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Hardly surprisingly, like many fellow Glaswegians, I grew up believing that the language of the majority of my fellow citizens was slang¹ and hence to be disparaged, if not altogether despised. The fact that we were all equally able to express ourselves in Glaswegian or varying degrees of “Standard” English was conveniently overlooked. The hegemonical dominance of the “Standard” was total. Our native tongue was to be extirpated as rapidly as possible if we wanted any social advancement at all and in working class Glasgow in the 1960s and 1970s social advancement was a major item on many a personal agenda. The multilingualism now so much à la mode was never an issue. Implicitly we were indoctrinated with notions of transient bilingualism whose goal, like that of the 19th and 20th century social missionaries in the Celtic areas of Scotland (and elsewhere), was to teach us the English in order that we forget the Glaswegian.

Jardine Matheson & Company is a Hong Kong multi‐industry conglomerate that has gone through political upheaval, global and regional economic crises, and has survived and transformed itself several times in the process, using unique governance schemes and financial performance measures to manage risk and volatility.

This research paper answers the following question: how do firms manage risk? Can firms effectively use governance and financial measurements to manage risk? Is this a distinctive capability that contributes to competitive advantage and sustainability?

The analysis reveals the extent to which Jardine Matheson adapted to changes in the environment and learned from failure to manage risk.

The research is analytical, observational and interpretive. The analytic approach is generalizable and provides insight useful to scholars and practitioners.

Firms seeking to reduce the volatility in their businesses (or in their stratregic business units) might restructure to allow low beta businesses to manage higher beta businesses, as in the case of Jardine Matheson & Company.

The research findings communicated here present a picture of Jardine Matheson’s ability to acquire, integrate and apply knowledge to manage risk and volatility of high beta businesses.

Jardine Matheson & Company is a Hong Kong multi‐industry conglomerate that has gone through political upheaval, global and regional economic crises, and has survived and transformed itself several times in the process. Firm learning and adaptability are audited across five breakpoints (1832, 1885, 1977, 1996, 2004), thereby contributing information about changes in the long‐term, large‐scale behavior of Jardine Matheson & Company. The paper takes a historical transformation approach to learning and knowledge in Jardine Matheson, largely inspired by Edith Penrose and The Theory of the Growth of the Firm and the recent work of William Lazonick to describe a theory of innovative enterprise. The paper also draws on contemporary resource‐based and knowledge‐learning literature. The paper addresses the question of whether firms can learn from change and apply new knowledge for continuous reinvention. The analysis reveals the extent to which Jardine Matheson stimulated or adapted to changes in the environment and saw new opportunities for value capture that demanded the development or reuse of capabilities and the reconfiguration of relationships necessary for survival, transformation and advantage in Hong Kong and the ASEAN. The research is analytical, observational and interpretive. The analytic approach is generalizable and provides insight useful to scholars and practitioners. The research itself is neither predictive nor prescriptive. The research findings communicated here present a picture of Jardine Matheson's ability to acquire, integrate and apply knowledge.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

What is the problem at the Zatega Division of Matheson Foods? The attention of the managers involved is focused upon the large number of overflow warehouses, the dispute over the use of available plant storage space, and the relatively high levels of both raw materials and finished product inventory levels. Of these concerns, the question of inventory levels appears to be of least concern to the participants, since we are given a number of rationalisations for this “problem”, (expanding markets, preparation of new plant, problems of raw materials quality control). As a consequence of their (conflicting) concerns over these matters, the managers also face the problem of a high level of tension and interpersonal conflict.

China's entry into the economic big leagues is full of obstacles, but with one‐fifth of the world's population now champing at capitalism's bit, the opportunities for strategic‐minded businesses are boundless.

In early 2002, Monash University Library trialled Fretwell‐Downing's ZPortal software. This software was designed to create seamless access to all the library's electronic online resources. Monash was one of the first libraries in the world to use the ZPortal software. The paper will discuss the reasons for adopting a portal, what was expected of the software, and the aims of the trial. In addition some outcomes of the trial will be discussed, as well as the practical maintenance issues that a system of this nature creates.