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The Land Reform Deception: Political Opportunism in Zimbabwe's Land Seizure Era

The Land Reform Deception looks at a particularly contentious period in Zimbabwe's recent history, from 2000-2008, when the government seized commercial farms using illegal and violent methods against a largely unarmed population of farmers and farm workers. Robert Mugabe's government began the seizures on a small, targeted scale in an effort to suppress political opposition groups, but they soon escalated into an out-of-control frenzy targeting all farms in the country. The state claimed that the seizures occurred in response to a public cry for land redistribution and to rectify colonial-era injustices, and were part of a structured land reallocation program. Yet, land was often distributed ad hoc to those with little or no farming experience. As a result, agricultural output contracted and inflation and unemployment rose dramatically in what became a social and economic disaster for the country. In The Land Reform Deception, Charles Laurie asks why the state would target its own agricultural industry using such violent methods and risk such dire consequences. He also seeks to uncover the major actors and their motivations and strategies. Laurie argues that the seizure of the most valuable farms was largely carried out by politically influential individuals for financial and political gain, rather than to address historical injustices. In fact, he finds that the scale on which the farm invasions were carried out and the violent methods used were never part of a planned government land policy. Indeed, Laurie shows that Mugabe initially opposed the seizures, knowing that they would wreck the economy, only to later support them in order to appease his supporters and retain political power. Incorporating unprecedented empirical evidence gathered from in-depth interviews with senior politicians, members of the secretive Central Intelligence Organization, the military and police, along with farmers and farm workers who were targeted during the invasions, The Land Reform Deception strips away official explanations and delves into the political and economic drivers that triggered the seizure of commercial farms in Zimbabwe.

The Evolving Sphere of Food Security

Hundreds of millions of people still suffer from chronic hunger and food insecurity despite sufficient levels of global food production. The poor's inability to afford adequate diets remains the biggest constraint to solving hunger, but the dynamics of global food insecurity are complex and demand analysis that extends beyond the traditional domains of economics and agriculture. How do the policies used to promote food security in one country affect nutrition, food access, natural resources, and national security in other countries? How do the priorities and challenges of achieving food security change over time as countries develop economically? The Evolving Sphere of Food Security seeks to answer these two important questions and others by exploring the interconnections of food security to security of many kinds: energy, water, health, climate, the environment, and national security. Through personal stories of research in the field and policy advising at local and global scales, a multidisciplinary group of scholars provide readers with a real-world sense of the opportunities and challenges involved in alleviating food insecurity. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, management of HIV/AIDS, the establishment of an equitable system of land property rights, and investment in solar-powered irrigation play an important role in improving food security---particularly in the face of global climate change. Meanwhile, food price spikes associated with the United States' biofuels policy continue to have spillover effects on the world's rural poor with implications for stability and national security. The Evolving Sphere of Food Security traces four key areas of the food security field: 1) the political economy of food and agriculture; 2) challenges for the poorest billion; 3) agriculture's dependence on resources and the environment; and 4) food in a national and international security context. This book connects these areas in a way that tells an integrated story about human lives, resource use, and the policy process.

Empire of the Fund: The Way We Save Now

Empire of the Fund is an exposé and examination of the way we save now. With the rise of the 401(k) and demise of the pension, the United States has embarked upon the richest and riskiest experiment in our financial history. Over the next twenty years, nearly eighty million baby boomers will retire at a pace of ten thousand per day. The hypothesis of our experiment is that millions of ordinary, untrained, busy citizens can successfully manage trillions of dollars in a financial system dominated by wealthy, skilled, and powerful financial institutions, many of which have a record of treating individual investors shabbily. The key tools in our 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts are mutual funds, which have ballooned to hold more than $16 trillion. But these funds pose dangers to our savings in three ways: through structural vulnerabilities that give money managers the incentive to focus on marketing over investing; through the very human challenges of managing our savings decades into the future; and through the peril of financial professionals behaving badly, to our economic harm. Though Americans often hear of the importance of low fees in fund investing, few are aware of the astonishing panoply of ways that some financial advisers have illegally diverted money out of mutual funds: from abetting hedge funds to trade after the legal deadline, to inflating the assets on which they are paid a percentage, to paying kickbacks for brokers to sell their funds. This book will forewarn and forearm Americans by illustrating the structural flaws, perverse incentives, and litany of scandals that have bedeviled mutual funds. And by setting forth a pair of policy solutions to improve Americans' financial literacy and bargaining power, it will also attempt to safeguard our individual financial destinies and our nation's fiscal strength.

