Energy and U.K. agriculture

This paper makes the point that although U.K. agriculture has become more efficient in many ways, it has become less efficient in its use of energy. Moreover, although farming utilises less than 3 per cent of national power energy consumption and produces over 40 per cent of the nation's food, there are no predominant users of energy in the U.K. Thus small savings in each individual industry, including agriculture, must be effected. How this can be achieved is discussed. But the paper concludes that it may well take another ‘energy crisis’ before farmers and growers respond by modifying their production systems accordingly.     

Introducing corporate planning— A case history

This article is a summary of the stages through which a U.K. public company passed in producing its first corporate plan, the problems, and the lessons learnt.To introduce planning from scratch requires experience, drive and political skill. This is already known. How these skills were found and developed is analysed in the history of one company's attempts to formalise its planning.     

Planning for Giro

Giro's recent commercial successes in the U.K. have been widely reported. The reconstruction of its capital and its plans to provide wider banking services have been publicly debated.In this article Alfred Singer, a past Chairman of the Society for Long Range Planning, describes the planning process in Giro—its past achievements and mistakes; its present challenges; and its future aspirations.     

Planning in a state of turbulence

This paper is concerned with an exploration of the role of the long range planner, whether in the private or public sector of the economy, and the impact made upon the processes of his work by government's increasing propensity to manipulate the economy. The authors' researches over the last 2 years into the comparative nature of planning processes in the U.K. economy have made it abundantly clear to them that planners are increasingly concerned at the dangerous potential of such impact upon their forecasting procedures. The emphasis here will rest upon the planner in private enterprises, although the authors' work in both local government and the nationalized enterprises suggest that the problem is of equal importance in these sectors.The authors consider first the past nature of the search processes in long range planning and the context of such attempts to narrow down the range of variables that form the enterprise's perception of its future. Secondly, they examine the emerging discontinuity and the changing role of government, with particular reference to indicative planning concepts. Then they introduce some of the findings of a recent survey of attitudes towards long range planning in the construction industry of the U.K., a sector vitally influenced by turbulence in the economy and with particular interest in government's ideas of macro-planning. Finally Edwards and Harris examine the implications to government and to planners of their findings.     

Corporate planning for a town—a case history

Corporate planning is relatively new in U.K. local government. This article suggests the reasons behind this late development, and outlines the particular problems in local government and the approach adopted in one authority. The author's philosophy is that there is no blueprint for introducing corporate planning and that any approach must be evolutionary, reflecting local circumstances. The article covers the period from 1971 outlining the four main stages of development and includes the effects of local government reorganization in 1974. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the borough.     

Firms' (non)responses: The role of ambivalence in the case of population aging in Japan

The literature supports and recommends that firms be responsive to external environments for prosperity and survival. However, many firms do not seem to heed this advice when it comes to important but uncontrollable environmental forces such as population aging. We investigate firms' (non)responses to population aging, one of the grand challenges of our time. While theoretical explanations for firms' responses to external environments abound, surprisingly, we lack concrete empirical evidence about why some companies do not respond to population aging while others do. Building on the cognition–response framework and utilizing a sample of 545 Japanese corporations, we investigate the magnitude and extent of organizations' corporate-level responses to population aging in Japan, the world's most aged society. While controlling for the firms' resource dependence and slack resources, we find robust, positive effects of perceived state certainty on organizational responses. Specifically, we find that perceived state certainty takes both direct and indirect routes (Daft and Weick 1984) to increasing firm response to population aging. We also find that firms' self-perceived controllability has a direct effect on firm response. Most intriguingly, the organization's ambivalence toward the implications of population aging on their business does not directly reduce firm response. Instead, it is found to be a quasi-moderator that interacts with perceived state certainty and negatively affects the responses to population aging. Ambivalence is an important factor that has been largely overlooked and warrants more research attention to address not only this particular grand challenge but also others (e.g., climate change).     

Food manufacturing: The future prospect

This article provides an analysis of the environmental factors which are likely to influence the nature and level of activity in Britain's food industry over the next 10–15 years, and in particular planning for human resources. The article covers the historical perspective: the present market position and the consequences of misplaced optimism; examines the prospects for the medium and longer term in relation to the world food problem and the industry's opportunities: and considers some of the manpower implications.     

Winning customers through employee involvement

This article describes the author's impressions of American industry following a study tour to the Deep South of the U.S.A. as winner of the 1983 IPM/Gardner Merchant Award. The visit to leading corporations in New Orleans, Houston and Atlanta provided the opportunity to study at first hand their management philosophies and personnel policies. At a time when industry in the U.S.A. is facing stiff international competition and is beginning to come out of the recession, this article provides some timely insights into some of the issues and themes that they are pursuing.     

Recent changes in long range corporate planning in Japan

In his article the author discusses an emerging new stage in Japanese long range corporate planning which reflects the struggles of Japanese companies against the new economic situation in which it is very difficult to enjoy a high economic growth rate. Among the many long range plans launched in 1976 and 1977 Hitachi's new long range plan provides an excellent illustration of the main features of the struggles. Using Hitachi as an example various new aspects manifested in Stage IV of Japanese long range corporate planning are described with reference to the economic and social background and its implications for Japanese companies.     

