Book Description
Today, nearly all public services--from schools and hospitals to prisons, fire departments, and sanitation--are considered fair game for privatization. Proponents argue that private firms responding to competitive market pressures will provide better service at lower cost. While this assertion has caused much controversy, the debate has consisted mainly of impassioned defenses of entrenched positions on all sides.
You Don't Always Get What You Pay For changes the contours of this debate. Elliott D. Sclar offers a balanced look at the pitfalls and promises of public sector privatization in the United States. Describing the underlying economic dynamics of how public agencies and private organizations actually work together, he provides a rigorous analysis of the assumptions behind the case for privatization.
The competitive-market model may seem appealing, but Sclar warns that it does not address the complex reality of contracting for government services. Using specific examples such as mail service and urban transportation, he shows that, in an ironic twist, privatization does not shrink government--the broader goal of many of its own champions. He also demonstrates that there is more to consider in providing these services than trying to achieve efficiency; there are issues such as equity and access that cannot be ignored.
Sclar believes that public officials and voters will soon realize the limitations of "contracting out" just as private corporations have come to understand the drawbacks of outsourcing. After examining the effectiveness of alternatives to privatization, he offers suggestions for improving public sector performance--advice he hopes will be heeded before it is too late.
A Century Foundation Book
Customer Reviews:
Excellently written critique of privatization.......2001-04-03
This is an excellently-written critique of privatization. In case after case, Sclar reveals that all is not as it might seem, and that beneath the apparition of improved efficiency lies a different reality supporters of privatization might not want revealed.
The book does not tell the whole story. Sclar has long been a critic of privatization, and he frankly doesn't highlight the successes of privatization -- and these certainly do exist. I don't really think there is a case to be made specifically "for privatization" or "anti-privatization," but a requirement for more balanced analysis, which has not been present in the output of privatization advocates. There is also a need to examine ways that the public sector can be made more efficient without necessarily bringing in a privatization approach.
Sclar provides a valuable service in laying out a series of critical paths in an uncommonly well-written text, and prompts readers to ask the difficult questions. Well worth reading. If you are specifically interested in public transportation, also take a look at my new book -- The Private Provision of Public Transport -- available through Amazon.
An Island of Wisdom in a Sea of Disinformation.......2000-06-28
Neck-deep in ideologically driven rhetoric about how privatization is as American as motherhood and apple pie and must be good for you? Frustrated at knowing there's more to this but you would need an un-bought economist to help you understand the real story? Help is here. Buy this book. Read, mark, learn, inwardly digest. . . . Sclar is going to have an impact on this debate. His parsing of the issues is a great start and, what's best, this book is going to stimulate more like it. This is the beginning of the skeptical and critical assay of the issues. Go for it. You too can now begin to build your own informed voice to start the shaping of a balanced dialogue. (By the way, the point is well made that improvement of public sector services, not just resistance to privatization initiatives, is the course we must set.)
Thoughtful and complete.......2000-06-14
This is a well rounded review of the privatization of government. It provides a good backdrop for the analysis of alternative privatization schemes, while using anectodes to make the point.
Sclar Makes it All So Easy.......2000-05-16
In his book, Elliott Sclar takes complex obtuse economic theories and makes them comprehensible for the rest of us. He adds a new element to the on-going debate on privitization. A must read for anyone new to the field and even those who are already in it. It is even a fairly interesting read for those in no way affiliated with the field.
Sclar Makes It Seem So Easy.......2000-05-15
In his book, Elliott Sclar takes complex economic theories and makes them comprehensible for the rest of us. He provides compelling new arguments against privitization, and adds new depth to the on going debate. A must for people entering the field and even those already in the field.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of the American Planning Association, published by American Planning Association on September 22, 2002. The length of the article is 867 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: You Don't Always Get What You Pay For: The Economics of Privatization. (Privatization).(Book Review)
Author: Alan Black
Publication:
Journal of the American Planning Association (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2002
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: 68
Issue: 4
Page: 457(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
The second edition of this successful book addresses how technologies evolve and how they drive the need for organizational change and adaptation. Focusing on the general-management challenges that innovative firms face, the editors draw from a variety of disciplines and demonstrate the links between innovation, organizational competencies, organizational architectures, executive teams, and managing change.
Customer Reviews:
A Treasury of Eloquent Insights and Practical Wisdom .......2007-08-08
What we have here is an anthology of 42 articles that, collectively, examine a wide range of strategies and tactics for effective management of innovation as an organizational problem, not merely a technical problem. As co-editors Michael Tushman and Philip Anderson suggest in the Preface, "bringing an innovation to market involves more than creating something new. It is a strategic challenge because innovations succeed when they reach the right market at the right time with the right competitive positioning. It requires the management of change because innovations succeed when new ways of operating are aligned with new value propositions." I should add that Tushman and Anderson are also among the contributors. Others include Clayton Christensen, Stephen Jay Gould, Jim Collins, Jerry Porras, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Charles O'Reilly III, John Seely Brown, and Henry Chesbrough.