Empire of the Fund: The Way We Save Now

Empire of the Fund is an exposé and examination of the way we save now. With the rise of the 401(k) and demise of the pension, the United States has embarked upon the richest and riskiest experiment in our financial history. Over the next twenty years, nearly eighty million baby boomers will retire at a pace of ten thousand per day. The hypothesis of our experiment is that millions of ordinary, untrained, busy citizens can successfully manage trillions of dollars in a financial system dominated by wealthy, skilled, and powerful financial institutions, many of which have a record of treating individual investors shabbily. The key tools in our 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts are mutual funds, which have ballooned to hold more than $16 trillion. But these funds pose dangers to our savings in three ways: through structural vulnerabilities that give money managers the incentive to focus on marketing over investing; through the very human challenges of managing our savings decades into the future; and through the peril of financial professionals behaving badly, to our economic harm. Though Americans often hear of the importance of low fees in fund investing, few are aware of the astonishing panoply of ways that some financial advisers have illegally diverted money out of mutual funds: from abetting hedge funds to trade after the legal deadline, to inflating the assets on which they are paid a percentage, to paying kickbacks for brokers to sell their funds. This book will forewarn and forearm Americans by illustrating the structural flaws, perverse incentives, and litany of scandals that have bedeviled mutual funds. And by setting forth a pair of policy solutions to improve Americans' financial literacy and bargaining power, it will also attempt to safeguard our individual financial destinies and our nation's fiscal strength.

Transnational Cooperation: An Issue-Based Approach

Transnational Cooperation: An Issue-Based Approach presents an analysis of transnational cooperation or collective action that stresses basic concepts and intuition. Throughout the book, authors Clint Peinhardt and Todd Sandler identify factors that facilitate and/or inhibit such cooperation. The first four chapters lay the analytical foundations for the book, while the next nine chapters apply the analysis to a host of exigencies and topics of great importance. The authors use elementary game theory as a tool for illustrating the ideas put forth in the text. Game theory reminds us that rational actors (for example, countries, firms, or individuals) must account for the responses by other rational actors. The book assumes no prior knowledge of game theory; all game-theoretic concepts and analyses are explained in detail to the reader. Peinhardt and Sandler also employ paired comparisons in illustrating the book's concepts. The book is rich in applications and covers a wide range of topics, including superbugs, civil wars, money laundering, financial crises, drug trafficking, terrorism, global health concerns, international trade liberalization, acid rain, leadership, sovereignty, and many others. Students, researchers, and policymakers alike have much to gain from Transnational Cooperation. It is a crossover book for economics, political science, and public policy.

TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION C: An Issue-Based Approach

Transnational Cooperation: An Issue-Based Approach presents an analysis of transnational cooperation or collective action that stresses basic concepts and intuition. Throughout the book, authors Clint Peinhardt and Todd Sandler identify factors that facilitate and/or inhibit such cooperation. The first four chapters lay the analytical foundations for the book, while the next nine chapters apply the analysis to a host of exigencies and topics of great importance. The authors use elementary game theory as a tool for illustrating the ideas put forth in the text. Game theory reminds us that rational actors (for example, countries, firms, or individuals) must account for the responses by other rational actors. The book assumes no prior knowledge of game theory; all game-theoretic concepts and analyses are explained in detail to the reader. Peinhardt and Sandler also employ paired comparisons in illustrating the book's concepts. The book is rich in applications and covers a wide range of topics, including superbugs, civil wars, money laundering, financial crises, drug trafficking, terrorism, global health concerns, international trade liberalization, acid rain, leadership, sovereignty, and many others. Students, researchers, and policymakers alike have much to gain from Transnational Cooperation. It is a crossover book for economics, political science, and public policy.

Leadership Skills In Policing (Blackstone's Practical Policing Ser.)

