Stakeholding misconceived
Encouraging employee share ownership doesn't create a "stakeholder society". Instead, it can lead to disasters like Enron, where workers have too much riding on the success of one firm.
A vital item is missing
John Mayo's account of his troubled tenure at Marconi should serve as a warning to managers. Success in business is achieved by supplying goods and services effectively; not by seeking to boost share prices.
Thinking in sevens
Categories and lists help us to make better sense of a complex world. But they must be chosen carefully.
Meeting of closed minds
It sat for 340 days, heard evidence from 195 witnesses and received over 4000 letters of objection. The public inquiry into Sizewell B was the second biggest ever - but it came to the wrong conclusion.
Knowing the unknowable
Historians and insurers will both have to re-write their books following the terrorist attacks on America.
On John Kay’s Bookshelf – Archive page
Books that John has reviewed in the past...
Food for thought
Have you ever wondered why kangaroo burgers don't feature widely on British menus? The answer is that just as countries’ economies have developed differently, so have their national cuisines
A valuable lesson from fish and forests
Some economists argue that establishing clear property rights to resources is a key to economic success. But the Indonesian state’s attempt to reform ownership of the country’s forests has led to environmental catastrophe.
Be less cynical, stupid
It is the state of economy that decides elections: Or so the theory goes. The evidence, however, suggests that voters do pay far greater attention to the issues and politicians really do mean what they say.
Shock of the new
Not all business strategy problems have answers, including those of BT, as Sir Christopher Bland will find when he takes over.