Although the book was written primarily for use in business school courses, carefully selected portions of the material will also be of substantial interest and value to countless others (e.g. C-level executives) who are charged with determining how their own organization can most effectively respond to the perils and opportunities of change and innovation. It remains for each decision-maker to determine which articles are of greatest relevant to her or his organization.
The 42 readings are carefully organized within seven sections. Of greatest interest to me are Section V ("Knowledge, Learning, and Intellectual Capital") because its contributors explore the problem of accelerating the rate at which an organization generates and deploys knowledge, and, Section VII (""Executive Leadership and Managing Innovation and Change") because its contributors explore focus on the essential organizational component that galvanizes all others: leadership. Here are two brief excerpts that correctly indicate the quality of content that is consistent throughout all of the articles.
On why so many strong, capably managed firms stumble when faced with particular types of technological change: "While many scholars see the issue primarily as an issue of [begin italics] technological competence [end italics], we assert that at a deeper level; it may be an issue of [begin italics] investment [end italics]. We have observed that when competence was lacking but impetus from customers to develop that competence was sufficiently strong, established firms successfully led their industries in developing the competencies required for sustaining technological change. Importantly because sustaining technologies address the interests of established firms' existing customers, we saw that technological change could be achieved without strategy change." Clayton M. Christensen and Joseph L. Bower, "Customer Power, Strategic Investment, and the Failure of Leading Firms"
On building a culture that supports constant mindfulness and experimentation: "It isn't sufficient to generate new ideas now and then. Your company - or more likely a part of it - needs to be a place that generates and tests many disparate ideas. It should be an arena, a constant and constructive contest, where the best ideas win. Will these ideas about innovation ever look anything but weird to the majority of managers? Probably not, because most companies will always devote more time, people, and money to exploiting old ideas than to exploring new ones. Exposure effects being what they are, managing for creativity will always require a conscious effort. However, if you read `Dilbert' or have friends in the arts, you know that exposure effects cut both ways. To people who spend their days doing creative work, the way that most companies are managed seems just as weird." Robert I. Sutton, "The Weird Rules of Creativity"
Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Jeanne Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson's Enterprise Architecture as Strategy as well as Thomas Kelley's The Ten Faces of Innovation, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement, Adrian Slywotsky's The Upside, and Richard Ogle's Smart World.
Book Description
This book shows the links among innovation, organizational architecture, executive teams, and managing change. The 41 articles that are included in this book have been carefully chosen from the current literature, with an introductory essay by the authors in which they show how the diagnostic model is applied to the problem of managing innovation. In the introductory essay, the authors highlight themes recurring throughout the book, such as the systems nature of technology, the importance of history and path dependence, the cross-functional nature of innovation management, the paradox between efficiency and adaptability, and the role of executive leadership in managing through turbulence. The introduction provides a helpful road map that offers a coherent rationale for studying innovation management. All modules in the book have editorial introductions that help to reinforce the links among technology, organizational architectures, and executive and managing teams. Introductions are also included for each chapter, explaining the fundamental point each reading raises and how it is integrated within the rest of the book. Managing Strategic Innovation and Change also features readings on topics including technological evolution, technology strategy, globalization, and organizational learning, offering a complete set of readings on the management of innovation.
Average customer rating:
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Biological Nitrogen Fixation and Sustainability of Tropical Agriculture
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
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ASIN: 0471935603 |
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Co-publishing Institutions IITA PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria Tel: (234) 22 400300-400319 Telex: 31417 TROPIB NG Fax (INMARSAT): 874-1772276 Cable: TROPFOUND IKEJA The goal of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is to increase the productivity of key food crops and to develop sustainable agricultural systems that can replace bush fallow, or slash-and-burn cultivation, in the humid and subhumid tropics of Africa. Crop improvement programmes focus on cassava, maize, plantain, cowpea, soybean and yam. Research findings are shared through international cooperation programmes, which include training, information and germplasm exchange activities. IITA was founded in 1967. The Federal Government of Nigeria provided a land grant of 1000 hectares at Ibadan for a headquarters and experimental farm site, and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations provided financial support. IITA is governed by an international Board of Trustees. The staff includes nearly 200 scientists and professional staff from about 40 countries, who work at the Ibadan campus and at selected locations in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa. IITA is a member of a system of non-profit, international agricultural research centres supported by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Established in 1971, the CGIAR is an association of about 50 countries, international and regional organizations and private foundations. The purpose of the research effort is to improve the quantity and quality of food production in developing countries. The World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are co-sponsors of this effort. AABNF c/o IITA, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria Tel: (234) 22 400300-400319 Telex: 31417 TROPIB NG Fax (INMARSAT): 874-1772276 Cable: TROPFOUND IKEJA The African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation (AABNF), a multidisciplinary group of scientists and policy makers, was founded in 1982 under the auspices of IITA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Association promotes research, training and the use of biological nitrogen fixation to increase food production, reduce the need for purchased nitrogen fertilizers, and alleviate malnutrition in Africa.
