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Economic analysis of markets and games
Book Reviews some of the expected changes is usefully reviewed in Telework: Towards the Elusive Ofice, URSULA Huws, WERNER B. KORTE and SIMON ROBINSON, John Wiley (1990), 276 pp., El8.95 (soft).
Innovation Strategy, ALAN WEST, Prentice Q6.95.
Hall (1992), 214 pp.,
A basic introduction to using innovation to gain competitive advantage through its integration into the strategic planning process. The kind of book that should be widely read in all organizations these days.
Servicing International Markets: Competitive Strategies of Firms, PETERJ. BUCKLEY, C. L. PASS and KATE PRESCOIT, Blackwell (1992) 336 pp., E45.00. Emphasizes the importance of effective management of the competitive process and the need for firms to develop a longterm and flexible approach to international operations. Part of a series of studies commissioned by the U.K. Economic and Social Research Council concerned with the competitiveness and regeneration of British industry. Full of detail but the essential elements relevant to managers are relatively obvious. Pity these studies are not less academically driven. The same general comments also apply to the six papers in New Directions in International Business: Research Prioritiesfor the 19904 PETERJ. BUCKLEY (Ed.), Edward Elgar (1992), 134 pp., A32.50. Just to show that the other side of the Atlantic has no monopoly on the theoretical approach is Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy, GENE M. GROSSMAN and ELHANAN HELPMAN, The MIT Press (1992), 359 pp., A21.25, which attempts to develop theoretical models that enable innovation to be treated as the outgrowth of investments in industrial research. Full of maths, with very few actual figures. Only for the specialist. A practical survey of the issues associated with internalization, aimed at managers, is Creating the Global Company, COLIN COULSON-THOMAS, McGraw-Hill (1992), 401 pp., A29.95. But no mention of corruption, or ethics, in the index; those readers genuinely concerned with the realities of international business would be well advised to take on board the contents of The Ethics of International Business, THOMAS DONALDSON, Oxford University Press (1989), 196 pp., A13.95. Claimed to be the first book-length treatment of the moral nature of international business but, unfortunately, the presentation of this is also more aimed at the academic, rather than practitioner, audience. However, it is useful to attempt to apply the ideas contained in the book to the explosion of new examples available over the past few years. The author is a Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University.
Economic Analysis of Markets and Games, PARTA DASGUPTA, DOUGLAS GALE, OLIVER HART and ERIC MASKIN (Eds), The MIT Press (1992), 640 pp., A58.50. Twenty-seven largely mathematical/theoretical papers that are likely only to be of interest to the specialist; despite the publishers claiming: ‘many of the essays in this book are motivated by practical concerns about unemployment, savings and investment, poverty, or the stability of markets.’ A more managerially focused study of how to use game theory to inject more science into the art of business decision-taking is
143
Games, Strategies and Managers: How managers can use game theory to make better business decisions,JOHN MCMILLAN, Oxford University Press (1992), 252 pp., Al5.00. The case for economists rethinking their role and professional assumptions is well argued in Business Organization and the Myth of the Market Economy, WILLIAM LAZONICK, Cambridge University Press (1992), 372 pp., A24.95. Although written primarily for an academic audience, it makes a good read for anyone wanting to participate in that important debate. A basic industrial economics textbook is provided by Zndustrial Growth and Structural Change, Organisation: Competition, KENNETH D. GEORGE, CAROLINEJOLL and E. L. LYNK (Ed.) And a brief introduction to business-orientated macroeconomics is contained in The Macroeconomy: A Guide for Business, KEITH CUTHBERTSONand PETER GRIPAIOS, Routledge (1993), Second edition, 152 pp., Q2.99. While some more esoteric issues, such as ‘the relations between power and discursive practices in the modern corporation and the construction of pleasure as a potentially subversive and emancipatory force in organizational life’ are explored in the 10 papers in Critical Management Studies, MATS ALVESSON and HUGH WILLMOT (Eds), Sage Publications (1992), 230 pp., El I .95.
Human Services as Complex Organizations, FELD (Ed.), Sage (1992), 400 pp., AI7.50.
YEHESKEL HASEN-
Seventeen papers that provide a perspective of human services as complex organizations. Many useful insights but written primarily for an academic audience. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the eight papers in both Skill and Consent: Contemporary Studies in the Labour Process, ANDREW STURDY, DAVID KNIGHTS and HUGH WILLMOTT (Eds), Routledge (1992), 263 pp., A35.00 (hard), AI4.99 (soft) and Labour in Transition: The Labour Process in Eastern Europe and China, CHRIS SMITH and PAUL THOMPSON, (Eds), Routledge (1992), 266 pp., L35.00 (hard), Al4.99 (soft).
Corporate Takeovers and Productivity, FRANK R. LICHTENBERG, The MIT Press (1992), 153 pp., A26.95. Concludes that 1980s U.S. takeovers significantly reduced the employment of white-collar workers and that industrial consolidation was one source of productivity gains. But leveraged buyouts and foreign mergers and acquisitions followed a different pattern. This largely statistical approach could be usefully complemented by a book of individual casestudies. The overall results are not suprising, but it is surprising how often old truths in this area have to be relearned the hard way.
Mergers fi Acquisitions: The Human Factor, SUE CARTWRIGHT and CARY L. COOPER, Butterworth-Heinemann (1992), 255 pp., A25.00. Most mergers fail because insufficient attention has been given to this vital area. Those concerned with M & A could save millions by taking more notice of the points made in this useful book.
