Considers the increasing use of GIS (geographic informationsystems) as a part of mainstream IT, particularly in the field ofcommercial property. Presents a case study…
Abstract
Considers the increasing use of GIS (geographic information systems) as a part of mainstream IT, particularly in the field of commercial property. Presents a case study implementation of a GIS in chartered surveyors′ offices. Concludes that uptake of GIS depends on the sophistication of surveyors′ IT strategies, as well as the cost and availability of map data and improved access to property data.
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D.G. Brian Jones and Alan J. Richardson
The aim of this study is to explore the attempts by early twentieth century cyclecar manufacturers in the UK and USA to segment the personal transportation market and to position…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to explore the attempts by early twentieth century cyclecar manufacturers in the UK and USA to segment the personal transportation market and to position early cyclecars through the development of unique product attributes and advertising. More specifically, the authors speculate about early twentieth century British cyclecar marketing strategies that implicitly recognized a sports car segment and positioned cyclecar brands to meet the needs of that segment.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary source material for this research is a sample of 205 print ads and articles from the early twentieth century (1912-1921) specialty magazines devoted to cyclecars in the UK and USA. We combine the content analysis of the sample of ads with a critical reading and interpretation of a sub-sample of those same ads.
Findings
Between 1910 and 1921, a new form of personal transportation was developed that combined the technology of motorcycles with the utility of automobiles. Known as “cyclecars”, these vehicles were typically constructed from off-the-shelf motorcycle parts and assembled in small batches by a myriad of manufacturers. Current scholarship suggests that the cyclecar craze of the 1910s ended with the introduction of low cost “real” automobiles such as the Ford Model T, Austin 7 and Morris Oxford. We use the content analysis of cyclecar advertisements to construct a brand-positioning map of this emerging segment of the transportation market. We argue that while the core cyclecar positioning was in direct competition with small economically positioned cars such as the Ford Model T, a significant part of the market, primarily centered in the UK, could be considered as for sports cars. That segment of the cyclecar market, along with the development of cyclecars into urban delivery vehicles, continued over time and has re-emerged today in a range of three-wheeled sports cars, including the updating and continuation of the British Morgan 3 Wheeler model which was launched during the heyday of cyclecars.
Research limitations/implications
The authors can only speculate about the impact of the Ford Model T in this study. Further research on that issue is needed.
Originality/value
This is the first historical study of cyclecar marketing. Most of what little has been published about cyclecars focuses on their design and technology.
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Patricia Stanton and John Stanton
General purpose financial reporting by Australian government entities is claimed to be in the public interest, providing users with information to monitor use of government…
Abstract
General purpose financial reporting by Australian government entities is claimed to be in the public interest, providing users with information to monitor use of government resources and to make resource allocation decisions. This study argues that these claims to economic usefulness cannot be discharged by the financial reporting procedures. The requirements of the government accounting standard are analysed, the suitability of its neo‐classical economic foundations questioned, and the translation of economic concepts into accounting practice criticised. The inclusion and valuation of public heritage assets and stewardship lands in statements of financial position are shown to require a subjective estimate of the future economic benefits of such assets, whilst ignoring the social, institutional and legal environment. The paper concludes that accounting’s use of the economic concept of value is inadequate and unreliable. Application of the government accounting standard will result in information which reflects neither the financial nor the economic position of the reporting entity.
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Neo‐classical economic theory provides the framework for general purpose financial reports prepared by Australian government departments and their agencies. These reports, which…
Abstract
Neo‐classical economic theory provides the framework for general purpose financial reports prepared by Australian government departments and their agencies. These reports, which include a statement of financial position (financial worth) and an operating statement (an estimate of the return on the investment), have an economic rationale: the information is intended to guide the allocation of scarce government resources. All government assets, including those held for their cultural, historical or environmental values (heritage assets) are to be valued utilizing the neo‐classical theory of value. Argues that the accounting exercise is flawed. Measurement of value‐in‐use or value‐in‐exchange of heritage assets is inherently subjective, ignoring institutional conditions and non‐use values. The accounting approach fails to measure either the service value or economic benefits of governmental heritage assets. Consequently, the information generated is inconsistent with the economic rationale and the valuation process may prejudice any assessment of the performance of entities responsible for these assets. There is a strong case for either widening the concept of value to include non‐use values or abandoning the measurement of heritage assets.
