This issue of Business and Public Administration studies addresses two remote areas: the macroeconomic problems of managing and development of countries, and the microeconomic issues of managing and development of enterprises.
The first article, “Military modernization in India and China”, presents the changes that have taken place in recent years in the level of militarization in India and China. The author tries to identify the reasons for significant expenditure on armaments. India already has over 1 million troops - its navy is the fifth largest, and Air Force the fourth largest in the world. For over forty years, Pakistan was considered as the main opponent, however today an increasing number of analysts point instead to China. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has played an important historical role as the guardian of the revolution. Its strategy has been almost entirely defensive, but the new leadership of China has committed itself to modernization of its military capability. China builds its own aircraft carriers and designs its own jet fighters. The border between both countries spans over a thousand miles in three parts, and runs through mountainous terrain. These mountains are an important source of fresh water, the shortage of which is a problem for both countries. They have already witnessed war between India and China in 1962.
The second article, “Supervisory Board group dynamics as a determinant of team and company effectiveness. Empirical evidence from Poland”, presents research results on the effectiveness of supervisory boards. Many publications address the issues of company effectiveness, yet the role of top management is often treated only as one of many factors of similar importance to others. In contrast, William Edwards Deming pointed out, that top management is responsible for as much as 80% of company results. Therefore the issue of supervisory board effectiveness becomes a key issue in effective company management. The article presents new ways of explaining group dynamics within supervisory boards.
Finally, we present the review of “Time to Start Thinking: America in The Age of Descent” by Edward Luce, highly regarded British journalist who now lives in Washington and is the chief U.S. columnist for the Financial Times. Luce tries to assess the “current state of America”. To reach this aim he traveled around the country and conducted hundreds of interviews, which are the basis for this book.
Slawomir Wawak, Editor, Europe
