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Physical distribution costs now account for at least 12% of industry's total sales revenue; there is also a substantial shift in distribution expenditure among the principal cost elements. For example, freight transport now accounts for some 30% of distribution budgets. This is one of the findings which has emerged from the National Survey of Distribution Costs, launched by the Centre for PDM last year and carried out by PW International. In this feature, Brian McKibbin outlines the major trends now emerging from the Survey and assesses the signifance of the preliminary results in providing a yardstick against which individual companies may measure their own PDM cost performance.

In the mid‐1970s Mothercare decided to establish a new distribution centre and mail order warehouse; a number of alternative order picking systems were considered for the company's world‐wide mail order operation. This article examines the various alternatives and describes the system which was finally selected — a carousel storage and selection arrangement. Current performance statistics of the system are provided which are related to Mothercare's sales volumes.

THE profession served by this journal lost an outstanding personality when Dr. Lillian Moller Gilbreth died at the age of 93 on January 2nd. As wife and business partner to her husband, Frank Bunker Gilbreth, she was one of the pioneers of motion study. It required rare courage for a shy and retiring person like herself to take over the responsibilities of her husband when he died suddenly in 1924. Yet within three days of that event, after a family conference about the future, she sailed for Europe to fulfil an engagement of her husband to speak at the First Congress of Scientific Management in Prague.

The purpose of MBA education is to provide training in the theory and practice of business management. In Malaysia, several public and private institutions of higher learning offer such programmes. A survey of 112 organizations revealed that 67 per cent had executives with MBA degrees in their employment while the rest cited demand for high salaries and company policy to promote internal staff as two main reasons for not doing so. About 73 per cent said that they had no special preference for graduates from specific business schools. MBAs with good work ethics, sound management and leadership skills as well as critical thinking and analytical abilities, are more likely to be hired. In future, employers expect more MBAs with the ability to understand local, Asian and global business practices.

This paper aims to examine the current financial crisis, suggesting that most analyses have attributed the crisis to a lack of business ethics, the rise of greed and lax regulation. Prescriptions offered to address this crisis draw accordingly on the need for greater regulation of market behaviour, business practices and boardroom pay. Whilst these reforms are necessary, they fail to recognise that such business practices have their roots in an extreme political and economic ideology – neoliberal market fundamentalism. This paper seeks to suggests that a greater appreciation of the nexus between politics, philosophy and economics is critical in order to develop a different practice. As such, the author provides a socio‐historical and political context for understanding the present crisis before offering a critique and reform of the business educational agenda. The author argues that such a context would engender greater understanding of business practices and systems for both students and practitioners and would go some way in enabling them to fashion a more critical reflexive and engaged practice.

The paper draws on a critical‐historical review of the literature on the crisis. In so doing, the paper opens up the analysis to philosophical and political approaches to understanding financial crises.

The paper finds that explanations for the crisis can be found through a critical appreciation of philosophical and political texts. This finding also suggests that current business and management education and practices can benefit from an incorporation of these historical strands of thought.

In drawing on various strands in philosophy, politics, economics and sociology, the paper finds that a singular account for the crisis is flawed. The paper also finds that a richer and deeper appreciation of the crisis can be found through a critical‐historical positioning of the crisis. This necessitates an understanding of politics and philosophy in business practices and education.

In explaining the crisis, the paper suggests that many of the current financial “innovations” are problematic and a more critical approach is needed to engage with these “new” innovations.

The paper seeks to open up new vistas for business education and practices. Through a critical‐historical interrogation of the crisis, the paper opens up new spaces for understanding international economics and business practices. This reflexivity is often missing in international business studies and most management practices.

The academic–practitioner gap has been a widely discussed and well-established issue. Despite numerous studies conducted in this area, empirical evidence reveals that the gap is widening and also emphasizes the exigency to bridge this gap. Hence, the purpose of this study is to propose an acceptable solution that will fill this lacuna.

The study adopts the qualitative research methodology and was based on the system theory (ST) and the institutional theory (IT). Interviews, based on a semi-structured questionnaire, were conducted, focusing on three categories, namely individuals with solely academic experience, individuals with both academic and industrial exposure and business leaders. The unit of analysis was the individual.

The study, which unearthed some rich and challenging evidence from the respondents, reveals that gaining industrial exposure and working on continuous professional development are vital for academics to narrow or even close this gap. In addition, serving as apex members at board level or in professional bodies, serving global organizations as lead consultants and working on research collaborations are other important dimensions for academics.

This study introduces an emerging model named the “Pentagon Model” and develops a corporate index (C-index) for academics to earn, similar to the h-index. The study also explains the operationalization of the C-index based on the proposed algorithm. Hence, it is the envisaged that this study will change the landscape of the academic sphere in practical terms.

This study was carried out with the sole intention of bridging the gap between academics and practitioners. The proposed model and the index, which were developed by the author purely based on the outcome of this study, pave the way for many future research studies, not only to further improve the C-index but also to minimize disparities in transdisciplinary work between academics and practitioners.