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Innovation and growth in the global economy
Long
130
Range
Planning
Vol.
25
June 1992
Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy, GENE M. GROSSMAN and ELHANANAN HELPMAN, MIT (1991), 359 pp., A21.95. The authors develop theoretical models that treat innovation as the outgrowth of costly investments in industrial research in an attempt to integrate it all within theories of international trade and economic growth. Useful for those with an interest in what is supposed to happen in theory. Notable that no mention of the word rntreprenetrr [or Porter, see The Competitive Advantage ofNations, Macmillan (1990), 855 pp., ic;25.00] in the index. For those interested in a more managerially relevant approach to the subject both of the following can bc recommended: The Rise ofNEC: How the World’s Greatest C G C Company is Managed, KOJI KOBAYASHI, Blackwell (1991), 213 pp., A25.00. And Managing Change for Competitive Success, ANDREW PET~IGREW and RICHARD WHIPP, Blackwcll (1991), 323 pp., A35.00. It is interesting to note that a quote (p. 294) maintains (rightly in my view) ‘the ability to learn faster than competitors may be the only sustainable advantage’. Yet it is surprising to find that this issue was not discussed by Porter.
Booms and Recessions in a Noisy Economy, ROBERT E. HALL, Yale University Press (1991), 71 pp., Al2.95. Attempts to provide new insights into understanding business cycles that are relevant for macro economic Government policy. But how much do we really understand? Especially as there is little discussion of what actually happens at the micro level and how it can be integrated with the macro.
A Guide
to Higher Educatiorl Systems and Qualifications in the European Community, ANITA WIJNAENDTS VAN RESANDT (Ed.), Kogan Page (1991), 425 pp., L22.50.
Provides a chapter on qualifications available in each member State of the European Community. The next volume should concentrate on comparing these subject by subject; that is what individuals and employers will need in the years ahead. A useful companion volume is EC Education, Training and Research Programmes: An Action Guide, JILL PRESTON, Kogan Page (1991), 304 pp., L22.50.
Identity? Another important aspect of Brands (U.K. focused) is discussed in Taking Up a Franchise, COLIN BARROW and GODFREY GOLZEN, Kogan Page (1991), 8th edn, 313 pp., A8.99.
Increasingly organizations are finding that learning/training/development is an integral part (if not at the core) of any corporate strategy; hence the need to be familiar with studies such as One-to-One Training and Coaching Skills, ROGER BUCKLEY andJIM CAPLE, Kogan Page (1991), 138 pp., A14.95. APL (Accreditation of Prior Learning): A Practical Guide for Professionals, SUSAN SIMOSKO, Kogan Page (1991), 188 pp., Al2.95. Be an Achiever: A Handbook to Get Things Done, GEOFFREY Moss, Kogan Page (1990), 97 pp., R5.99.
Industrial
Networks:
A New
View
and GEOFFREY EASTON (Eds), ~40.00.
of Reality,
Routledge
BJ~~RN AXELSSON (1992), 265 pp.,
Networks are essential to understanding the complex set of relationships which managing/planning a modern organization involves. A thorough analysis but, unfortunately, this study was written more for the academic rather than managerial market. Another aspect of this vast subject is Women Organising, HELEN BROWN, Routledge (1992), 211 pp., A30.00. Analyses and attempts to explain what is special about the way women organize. The thesis is ‘that women’s socialisation makes them better equipped than men to perform the skills necessary for the creation of democratic and non-hierarchical organisation’. An interesting idea but still very much an open question. Neither book looked at the relevance of respective subjects to the whole issue of learning. The case for more women at the top of organizations and how this can be achieved is argued in Women Managers: The Untapped Resource, National Economic Development Ofice and Royal Institute of Public Administration/Kogan Page (1990), 88 pp., A8.99. A campaigning argument that little has changed is supported by In the Way of Women: Men’s Resistance to Sex Equality in Organizations, CYNTHIA COCKBURN, Macmillan (1991), 260 pp., A9.99.
Business
Employee
Share
Ownership:
Performance and COLLINS, Kogan
Winning
Strategies
for
Growth, GEORGE COPEMAN with Page (1991), 253 pp., A28.50.
Business STEPHEN
Looks at the principles involved and shows why employee share ownership schemes work. A useful study based on a survey of more than 400 share plans. Essentially U.K. based but with world-wide relevance.
Policy: An Analytical Introduction, GEORGE LUFFMAN, STUART SANDERSON, EDWARD LEA and BRIAN KENNY, Blackwell Business (1991), 2nd edn, 210 pp., A12.95.
A basic introduction to the subject of strategy. But the next edition will need to look at including something on the learning organization.
Europe Understanding
Brands,
DON
2002:
Looking
WAHLSTROM, Kogan COWLEY, Kogan
Page
Ahead
to
a
New
Europe,
BENGT
Page (1991), 207 pp., A17.95.
(1991),
222 pp., 625.00. Reviews the whole topic of Branding. The editor was one of the first of the new breed of strategic thinkers called Account Planners who emerged in advertising during the 1970s. But what about the relationship between Brands and Corporate
A brief, somewhat superficial, overview of the factors that will influence our lives in the next decade and shape the world as we move into the next century. Few surprises. Translated from the Swedish.
