Search results

11 – 20 of over 1000
Book part
Publication date: 8 November 2010

Radhika Desai

This chapter challenges the denial of “underconsumption” – the role of consumption demand in capitalist reproduction and its paucity in crises – in contemporary Marxism. At stake…

Abstract

This chapter challenges the denial of “underconsumption” – the role of consumption demand in capitalist reproduction and its paucity in crises – in contemporary Marxism. At stake are better understandings not only of crisis theory but also, inter alia, of imperialism, “reformism,” and Marx's intellectual legacy. The chapter shows how the centrality of consumption demand is underlined in the three volumes of Capital and the Grundrisse, and goes on to discuss the origins, weaknesses, and persistence of this denial. The chapter also shows that Marx did not regard underconsumption as a moralistic argument about unfulfilled need. The denial originates not in Marx but in productionism, the idea that capitalism is a system of “production for production's sake.”

Originating in the overkill of Tugan Baranowski's refutation of the Russian populists’ view that capitalist development was impossible in Russia due to lack of a home market, productionism is based on his attempt to force Marxism into the marginalist and the general equilibrium framework. Despite its antipathy with Marxism, most contemporary Marxist economics are based on it. Inevitably its adherence to Say's Law – the denial of the possibility of gluts in the market – infects the tendency to assume that capitalism's contradictions do not lie in circulation. Productionism's denial of the importance of consumption demand also rests on nonsequiturs, nondialectical thinking, and an underestimation of the contradictions in capitalism Marx identified, other than the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. The chapter ends by showing the centrality of demand in the recent historical evolution of capitalism as reconstructed by Robert Brenner, followed by a discussion of whether underconsumption is “reformist.”

Details

The National Question and the Question of Crisis
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-493-2

Article
Publication date: 1 November 1990

Ken McCormick

Recent events in Eastern Europe are the framework within which theMarxian theory of history is discussed – what Marx meant by“revolution” and “socialism”. As with“capitalism” they…

Abstract

Recent events in Eastern Europe are the framework within which the Marxian theory of history is discussed – what Marx meant by “revolution” and “socialism”. As with “capitalism” they should not be confused with the essence. The collapse of Soviet‐style regimes is not a refutation of Marxism.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 17 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2012

Alex da Mota Pedrosa, Dag Näslund and Claudia Jasmand

This paper aims to assess the quality of the case study based research approach as documented in articles published during the past 13 years, based on a synthesis of indicators…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to assess the quality of the case study based research approach as documented in articles published during the past 13 years, based on a synthesis of indicators for the quality criteria truth‐value, transferability, and traceability.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis of 134 case study‐based articles published in six leading logistics and supply chain management (SCM) journals between 1998 and 2010 is used to assess and evaluate the quality of the case study‐based research approach as documented in these publications.

Findings

This research provides an overview of the quality of the case study‐based research approach. Results show that the quality is generally low, supporting the ongoing, but empirically unsupported criticism on the quality of case study‐based research. The results also highlight which specific aspects authors and reviewers need to address to ensure high quality of the case study‐based research approach in published articles.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to the analysis of published articles in six logistics and SCM journals. Further research should investigate different journals in logistics and other disciplines, and the relationship between the rigor of case study based research and its contribution to the field.

Practical implications

The findings give guidance to authors and reviewers in developing articles with a high‐quality case study‐based research approach and help reviewers and readers to evaluate the quality of the described approach.

Originality/value

The paper verifies the validity of ongoing claims for more rigor in case study‐based research and identifies areas of improvement.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 42 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2006

Alex M. Andrew

Seeks to derive a class of “homogeneous” rules for numerical integration from earlier results and empirical findings to treat the apparently magical reordering of a pack of cards…

146

Abstract

Purpose

Seeks to derive a class of “homogeneous” rules for numerical integration from earlier results and empirical findings to treat the apparently magical reordering of a pack of cards after successive shuffles, previously discussed by Zeeberg, from a new angle and to form a mathematical conjecture.

Design/methodology/approach

The studies were made using computer programs for which the language JavaScript proved adequate.

Findings

The rules for numerical integration are more precise than earlier versions. The conjecture associated with card shuffling appears to be novel.