The future from the top: Presidential perspectives on planning—Part one

This is the first part of an article which will appear in three sections in one in this copy and one each in the June and August editions. The three parts make up a long article which is a distillation of a series of conversations between the author and Chief Executives of a variety of well-known U.S. films. The findings of Dr. Rosen's survey are important in that they provide an informed view of Presidential perspectives on planning.     

Management in the 1980s—Key issues and priorities

The author sets out the tasks confronting managers in British industry and commerce throughout the 1980s. His analysis is based upon lengthy practical experience as a top executive in engineering management and manufacture. He presents his views against the background of a fast-changing world— politically, economically, socially—and also provides a commentary on Britain's major overseas competitor nations and markets. In his analysis of U.K. management problems, he makes clear that much depends upon changed policies and attitudes to ensure the successful restoration and revived growth of British manufacturing industry.     

Price and consumer behaviour—A review

The concepts of the traditional theory of demand have not been found suitable for realistic studies of consumers' behaviour. Since 1954, however, new lines of exploration have evolved, of which that of Professor Jean Stoetzel has proved most fruitful. The idea that, since price served as a powerful indicator of quality, the consumer bent on a purchase will approach the market with two price limits in mind was verified and further developed by the Nottingham University Consumer Study Group. The theory has been successfully extended to the competition between leading brands and applied to the exploration of consumer behaviour during the decimalization period in the U.K. Advances have been made also in the quantitative study of other related problems, such as the price image of retail establishments and the relationship between pack size, price and purchasing behaviour.     

QUEST—Quick Environmental Scanning Technique

This paper describes a new technique designed to scan the environment quickly and inexpensively to focus management's attention upon critical issues for strategy formulation. The technique has been applied successfully in several different corporate settings including a major savings and loan association, three divisions of a large food manufacturing firm and a medium-sized moving and storage company.     

National programmes to promote youth training

The importance of education and training to this country's national performance is increasingly recognized. The introduction of the Youth Training Scheme, offering a year's workbased foundation training to 16- and 17-year-old entrants to the labour market, marks a major advance on Britain's poor record in this field. This article describes the Scheme's aims and mode of operation, traces its long gestation and reviews the progress during its first year. It relates the Scheme to wider national objectives for the development of training and to complementary initiatives in education, and discusses how it might be evaluated.     

Organizing for strategic management— A conceptual model

Managing the strategic problems is a complex process. In order to organize this process efficiently in one's own company it is necessary to understand and be able to communicate the basic factors involved. In the author's view there is a need to compile into a model concepts, relations and organizational principles of major importance to successful strategic planning. This article is based on the author's analysis of current literature and his own practical experience in Scandinavia. The article presents a conceptual model for strategic management including the planning process as well as the execution of strategic decisions. This model is related to basic organizational principles and the methodology used in project management.     

Corporate planning as a control system in United Kingdom nationalized industries

Since the late 1960s some U.K. nationalized industries have undertaken corporate planning as a means of exercising control. In the early 1970s, the U.K. Government, on the advice of one of its select committees, required that all U.K. nationalized industries undertake corporate planning. This requirement has been reinforced through a White Paper in 1978, in which the government reiterated that it saw corporate planning as a major instrument of control both for the nationalized industries themselves, and also for government in its relationships with the industries.This paper examines the development of corporate planning in nationalized industries. The findings are based on research carried out since 1976 in which discussions have taken place with corporate planners in most of the major U.K. nationalized industries. The method followed was to send planners a structured questionnaire covering the field of enquiry, and to follow this by an interview (or interviews) at a high level which would allow further discussion, particularly on the issues seen as important to the organization. The questionnaire was subsequently completed in consultation with the people concerned.     

Boas Shamir: The person,his impact and legacy

This article is divided into three parts. In the first part, Galit, Boas's spouse, chronologically reviews the five periods of Boas's professional life—describing what is special to each period and what connects them—while relating to the centrality of values and the secret of charisma according to Boas Shamir. In the second part, Ronit, Boas's colleague, and his first doctoral student, relates to his role as mentor and presents the unique and novel theoretical perspectives that Boas developed concerning the identities of leaders and followers, and how they interact within the charismatic relationship. In the third part, Micha, Boas's friend and colleague, analyzes the relationship between Boas's personal history, the psycho-historical background in which he grew up, and the origins and uniqueness of his oeuvre.     

The future of the stock exchange

What is the future of the Stock Exchange? In this article the author considers the question from the point of view of the U.K. His analysis will be of interest to planners in many types of organization. He concludes that provided the British economy remains one where private enterprises, funded by private savings voluntarily dispersed, the Stock Exchange will have a central part to play. At the same time, as the business of securities trading becomes more and more international so will the business of the Stock Exchange.     

The second decade—The economic outlook for a developing nation

The author of this article argues that the people of Singapore are one of the crucial determinants of the country's economic position in the next decade. He attempts to sketch the economic panorama for Singapore 10 years ahead to illustrate the importance of human resources in the fulfillment of the country's potential. The article will be of interest to all planners who have to take a view of the potential of developing countries.