Search results

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

I expect most of us recall from our school days lessons which we enjoyed and lessons which bored us. I expect, too, that we have attempted to rationalise the reasons for our resulting feelings. Perhaps one such reason was that for some lessons we could see the applicability of our studies to the world outside school, whereas in others we seemed to be studying mainly theory — and that in a bit of a vacuum. This leads me to suggest that one of the first reasons for the success of Link Courses has been the introduction of a more practical element to the curricula of many thousands of schoolchildren.

The main focus of this chapter is to explore whether ecological utopias are capable of providing a useful contribution to our quest for an ecologically responsible future and sustainable society, and in what specific ways. I shall develop a model of ecological utopias as a distant point of orientation, or as a ‘navigational compass’. In this model ecotopias may gradually influence the course of concrete decision making in the direction of a future sustainable society. In this context, a strategic issue to be confronted by the green movement is to look for an eco-friendly view on ‘the good life’ and the ‘art of living’. The basic dimensions of a sustainable lifestyle and an utopian inspired ecological ‘art of living’ are that society's focus should be shifted from ‘having’ to ‘being’, and to find a balanced configuration of the vita activa: action, work and labour. It is also vital to find forms of hedonism which are independent of mass consumerism, to relate our material consumption to our ecological footprints in systematic ways, and to cultivate ecological virtues and moral character.

The improvement in the quality of commercially packed foods made by the Food Preserving Industry in this country during the last five years has doubtless been greater than in the preceding twenty years. This progress has been due in no small measure to the work and advanced leadership of the Association of State and National Food and Dairy Departments.

Long before calories and joules were used to indicate energy values in relation to food, popular belief had it that some foods could increase man's output of labour, his physical strength and endurance, even his fertility. The nature of the foods varied over the years. From earliest times, flesh foods have inspired men to “gird their loins” and “put on armour”, but too long at the feasting tables produced sloth of body and spirit. Hunger sharpens the wit, which makes one wonder if that oft‐quoted statement of poverty and hunger before the Great War—“children too hungry learn”—was quite true; it is now so long ago for most of us to remember. Thetruism “An army marches on its stomach” related to food in general and relating feats of strength to individual foods is something more difficult to prove. The brawny Scot owes little to his porridge; the toiling Irish labourer moves mountains of earth, not from the beef steaks he claims to consume, but for the size of the pay‐packet at the end of the week!

This paper seeks to analyze the evolution of shift in the area of operations management (OM) and attempts to anticipate potential developments in the relevant areas of OM.

A hybrid approach is adopted to understand how the field of OM has evolved over time relying on the perspectives of both academics and business practitioners. This evolution of shift in the area of OM is examined based on a thorough literature review and the authors’ industrial experience.

From the days of functional point solutions relying on concepts like reorder point to finite capacity planning, OM research at present deals with a set of important problems facing both private and public sectors at the organizational level. Most prominent of these include e‐business, supply chain management, production planning and scheduling, product development, decision support systems, information‐based strategy, systems development and implementation, risk and environmental management. OM has also embraced several organization‐wide philosophies including lean production, mass customization and agile manufacturing.

With the advent of Internet and burgeoning of the new economy, this paper provides important insights regarding the evolution of OM in the past, recent developments at present and what the future holds for this field. It is envisaged that a focus on the issues central to OM will soon propel both researchers and industry practitioners beyond existing technologies and also provide the catalyst for developing new ones.

This paper provides useful insights to both researchers and practitioners who are interested in the field of OM.

The whole kingdom from north to south at the time of writing is enveloped in freezing Arctic weather, reminiscent of the North Russian campaign of long ago. The normal winter is relatively mild, mainly a Westerly pattern, occasionally wild and windy, wet with a rare cold “snap”. There are variations in the pattern, damp and warm in the south‐west, few frosts and rarely any snow; in the north of the country, Scotland, much colder, with the south‐east partaking of the weather pattern of the land mass of the Continent. The variations appear more of the mild weather in the South and colder, appreciably, in the North; recalling service personnel stationed at Gosport who did not need an overcoat all winter, whereas in the North, many found it necessary to wear a light overcoat tor most of the year, the south‐east corner of England, obtaining no help from the warming Gulf Stream, often gets the worst of the weather, which it has done to a very considerable extent in this winter.

The Overseas Chinese, the Chinese Commonwealth, or the Chinese Web, consists of companies formed by Chinese who are found outside of China and inside other countries, such as, the United States, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. These Chinese entrepreneurs work under a set of familial, cultural, and relationship values. They help one another and protect each others businesses. Non‐Chinese companies are now realising the potential growth of this unofficial Chinese economy. This network was first formed by family relationships. However, foreign companies outside this web may find it easier to enter by linking themselves into joint ventures, marriages, political opportunities or just by having some common culture. This Chinese economy is starting to grow approximately by 5% each year. These Chinese entrepreneurs are not cluttered in a single region, as it is in the case of North America, Europe, and Japan. But yet, these potential marketers are failing to realise the importance and the power of this growing economy.

The estimated population of the City of Madras at the present time is about one million. This fact alone, considered in relation to public health, speaks for itself. The Public Analyst for the city, who has drawn up this report, acts under the Madras Prevention of Adulteration Act, 1918. The Act, therefore, has been operative for about thirty years. Two graphs are given in the report. One of these shows the number of samples of foods submitted by, it may be supposed, officials corresponding to our food inspectors, each year from 1931 to 1948. The other shows the percentage of samples returned as adulterated for the years 1931 to 1948. From the first graph it appears that the number of samples submitted was about 750 in 1931. In 1948 the number rose to 4,035. From 1931 to 1946 the rise on the whole was steady. From 1946 it was rapid—2,000 in 1946. The curve which expresses the percentage of samples returned as adulterated seems to bear little relation to the first curve. It is most irregular. During the first three or four years the rate of adulteration kept pace with the number of samples collected for analysis. We may suppose that milk is as necessary a constituent of food in Madras as it is elsewhere. Out of the 4,035 samples of food analysed in 1948, 2,054 were milk samples. Out of these 915 were cows‘ milk. The rest consisted of buffalos’ milk or a mixture of cow and buffalo milk, and a number were unspecified. Added water, in nearly every case, was the offence. This ranged from 2 per cent to 81 per cent. Nearly half the cows‘ milk was reported against; half the buffalos’ milk; and about 45 per cent of the mixed milk. If these figures be a measure of the efficiency of the Act of 1918 so far as it relates to the purity of the milk supply the statute would seem to be almost a dead letter. Admittedly many circumstances, especially at the present time, are responsible for the nature and extent of food adulteration in any given district, and these would lead to the unsatisfactory nature of the results just referred to. However, it is suggested that a powerful contributory cause is the inadequacy of the average fine that is inflicted for the offence of food adulteration. In 1944 this was Rs. 59. In 1948 it was Rs. 43, a drop of nearly 25 per cent. “ Let the punishment fit the crime.” The collection and analysis of samples is plainly in the nature of futility unless it be followed by correspondingly vigorous action on the part of the courts against proved offenders. The report remarks: “ Unless a more serious view of offences under the Food Adulteration Act is taken and the maximum penalties provided under the Act are imposed the good effect of increased sampling will be annulled, and much progress cannot be made of effectively suppressing the evil practice of adulteration in the city.” Other samples of foods were analysed and details of the results are given in the report. These show in many cases deliberate, heavy and unscrupulous adulteration which is, unfortunately, but too evident in the milk supply of the city.