This practical guide to developing leadership skills in policing examines the qualities that make up a good leader, providing a variety of examples of good leadership approaches in various policing contexts. Police organisations are increasingly recognising the role of leadership at every level of the police hierarchy; with police officers involving themselves with partnership work, attending and facilitating public meetings and heading neighbourhood policing teams, as well as their more traditional police work. This book aims to enhance leadership skills in policing and ensure officers carry out their duties as effectively as possible. It outlines the theory and concepts of leadership and applies them to police management structures, offering advice on a wide range of issues. These issues include leading teams, motivating others, dealing with disputes, problem-solving, participating in meetings and ethical leadership. All explanations are supported by exercises, examples of both good and bad leadership approaches, flow charts, useful websites and suggested further reading. The first practical guide to tackle leadership aimed at uniformed officers, this title is an essential purchase for anyone within the police service who has responsibility for leading at the front line of the police service. The book forms part of the Blackstone's Practical Policing Series. The series, aimed at junior to middle ranking officers, consists of practical guides containing clear and detailed explanations of the relevant legislation and practice, accompanied by case studies, illustrative diagrams and useful checklists.

Leadership Skills In Policing (Blackstone's Practical Policing Ser. (PDF))

This practical guide to developing leadership skills in policing examines the qualities that make up a good leader, providing a variety of examples of good leadership approaches in various policing contexts. Police organizations are increasingly recognizing the role of leadership at every level of the police hierarchy; with police officers involving themselves with partnership work, attending and facilitating public meetings and heading neighborhood policing teams, as well as their more traditional police work.

Oxford Guide To Surviving As A Cbt Therapist: (pdf)

For the newly trained Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, there are a wealth of challenges and difficulties faced, as they try and apply their new found skills in the outside world. These might include the stresses of working in isolation, and finding it difficult to widen their scope or bounce ideas of other C.B.T. therapists; or the need for practical advice on setting up group therapy; the possible conflicts betweens ethical practice and theory; how to retain ones integrity as a therapist, while maintaining a viable business practice; dealing with diverse communities, or becoming a supervisor. The Oxford Guide to Surviving C.B.T. Practice is the one-stop resource for the newly trained therapist. It offers practical guidance on a range of issues and challenges faced by the therapist. Written by people with vast experience of training and practising C.B.T., it draws on real life situations to help the reader hone and develop their skills, adjust to life as a therapist, and maintain a successful and satisfying career whilst helping others. With thousands of new C.B.T. therapists being trained over the coming years, this book will be a constant companion for all those starting life as a therapist, one they will want to have to hand at all times.

Introduction to International Human Resource Management (PDF)

This text is an ideal introduction to international human resource management. Accessible language and real-life examples are employed, and no prior understanding of HRM or labour economics is assumed. This makes the text perfectly suited for the large number of students who do not hold an undergraduate degree in business or HRM, or for whom English is not their first language. The text will also be welcomed by students who have taken an introductory module in HRM but would like to be reminded of the core concepts before exploring how these work in an international context. A wide range of examples is explored from countries such as China, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Germany, Japan and Bangladesh as well as from the UK and USA. Discussion activities are embedded throughout the text to encourage a critical approach to the subject. A glossary of terms is provided for ease of reference. The book is clearly structured in two parts. The comparative approach in Part 1 ensures the student understands the implications of the changing business environment on IHRM, demonstrating the importance of national culture and institutional differences and how this informs the debates and theories. Part 2 presents the practice of IHRM, showing the decisions organizations have to make, and the dilemmas they face when implementing HRM policy and practice. The table of contents has been designed to map closely to courses. A chapter on international talent management explores a particularly 'hot topic' in HRM, which is under-represented in existing texts. The final chapter on the 'dark side' of international human resource management takes a critical approach and uncovers the exploitation that can occur within this area, again something that is under-discussed in other texts. Online Resource Centre For lecturers: 1000-word case study, with questions and answers for lecturers; one case for each chapter of the book Seminar discussion ideas For students: Web links Answers to the end-of-chapter questions.

Embracing Complexity: Strategic Perspectives For An Age Of Turbulence

Leadership: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions Ser.)