130
Range
Planning
Vol.
25
June 1992
Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy, GENE M. GROSSMAN and ELHANANAN HELPMAN, MIT (1991), 359 pp., A21.95. The authors develop theoretical models that treat innovation as the outgrowth of costly investments in industrial research in an attempt to integrate it all within theories of international trade and economic growth. Useful for those with an interest in what is supposed to happen in theory. Notable that no mention of the word rntreprenetrr [or Porter, see The Competitive Advantage ofNations, Macmillan (1990), 855 pp., ic;25.00] in the index. For those interested in a more managerially relevant approach to the subject both of the following can bc recommended: The Rise ofNEC: How the World’s Greatest C G C Company is Managed, KOJI KOBAYASHI, Blackwell (1991), 213 pp., A25.00. And Managing Change for Competitive Success, ANDREW PET~IGREW and RICHARD WHIPP, Blackwcll (1991), 323 pp., A35.00. It is interesting to note that a quote (p. 294) maintains (rightly in my view) ‘the ability to learn faster than competitors may be the only sustainable advantage’. Yet it is surprising to find that this issue was not discussed by Porter.
Booms and Recessions in a Noisy Economy, ROBERT E. HALL, Yale University Press (1991), 71 pp., Al2.95. Attempts to provide new insights into understanding business cycles that are relevant for macro economic Government policy. But how much do we really understand? Especially as there is little discussion of what actually happens at the micro level and how it can be integrated with the macro.
A Guide
to Higher Educatiorl Systems and Qualifications in the European Community, ANITA WIJNAENDTS VAN RESANDT (Ed.), Kogan Page (1991), 425 pp., L22.50.
Provides a chapter on qualifications available in each member State of the European Community. The next volume should concentrate on comparing these subject by subject; that is what individuals and employers will need in the years ahead. A useful companion volume is EC Education, Training and Research Programmes: An Action Guide, JILL PRESTON, Kogan Page (1991), 304 pp., L22.50.
Identity? Another important aspect of Brands (U.K. focused) is discussed in Taking Up a Franchise, COLIN BARROW and GODFREY GOLZEN, Kogan Page (1991), 8th edn, 313 pp., A8.99.
Increasingly organizations are finding that learning/training/development is an integral part (if not at the core) of any corporate strategy; hence the need to be familiar with studies such as One-to-One Training and Coaching Skills, ROGER BUCKLEY andJIM CAPLE, Kogan Page (1991), 138 pp., A14.95. APL (Accreditation of Prior Learning): A Practical Guide for Professionals, SUSAN SIMOSKO, Kogan Page (1991), 188 pp., Al2.95. Be an Achiever: A Handbook to Get Things Done, GEOFFREY Moss, Kogan Page (1990), 97 pp., R5.99.
Industrial
Networks:
A New
View
and GEOFFREY EASTON (Eds), ~40.00.
of Reality,
Routledge
BJ~~RN AXELSSON (1992), 265 pp.,
Networks are essential to understanding the complex set of relationships which managing/planning a modern organization involves. A thorough analysis but, unfortunately, this study was written more for the academic rather than managerial market. Another aspect of this vast subject is Women Organising, HELEN BROWN, Routledge (1992), 211 pp., A30.00. Analyses and attempts to explain what is special about the way women organize. The thesis is ‘that women’s socialisation makes them better equipped than men to perform the skills necessary for the creation of democratic and non-hierarchical organisation’. An interesting idea but still very much an open question. Neither book looked at the relevance of respective subjects to the whole issue of learning. The case for more women at the top of organizations and how this can be achieved is argued in Women Managers: The Untapped Resource, National Economic Development Ofice and Royal Institute of Public Administration/Kogan Page (1990), 88 pp., A8.99. A campaigning argument that little has changed is supported by In the Way of Women: Men’s Resistance to Sex Equality in Organizations, CYNTHIA COCKBURN, Macmillan (1991), 260 pp., A9.99.
Business
Employee
Share
Ownership:
Performance and COLLINS, Kogan
Winning
Strategies
for
Growth, GEORGE COPEMAN with Page (1991), 253 pp., A28.50.
Business STEPHEN
Looks at the principles involved and shows why employee share ownership schemes work. A useful study based on a survey of more than 400 share plans. Essentially U.K. based but with world-wide relevance.
Policy: An Analytical Introduction, GEORGE LUFFMAN, STUART SANDERSON, EDWARD LEA and BRIAN KENNY, Blackwell Business (1991), 2nd edn, 210 pp., A12.95.
A basic introduction to the subject of strategy. But the next edition will need to look at including something on the learning organization.
Europe Understanding
Brands,
DON
2002:
Looking
WAHLSTROM, Kogan COWLEY, Kogan
Page
Ahead
to
a
New
Europe,
BENGT
Page (1991), 207 pp., A17.95.
(1991),
222 pp., 625.00. Reviews the whole topic of Branding. The editor was one of the first of the new breed of strategic thinkers called Account Planners who emerged in advertising during the 1970s. But what about the relationship between Brands and Corporate
A brief, somewhat superficial, overview of the factors that will influence our lives in the next decade and shape the world as we move into the next century. Few surprises. Translated from the Swedish.