In this book the authors systematically address the most common stereotypes or myths about Japanese education that are currently being circulated in the popular press, teaching magazines and educational research journals. The authors show how arguments about Japan are used to further political ends within the American educational debate. Some of the myths that the book debunks are Japan's high adolescent suicide rate. LeTendre and Zeng show that adolescent suicide among males is now twice as high in the U.S. as in Japan. Tsuchida and Lewis take on the myth of Japanese classrooms as crowded places centered on rote-learning--providing detailed evidence as to why Japanese students may indeed have an "edge" in math. McConnell uses Japan's highly successful foreign language program to deconstruct images of "Japan Inc."--showing the highly fractious and bitter political debates that occur in Japan. Yang provides data on differences in Japanese and American teachers' work roles--showing that differences in the two educational systems are not simply due to "cultural" differences, but have a basis in educational policy and school organization. Shimizu offers an alternative view of achievement motivation among Japanese students based on in-depth interviews with Japanese teens.

This is the first comprehensive professional guide to the strategies and techniques of competitor analysis for the financial services industry. It explains how to set up systems and models to identify and analyse competitors and their products.The book begins with an overview of the need for competitor analysis in financial services. It continues with the identification of competitors, the setting up of competitor analysis systems, and a consideration of key sources of information. The core of the book examines the process of analysis, modelling, dissemination and monitoring of information and its application for competitive advantage.Key concepts in Competitor analysis in financial services: - Don't just copy others' systems - Understand the need for competitor intelligence - Find out what competitors do - Understand the methodology - Set up the systems to fit your companyThis book is thoroughly practical in its approach and international in its coverage and is essential reading for all financial services professionals seeking competitive advantage.

This book provides a step-by-step approach to all of the essential elements of strategy. It outlines a 21-step approach, with a 30+ slide strategy presentation for readers to apply themselves. By following the examples in the book, the reader will be able to construct a world-class strategy and to present it in an effective manner. The approach integrates diagnosis, design, and implementation into one seamless flow from insight to action.

An examination of archaeology in Jordan and Palestine, Competitive Archaeology in Jordan explores how antiquities have been used to build narratives and national identities. Tracing Jordanian history, and the importance of Jerusalem within that history, Corbett analyzes how both foreign and indigenous powers have engaged in a competition over ownership of antiquities and the power to craft history and geography based on archaeological artifacts. She begins with the Ottoman and British Empires—under whose rule the institutions and borders of modern Jordan began to take shape—asking how they used antiquities in varying ways to advance their imperial projects. Corbett continues through the Mandate era and the era of independence of an expanded Hashemite Kingdom, examining how the Hashemites and other factions, both within and beyond Jordan, have tried to define national identity by drawing upon antiquities. Competitive Archaeology in Jordan traces a complex history through the lens of archaeology's power as a modern science to create and give value to spaces, artifacts, peoples, narratives, and academic disciplines. It thus considers the role of archaeology in realizing Jordan's modernity—drawing its map; delineating sacred and secular spaces; validating taxonomies of citizens; justifying legal frameworks and institutions of state; determining logos of the nation for display on stamps, currency, and in museums; and writing history. Framing Jordan's history in this way, Corbett illustrates the manipulation of archaeology by governments, institutions, and individuals to craft narratives, draw borders, and create national identities.

Law, Liberty, and the Competitive Market brings the clash between law and legislation to the attention of economists and political scientists. It fills a void and offers a series of texts that have not previously been translated into English. This anthology connects various articles by Leoni on economics and law with the objective of emphasizing how much Leoni's own theory in the juridical environment was influenced by reflection on authors of the Austrian school--from Carl Menger to Ludwig von Mises, from Friedrich von Hayek to Murray N. Rothbard. The essays dealing with economics help us understand how many of Leoni's positions were libertarian. A careful reader of Mises, Leoni often ends up by assuming positions that are even more anti-state than those of the Austrian economist (concerning monopolies, for example). It is significant that in the 1960s his thought was influenced by Rothbard. The very critiques that he addresses to normativism and to analytical philosophy contain strong ideological elements, as they move from the awareness that legal positivism leads to statism and philosophical relativism to acquiescence in the face of power. Studying the market economy, Leoni perceives opposition between spontaneous order and planning. In this way, he understands how such a contrast is significant for the origins of norms. Leoni's idea of a law able to protect individual liberty has its roots in the market. Thus, the market is at the same time the model he uses to conceive the legal order and an institution fundamental for the service of civilization, which the law is called to protect. This is an important work by a figure only now being recognized as a pioneer in the field of economics and an innovator in political theory.