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Environmental science for environmental management
Book reviews
Environmental Science for Environmental Management T O'Riordan (ed.) Longman (1994) 369 pp £17. 99 1SBN 0 582 21889 6 For those of us interested in protecting the natural environment, this is a fascinating book. It covers a range of topics which are not normally found between the covers of a single publication. The subjects of the 19 chapters include economics, ethics, global warming, energy and biodiversity. Each subject is dealt with in an authoritative fashion which gives the reader confidence in using and acting upon the information presented. Also, considerable effort has gone into ensuring that an interdisciplinary approach is used. That is to say, the book is not simply a collection of expert inputs, but rather it has a cohesiveness which reassures and gently guides the reader. I personally enjoyed the introduction, but I did wonder if the audience for whom the book is intended, trainee environmental scientists and managers, would find the discussion of the role of science in society and multidisciplinary versus interdisciplinary approaches to teaching a somewhat offputting starting point, regardless of the validity of the points made. I think the book is most valuable for environmental science trainees, enabling them to obtain an all-important breadth of vision whilst offering references to allow them to pursue depth of knowledge as required. Lecturers in the field of the environment should also find this a helpful reference book. Readers who are more interested in business management will find the book helpful for their personal awareness of environmental issues, but they will find little reference to managing the environmental performance of business. The book is well presented with clear and interesting illustrations, figures and boxed examples. It has an undergraduate textbook 'feel', and a price to match. At £17.99, I think that it is a good buy for its intended audience. One of my favourite pieces of information is contained in the chapter on human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, by Alastair Grant: 'in 1894, the world's only flightless songbird, the Stephan Island Wren, was eliminated by the efforts of a single cat owned by the lighthouse keeper'. This reinforces my resolve that we all have a responsibility to protect the environment, which can manifest itself in many ways,
196
including the responsible management of our pets!
Dr Suzanne Pollock Environmental Faculty Henley Management College UK
Collaboration Management: InterCultural Working: New Issues and Priorities H Shaughnessey (ed.) John Wile)' (1994) 218 pp £95 ISBN 0 471 94284 7 This book is seen as 'an opportunity for managers and other practitioners to speak directly to each other'. The title may appeal most to those working in or studying the international business environment, but the editor makes no suggestion as to whether the work is suitable for academic purposes and, if so, at what level, There is a strong emphasis on the practical nature of the book's contents, which include casestudy examples. One of the stated key objectives of this book series is ' . . . t o assist innovative managers to get their experience into print as rapidly as possible.' 'Collaboration Management' may well have achieved this objective, but at major expense. The book seems to have been compiled so quickly that the basics of well structured presentation have been overlooked. The title sounded interesting, but a first question that anyone needs to ask is ' . . . is this a book I should read as a practitioner in the field of crosscultural management?' An introduction or preface would normally help here, or even an overview on the back cover. Unfortunately, these were nowhere to be found. The Amsterdam Teleport case study offered general advice for running large and complex projects - - but why devote a whole chapter to a national project when the book is aiming to explore new issues in intercultural working? I simply do not understand the editorial thinking behind the inclusion of this example at the expense of so many other impressive crossfrontier projects that are available to choose from. An analysis of cultural barriers to entrepreneurship and collaboration by Andr6 Teugels emerged as a strong contribution. The World Health network was an appropriate vehicle for the teasing out of key cultural drivers for a collaboration strategy.
The Anglo-Belgian scenario paralleled my own experiences of doing business across these borders. Teugel's final conclusion really gets to the nub of intercultural working: We now pay more attention to what motivates the listener in his national context. It is too tempting to fall into the trap of believing cultural differences reside in the person. Now we take more notice of structures that motivate our customers, or partners, to act in certain ways, rather than by thinking we have cracked the problem by 'understanding' the Belgians or the Germans or the Dutch way of life. Richard Bridge's article on intercultural project management offered some original perspectives, but the international aspects of collaboration were allowed to drift after an impressive opening. I was left to struggle through a first chapter which, in spite of the editor's claim of a helpful layout, lacked a sense of purpose and direction. Shaughnessey produced some interesting observations on ethics, morals and culture, but failed to offer any new strategies for dealing with familiar problems. The issues dealt with in this chapter are very real, but the author did not explain how a different approach in the crosscultural context is needed. He merely reiterated that it is simply 'more complex' and 'more difficult' than in a domestic setting without offering concrete coping strategies. Inconsistencies, sweeping statements and irrelevancies riddled this disappointing opening chapter. Paul Banks and Bob Waisfisz identified the impact of value systems in collaborative situations, and provided a useful summary of Hofstede's 5D model. However, as this contribution progressed, I was left with the impression that the authors were more interested in selling the benefits of the organisation for whom they worked than in pushing at the boundaries of theory and practice with tangible examples of how the concepts can be applied to real businesss problems. The discussion on negotiating status became a description of the elements of business etiquette, leaving cultural values and beliefs rather sidelined. Other chapters gave fairly straightforward accounts of intercultural partnerships and the European Union. Generally, whilst it did introduce the reader to a number of relevant topics, this book lost its way in capturing real interest
