Essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of our most vital resource.Our water system is a mess. Rising bills and rivers full of sewage grab the headlines, but the greater threat is climate crisis, bringing increased drought and flooding.This book exposes the many problems with our unsustainable water system. Unfair charges limit spending on infrastructure, while financial extraction has turned the water companies into debt-burdened zombies in ...

It’s hard to escape the feeling that in Britain today nothing works. In the face of mounting inflation and widespread industrial action, this book offers an incisive analysis of the UK’s problems and a new approach to tackling them.Economic growth and higher wages, the traditional responses of mainstream politicians, are simply not enough. This is because the so-called ‘cost of living crisis’ is only the face of a deeper crisis of foundational liveability. The UK is confronted not ...

In this collection, innovative and eminent social and policy analysts, including Colin Crouch, Anna Coote, Grahame Thompson and Ted Benton, challenge the failing but still dominant ideology and policies of neo-liberalism.The editors synthesise contributors’ ideas into a revised framework for social democracy; rooted in feminism, environmentalism, democratic equality and market accountability to civil society.This constructive and stimulating collection will be invaluable fo...

This is the first ever book to analyse outsourcing – contracting out public services to private business interests. It is an unacknowledged revolution in the British economy, and it has happened quietly, but it is creating powerful new corporate interests, transforming the organisation of government at all levels, and is simultaneously enriching a new business elite and creating numerous fiascos in the delivery of public services. What links the brutal treatment of asylum-seeking detainees...

For thirty years, the British economy has repeated the same old experiment of subjecting everything to competition and market because that is what works in the imagination of central government. This book demonstrates the repeated failure of that experiment by detailed examination of three sectors: broadband, food supply and retail banking. The book argues for a new experiment in social licensing whereby the right to trade in foundational activities would be dependent on the discharge of s...

Considering the recent impact of the capital market on corporate strategy, this text analyzes, through argument and supportive case studies, how pressures from the capital bull market of the 1990s and bear market of the early 2000s, have reshaped management action and calculation in large, publicly quoted US and UK corporations.Beginning with the dissatisfaction with classical strategy and its limited engagement with the processes of financialization, the book moves on to cover thr...

What is the relationship between the financial system and politics? In a democratic system, what kind of control should elected governments have over the financial markets? What policies should be implemented to regulate them? What is the role played by different elites - financial, technocratic, and political - in the operation and regulation of the financial system? And what role should citizens, investors, and savers play? These are some of the questions addressed in this challenging an...

There are many deep-seated reasons for the current financial turmoil but a key factor has undoubtedly been the serious failings within the corporate governance practices of financial institutions. There have been shortcomings in the risk management and incentive structures; the boards’ supervision was at times weak; disclosure and accounting standards were in some cases inadequate; the institutional investors’ engagement with management was at times insufficient and, last but not least, th...

As a Chinese proverb says 'The fish rots from the head' and so it is with businesses and other organisations - the buck starts and stops in the boardroom. This third edition of Bob Garratt's bestselling book that highlights the importance of effective corporate governance has been extensively updated following the corporate scandals of the early 2000s - Enron, WorldCom, Tyco - and the abysmal boardroom standards that the credit crunch and ensuing global financial crisis brought to light.

Your business reputation can take years to build—and mere minutes to destroyThe range of business threats is evolving rapidly but your organization can thrive and gain a competitive advantage with your business vision for enterprise risk management. Trends affecting markets—events in the global financial markets, changing technologies, environmental priorities, dependency on intellectual property—all underline how important it is to keep up to speed on the latest f...

A critical look at the way that business leadership has gone so badly wrong.Modern business is obsessed with leaders. We talk about leadership all the time, but its real meaning is becoming more and more obscure. Recent corporate crises have shown that all too often, our leaders are missing in action when we need them most. In this groundbreaking and provocative new book, Chris Bones shows how we need to:Restore trust and confidenceBe more r...

Business is big. Actually, it's often small and medium-sized too. But the point is that it matters – a lot.This book is designed to answer all those confusing questions that flit through your mind when you get to the business pages of the paper, and stop you being embarrassed in job interviews.It explains the things you really need to know about business, and will tell you:What the point of business isHow what happens in the economy affects real busi...