Innovation Strategy, ALAN WEST, Prentice Q6.95.
Hall (1992), 214 pp.,
A basic introduction to using innovation to gain competitive advantage through its integration into the strategic planning process. The kind of book that should be widely read in all organizations these days.
Servicing International Markets: Competitive Strategies of Firms, PETERJ. BUCKLEY, C. L. PASS and KATE PRESCOIT, Blackwell (1992) 336 pp., E45.00. Emphasizes the importance of effective management of the competitive process and the need for firms to develop a longterm and flexible approach to international operations. Part of a series of studies commissioned by the U.K. Economic and Social Research Council concerned with the competitiveness and regeneration of British industry. Full of detail but the essential elements relevant to managers are relatively obvious. Pity these studies are not less academically driven. The same general comments also apply to the six papers in New Directions in International Business: Research Prioritiesfor the 19904 PETERJ. BUCKLEY (Ed.), Edward Elgar (1992), 134 pp., A32.50. Just to show that the other side of the Atlantic has no monopoly on the theoretical approach is Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy, GENE M. GROSSMAN and ELHANAN HELPMAN, The MIT Press (1992), 359 pp., A21.25, which attempts to develop theoretical models that enable innovation to be treated as the outgrowth of investments in industrial research. Full of maths, with very few actual figures. Only for the specialist. A practical survey of the issues associated with internalization, aimed at managers, is Creating the Global Company, COLIN COULSON-THOMAS, McGraw-Hill (1992), 401 pp., A29.95. But no mention of corruption, or ethics, in the index; those readers genuinely concerned with the realities of international business would be well advised to take on board the contents of The Ethics of International Business, THOMAS DONALDSON, Oxford University Press (1989), 196 pp., A13.95. Claimed to be the first book-length treatment of the moral nature of international business but, unfortunately, the presentation of this is also more aimed at the academic, rather than practitioner, audience. However, it is useful to attempt to apply the ideas contained in the book to the explosion of new examples available over the past few years. The author is a Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University.
Economic Analysis of Markets and Games, PARTA DASGUPTA, DOUGLAS GALE, OLIVER HART and ERIC MASKIN (Eds), The MIT Press (1992), 640 pp., A58.50. Twenty-seven largely mathematical/theoretical papers that are likely only to be of interest to the specialist; despite the publishers claiming: ‘many of the essays in this book are motivated by practical concerns about unemployment, savings and investment, poverty, or the stability of markets.’ A more managerially focused study of how to use game theory to inject more science into the art of business decision-taking is
143
Games, Strategies and Managers: How managers can use game theory to make better business decisions,JOHN MCMILLAN, Oxford University Press (1992), 252 pp., Al5.00. The case for economists rethinking their role and professional assumptions is well argued in Business Organization and the Myth of the Market Economy, WILLIAM LAZONICK, Cambridge University Press (1992), 372 pp., A24.95. Although written primarily for an academic audience, it makes a good read for anyone wanting to participate in that important debate. A basic industrial economics textbook is provided by Zndustrial Growth and Structural Change, Organisation: Competition, KENNETH D. GEORGE, CAROLINEJOLL and E. L. LYNK (Ed.) And a brief introduction to business-orientated macroeconomics is contained in The Macroeconomy: A Guide for Business, KEITH CUTHBERTSONand PETER GRIPAIOS, Routledge (1993), Second edition, 152 pp., Q2.99. While some more esoteric issues, such as ‘the relations between power and discursive practices in the modern corporation and the construction of pleasure as a potentially subversive and emancipatory force in organizational life’ are explored in the 10 papers in Critical Management Studies, MATS ALVESSON and HUGH WILLMOT (Eds), Sage Publications (1992), 230 pp., El I .95.
Human Services as Complex Organizations, FELD (Ed.), Sage (1992), 400 pp., AI7.50.
YEHESKEL HASEN-
Seventeen papers that provide a perspective of human services as complex organizations. Many useful insights but written primarily for an academic audience. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the eight papers in both Skill and Consent: Contemporary Studies in the Labour Process, ANDREW STURDY, DAVID KNIGHTS and HUGH WILLMOTT (Eds), Routledge (1992), 263 pp., A35.00 (hard), AI4.99 (soft) and Labour in Transition: The Labour Process in Eastern Europe and China, CHRIS SMITH and PAUL THOMPSON, (Eds), Routledge (1992), 266 pp., L35.00 (hard), Al4.99 (soft).
Corporate Takeovers and Productivity, FRANK R. LICHTENBERG, The MIT Press (1992), 153 pp., A26.95. Concludes that 1980s U.S. takeovers significantly reduced the employment of white-collar workers and that industrial consolidation was one source of productivity gains. But leveraged buyouts and foreign mergers and acquisitions followed a different pattern. This largely statistical approach could be usefully complemented by a book of individual casestudies. The overall results are not suprising, but it is surprising how often old truths in this area have to be relearned the hard way.
Mergers fi Acquisitions: The Human Factor, SUE CARTWRIGHT and CARY L. COOPER, Butterworth-Heinemann (1992), 255 pp., A25.00. Most mergers fail because insufficient attention has been given to this vital area. Those concerned with M & A could save millions by taking more notice of the points made in this useful book.