Practical implications

Improved methods of numerical integration have practical value in many areas. The conjecture is in the field of number theory, with no obvious immediate applications.

Originality/value

The findings and methods are original. The demonstration of a plausible mathematical conjecture may provoke further studies aimed at its proof as a theorem, or its refutation.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 35 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 March 2014

Kristian Rotaru, Leonid Churilov and Andrew Flitman

The current state of theory-building in the field of operations and supply chain management (OSCM) is in a strong need of rigorous, empirically based theories that enhance…

1559

Abstract

Purpose

The current state of theory-building in the field of operations and supply chain management (OSCM) is in a strong need of rigorous, empirically based theories that enhance understanding of the causal relationships between the structural elements and properties of the business processes. In this research note the authors propose the critical realism (CR) philosophy of science as a particularly suitable philosophical position (not to the exclusion of others) to review the mechanisms of OSCM knowledge generation and to provide philosophical grounding and methodological guidance for both OSCM theory building and testing.

Design/methodology/approach

To demonstrate potential benefits of CR-based structured approach to knowledge generation in OSCM research, this conceptual paper uses a case study that illustrates the adoption of one of the OSCM theories – i.e. the theory of swift, even flow.

Findings

CR interprets the accumulated empirical information about OSCM phenomena as observable manifestations of the underlying causal mechanisms that cannot be perceived otherwise. CR can provide epistemological support to the choice of performance measures that manifest the underlying causal mechanisms of interest. Extensive accumulation of empirical data from multiple innovative sources will not dramatically add to understanding of the system under investigation, unless and until the underlying causal mechanisms that trigger the observed behaviour are identified and tested. The CR abductive mode of reasoning emphasises the role of uncertainty in complex process behaviours and can facilitate enrichment and refutation of OSCM theories.

Originality/value

CR has a clear potential to contribute to OSCM research by enabling better understanding of causal relationships underlying complex behaviours of different elements of business process by providing robust and relevant mechanisms of generating knowledge about business processes that explicitly link empirical and causal aspects of theory building and testing.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 1957

THE month of October has produced a number of events of different kinds with an aeronautical interest. First, the Russian satellite was launched with conspicuous success. We shall…

Abstract

THE month of October has produced a number of events of different kinds with an aeronautical interest. First, the Russian satellite was launched with conspicuous success. We shall not here discuss its technical nature: such information as is available is already well known, and there is a wealth of apocryphal data which time will confirm or deny. Military implications it certainly has, but the crucial problem would seem to be the controlled re‐entry into the atmosphere without burning out, and the possibility of this has not yet been demonstrated. What does seem to us to be worth emphasizing is that it has now been shown without any possibility of convincing refutation that Russian technology has, in the twelve years since the war, advanced from a level where its work was largely crude and derivative, to one where it is fully able to challenge the best the West can achieve. This must be based, despite the acquisition of scientists from Germany after the war (a practice which has also benefited America and ourselves) on a sound system of technical education and of administration. While it would be foolish to generalize too far from one particular success, however spectacular, we can take it that a system of State control, without commercial competition or interservice rivalry, has made possible the achievement of one of the most technically impressive ‘firsts’ that there has ever been.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 29 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Book part
Publication date: 31 December 2000

Alan Freeman and Andrew Kliman

Research in the temporal single-system (TSS) interpretation of Marx's value theory has refuted the Okishio theorem, which had supposedly disproved the law of the falling profit…

Abstract

Research in the temporal single-system (TSS) interpretation of Marx's value theory has refuted the Okishio theorem, which had supposedly disproved the law of the falling profit rate. In response to critics who confirm the correctness of the TSS refutation but, curiously, still uphold the Okishio theorem, this paper clarifies what the theorem actually asserts and why that assertion is false. It also shows that TSS results do matter: the contradiction between value and use-value, and the difference between temporal and simultaneous valuation, are crucial. Finally, the paper examines the role the Okishio theorem has played in suppressing Marx's work.

Details

Value, Capitalist Dynamics and Money
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-572-7

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2015

Frederick B. Cohen

– The purpose of this study is to discuss moving forward on a global basis with digital diplomatics.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to discuss moving forward on a global basis with digital diplomatics.

