Despite growing evidence that large UK organisations are increasingly incorporating the environment into corporate strategy, there continues to be considerable scepticism as to whether this is leading to any meaningful action to reduce industry’s environmental impact. One possible explanation is the existence of a “gap” between policy formulation and implementation, and the authors suggest that this may be due to a failure on the part of business to ensure congruence between organisational context, values and capability. Utilising data drawn from a recent survey of corporate environmental policies and practices, the authors explore the interaction of external and internal factors with regard to policy development, and search for evidence of congruence. They conclude that very often policy formulation takes little consideration of the organisation’s capability to implement environmental strategies, and suggest that until this question is taken seriously, a gulf will always exist between what companies aim to do, and what they actually achieve.

Drawing upon the findings of an ongoing empirical study of UK corporate environmental attitude and policies, the paper seeks to extend the debate as to how company strategic environmental policy making can be plotted and described. It is argued that the positioning of companies is determined by the interaction of a set of key external and internal influences and constraints, the relationship between which often produces strategic policy positions which appear not to conform to the behavioural archetypes established by linear sequential models. This suggests that such models may not allow the full impact of the reality of business necessity to be recognized. This is seen to be increasingly true for companies operating globally, who are faced with differing environmental requirements and regulations, and who have as yet not developed global environmental performance standards. Although acknowledging existing linear work, the case is put for the recognition of further archetypes, that can distinguish behavioural characteristics and which are identified as being beyond the confines of the linear approach. The hypotheses established are exploratory in nature and are the subject of ongoing confirmatory research. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

In this paper we develop a contingent claims framework for determining the financial value of professional football players. Contingent claims style modelling is used to develop two models. The pricing of football players is based on a performance index such as the Carling Opta Index. Unexpected events such as injuries are included into the models as Poisson jump processes. The value of a player varies from club to club, depending on club turnover and the total number of performance points generated by the entire team.

PurposeThe process of public sector reform in the United Kingdom continues to provoke debate. Even among advocates of the reform process there is a concern that improvements in public service provision have not been as marked as originally intended, and that the process has produced a variety of unintended consequences. The purpose of this paper is to explore possible explanations for these unintended consequences, and discuss possible practical solutions for policy makers and service commissioners.Design/methodology/approachIn this conceptual paper focus is in particular upon attempting to explain managerial behaviour from insights offered by two well‐established managerial theories – stakeholder theory and resource dependency theory. Insights from these theories are used to explain the possible causes of the unintended consequences of the reform process. The discussion is illustrated and set in context by reference to a continuum of service delivery modes from monopoly provision through to full competition.FindingsTheory suggests that managers inevitably prioritise the interests of what they identify as their key stakeholders, and particularly those providing critical resources. In the case of public services this means that the interests of government, as the commissioner and funder of services, are prioritised rather than the end‐users of services. Examples of how this distorts the objectives of government are highlighted. It is argued that understanding this aspect of managerial decision‐making and stakeholder prioritising opens up the potential to resolve the problem.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to address the question of managerial behaviour from these theoretical perspectives in the area of the public sector reform process.

Introducing consumer choice was one of the key motivations underpinning the various public utility privatisations of the 1980s and 1990s, along with enhancing the quality of service provided to consumers. This was especially the case in electricity supply, where a timetable for the introduction of competition was included in the original legislation. However, evidence from the industry regulator suggests that consumers are proving reluctant to exercise choice, despite the intensity of the supply companies' preparation and marketing campaigns. Indeed, a recent poll by MORI suggests that the number of consumers who have changed suppliers is approximately half that predicted by the industry. This paper, drawing on consumer behaviour theory, seeks to explain the reasons behind the apparent reluctance of consumers to change electricity provider, utilising market research data from both the UK and Germany.