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Interest in developing institutional explanations of political and economic behavior has blossomed among social scientists since the early 1980s. Three intellectual perspectives are now prevalent: rational choice theory, historical institutionalism and a new school of organizational analysis. This paper summarizes, compares and contrasts these views and suggests ways in which cross‐fertilization may be achieved. Particular attention is paid to how the insights of organizational analysis and historical institutionalism can be blended to provide fruitful avenues of research and theorizing, especially with regard to the production, adoption, and mobilization of ideas by decision makers.

Draws on Neo‐Weberian theory to argue that commodification is itself a cultural process, whilst not discounting the potentially negative effect of commercialisation. Examines product conception in the early US recording industry citing three disparate periods. Shows that in the late 1870s, recording firms sold and leased phonographs to entrepreneurs for public exhibitions, the the late 1880s firms leased phonographs and graphophones for dictation purpose and in the 1890s, firms exploited the phonograph by offering musical recordings. Concludes that structural power helped shape the product concepts of the industry.

Increased worker autonomy and participation are being proclaimed as the foundation for economic competitiveness in the 1990s (Reich, 1991). Management has been generally favorable towards such strategies and surveys of workers also indicate widespread support (Hackman, 1990). However, trade unionists fear that these new organizations of work are, at least in part, being sponsored by management in an attempt to undermine unions and manipulate workers (Grenier, 1988; Parker, 1985). More cautious forms of this argument propose that participation schemes are initiated to extract from workers the important “working knowledge” (Kusterer, 1978) and “tricks of the trade” (Thomas, 1991; Hodson, 1991) that are often workers' resource in bargaining with management over wages and conditions. Participation schemes may also lead to the unraveling of “informal agreements” between workers and front line supervisors concerning work effort and work procedures that both labor and management would prefer to keep hidden (Thomas, 1991:8).

The Growth of Institutional Shareholdings 1966–1980. Institutional investors, particularly insurance companies and pension funds, are consistent purchasers of company and overseas securities. Of particular interest is the ownership of U.K. quoted equities, rather than ownership of debentures, preference shares and overseas securities. Ownership of the ordinary share capital is of particular interest because the votes attached to equities give the holders legal powers to influence management through general meetings. The impact of the growth of institutional shareholdings on corporate management and the London Stock Exchange will be discussed in later articles. This article demonstrates the growth of institutional ownership of British industry, comments on the concentration of institutional holdings in large companies, illustrates the avoidance of new issues by financial institutions, and comments on the future pattern of U.K. share ownership.

A comprehensive review of UK share ownership during the 1966–1980 period, with particular reference to the work of Revell and Moyle at the Department of Applied Economics, Cambridge.

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.

The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) asserts that share prices fully reflect all available information, any new or shock information being very rapidly incorporated into the share price. This apparently simple hypothesis, if true, has very powerful implications for investment analysis and corporate management.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

This chapter reports the growth in ownership of the private sector of British industry by institutional shareholders, summarises the impact of such growth on management and the stock market, and briefly assesses its implications for the future.