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1 – 10 of 137Jurgen Brauer, Keith Hartley and Stefan Markowski
Using long-run trend data for US tactical and bomber aircraft, Norman Augustine’s Law 16 famously suggests continuously rising US armament unit costs. By the year 2054, the…
Abstract
Using long-run trend data for US tactical and bomber aircraft, Norman Augustine’s Law 16 famously suggests continuously rising US armament unit costs. By the year 2054, the country’s entire defence budget would be expended on a single aircraft, which an industry colleague dubbed as the Battlestar Galactica. However, while it is thought provoking, what does Law 16 in fact entail? It appears that the mechanics of Augustine’s ‘Law’ has never been examined in detail. To help disentangle the matter and assess its relevance in the context of today’s battlefield technology, which is increasingly focussed on the application of large numbers of small, cheap, expendable, electronically linked, yet highly autonomous systems, this chapter introduces the concept of an Augustine weapons system.
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As a rule, business books published today are backing off from lectures and theories, and are instead featuring more situation‐oriented illustrations of the basic concepts…
Abstract
As a rule, business books published today are backing off from lectures and theories, and are instead featuring more situation‐oriented illustrations of the basic concepts everyone already recognizes as right. What better place to get these anecdotes than from the horses' mouths? This batch gathers together the personal stories of top American business leaders, circa the late‐1990s, as told by themselves—with a little help from professional writers. The autobiographies represent hardcore, old‐fashioned industry (Lockheed), innovative industry (Nucor), service (Marriott), retail (Starbucks), and real estate/empire building (Trump).
This article explores the thought of St Augustine and its relevancy to acceptance or rejection of the social service state. It notes Augustine’s emphasis on the transitory nature…
Abstract
This article explores the thought of St Augustine and its relevancy to acceptance or rejection of the social service state. It notes Augustine’s emphasis on the transitory nature of modernity and the primacy of the spiritual. It examines Augustine’s pessimistic scenario concerning the secular state and its accomplishments. It suggests that Augustinianism would be fare less receptive to the social state and its strengthening of secular power than the more optimistic and more “incarnational” Thomism.
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Two claims are made about play that bears on managing change in organizations. First, play is a creative dynamic of human community; and in particular, it is the form taken by…
Abstract
Purpose
Two claims are made about play that bears on managing change in organizations. First, play is a creative dynamic of human community; and in particular, it is the form taken by love at the boundary of fantasy and reality. Second, play is known, not by analysis via the mind and reason, but by intuition via the body and feeling. To manage change as play is to call upon the possibilities of adaptation and development that lie at the creative edge of love.
Design/methodology/approach
The arguments of the paper are not strictly rational (deductive) or empirical (inductive) but are based upon an “abductive” reading of the literatures on play and managing change.
Findings
Play is key in managing change. Play is the creative enlargement of love involved in healthy and effective adaptation and development.
Social implications
Change in organizations is best taken in the spirit of love that is play. As change calls to love, the greatest changes call to the greatest love of the divine in which all things are possible.
Originality/value
The paper offers a novel theoretical integration of the research literatures on play and managing change. The paper offers a powerful argument for the humane foundations of play and change in love.
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The economic science is again in a crisis and a new solution prolegomena to any future study in economics, finance and other social sciences has just been published by the…
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The economic science is again in a crisis and a new solution prolegomena to any future study in economics, finance and other social sciences has just been published by the International Institute of Social Economics in care of the MCB University Press in England. The roots of the major financial and economic problems of our time lie in an open conflict between theory and practice. In the 1930s and before the conflict was between classical theory and given realities. In the 1990s the conflict appears between the now prevailing modern, Keynesian theory and the actual realities. In addition during the twentieth century a great argument developed between the two schools of thought, argument which is not yet settled. In one sentence, the prolegomena tried and was successful to solve the conflict between theory and practice and the big doctrinal dispute of the twentieth century. It was a struggle of research and observation over half a century between 1947 and 1997.
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There is hardly any other field of knowledge where there is moreconflict or controversy between ideas and solutions proposed bytheoreticians and statesmen than in politics. To…
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There is hardly any other field of knowledge where there is more conflict or controversy between ideas and solutions proposed by theoreticians and statesmen than in politics. To date, adequate methodological tools have not been developed which enable the truth or validity of the liberal or conservative approaches to be tested. A new research programme using a simultaneous equilibrium versus disequilibrium approach is proposed which has full application in politics as well as in economics and the social sciences. This research programme shows the organic relationship between society, state, economy, money and form of government, and thus leads to a methodological unification of all the social sciences, to a new principia politica.
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Presents an ISO 9000 standard work instruction for “fun”. Describes activities to maximize the likelihood of creation of a fun work environment. Suggests that fun is a critical…
Abstract
Presents an ISO 9000 standard work instruction for “fun”. Describes activities to maximize the likelihood of creation of a fun work environment. Suggests that fun is a critical factor of employee productivity. Mixes humorous observations with practical advice for management, employees, human resources, and other groups. Reveals that content was aggregated by careful observation of the best and worst in business environments. Concludes that fun and quality improvement are mutually reinforcing.
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