Average customer rating:
- Impressive
- must read if intrested in zoology or evolution
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Sociobiology: The Abridged Edition
Edward O. Wilson
Manufacturer: Belknap Press
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ASIN: 0674816242 |
Amazon.com
E.O. Wilson defines sociobiology as "the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior," the central theoretical problem of which is the question of how behaviors that seemingly contradict the principles of natural selection, such as altruism, can develop. Sociobiology: A New Synthesis, Wilson's first attempt to outline the new field of study, was first published in 1975 and called for a fairly revolutionary update to the so-called Modern Synthesis of evolutionary biology. Sociobiology as a new field of study demanded the active inclusion of sociology, the social sciences, and the humanities in evolutionary theory. Often criticized for its apparent message of "biological destiny," Sociobiology set the stage for such controversial works as Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene and Wilson's own Consilience.
Sociobiology defines such concepts as society, individual, population, communication, and regulation. It attempts to explain, biologically, why groups of animals behave the way they do when finding food or shelter, confronting enemies, or getting along with one another. Wilson seeks to explain how group selection, altruism, hierarchies, and sexual selection work in populations of animals, and to identify evolutionary trends and sociobiological characteristics of all animal groups, up to and including man. The insect sections of the books are particularly interesting, given Wilson's status as the world's most famous entomologist.
It is fair to say that as an ecological strategy eusociality has been overwhelmingly successful. It is useful to think of an insect colony as a diffuse organism, weighing anywhere from less than a gram to as much as a kilogram and possessing from about a hundred to a million or more tiny mouths.
It's when Wilson starts talking about human beings that the furor starts. Feminists have been among the strongest critics of the work, arguing that humans are not slaves to a biological destiny, forever locked in "primitive" behavior patterns without the ability to reason past our biochemical nature. Like The Origin of Species, Sociobiology has forced many biologists and social scientists to reassess their most cherished notions of how animals work. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
View a video on Professor Wilson entitled "On the Relation of Science and the Humanities"
Customer Reviews:
Impressive.......2002-05-27
Wilson really is one of the "twentieth centuries greatest thinkers." This is a dense and demanding publication requiring a scientifically literate audience. It covers basic concepts from altruism, selfishness, and spite; including communication, aggression, social roles, sex, and parenting from "invertebrates" to vertebrates.
Now, in 2007, this is really more of a 'classic'. For intro students, I'd first recommend getting your footing with "Animal Behavior" by Alcock, and *then progressing into more technically written publications like this one.
must read if intrested in zoology or evolution.......1999-05-12
an excellent book. although alot of parts may be hard to understand it is relatively easier than the unabridged version.
get this if your intrested in biology
Book Description
Big December Canvasbacks is an almost poetic celebration of the beautiful waterfowl of the Northwest United States and the captivating places they inhabit.
Customer Reviews:
One of the greatest Waterfowling Books.......2001-03-07
I really enjoyed this book. It is spoken as if Worth was relating his stories to a friend. I will be getting a sneakboat this fall and was made even more anxious by reading the accounts of brant and wigeon landing right on top of these crafts! David Hagerbaumer's artwork is a great addition to this book. His sketches are amazing! If you liked this book, try to find a copy of Hagerbaumer's Waterfowling These Past Fifty Years, Especially Brant. It is a great book based in the same area.
A nice blend of interesting stories and hunting information........2000-07-20
When I ordered this book I was looking for some reading about Canvasback ducks. If that is your interest in this book you will be fooled as I was. There is relatively little specific material about the species. However, Mr Mathewson has done a nice job of informing the reader about hunting waterfowl on the northwest coast. He talks of the various birds as well as the tools used to pursue them in that region. His ability to inform the reader at the same he reports a story from his past is enjoyable to say the least. The pencil sketches of Mr. Hagerbaumer add to these stories. For me, I was sad when I finished the book, which is an indication of my appreciation of it.
