A government by the people and for the people is an ideal of Irish politics. But it is fast disappearing as corporations take more control. The Corporate Takeover of Ireland examines the effects corporations have on Irish life and shows how democratic decision making has been subverted by money. For example: --- Efforts to ban advertising to children and to restrict promotion of alcohol have been prevented by large global corporations. --- Irish universities are increasingly run on the model of a corporation and their research work is being put at the service of major pharmaceutical firms --- A new medical apartheid is being created in health as huge US health corporations stand ready to move into the private healthcare market. --- Waste collection is no longer organized as a public service but is being turned into big business. --- State enterprises such as Aer Lingus have been handed over to private investors. The Corporate Takeover of Ireland is based on interviews with key participants and is supplemented with documentary information. New material challenges arguments for privatization/de-regulation in Ireland, suggests that public resources are being squandered on 'corporate welfare, ' and questions the notion that the consumer has gained from the changes. The book, written in a highly accessible style, calls for a new movement of resistance that will put people before profit and bring about more genuine democracy

Monbiot documents the end of representative government in Britain. The state is no longer the initiator of policy but an increasingly helpless bystander. As institutional corruption strikes at the heart of public life, in a contest between the desires of big business and the needs of the electorate, the electorate loses out every time.

The term "takeover", of which the first form is mergers and acquisitions (M&A), refers to the transfer of control of a business from one group of shareholders to another. Considering the importance of this issue and the real drives behind takeovers, it has become imperative to identifying companies that are vulnerable to takeover by two types: tender offer and exchange offer. This book thus presents the legal aspects, the theoretical justifications and the empirical contributions of takeovers, and analyzes the economic and financial characteristics of targets in order to assess the probability of being acquired. An empirical approach based on two quantitative studies is then applied to the European market, which is still virgin territory in terms of academic research. Finally, acquisition probability models have been developed and they have a 72% forecast accuracy average rate of targets. Corporate Takeover Targets is aimed at students and researchers in economic and management, as well as M&A consultants.

A collection of stimulating essays exploring the wide-ranging debates surrounding the relationship between business and society in 21st century Ireland. Wide-ranging, diverse and thought-provoking contributions from leading business researchers, economists, sociologists and political scientists from Ireland and abroad probe five central themes: the making and unmaking of the Celtic Tiger; governance, regulation and justice; partnership and participation; the nature of Irish borders in Ireland, Europe and the wider world; and interests and concerns in contemporary Ireland. Irish Business and Society takes a critical look at Ireland as one of the most open and globally integrated economies in the world, with the activities of Irish and Irish-based foreign business impacting on both national and international societies and businesses; discusses the relationships between business and society within the context of the wider Irish and European, political economy; presents the Irish economic decisions and conditions that precipitated the current recession in Ireland and the resultant lessons to be learned; and examines the relationship between Irish business and society today, contemplating how it might develop into the future. Essential reading for students of Irish Business, Economics, Sociology and Politics, those taking Irish Studies courses and anyone interested in contemporary Ireland. The contributors are: Nicola Timoney, Frank Barry, Mary P. Murphy, William Kingston, Niamh M. Brennan, Rebecca Maughan, Roderick Maguire, Gillian Smith, Conor McGrath, Connie Harris Ostwald, Kevin O'Leary, Jesse J. Norris, Olice McCarthy, Robert Briscoe, Michael Ward, Helen Chen, Patrick Phillips, Mary Faulkner, John O'Brennan, Mary C. Murphy, Breda McCarthy, Marian Crowley-Henry, John McHale, Kate Nicholls, Gary Murphy, Geoff Weller, Jennifer K. DeWan, Patrick Kenny, Gerard Hastings, Margaret-Anner Lawlor, Karlin Lillington, John Cullen

In 2008 Ireland experienced one of the most dramatic economic crises of any economy in the world. It remains at the heart of the international crisis, sitting uneasily between the US and European economies. Not long ago, however, Ireland was celebrated as an example of successful market-led globalisation and economic growth. How can we explain the Irish crisis? What does it tell us about the causes of the international crisis? How should we rethink our understanding of contemporary economies and the workings of economic liberalism based on the Irish experience? This book combines economic sociology and comparative political economy to analyse the causes, dynamics and implications of Ireland's economic 'boom to bust'. It examines the interplay between the financial system, European integration and Irish national politics to show how financial speculation overwhelmed the economic and social development of the 1990s 'Celtic Tiger'.

From one man’s Hackney market stall to a company serving fifty million customers in thirteen countries every week, this is the extraordinary story of one of Britain’s most remarkable companies. Told by those who themselves feature in it – Tesco’s own employees – it relates a fascinating social history as well as an epic business venture. Drawn from hundreds of hours of interviews with Tesco staff, collected by National Life Stories at the British Library, these personal accounts from across the decades are frank, insightful, sometimes funny and, above all, very human. How, then, did Tesco grow from Jack Cohen’s barrow in Hackney to the hypermarkets in Hungary and Thailand and a home-delivery service to customers from Cheshire to the Czech Republic? Why and how did Tesco survive and (mostly) thrive where other British companies stalled? And what impact has Tesco’s success had on its employees and consumers? Here is Tesco’s authentic story, carefully researched and engagingly written by Sarah Ryle, told for the first time by the people at the very heart of the business.