The subject of leadership raises many questions: What is it? How does it differ from management and command? Are leaders born or bred? Who are the leaders? Do we actually need leaders? Inevitably, the answers are provocative and partial; leadership is a hugely important topic of debate. There are constant calls for 'greater' or 'stronger' leadership, but what this actually means, how we can evaluate it, and why it's important are not very clear. In this Very Short Introduction Keith Grint prompts the reader to rethink their understanding of what leadership is. He examines the way leadership has evolved from its earliest manifestations in ancient societies, highlighting the beginnings of leadership writings through Plato, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli and others, to consider the role of the social, economic, and political context undermining particular modes of leadership. Exploring the idea that leaders cannot exist without followers, and recognising that we all have diverse experiences and assumptions of leadership, Grint looks at the practice of management, its history, future, and influence on all aspects of society. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Organized Crime: Policing Illegal Business Entrepreneurialism (PDF)

Organized crime in the twenty-first century is a knowledge war that poses an incalculable global threat to the world economy and harm to society - the economic and social costs are estimated at upwards of £20 billion a year for the UK alone (SOCA 2006/7). Organized Crime: Policing Illegal Business Entrepreneurialism offers a unique approach to the tackling of this area by exploring how it works through the conceptual framework of a business enterprise. Structured in three parts, the book progresses systematically through key areas and concepts integral to dealing effectively with the myriad contemporary forms of organised crime and provides insights on where, how and when to disrupt and dismantle a criminal business activity through current policing practices and policies. From the initial set up of a crime business through to the long term forecasting for growth and profitability, the authors dissect and analyse the different phases of the business enterprise and propose a 'Knowledge-Managed Policing' (KMP) approach to criminal entrepreneurialism. Combining conceptual and practical issues, this is a must-have reference for all police professionals, policing academics and government policy makers who are interested in a Strategy-led, Intelligence supported, Knowledge-Managed approach to policing illegal business entrepreneurialism.

Business Research Methods (3rd edition) (PDF)

Designed as an introduction to doing business research, this book acts as a comprehensive guide for students embarking on their research projects. The authors, together with real students and supervisors, draw on their own experiences so that readers can take note of their tips for success and avoid making their mistakes. Developed specifically with business and management students in mind, this book explores the issues which business research entails, as well as providing students with practical advice on doing research. A new feature has been added to this edition that sees supervisors of research projects from various universities give guidance on how to decide on a project and see it through to a successful conclusion, avoiding common pitfalls. Other changes include the expansion of the discussion of ethics, an increased emphasis on practical content such as planning a project and writing it up, and a substantially updated chapter on internet research methods.

Managing Equality And Diversity: Theory And Practice

Managing Equality and Diversity: Theory and Practice offers a unique learning experience and an innovative approach to an increasingly important subject area, and offers students a solid foundation in equality and diversity management, while fostering a strong understanding of its practical application in business. Taking a business, rather than sociological approach to the subject, the text supplements the theory behind managing equality and diversity with real-world practical examples, providing an insight into the contemporary issues facing today's businesses and organisations. This up-to-date coverage is combined with an accessible and student-friendly writing style, which ensures an engaging discussion of key themes and concepts relevant to equality management. Structured in two parts, the authors begin by grounding students in the theory of diversity management and outlining UK and European equality legislation. The second half of the text is then devoted to connecting this theory with the practice of managing gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation in the workplace. Rich in case studies from the public and private sector, this textbook provides students with a comprehensive insight into real-life management situations. The text is supported by an extensive Online Resource Centre for both students and registered lecturers. Closely linked to the textbook, the resource centre consolidates student learning and offers a breadth of teaching resources for equality and diversity modules. Students will find up-to-date links to journal articles and policy updates, while lecturers can access discussion and debate questions to use as a platform for seminar discussion.

Blackstone's Preparing For Police Duty (PDF)

This is a fully revised fourth edition of the successful Blackstone's Preparing for Police Duty, the invaluable introduction to the police service for new recruits or those considering a policing career. This highly practical guide informs those interested in a career in the police about the general culture of the policing world; the extended police family, dress-code, badges, shift patterns, equipment and basic information on police powers in relation to the most common crimes. The new edition offers an easy-to-understand outline of the criminal justice system and a summary of the criminal law, and has been fully updated to include the latest changes in the recruitment and entry procedures, as well as new content on policing terrorism, public protest, and neighbourhood policing. Written by an experienced serving police officer, Blackstone's Preparing for Police Duty is an accessible, motivational and informative guide for anyone considering a career in the police service, those on foundation and policing degree courses, and anyone who has recently secured a place as a student officer.