Design/methodology/approach

This study fused a historic review of multiple fields to form a proposed future.

Findings

Today, the metadata associated with digital record-keeping is largely based on the methods from the pre-digital age. It fails to take into account the underlying digital mechanisms and their unique properties. At the same time, digital systems already produce large quantities of redundant data that could be and has been used in consistency analysis. A rational improvement would be to use the nature of digital systems in conjunction with intentional redundancy to create metadata and other forms of redundant information that could be validated in diplomatic examination but would be hard to forge consistently by an internal act of alteration.

Originality/value

This study uses a unique approach of fusing digital forensic science with digital diplomatics in the form of using inherent redundancy in digital records and metadata for consistency analysis as a means to fuse the fields.

Details

Records Management Journal, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-5698

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 March 2010

Robert Smith

As a result of a plethora of scholarly articles by feminist scholars of entrepreneurship, it is now widely accepted that the notion of entrepreneurship is ideologically skewed…

Abstract

Purpose

As a result of a plethora of scholarly articles by feminist scholars of entrepreneurship, it is now widely accepted that the notion of entrepreneurship is ideologically skewed towards masculine ideology. Although this body of work has been quietly acknowledged, it has not invoked a reply, or refutation, from male entrepreneurship scholars. Nor has it led to an increase in studies about the influence of masculinity on entrepreneurial behaviour or identity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to begin to address this by analysing an alternative social construction of entrepreneurship relating to how masculinity influences entrepreneurial identity in print. The data used are text from the thinly veiled biographical novel Cityboy written in an aggressive and unashamedly masculine style. Whilst the focus is not upon entrepreneurs per se, it is upon the male‐oriented entrepreneurial institution that is the “city.”

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological approach used in this paper is that of biographical analysis; supported by a supplementary analysis of similar biographies of traders; this is triangulated by photographs downloaded from the internet. This approach allows rich data to be collected from practical sources permitting a comparative approach to be adopted. The approach has obvious limitations but is a practical method.

Findings

The results from this empirical study are tentative but illustrate that the socially constructed nature of the “city trader” as an entrepreneurial identity is portrayed as being a manly pursuit; and how such discrimination is inherent within an institutionalised systemic behaviour in which men are encouraged to be risk‐takers and players. This institutionalised “boyish” behaviour is used to build up a masculine identity rooted in Thatcherite enterprise culture. Although no clear conclusion can be articulated because of the subjective nature of the interpretation, links with accepted entrepreneurship theory are drawn. It is thus an exploratory study into the pervasiveness of masculine doxa in constructing entrepreneurial identity. The paper makes an incremental contribution by acknowledging the power of male dominance in shaping entrepreneurial realities albeit the conclusions are mainly drawn from one book.

Research limitations/implications

This paper opens up the field for further studies of skewed masculine entrepreneurial identities under the rubric of the “bad boy entrepreneur.”

Originality/value

In critically discussing and acknowledging the male genderedness of entrepreneurial identity in a particular system, this paper makes a contribution to the understanding of the socially constructed nature of how to tell, understand and appreciate stories which present an entrepreneurial identity. Granted the hero of the story is fictional but the overlaps with the accepted storylines of entrepreneur stories are illuminating. The paper provides another heuristic device for understanding the social construction of gendered entrepreneurial identities, making it of interest to feminist scholars of entrepreneurship and to social constructionists alike.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2008

Bruce Gurd

The purpose of this paper is to provide a rejoinder to Joannidès and Berland's comment on Gurd's paper on the use of grounded theory (GT) in interpretive accounting research…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a rejoinder to Joannidès and Berland's comment on Gurd's paper on the use of grounded theory (GT) in interpretive accounting research, re‐establishing the basics of GT.

Design/methodology/approach

A refutation by argument.

Findings

Argues that GT is definable and the term should be used only where appropriate.

Practical implications

Researchers in accounting should be careful when claiming to use GT. Credibility would be enhanced if there was a more careful explication of method in interpretive research.

Originality/value

This paper continues the debate on GT and should assist both new and experienced researchers to explore the basis of their approach.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 1000