Environmental Science for Environmental Management T O'Riordan (ed.) Longman (1994) 369 pp £17. 99 1SBN 0 582 21889 6 For those of us interested in protecting the natural environment, this is a fascinating book. It covers a range of topics which are not normally found between the covers of a single publication. The subjects of the 19 chapters include economics, ethics, global warming, energy and biodiversity. Each subject is dealt with in an authoritative fashion which gives the reader confidence in using and acting upon the information presented. Also, considerable effort has gone into ensuring that an interdisciplinary approach is used. That is to say, the book is not simply a collection of expert inputs, but rather it has a cohesiveness which reassures and gently guides the reader. I personally enjoyed the introduction, but I did wonder if the audience for whom the book is intended, trainee environmental scientists and managers, would find the discussion of the role of science in society and multidisciplinary versus interdisciplinary approaches to teaching a somewhat offputting starting point, regardless of the validity of the points made. I think the book is most valuable for environmental science trainees, enabling them to obtain an all-important breadth of vision whilst offering references to allow them to pursue depth of knowledge as required. Lecturers in the field of the environment should also find this a helpful reference book. Readers who are more interested in business management will find the book helpful for their personal awareness of environmental issues, but they will find little reference to managing the environmental performance of business. The book is well presented with clear and interesting illustrations, figures and boxed examples. It has an undergraduate textbook 'feel', and a price to match. At £17.99, I think that it is a good buy for its intended audience. One of my favourite pieces of information is contained in the chapter on human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, by Alastair Grant: 'in 1894, the world's only flightless songbird, the Stephan Island Wren, was eliminated by the efforts of a single cat owned by the lighthouse keeper'. This reinforces my resolve that we all have a responsibility to protect the environment, which can manifest itself in many ways,
196
including the responsible management of our pets!
Dr Suzanne Pollock Environmental Faculty Henley Management College UK
Collaboration Management: InterCultural Working: New Issues and Priorities H Shaughnessey (ed.) John Wile)' (1994) 218 pp £95 ISBN 0 471 94284 7 This book is seen as 'an opportunity for managers and other practitioners to speak directly to each other'. The title may appeal most to those working in or studying the international business environment, but the editor makes no suggestion as to whether the work is suitable for academic purposes and, if so, at what level, There is a strong emphasis on the practical nature of the book's contents, which include casestudy examples. One of the stated key objectives of this book series is ' . . . t o assist innovative managers to get their experience into print as rapidly as possible.' 'Collaboration Management' may well have achieved this objective, but at major expense. The book seems to have been compiled so quickly that the basics of well structured presentation have been overlooked. The title sounded interesting, but a first question that anyone needs to ask is ' . . . is this a book I should read as a practitioner in the field of crosscultural management?' An introduction or preface would normally help here, or even an overview on the back cover. Unfortunately, these were nowhere to be found. The Amsterdam Teleport case study offered general advice for running large and complex projects - - but why devote a whole chapter to a national project when the book is aiming to explore new issues in intercultural working? I simply do not understand the editorial thinking behind the inclusion of this example at the expense of so many other impressive crossfrontier projects that are available to choose from. An analysis of cultural barriers to entrepreneurship and collaboration by Andr6 Teugels emerged as a strong contribution. The World Health network was an appropriate vehicle for the teasing out of key cultural drivers for a collaboration strategy.
The Anglo-Belgian scenario paralleled my own experiences of doing business across these borders. Teugel's final conclusion really gets to the nub of intercultural working: We now pay more attention to what motivates the listener in his national context. It is too tempting to fall into the trap of believing cultural differences reside in the person. Now we take more notice of structures that motivate our customers, or partners, to act in certain ways, rather than by thinking we have cracked the problem by 'understanding' the Belgians or the Germans or the Dutch way of life. Richard Bridge's article on intercultural project management offered some original perspectives, but the international aspects of collaboration were allowed to drift after an impressive opening. I was left to struggle through a first chapter which, in spite of the editor's claim of a helpful layout, lacked a sense of purpose and direction. Shaughnessey produced some interesting observations on ethics, morals and culture, but failed to offer any new strategies for dealing with familiar problems. The issues dealt with in this chapter are very real, but the author did not explain how a different approach in the crosscultural context is needed. He merely reiterated that it is simply 'more complex' and 'more difficult' than in a domestic setting without offering concrete coping strategies. Inconsistencies, sweeping statements and irrelevancies riddled this disappointing opening chapter. Paul Banks and Bob Waisfisz identified the impact of value systems in collaborative situations, and provided a useful summary of Hofstede's 5D model. However, as this contribution progressed, I was left with the impression that the authors were more interested in selling the benefits of the organisation for whom they worked than in pushing at the boundaries of theory and practice with tangible examples of how the concepts can be applied to real businesss problems. The discussion on negotiating status became a description of the elements of business etiquette, leaving cultural values and beliefs rather sidelined. Other chapters gave fairly straightforward accounts of intercultural partnerships and the European Union. Generally, whilst it did introduce the reader to a number of relevant topics, this book lost its way in capturing real interest