependent. This can be attributed to the differences in corporate governance mechanisms and institutional features of the countries.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation mainly has come from data unavailability for public debt. Future research could be to extend the number of countries to have a better idea for the impact of institutional factors on corporate debt‐mix.
Practical implications
The findings confirm that the debt ownership decision of listed firms is not only the result of their own characteristics but also the outcome of legal and financial environment and corporate governance traditions in which they operate. The way managers decide about the type of debt financing is not universal. Furthermore, the factors such as liquidation and renegotiation, moral hazard and adverse selection, flotation costs are found to be significantly relevant while deciding the mix of corporate debt.
Originality/value
This study offers a unique comparison of the evidence from a bank‐based economy (Germany) and a market‐based economy (UK) that should have direct implications on the choice between bank debt and public debt. Firms with a long‐run debt ownership target attain it through an adjustment process. The authors are not aware of any other study on debt ownership that controls for endogeneity using the GMM technique.
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Ian S. Watt, Nick Freemantle and James Mason
The purchasing role of health authorities has been in existence for twoyears and public health physicians are expected to play a central partwithin this role. While the first year…
Abstract
The purchasing role of health authorities has been in existence for two years and public health physicians are expected to play a central part within this role. While the first year was dedicated to maintaining a “steady state”, differences are now appearing between authorities in the way in which purchasing is managed. Based on the views of senior managers and public health physicians working in purchasing authorities, considers how the purchasing process is developing and reports how public health medicine is perceived to be contributing to it. Identifies sub‐regional resource allocation as a major factor influencing the purchasing process. Conflicting views were found on the purchasing role of public health medicine, in particular with respect to health needs assessment. As purchasing evolves it remains unclear whether public health medicine will come to fulfil a largely technical role, or a more wider one in which it acts as advocate for the population′s health.
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THE new library building has been open for six months now. It is pleasantly situated in an area of new buildings, and occupies a prominent island site just on the edge of the…
Abstract
THE new library building has been open for six months now. It is pleasantly situated in an area of new buildings, and occupies a prominent island site just on the edge of the shopping centre. The old library was in the middle of a shopping area, and it has been interesting to note that our removal from that site has had a more considerable effect on the traffic pattern than one would have thought.
Gary F. Sinden, James R. Mason, David G. Proverbs and Colin A. Booth
Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 introduced major changes to the way in which construction contracts are administered. The payment and…
Abstract
Purpose
Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 introduced major changes to the way in which construction contracts are administered. The payment and adjudication provisions, in particular, have been well received by the United Kingdom construction industry and can be viewed as a success. However, avoidance tactics aimed at reducing liability for payment and discouraging payees away from adjudication became commonplace. The response from Parliament is contained in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which came into force on 1 October 2011. The purpose of this paper is to analyse stakeholders’ first impressions of the new Act and disseminate the insights gained to the industry and policymakers.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a review of the current and proposed legislation, industry views were collected by an electronically administered survey. The views of construction industry stakeholders on how the new Act will operate and its prospects of delivering the intended outcomes were ascertained and are presented.
Findings
The survey findings indicate there is broad support for the original Act and for the amendments made in the new Act, tempered with pessimism about the likely inability of the new measures to address issues around entrenched industry practice. Avoidance and evasion of key terms is contemplated, for instance in relation to extending payment terms and drafting contracts in favour of the paying party.
Originality/value
The conclusions reached call into question the extent to which improvement of this aspect of the construction industry can be achieved by statutory intervention alone, particularly in testing economic circumstances.