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Out of the minds of chief executives comes the direction the corporation will take—be it expansion into new markets, expansion of current operations, acquisition of new lines of business, divestiture of selected business units, or contraction of certain operations. Two questions come to mind: How well prepared to make those decisions (in terms of breadth of background) are the men who fill these jobs? And, considering the environmental changes, can chief executives operate in the future as they have in the past? We believe that planning must and will, by the force of events, play a more vital role in the development and generation of CEOs.

Over the past 90 years, 50% of all mergers have been judged failures by the executives responsible for them.

Zero‐base budgeting (ZBB) provides top management with detailed information concerning the money needed to accomplish desired ends. Each expenditure is analyzed in terms of purpose and function to build a budget. ZBB spotlights redundancies and duplication of efforts among departments, focuses on dollars needed for programs rather than on the percentage increase (or decrease) from the previous year, specifies priorities within and among departments and divisions, and allows a performance audit to determine whether each activity or operation performs as desired.

In some companies planners review proposed decisions as well as administering long‐ and short‐range strategy formulations. A case in point is the following example, in which a diversified, multidivision corporation allows planners direct influence on senior management decisions. Here the planning function acts as an internal consulting group. One project in which planners become involved is a proposed manufacturing and marketing expansion by one of the company's consumer products divisions.

There are several advantages offered by a franchise distribution system. The four main attributes are: 1) rapid access to markets; 2) reduced investment by the franchisor; 3) risk‐sharing between franchisors and franchisees; and, 4) highly motivated owner/operators. Other advantages include: managerial work sharing between franchisor and franchisee, protection from antitrust action, ability to service marginal locations, promotion of independently‐owned business, reduction in economic concentration, and protection against unionization. If the concept to be franchised is new, or rapid entry into the market is needed, franchising can minimize the risks of the venture.

Much to the relief of everyone, the general election has come and gone and with it the boring television drivel; the result a foregone conclusion. The Labour/Trade Union movement with a severe beating, the worst for half a century, a disaster they have certainly been asking for. Taking a line from the backwoods wisdom of Abraham Lincoln — “You can't fool all the people all the time!” Now, all that most people desire is not to live easy — life is never that and by the nature of things, it cannot be — but to have a reasonably settled, peaceful existence, to work out what they would consider to be their destiny; to be spared the attentions of the planners, the plotters, provocateurs, down to the wilful spoilers and wreckers. They have a right to expect Government protection. We cannot help recalling the memory of a brilliant Saturday, but one of the darkest days of the War, when the earth beneath our feet trembled at the destructive might of fleets of massive bombers overhead, the small silvery Messerschmits weaving above them. Believing all to be lost, we heaped curses on successive Governments which had wrangled over rearmament, especially the “Butter before Guns” brigade, who at the word conscription almost had apoplexy, and left its people exposed to destruction. Now, as then, the question is “Have they learned anything?” With all the countless millions Government costs, its people have the right to claim something for their money, not the least of which is the right to industrial and domestic peace.

The use of celebrities, and particularly athletes, to influence consumers and sell products is not a new practice, but one that is gaining considerable steam in the sports marketplace. However, many academics and practitioners have long questioned the means by which celebrity endorsement is measured and evaluated. Through the use of validated surveys among US students and the inauguration of the Celebrity-Hero Matrix (CHM), some of their questions are answered. Being labelled a 'heroic' athlete does, it seems, have tremendous power for marketers, and provides endorsement clout for the athlete.