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1 – 10 of 18Brian Snowdon and Howard R. Vane
An interview with Milton Friedman in 1996 ‐ presents his reflections on some of the important issues surrounding the evolution of, and currrent debates within, modern…
Abstract
An interview with Milton Friedman in 1996 ‐ presents his reflections on some of the important issues surrounding the evolution of, and currrent debates within, modern macroeconomics. A world‐renowned economist and prolific author since the 1930s, Milton Friedman has had a considerable impact on macroeconomic theory and policy making. Associated mostly with monetarism and the efficacy of free markets, his work has ranged over a broader area ‐ microeconomics, methodology, consumption function, applied statistics, international economics, monetary theory, history and policy, business cycles and inflation. In the interview discusses Keynes’s General Theory, monetarism, new classical macroeconomics, methodology, economic policy, European union and the monetarist counter‐revolution.
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The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor.
Design/methodology/approach
The author approaches the discussion using a theoretical and historical reconstruction based on published and unpublished materials.
Findings
The systematic, continuous and profound attempt to answer the Smithian social coordination problem shaped North's journey from being a young serious Marxist to becoming one of the founders of New Institutional Economics. In the process, he was converted in the early 1950s into a rigid neoclassical economist, being one of the leaders in promoting New Economic History. The success of the cliometric revolution exposed the frailties of the movement itself, namely, the limitations of neoclassical economic theory to explain economic growth and social change. Incorporating transaction costs, the institutional framework in which property rights and contracts are measured, defined and enforced assumes a prominent role in explaining economic performance.
Originality/value
In the early 1970s, North adopted a naive theory of institutions and property rights still grounded in neoclassical assumptions. Institutional and organizational analysis is modeled as a social maximizing efficient equilibrium outcome. However, the increasing tension between the neoclassical theoretical apparatus and its failure to account for contrasting political and institutional structures, diverging economic paths and social change propelled the modification of its assumptions and progressive conceptual innovation. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, North abandoned the efficiency view and gradually became more critical of the objective rationality postulate. In this intellectual movement, North's avant-garde research program contributed significantly to the creation of New Institutional Economics.
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Present‐day economics is characterised by the fragmentary and reductionist approach that typifies most social sciences. Economists generally fail to recognise that the economy is…
Abstract
Present‐day economics is characterised by the fragmentary and reductionist approach that typifies most social sciences. Economists generally fail to recognise that the economy is merely one aspect of a whole ecological and social fabric; a living system composed of human beings in continual interaction with one another and with their natural resources, most of which are, in turn, living organisms. The basic error of the social sciences is to divide this fabric in fragments, assumed to be independent and to be dealt with in separate academic departments (Capra, 1982, pp. 194–5).
Duncan R. Shaw, Christopher P. Holland, Peter Kawalek, Bob Snowdon and Brian Warboys
To construct, test and illustrate a sophisticated and theory‐based architecture for analyzing business process management systems (BPMS) used for business process change.
Abstract
Purpose
To construct, test and illustrate a sophisticated and theory‐based architecture for analyzing business process management systems (BPMS) used for business process change.
Design/methodology/approach
Exploration of business process modeling‐based BPMS via a meta‐survey of academic and business literatures. Two main dimensions are used based upon semiotics and a block‐based BPMS pyramid architecture. Each block is a core technology required for the functioning of the BPMS and include: the subject being modeled; the software formalism; the IT infrastructure; the modeling language and notation; and the underlying technical infrastructure.
Findings
Theoretically explains and empirically illustrates each core technology in the proposed architecture then does the same for the architecture, its arrangement as a whole and its interrelationships. Recognizes the lack of a theoretical basis for business process modeling constructs and the dangers that this generates. Explains why automatic BPMS require formal construct transmission from subject modeled to modeling hardware and software.
Research limitations/implications
The architecture's core technologies span numerous disciplines so each set of literatures introduces the component concepts and their bases but is not exhaustive.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a considerably more sophisticated framework for BPMS analysis than is currently available; it is theoretically and not just empirically based; it uses a novel method of theoretical justification concerned with the transmission of modeled properties and characteristics between several technological media; and it illustrates the innovative analytical use of this architecture and the practical use of BPMS with three different case vignettes.
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Archie Lockamy and Douglas L. Smith
The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework along with underlying propositions for the design and deployment of telemedicine projects which provide healthcare…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework along with underlying propositions for the design and deployment of telemedicine projects which provide healthcare organizations with strategic benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
Field research conducted at four healthcare organizations along with academic literature in the areas of telemedicine and process management form the basis for the conceptual framework and propositions provided in this paper.
Findings
Telemedicine can be used as a process enabler for enhanced healthcare‐delivery systems. However, there are several challenges which must be considered prior to its implementation. The framework and propositions provided in the paper can be used to facilitate successful telemedicine project deployments.
Research limitations/implications
The framework and propositions are derived from a small sample and must be validated through more rigorous empirical research studies.
Practical implications
The concepts presented in the paper can be used by healthcare planners to increase the likelihood of telemedicine deployment success within their organizations.
Originality/value
This paper begins to fill a void in the literature concerning how telemedicine can be used as a process enabler for improving healthcare‐delivery systems.
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Brian Nicholson, a leading union spokesman for some 20,000 dockers, comments on some of the “misrepresentations” which surround the controversial new laws governing dock labour…
Susannah Diamond and Brian Irwin
The paper aims to explore staff practices in using e‐learning to embed sustainability literacy, highlight best practice and determine areas for improvement.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to explore staff practices in using e‐learning to embed sustainability literacy, highlight best practice and determine areas for improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
A framework of four areas for developing student sustainability literacy (SSL) was proposed as a basis for analysing practice. A literature review then explored the extent to which e‐learning is used to support embedding SSL in the curriculum, and the types of e‐learning currently in use for this.
Findings
E‐learning tools were most frequently used to provide flexible access to information, followed by support for communication and collaboration, and were less frequently used for the development of specific skills, personal identity and confidence.
Research limitations/implications
The sample of case studies provided only limited evidence. A survey of practitioners could be undertaken to explore and validate the issues raised by the literature review.
Practical implications
The review highlighted scope for a pedagogical shift away from using e‐learning for information delivery and practical communication, and towards supporting rich, student‐centred forms of learning in both blended and distance learning modes.
Social implications
This shift would create more powerful learning experiences for students, more effectively develop students' personal identities and skills, and yield graduates who are more confident in their ability to create more sustainable futures.
Originality/value
This paper will be of value to academic staff and educational developers looking to develop practice in embedding SSL in teaching and learning, and to harness the potential of e‐learning.
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