2.2 Modern history – an evolution So, what is modern about ‘modern medicine’? Several key scholars – notably Schwartzman (1976), Gambardella (1995), Galambos and Sturchio (1996) and Henderson et al. (1999) – have detected a pattern in the recent development of the industry which may help address this question. According to these scholars, the modern history of the industry can be analysed as an evolutionary process. This may involve changes, which are self-created, or adaptation to discrete technological or institutio
Learning outcomes On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to: provide a range of definitions of corporate governance; identify issues usually addressed by corporate governance structures; summarise recent scandals and abuses and the regulatory reaction; identify the other drivers of corporate governance, such as capital markets, shareholders and rating agencies.
7.2 Understanding the limits of rationality An important first step in making more effective decisions is to understand the limits of human rationality. Because of these limits we have developed formal processes for reasoning: statistics; probability theory; modelling methods; and so on. We have also developed technologies such as computers to support us in processing information. These are certainly useful, but it is always important to remember they are used by humans and can be easily subverted. For example:
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4.2 Bounded rationality and the use of heuristics As decision makers, none of us has infinite resources or time to devote to gathering and analysing information. In addition, we all have significant limitations to the amount of complexity we can cope with. Thus, even where we make conscious efforts to make decisions according to a formally rational process, we often need to make simplifying assumptions and accept limits on the availability of information and the thoroughness of our analysis. As noted above, we constantly use heuristics
Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence All other materials included in this unit are derived from content originated at the Open University.
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References 2.1 The response of business For most of human history, our influence on the planet has been small (i.e. sustainable). The waste produced by our presence has traditionally been dealt with by a process of dilution; burying things, or perhaps dumping them in the ocean, was a viable proposition because we were few and the land and the oceans were vast. Mankind was a minor perturbation on the planetary ecosystem. But with change as the ever-present factor, we grew in both numbers and influence. In the last century, the 4 Key points The important points this unit has covered include: Defining the entrepreneur in terms of economic function and role. Identifying the key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial firms. Considering the role of entrepreneurial motivation in decision making and business behaviour. Identifying leadership and management styles appropriate to an entrepreneurial firm 9 Summary The project brief is a summary of previous discussions and research. If there is earlier documentation, the project brief can refer to these documents and summarise the key points rather than repeat everything. For example, there may have been previous documentation outlining the business case for the project so that commitment could be gained in earlier stages of the decision-making process. Similarly, there may be documentation that outlines the background to the project and the reasons for 1.13 Conclusion So far we have traversed three kinds of domain in which the study of discourse is relevant. Discourse is often (but not necessarily) interactional and researchers have studied the order and pattern in social interaction. The study of discourse also has important psychological implications for the study of minds, selves and sense-making. Finally, discourse is about social relations, culture, government and politics. No doubt, as you have been reading some problematic and confusing areas 3.3 How others see us The relative nature of poverty is an old theme in social science. Adam Smith, the eighteenth century writer who is often regarded as the founding father of economics, put it this way: ‘By necessaries I understand not only the commodities that are indispensably necessary for the support of life, but whatever the custom of the country renders it indecent for creditable people, even the lowest orders, to be without’ (Smith, 1776, quoted in Sen, 1981). Ideas of what it is to be poor are 2 Note taking from an audio visual text The first important point to make is that note taking is more than a process of summarising everything that you see; it must be an active process of engaging with the material and thinking it through for yourself. In the videos, the multidimensional nature of the visual images and the stories they convey means that you will not be able to take in everything on first viewing. The videos allow us to present visual as well as audio information and in a form that makes it easier for you to revisi 1.4 Structures of power & inequalities At the same time, such judgements and responses are not just personal matters: they are also embedded in all sorts of wider and interpersonal processes of power and inequality. These processes shape social policies, professional interventions, and representations in the media, as well as underpinning everyday social interactions in family lives and relationships. If we focus on family meanings, we may not always put issues of power, material inequalities, and moral evaluations at the centre o Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence. Cartoon: "We all want to crack down on crime" David Austin Figure 1: Croall, H. (1998) Crime and Society in Britain, Addison Wesley Longman Ltd; Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions).This content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence This extract is taken from D315: Crime, order and social control, produced by the BBC on behalf of the Open University. © 2007 Learning outcomes On completion of this unit, you should be able to: illustrate how CCTV is used for general surveillance; give examples of how CCTV can be used for crime control. 3.1 What makes a nation, a state or a nation-state? Why do England, Scotland and Wales take part in the Six Nations rugby championship alongside Italy, Ireland and France? Are they all ‘nations’? What do we mean by calling them ‘nations’? The nation has become one of the most contested concepts of our times. Scholars, politicians and political activists present different definitions of the nation, usually focusing on a variety of cultural, political, psychological, territorial, ethnic and sociological principles. The lack of an agreeme Further reading Berger and Luckmann (1967) is a classic text in the development of the social constructionist perspective within the sociological tradition. Burr (1995) offers a very thorough review of the social constructionist perspective, clearly outlining the methods of discourse analysis. Although the book draws significantly on debates within social psychology, it is of wide relevance to the social sciences more generally. 3.5 Social science approaches So far we have looked at three more developed discussions of some of the basic propositions about poverty that we considered in section 2. These three examples could be multiplied: there is a variety of explanations of poverty that we could have used. However, these three allow us to reflect a little on the relationship between social science discussions of social problems and common-sense understandings. It is worth starting with some of the differences. 3.1 Competing explanations of social problems If we can agree that poverty is a social problem, we are led to another question: what sort of social problem is it? For some, it is a social problem because people should not be poor: it involves social injustice. For others, poverty is a social problem because poor people behave badly (or bring up children poorly): it involves social disorder. We therefore have another parting of the ways, with some believing that social justice requires poor people to become less poor, and others believing
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