Jack Eaton

Management communication: the threat of groupthink

Reference is often made to the concept of groupthink in books on organizational behaviour intended primarily for students of management. Yet the few examples of its occurrence that are adduced are by now rather archaic or rely on the original case researched by Janis. This paper seeks to remedy this deficiency by considering two recent cases of possible groupthink in British corporate management at BA and Marks & Spencer. A notable feature of groupthink was that it tended to take place in conditions of concurrence‐seeking. In conditions that might induce such behaviour, senior management of both BA and Marks & Spencer announced globalization strategies in the early 1990s. Taking its cue from a previous study of groupthink by McCauley, the main body of the paper uses content analysis of press reports on management at BA and Marks & Spencer in the 1990s to suggest that groupthink was present, causing blocked management communications and leading to the fall in reputation and stock market valuation of these two companies.

Flying the flag for subsidies—Prospects for Airline Deregulation in Europe

Whereas the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 put an end to airline subsidization in the USA, things look quite different in the European Union: after more than a decade of discussions about liberalization and the advent of the single market, most European routes are still monopolies or duopolies with state aid to airlines featuring prominently. Why has air transport liberalization made so little progress? What are the prospects for the future?

The crazy economics of air freight

Measured by value of goods transported, about one third of all international trade today is moved by air. Severe cyclical fluctuations around the generally strong growth trend of the last decade have meant considerable problems for air freight companies, however. How have they attempted to deal with these problems? How would they be advised to behave in future?