Book Description
In hockey, the team that moves the puck more effectively usually comes out on top. Whether you're attacking the net, passing through the neutral zone, or looking for quick transitions on turnovers, sharp passing and receiving skills can carry your team to victory. Hockey Drills for Passing & Receiving provides expert instruction for moving the puck with speed and precision.
Supported by the sport's premier provider of coach and player instruction, Huron Hockey, this book teaches how to improve puck movement in the offensive zone as well as in the all-important transition game. Accompanying the instruction are 75 drills for crisp puck movement in both ice and in-line hockey. The drills within each chapter start basic, then increase in difficulty to provide a wide range of challenges and learning situations.
This is a special practice tool for mastering two of hockey's most important skills. Hockey Drills for Passing & Receiving will help you develop superior puck movement for a winning offensive attack.
Customer Reviews:
Hockey Drills for passing and receiving........2000-02-01
This is the fourth book that I have purchased. By this publisher. The books are very well layed out and informative. Also the key points and the progression of the drills are also very helpful. These books have been a great help to me, seeming this is just my second year of Ice Hockey. And alot of these skills you can work on your own. This book is one that I highly endorse.
Book Description
Public speaking is an essential skill both in the classroom and in public life. With thorough coverage, a unique tabbed and full-color format, and a low price, A Speaker's Guidebook is the most useful speech textbook available for students both in and outside of the speech classroom. This innovative book combines coverage of every topic typically taught in the public speaking course with an appealing design and quick reference features that get students to open the book and find what they need. Unique advice on speaking beyond the speech classroom, along with a host of reference appendices, supports students' in their other courses and in the workplace. For this revision, the authors have focused on providing even better solutions to some of students' toughest challenges.
Customer Reviews:
A Speaker's Guidebook.......2001-08-21
An excellent text for novice public speakers. I've found it particularly helpful for students who are unfamiliar with public speaking. The tabs make it an easy reference guide to tailor a speech to your personal topic. For people who are experienced, or who have never given a public speech, there is invaulable information about audience analysis, presentation, and the basic construction of a good speech. This is the kind of text that public speakers will keep in their library as a personal reference guide to aid them in the construction of any speech.
Book Description
TV painter and personality Charles Evans brings his unique style to this new-look practical art book. Charles works fast and without fuss, and here he helps other artists to create great looking pictures in next to no time.
The informal and warm style that Charles brings to his long running UK regional TV series is brought to the book, where the creation of the paintings is accompanied by Charles' often amusing take on traditional 'art speak'. No reader will be confused by arty jargon as Charles simply does not use it!
His special style is reflected by the fresh approach to the look of the book. Making full use of the immediacy and detail available using digital photography; the design is light, bright and full of impact. The paintings, details and techniques have been captured exactly as Charles made them.
This is a step by step book, but one where the reader is carried along by Charles' infectious enthusiasm.
Customer Reviews:
You can't please everybody!.......2006-09-28
After reading the 15 reviews of this book (either 5-star or 1 star), I had to buy it to see what the fuss was all about. For me it was a refreshing philosophical change from my two years of tight tedious instruction at an expensive watercolor class. Sure, the short exercises about people, animals and cottages are really ugly, but the emphasis on minimal equipment (all British), limited palettes, and wet-on-wet looseness really resonated with me. The excellent step-by-step numbered photographs accompanying the numbered written remarks (including pigments) are carefully planned, especially for the later landscapes. Looked at closely, one can see how the pigments spread and blend with time. I've concluded that the people who hate this book are experienced painters who either already know all this or don't like loose wet watercoloring (or both). This is probably a book for lonely beginners or worried intermediates like me.
From a true novice.......2006-08-14
I know nothing about creating art. I've not taken one single class. I thought I could never draw or paint, other than "Dick and Jane" type cartoons. Charles Evans changed that. I have an Art show next week. I started at age 35.
Jlyn.......2006-03-07
An EXCELLENT book, I have been privileged to see Charles Evans work in person. He makes the complicated seem simple, no fussing no nonsense. I have watched his work on television, and it always makes me want to get my paints out!
I cannot understand why others cannot see that! His work is WONDERFUL! And the book is well worth the money!
Quick & Clever: Watercolour Landscapes.......2006-02-20
Obviously those who didn't like this book: 1)Don't know how to "step outside the box" and 2)Haven't seen the artist at work. For those who are intimidated by the thought of painting but have always wanted to, this book is excellent. It makes watercolor easy and enjoyable. Once going through the exercises you too can create beautiful paintings that you will want to show off!
very helpful book one of the best.......2005-08-24
the type of book i have been waiting for for ages. so helpful - i feel i can paint at last - one of the best on the market. fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!
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