A needed and overdue corrective, this book should be essential reading for business and economics scholars and for anyone...
A business professor challenges the conventional belief that the father of economics endorsed key assumptions used to justify greed and oppose regulation.
As corporate scandals and financial crises have harmed millions and eroded public trust, debut author Cox (Marketing, Univ. of Texas, Austin) wants business schools to emphasize ethics and social responsibility to offset curriculums that foster a culture of avarice and radical individualism. Mainstream economics, he argues, embraces a political philosophy that promotes the “twin pillars of market capitalism: greedy and rational economic man and the self-regulating power of perfect competition.” Both concepts supposedly find authority in Adam Smith, whose “invisible hand” transforms the personal vice of avarice into the public virtue of economic growth. But Cox effectively describes how these theoretical economic models break down in practice, often harming free enterprise. He persuasively argues that Smith would not recognize or accept them. Cox confesses that for decades as a student and professor he had not read Smith’s 950-page Wealth of Nations, accepting what others attributed to it. Intensive study of works by and about the economist and philosopher convinced Cox that Smith distinguished between healthy self-interest and that which was “vulgarly understood”—greed. Cox cites numerous government interventions that Smith endorsed, from a minimum wage to progressive taxation, to show that his philosophy was not laissez faire. While Cox aims his work at academia, he writes clearly in mostly jargon-free language that anyone should be able to understand, striking a good balance between scholarly theory and everyday business practice. His case is thorough, well-organized, well-researched, and documented with footnotes, an extensive bibliography, and a basic index. The prose conveys a passion born of regret that the author might have served his own students better; he laments that he presented them “with a hash” of “two conflicting business philosophies.” Particularly effective is his juxtaposition of two former students at the school where he is now professor emeritus: Rick Causey became Enron’s chief accounting officer and went to federal prison; Sherron Watkins, who pens the volume’s afterword, became an Enron whistleblower and Time magazine “Person of the Year” in 2002.
A needed and overdue corrective, this book should be essential reading for business and economics scholars and for anyone interested in these subjects.Pub Date: May 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-981-3206-72-4
Page Count: 280
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Co
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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