Global Marketing Management: (pdf)

Featuring a perfect balance of theoretical and practical examples, Global Marketing Management, Third Edition, shows students how organizations navigate through today's rapidly changing and challenging global trading environment. Adopting a strategic management framework, the text enables students to identify, evaluate, and integrate a wide range of management concepts in order to create and execute highly effective global marketing programs. It also discusses how to analyze and solve management problems in global operations. The third edition addresses such key contemporary issues as climate change and sustainable development, service delivery, ICT technologies and social media, strategic branding, and maintaining relationships. Authors Kiefer Lee and Steve Carter examine the implications of these issues and consider how they may be applied to the management of global marketing programs. The Companion Website offers numerous resources for students and instructors.

Honeyball And Bowers' Textbook On Employment Law

Honeyball and Bowers' Textbook on Employment Law is an approach to employment law with strong critical analysis whilst placing it in its wider contexts, in a concise and user-friendly format. Fully updated to take into account the recent significant developments in this area, including the Equality Act 2010, the key topics on most employment law courses are addressed in detail. An extremely clear writing style allows this text to remain accessible and student-focussed, while providingdetailed explanations and analysis of the law. The text also includes diagrams and chapter summaries throughout to aid student understanding, while further reading suggestions assist with essay preparation and research. Setting employment law in context, this book considers both industrial and collective issues as well as examining the increasing role of the EU in UK employment law. A separate chapter on human rights also enables students to understand the role human rights legislation plays in the development ofemployment law. This book also contains cross referencing to Painter and Holmes' Cases and Materials on Employment Law, ensuring that these two texts continue to complement one another and provide the perfect combination of textbook analysis and the most up-to-date cases and materials. This text is accompanied by a free Online Resource Centre (www. oxfordtextbooks. co. uk/orc/honeyball12e/) which contains updates to the law and useful weblinks.

Introduction To Management

Macroeconomics: Institutions, Instability, And The Financial System

This authoritative new textbook integrates the modern monetary framework, based on the 3-equation model of the demand side, the supply side and the policy maker, with a model of the financial system. As a result, the authors comprehensively address the limitations of the mainstream macroeconomic model exposed by the financial crisis and the Eurozone crisis. The book guides the reader through the three principal steps required to integrate the financial system within the macroeconomic model. Firstly, the authors examine how the margin of the lending rate over the policy rate is set in the commercial banking sector, how money is created in a modern banking system and how the central bank can take account of the working of the banking system in order to achieve its desired policy outcome. Secondly, the authors explore the characteristics of the financial system that result in vulnerability to a financial crisis, with implications for fiscal balance. The economy depends on the continuity of core banking services and governments cannot afford to let them fail. This means that important banks do not bear the full cost of their lending decisions. As a result, they may have an incentive to take on excessive risk. Thirdly, a simple model is developed of the behaviour of highly-leveraged financial institutions as the basis for a leverage or financial cycle in the economy. In addition, the book extends the 3-equation model to the open economy and uses a simple 2-bloc version of the 3-equation model to introduce global imbalances. The case of a common currency area is handled within the core model - both at the Eurozone level and at the level of member countries. Every chapter emphasises how the different actors in the economy behave and interact: what are they trying to achieve and what limits their ability to put their intentions into practice? This is extended to the modelling of growth, where the role of innovation rents in the Schumpeterian model is highlighted. It is essential that students understand previous periods of growth, stability and crisis in preparing for future shocks. With this in mind, the book enables the reader to interpret long run historical data and to compare institutional detail in different eras and across the world. Consequently, this text not only develops the critical thinking skills required for academic success, but ensures the reader can analyse data, trends, and policy debates with the confidence necessary for a career in economics or finance. As a result, it is essential reading for all those interested in learning more about the current macroeconomic system and the role played by financial institutions. Online Resource Centre: For students: Conduct a range of exercises with the closed and open economy versions of the model using the Excel-based macroeconomic simulator. Develop your understanding with additional technical material available in the accompanying web appendices. For registered lecturers: Access the solutions to end of chapter questions from the book.

Employability Skills For Law Students

Employability Skills for Law Students is designed to help you: * identify the academic, practical and transferable skills that can be developed whilst studying for a law degree; * recognise the value of those skills to employers (within both law and non-law professions); * identify any gaps in your skills portfolio; * maximise opportunities to develop new skills through participation in a range of activities; * effectively demonstrate your skills to potential employers; * improve your employability prospects on graduation from university. Whether you are in your first year or your last, this book will ensure you make the most of your time at university, developing skills inside and outside the lecture theatre, so that you are in the best possible position to pursue your chosen career on graduation - as a solicitor, barrister, or a completely different profession. An interactive Online Resource Centre provides a range practical activities designed to give you opportunities to practise and receive feedback upon the skills you are developing.