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This outline paper stems from the shared interest of a criminologist and a scholar in business organisation in the problem of responsibility in the large and complex modern…
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This outline paper stems from the shared interest of a criminologist and a scholar in business organisation in the problem of responsibility in the large and complex modern corporation. For the criminologist, this has a particular significance in the context of corporate crime; for the student of management, it opens up questions of decision making and control. For both, it raises considerations of business ethics as well as the function of law in regulating business practice. In particular, there is the central question of how an organisation can, per se, be held criminally liable, without the present requirement in English law, of identifying a ‘controlling mind’ Within it.
Since the late 1970s there have been a number of articles devotedto re‐evaluating the issues and arguments involved in the debateconcerning comparative economic systems. The…
Abstract
Since the late 1970s there have been a number of articles devoted to re‐evaluating the issues and arguments involved in the debate concerning comparative economic systems. The present state of this continuing debate is evaluated with regard to modern theories of planning, bureaucracy, motivation and property rights. It appears that the debate has not been settled yet.
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C. F. Abel and Karen Kunz
This chapter explores the challenges presented to public organizations by neoliberal thinking and the acceptance of the neoliberal capitalist agenda. Demonstrably, severe…
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This chapter explores the challenges presented to public organizations by neoliberal thinking and the acceptance of the neoliberal capitalist agenda. Demonstrably, severe economic, political, and social dislocations are the result. Nevertheless, neoliberal influence remains and intensifies. We argue that this counterintuitive result is not grounded in either instrumental or theoretical merit but in the creation and dissemination of certain identifiable memes. The chapter proceeds with a critical examination of current neoliberal memes, an appraisal of their impact on government, society and economics, and the derivation of alternative memes from a Smithian perspective on political economy. Based on this critique and the derived memes, the chapter offers suggestions for a pragmatic cultural and administrative praxis that promise not only to moderate the influence of neoliberal memes and to mitigate tendencies for the propagation of new disadvantageous memeplexes, but also to avert the problems associated with the traditional distrust of government agencies and their top-down, disengaged, technical, and expert-driven solutions.
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A number of attempts have been made to develop theories in operations management (OM) (e.g. trade‐off theory by Skinner, customer‐contact model by Chase and Tansik…
Abstract
A number of attempts have been made to develop theories in operations management (OM) (e.g. trade‐off theory by Skinner, customer‐contact model by Chase and Tansik, product‐process matrix by Hayes and Wheelwright). Researchers in OM acknowledge that there is no widely‐accepted theory on which OM rests or which serves as a unified OM theory to integrate existing theory‐like principles or informal theories. Constraints management (CM) has been developed over the past 20 years by consultants and practitioners but has received little attention from OM researchers. The authors believe that constraints management may serve as a broad theory within operations that will allow integration of a great deal of existing OM research. The main objectives of this paper are to propose a construct, throughput orientation, discuss its core dimensions, and develop a theoretical model of CM. The paper also suggests several hypotheses that might be empirically tested to establish CM as a recognized theory in the field of operations management. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.
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The purpose of the present paper is to test this premise of no positive obligations against a challenging critique that can be made of it. To wit, abandonment of babies. That is…
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The purpose of the present paper is to test this premise of no positive obligations against a challenging critique that can be made of it. To wit, abandonment of babies. That is, does the mother who abandons her baby have the positive obligation to at least place it “on the church steps”, e.g. notify all other potential care givers of the fact that unless one of them comes forward with an offer to take in the infant, it will die? If so, then there is at least one positive obligation in the libertarian philosophy; if not, then, at least at the outset, the libertarian claim to be generally utilitarian must be greatly attenuated. At best, there would now be an exception to the previously impermeable principle of no positive obligations; at worst, one exception tends to leads another, posing the risk that the premise will be fatally compromised, which can undermine the entire philosophical edifice.