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This paper aims to present the argument that Heinz von Foerster's portrayals of non-triviality in his non-trivial machine (NTM) and in surprising human behavior are not isomorphous. It also demonstrates that the NTM does not account for spontaneity as it is observed in humans in general, nor for von Foerster's own invention of the NTM in particular.

Demonstrating an isomorphism between the NTM and the Enigma cipher machine, the paper shows differences between the NTM and non-trivial human behavior, which von Foerster implied to be isomorphous. It speculates why von Foerster may have accepted this inconsistency.

von Foerster's NTM and the Enigma cipher machine are shown to be isomorphous. Multiple portrayals von Foerster offered of non-triviality, however, are neither isomorphous, nor do they satisfy criteria von Foerster himself set for theories of living beings. Speculations are offered as to why von Foerster nonetheless used these portrayals of non-triviality, and regarding a possible lineage of inspiration that connects the Enigma machine to the NTM via the work of Alan Turing and Ross Ashby.

The presented research is informal and speculative.

The paper's originality and value arise from its questioning of the apparent isomorphism of multiple portrayals of non-triviality, from its speculation about choices von Foerster made while facing the dilemma of defending spontaneity in terms of mechanisms, as well as from speculation about his sources of inspiration.

What do we learn from history? Not simply that the past provides cautionary examples for the present and future. History also reveals something about how society changes, the nature of this process, and how far we can expect to understand and control it. Business is an active participant in the developments of society; the policies and behavior of a corporation are part of the numerous causes and effects of history. Strategic planners and decision makers can profit from recognizing how the nature of the historical process forms the context of plans and decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of literature on Value Line. First, the authors summarize the literature examining the Value Line enigma. Second, the authors survey the literature on Value Line’s other valuation metrics. Finally, literature comparing Value Line’s database to other tradition data sources is presented.

Approximately 60 academic articles published from 1967 to 2015 on Value Line are systematically reviewed and analyzed.

Despite extensive research, empirical evidence on the Value Line enigma remains less than conclusive. Empirical evidence suggests that Value Line’s other metrics are useful and efficacious. In terms of forecast accuracy and consistency, evidence seems to suggest that Value Line Investment Survey database is as good as other databases.

Academic research on Value Line began over half a century ago and is extensive; however, a comprehensive review of previous work is non-existent. This paper fills that gap in the literature and presents a comprehensive review of academic literature on Value Line.

This paper has emerged out of recent and continuing empirical work carried out as part of a doctoral proposal to consider creativity, identity and survival in the microbusiness in general and, more specifically, the one‐person‐business (OPB). Inevitably therefore issues at the core of marketing and entrepreneurship are prominent. Some perspectives from Complexity Science are appealed to in an effort to understand better some of the behavioural patterns encountered in this sector and in the research for this thesis. I will consider what if any insights, applications and further avenues in the study of marketing and entrepreneurship are suggested by reassessing SMEs, micro businesses, the solo self‐employed and interpreting their behaviours in terms of complexity perspectives.

THE miner has of late been much before the public. Regarded by one section of the community as a head‐strong individual stubbornly battling against economic factors, or as blindly following the dictates of “paid agitators” whose spiritual home is in Russia rather than in England, he is something of an enigma to the average English‐man who looks for his facts in the press. But to those who know the miner with all his sterling qualities and generous attributes, he is little of an enigma. At the back of all the “unrest” in the industry is a consciousness on the part of the miner as to the educational and cultural possibilities of life, and of these he demands a just share.

Although China is among the most populated and fastest growing markets in the world, the reason why China’s franchising scale and scope is so limited remains an enigma. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on franchising in China and offer strategies for practitioners to more effectively operate under a franchise model in the Chinese market.

This paper reviews both literature and practical sources providing some primary data from interviews conducted with franchise industry practitioners in China.

The findings of this paper are that foreign entrants to China must carefully consider if they should enter the Chinese market through franchising or if the market may be too difficult to navigate. Franchisors, whose brand is unknown in China or have operations that are too Western-centric, should probably seek international markets closer to home. Those with a high value proposition in the local market and the capabilities to adapt effectively to China’s peculiarities may, however, find a promising and profitable niche to operate in.

This paper focuses on the under examined realities of franchising in the Chinese market. Based on the previous experiences of franchisors in China, the paper raises seven practical strategies that practitioners can use to more successfully enter the Chinese market through franchising. Although China is among the most populated and fastest growing markets in the world, the reason why China’s franchising scale and scope is so limited remains an enigma. According to the International Franchise Association and International Trade Administration reports, China is among the top-ranking countries in terms of trade opportunities, with the top 100 franchisor sales estimated at ¥428bn (about US$66bn). China is the largest franchise market in the world, with over 4,500 franchise systems and some 400,000 franchised outlets in over 70 industries. However, considering China’s US$13.6tn (2018) economy, this is still far lower than its full potential. In addition, the scope of franchising is limited and is mostly centered in food and beverage and retail outlets, which consists of approximately 40 per cent of all franchisors.

Some of the issues confronted by marketers in determining the appropriateness of brand names in the Asia Pacific region are discussed. More specifically, the concern is with the impact of rich and diverse cultural environments upon conventional wisdom in relation to the brand‐naming process and related marketing policy pertaining to operations in the region.

BLAISE‐LINE provides online access to all of the British Library's major catalogues. It provides access to other major bibliographies as well, notably those of the Library of Congress and Whitaker (British Books in Print). Altogether it boasts 21 files, all of a bibliographic nature, and some 15 million records. Nevertheless, it is a pigmy amongst the online giants. BLAISE‐LINE represents the very essence of the traditional library oriented online service, what with its MARC records, Dewey numbers and Library of Congress headings. This together with its raw command driven interface makes it very much the dinosaur of the online world. A survey was conducted to see what its users thought of it and whether it has much of a future in the bright, brash world of the Internet. The findings showed that its target audience — professional librarians — use it extensively for a whole range of routine library tasks and have few complaints to make about it. They used it quite differently to other online hosts. Efficiency and not user‐friendliness was uppermost in their minds — and BLAISE scored highly on the former.

Stable high growth in the service sector has made India free from the stigma of slow and steady ‘Hindu rate of growth’ of about 3.5% per annum during the first three decades of independence. Service-led growth has placed India among the top performing giant economies in the world. India is now a 3 trillion USD (United States Dollar) economy in terms of Nominal GDP (IMF, 2020). Under this milieu, the chapter aims to examine whether the growth in the service sector in India is inclusive or not. The observations of the study have shown that the service sector has been growing at fast pace compared to the other two sectors, which makes the system into jobless status. The sectoral contribution of service sector to the GDP is increasing after the new economic reform of 1990, but the employment contribution is going down. So the country is now in the grip of ‘jobless’ growth, and the grip is strengthening because of some structural issues such as changes in consumers’ demand with rising per capita income. Further deepening of finance capital in the savings sphere of service sector has made the wide disconnect between the real economic activity and growth of finance capital. Revival of high linkage sectors with higher potential for employment growth, such as agriculture and manufacturing, can be game changer towards the goal of inclusiveness.