Finding A Voice At Work? (PDF): New Perspectives On Employment Relations

How much 'say' should employees have in the running of business organizations, and what form should the 'voice' take? This is both the oldest and latest question in employment relations. Answers to these questions reflect our fundamental assumptions about the nature of the employment relationship, and inform our views on almost every aspect of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Employment Relations. Voice can also mean different things to different people. For some, employee voice is a synonym for trade union representation which aims to defend and promote the collective interests of workers. For others voice, is means of enhancing employee commitment and organisational performance. Others advocate workers control as an alternative to conventional capitalist organisations which are run for shareholders. There is thus both a moral and political argument for a measure of democracy at work, as well as a business case argument, which views voice as a potential link in the quest for increased organisational performance. The key debate for employment relations is which of the approaches 'works best' in delivering outcomes which balance competitiveness and productivity, on the one hand, and fair treatment of workers and social justice on the other. Policy makers need pragmatic answers to enduring questions: what works best in different contexts, what are the conditions of success, and what are the drawbacks? Some of the most significant developments in employee voice have taken place within the European Union, with various public policy and employer experiments attracting extensive academic research. The book offers a critical assessment of the main contemporary concepts and models of voice in the UK and Europe, and provides an in-depth theoretical and empirical exploration of employee voice in one accessible and cohesive collection.

Finding A Voice At Work?: New Perspectives On Employment Relations (pdf)

Finding A Voice At Work? (PDF): New Perspectives On Employment Relations

How much 'say' should employees have in the running of business organizations, and what form should the 'voice' take? This is both the oldest and latest question in employment relations. Answers to these questions reflect our fundamental assumptions about the nature of the employment relationship, and inform our views on almost every aspect of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Employment Relations. Voice can also mean different things to different people. For some, employee voice is a synonym for trade union representation which aims to defend and promote the collective interests of workers. For others voice, is means of enhancing employee commitment and organisational performance. Others advocate workers control as an alternative to conventional capitalist organisations which are run for shareholders. There is thus both a moral and political argument for a measure of democracy at work, as well as a business case argument, which views voice as a potential link in the quest for increased organisational performance. The key debate for employment relations is which of the approaches 'works best' in delivering outcomes which balance competitiveness and productivity, on the one hand, and fair treatment of workers and social justice on the other. Policy makers need pragmatic answers to enduring questions: what works best in different contexts, what are the conditions of success, and what are the drawbacks? Some of the most significant developments in employee voice have taken place within the European Union, with various public policy and employer experiments attracting extensive academic research. The book offers a critical assessment of the main contemporary concepts and models of voice in the UK and Europe, and provides an in-depth theoretical and empirical exploration of employee voice in one accessible and cohesive collection.

Skills In The Age Of Over-qualification: Comparing Service Sector Work In Europe (PDF)

Across the developed world, most of us who work now earn our living in the service sector. However, the issue of what kind of service economy is sustainable and desirable, both in economic and social terms, is rarely debated. This book argues that this needs to change. National governments have emphasised the role of skills in achieving international competitiveness, higher living standards, and social inclusion. However, even prior to the 2008 financial crisis, problems of over-qualification, skills wastage, and poor job quality were becoming difficult to ignore. This raises important questions about what kind of service sector jobs will be on offer to meet the aspirations of an increasingly qualified workforce and what role can governments play in raising the skills required in jobs and the quality of jobs and services? Work organisation and job design are key factors shaping the skill content of work and the opportunities workers have to deploy their skills and capabilities. Through cross-national comparative research, this book examines whether and why service sector jobs vary across countries. Drawing upon detailed empirical research, the jobs of vocational teacher, fitness instructor, and café worker in the UK, Norway, and France are compared, allowing an exploration of the role of national institutions, sectors, and organisations in shaping work organisation and job quality. The findings contribute to the comparative study of work organisation, the relationship between skills and performance, the role and purpose of education and the prospects for better jobs in 'the age of over-qualification'.