ARTICLES
Slack language is a sign of slack thinking
There are industries in which vertical integration is appropriate and others where very different skills are required for the various elements of the value chain. In a brief look at the rationalisations of recent media mergers, John makes a case for hard-nosed analysis over hazy dreams.
Thinking outside the blue box on recycling
In response to receiving a brown bin, blue box and some green bags, John writes a letter to Cherwell District Council questioning the rationale of recycling paper and calling for more practical environmentalism initiatives.
Why the Atkins approach is bad for business
Doing an Atkins diet is now as fashionable in business as it is in personal life. But in business – as on the female body – there are places where you want fat as well as those where you do not. Bottom line – rather than tinker with sustainability, it is still best to soak up resources and use the energy productively.
Bonuses are a problem diet for financiers
Heads, we win; tails, they lose! Managers, traders and advisers who take more of gains than of losses have incentives to support risky courses of action that are not in the best interests of the principals they represent. John explains why this scheme can never really align the rewards of the individual with the objectives of the organisation.
Saintly lies and the devil that lurks in double talk
Nothing so much undermines public regard for politics and business as the increasingly widespread practice of equivocation. In the light of the spectacle surrounding the Hutton report, this wisdom should be extended beyond the tale of St Athanasius.
Nobody wins when there are too few taxis
Most bad economic policies can be abandoned, but the harmful effects of restrictive licensing systems are usually irreversible. By illustrating the flaws of taxi regulation, John explains why governments and licensing authorities should think twice before being caught in a transitional gains trap.
Why the future is not quite what it used to be
Business gurus, management consultants and journalists are eager to exaggerate the pace of technological change and ignore lessons of the past. Don’t believe everything they say – 747s and nylon shirts are still around today.
Obliquity
Strange as it may seem, overcoming geographic obstacles, winning decisive battles or meeting global business targets are the type of goals often best achieved when pursued indirectly. This is the idea of Obliquity. Oblique approaches are most effective in difficult terrain, or where outcomes depend on interactions with other people.
Why a privatised railway drew bad reviews
David Hare’s play on rail privatisation, The Permanent Way, offers drama along classical Shakespearean lines – what is foredoomed to fail, fails. However, as an intriguing conversation reveals, Hare seems to have missed a key point.
Give state funding to students not their colleges
Europe once took 75 per cent of Nobel prizes; today the US does. It is less widely appreciated that this is the triumph of autonomous institutions over government-controlled ones.
Miracle on 34th Street
Not everyone likes Miracle on 34th Street. However, as we review the demise of Andersen, and as the lessons of Enron and WorldCom sink in, there are worse ways to end the year than by revisiting the maudlin but incisive economic analysis of one of the most loved Christmas films.
Customer inertia and the active shopper
When human nature conflicts with government policy or business strategy, human nature will usually win. From mobile phones to credit cards, customer inertia remains a dominant influence in many markets.